Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Children and Family Services which provided details of the outcome of the diagnostic assessment undertaken across Targeted Early Help and Children’s Social Care services, along with an outline of the next steps of the Defining Children and Family Services for the Future programme plan and the approach to be taken.  A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 9’ is filed with these minutes.

Opportunities had been identified in the diagnostic assessment and were categorised into four main themes.  The opportunities demonstrated a combination of potential benefits including cost/demand avoidance, enhancing quality and outcomes for service users and improved productivity.  The total net annually recurring benefits were estimated to be in the region of £9.3m, with a stretch ambition of £13.1m over the next four years.

Also attending the meeting for this item were Mr Luke Tregidgo and Mr Stephen Knight from Newton Europe who provided further detail of the scope of the work being taken forward.  Key principles of the programme were co-ownership and co-design, a robust process for tracking and monitoring improvements and performance and aiming for consistency around practice.

A joint team of frontline staff and practitioners from the Children and Family Services department and colleagues from the Transformation Unit and Newton Europe had now been established to oversee the development and testing of new ways of working.  The team was entering a pilot phase to test the changes and it was anticipated that this would last three – six months.  Once solutions had been developed, these would be rolled out county wide and this implementation and sustainability stage would last between six – twelve months.  It was expected that the programme would run to November 2021, by which point the department would be able to independently sustain the new ways of working.

Arising from the discussion, the following points were raised:

i)                Assurance was sought that the targets being set were achievable and that the changes would deliver permanent benefits.  The Director of Children and Family Services stated that the department had chosen to work with Newton Europe as its model was to work alongside a local authority.  Thus far, the level of engagement with staff had been very positive.  Newton Europe had previously worked with a large number of local authorities, particularly Adult Social Care and Children’s Social Care departments, and the Local Government Association had also chosen Newton Europe to work with a range of local authorities in relation to their spending.  It was noted that defining success was not just about the delivery of results; key was ensuring that the right joint team was in place and that the handover was successful.  As the department became more confident, support from Newton Europe would reduce and ways of working would continue to be monitored to ensure that they were sustained.  In relation to the targets set, these were primarily financial and had been set around the MTFS.  The Delivery Board would undertake regular scrutiny of the benefits to ensure that they were being achieved and sustained.  Regular updates would also be provided to the Committee on the benefits being achieved.

ii)               The contingent fee model of Newton Europe was raised; this proposed that they would guarantee to deliver savings with fees being commensurate to the benefits delivered.  It was confirmed that there was a set fee and contingency arrangements were in place.  Newton Europe guaranteed to deliver an annual benefit of £7m but it was hoped that this would be as much as £9.3m.  The fee to Newton Europe would be capped and if the savings fell below £7m, additional resource would be put in place to remedy this, at a cost to Newton Europe.  Assurance was given that the risk to Leicestershire County Council was minimal at every stage and that it would be possible for the authority to terminate the contract at every stage.

iii)             A query was raised around whether the work being undertaken would satisfy Ofsted that its inspection recommendations had been achieved.  It was reported that the Continuous Improvement Action Plan and the Defining Children and Family Services for the Future programme were closely aligned.  Although the department had undertaken lots of work to make improvements, there was an acknowledgement that more needed to be done and by working with Newton Europe, there would be greater challenge to ensure that the department realised its ambitions.

iv)             Clarification was sought around the development of the pilot areas.  It was reported that there were three main project themes; these had multiple workstreams to focus on specific areas.  The Pathways project would focus on processes and how different systems worked together; this included intervention effectiveness and reducing the amount of time children spent in care.  The placements project had multiple workstreams which would consider whether the department was using its own resources as well as it could, the fostering recruitment process and reducing the amount of time children spent in residential care.  The independence project would work with children and families in the disabled service to ensure that they were ready for independence at an earlier stage.

RESOLVED:

a)    That the report be noted;

b)    That further progress updates be provided to the Committee.