Agenda item

The Committee considered a joint report of the Chief Executive and Director of Children and Family Services which provided an update on departmental performance at the end of quarter 2 of 2017/18. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 9’ is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussion the following points were raised:-

i)             The percentage of ‘Children becoming subject to a child protection plan for a second or subsequent time’ had risen to 29.4%; this continued to be an area of robust oversight for officers. The work completed over the last two years to improve performance had brought about a reduction and was in line with statistical neighbours. This year had seen an increase but audit of cases had shown that the time between periods on a plan was a lengthy period. Members were assured that managers had completed audits and had a good understanding of the circumstances surrounding each case;

ii)            The main risk factor for those subject to a repeat plan was neglect, with children living in chaotic family circumstances caused by domestic abuse, parental mental health issues and parental substance misuse. Members were informed that the process to take a child off a Plan was robust;

iii)           Robust practices had been established for health assessments and dental checks for children in care, with reviews held with Public Health on a monthly basis. Monitoring had identified that the low number of dental checks reported was due to a data input issue with MOSAIC, the reporting system, which had now been rectified and data cleansing had been completed to ensure accuracy of data. Members were assured that children who refused health checks were encouraged by officers to attend, and the importance of such checks was explained to them. Officers worked closely with Looked After Children nurses and the Children in Care Council to ensure that children were aware of the importance of health checks;

iv)           The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was initially completed by the carers of young people, with input (depending on their age) from the young person. The importance of accurate scoring on the SDQ was recognised to ensure that the young person received the right level of support. Additionally, themes identified within the SDQs were used to determine the focus of service delivery;

v)            Regarding the percentage of schools rated as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted, Members were assured that the data could be broken down for primary and secondary schools, and academy and non-academy schools and would be provided to Members of the Committee;

vi)           Provisional data for Children in Care who achieved expected standards at the end of Key Stage Two (aged 11) showed performance in this area was worse than benchmarking authorities. The Cabinet Lead Member informed the Committee that the County Council had a lower number of children in care, due to the excellent work carried out to avoid taking children into care in the first place. However, this resulted in those children who were in care not being as representative a sample and ability as for other authorities; the cohort of children in care could not be accommodated within an extended family and this affected educational performance.

RESOLVED:

a)    That the Children and Families Service performance at the end of quarter 2 of 2017/18 be noted;

b)    That a report on the number of children being placed on a repeat Child Protection Plan, including the process for ending the initial plan, be submitted to the Children’s Social Care Panel; and

c)    That the data for schools rated as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted be broken down for primary and secondary schools, and academy and non-academy schools, and provided to the Committee.