Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Executive and Director of Children and Family Services which presented an update of the Children and Families performance at the end of quarter one of 2016/17.  A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 8’ is filed with these minutes.

The Director advised that the report contained a number of changes from previous reports in that there were new performance indicators that were aligned with the Council’s Corporate Strategy 2017/18 and associated performance management data set. Where blanks were evident in the performance dashboard, this was due to the fact that data had not been available, and that in the next quarter the indicators would be updated following analysis of data. In relation to school results, it had not been possible to provide a comparison from the previous year as examination systems had changed and a comparison would not provide a comparative assessment of progress.

Arising from discussion the following points were raised:

      i.        The Committee sought further clarification around the Channel programme and the referral process. Channel was linked to the national Prevent agenda, and was aimed at providing support at an early stage to people who are identified as being vulnerable and at risk of being drawn into terrorism. It was noted that schools were the highest referring sector, and that these referrals were received by the Police. If any safeguarding concern was identified then the referral would also be considered by social care following Police contacting First Response. All key partners were trained in relation to both Channel and Prevent and all partners were capable of making a referral and responsible for informing the relevant agency of any concerns;

    ii.        There had been a significant improvement in relation to the number of looked after children subject to three or more placements, which the Committee was pleased to note;

   iii.        Over the past three quarters there had been concerns over the number of children and young people subject to second and subsequent child protection plans. In this quarter however there had been an improvement in performance and whilst it was recognised that there would be further work necessary to sustain the performance, it was promising that measures put in place had secured some improvement. Measures had included strengthening the robustness around children in need planning, and the production of practice guidance around children in need planning which had been shared on a multi-agency basis. It was felt that improvements would need to be seen over a 12 month period to be confident that the work that had taken place had embedded lasting change in practice;

   iv.        It was noted that Government were due to publicise reports around the measurements of success of the Troubled Families Programme. The Committee requested that following publication, a report analysing the effectiveness of the Supporting Leicestershire Families Programme be presented.

    v.        The Committee asked that information around Ofsted outcomes and categorisation, and the breakdown of these between academies and maintained schools be circulated for information;

   vi.        The gap between the pupils eligible for Free School Meals achieving expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics, and achievement of those ‘not eligible’ had increased. The Director reported that work was underway with teaching schools around developing plans to mitigate the impact of changes to the national system of entitlement. Further to this a pupil premium project funded by the Leicestershire Education Excellent Partnership was looking at best practice nationally and it was hoped that it would contain some insight into how to address the issue;

  vii.        A concern was raised over the significant different in attainment in relation to writing and reading at key stage two (KS2). Discrepancies had been identified in school results this year and it was thought that further testing was required to ensure that KS2 data itself was robust and in the first instance, and the concern raised would be a key line of enquiry as part of this investigation;

RESOLVED:

a)    That the Quarter 1 2016/17 Performance Report be noted;

b)    That following publication of reports by Government around the measurements of success of the Troubled Families Programme, a report around the successes and effectiveness of the Supporting Leicestershire Families Programme be presented to a future meeting of the Committee;

c)    That information around Ofsted outcomes and categorisation and the breakdown of these between academies and maintained schools within Leicestershire be circulated to the Committee for information.