Minutes:
The
Committee considered a joint report of the Director of Children and Family Services
and the Director of Corporate Resources which provided information on the
proposed 2022/23 to 2025/26 Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) as it related
to the Children and Family Services department.
A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 8’ is filed with these minutes.
The
Chairman welcomed Mrs. D. Taylor CC, Lead Member for Children and Family
Services, to the meeting for this item.
Arising
from the discussion, the following points were raised:
Service
Transformation
i)
Demand
for children and family services continued to increase with growth of £25m
projected. In response to the pressures,
the department had embarked on four main programmes of work – the High Needs
Development Programme, Defining Children and Family Services for the Future
(DCFSF), the Children’s Innovation Partnership and departmental
efficiencies. It was acknowledged that
further work was still required, but the department now had new ways of working
to respond to the ongoing pressures and to continue to create a more efficient
service.
Proposed
Revenue Budget
ii)
The
total gross proposed budget for 2022/23 was £703.1m, which included £482m
Dedicated Schools Grant budget. The
proposed net budget for 2022/23 totalled £90.5m. The largest cost to the budget was children
in care and it was queried whether a breakdown could be given of how this was
spent. The Director of Children and
Family Services confirmed that the majority related to placement costs with a
proportion also relating to staffing. A
breakdown was available of how many children were in different placements and
the associated costs; the number of children in care, the total costs and the
average unit costs were tracked and this would be
circulated to members of the Committee.
iii)
A
member raised the point that growth over the next four years was not just about
demand but also related to meeting the complexity of needs. It was queried whether the demand could be
met due to the current high level of strain on services. In response, the Director stated that the
department had a number of statutory requirements that
needed to be met. The growth projections
incorporated the increase in demand for services, particularly relating to
children in care. The department was
also considering other areas where demand could be reduced.
iv)
It
was raised that an increase in demand for services could lead to an increase in
the demand for social workers. A
question was raised around the impact that this would have on the County
Council in recruiting appropriate staff.
The Director responded that there had been a projection for the need for
more social workers. Recruitment and
retention of social workers was a national issue and the County Council had
undertaken lots of work to consider how it might attract staff and ensure that
they remained with Leicestershire. The
department’s Recruitment and Retention Strategy set out plans to address this.
Growth
v)
Growth
over the next four years totalled £25.1m.
The majority of the growth requirement related
to continued increases in demand and the complexity of needs for children’s
social care services which culminated in increased placement costs and the need
for more social workers.
vi)
It
was noted that G1 – Social Care Placements – should read £2.265m in 2022/23
rising to £19.25m by 2025/26. The
budgeted growth over four years assumed a 5% increase due to the significant
work undertaken within the department with the DCFSF programme. These had been projected based on the number
of children expected to be in care and the type of placements. Average unit prices for placements had also
seen an increase, with a number of factors affecting
this. As mitigation, placements and the
costs were continuously reviewed within the department. Further investment was being made to build
Leicestershire County Council owned residential homes as part of the Children’s
Innovation Partnership.
vii)
In
relation to G2 – Front Line Social Care Staff – Increased Caseloads –
investment in additional front-line social care staff capacity was
required. The growth was based on the
number of social workers and support staff required to support the number of
projected contacts and children. It was
noted that the use of agency staff would still be needed.
viii)
£5.6m
had been budgeted to employ more social work staff to support the growth in
demand. However, it was queried whether
the proposed growth for the social care staff market premia (G3) should be
increased in order to retain existing staff and prevent them from moving to a
different local authority which may pay a higher salary. The Director commented that the market premia
was one of many initiatives being undertaken as part of the Recruitment and
Retention strategy. Whilst it was known
that a salary which compared well with other regional local authorities was
desirable, Leicestershire offered a range of other features to encourage the
retention of its staff, for example training and development, good supervision and manageable caseloads.
Savings
ix)
Proposed
savings for the local authority budget totalled £3.77m in 2022/23 and £14.5m
over the next four years in total.
Additionally, the High Needs Development Plan aimed to ensure
sustainable services for children and young people with Special Educational
Needs within the High Needs Block of the Dedicated Schools Grant. In order to achieve
this, cost reductions of £25.8m were required over the period of the MTFS.
x)
The
DCFSF Programme (CF1) was expected to realise total annualised benefits in excess of £13m. Positive
early indications had been seen in the current financial year resulting in an
underspend of approximately £2m against the budget.
xi)
The
financial benefits from the Children’s Innovation Partnership (CF4) were
expected to be seen from reduced placement costs and social worker
resource. A comment was made that it had
previously been necessary to place children out of county in very expensive
settings, and it was asked whether the profile had changed so that children
were now placed in more local settings.
The Director stated that a change in the type of placements was being
seen and fewer children were placed a long way away. Primarily, where children were placed out of
Leicestershire, it was because the placement met their needs. It was noted that there was a national
challenge in securing placements along with an increased cost of placements for
children.
xii)
There
were currently 57 young people in residential care, with the majority having
more complex needs. Key pieces of work
were in place to consider the appropriateness of residential care, particularly
as there had been a significant cost increase.
Assurance was given that the department had clear ownership of its
children in residential care and understood their needs to ensure that no child
remained in residential care where it was not appropriate. Clear trajectory plans were in place to take
children out of care when possible and it was also stated that there had been
an increase in younger children in residential care due to their complex needs. The Lead Member for Children and Families
commented that there had been a shift in the department’s work undertaken with
partners to better support children and avoid residential placements where
possible.
xiii)
A
member questioned whether there had been an increase in foster caring, and it
was reported that part of the work of the DCFSF programme had been to increase
the utilisation of in-house foster care provision and this was now being
seen. Bespoke campaigns had been
undertaken to increase the number of foster carers who would take teenagers due
to an increase in the number of 15/16 year olds entering care. Consideration was also being given to a
greater use of kinship care and the benefits of looking beyond foster care were
beginning to be seen.
xiv)
To
date, around £1m departmental efficiency savings (CF5) had been
identified. Further savings were
currently being identified. As the DCFSF
programme new ways of working were embedded, further analysis would be
undertaken to identify potential new opportunities to take forward in a number of areas.
Dedicated
Schools Grant (DSG)/Schools Block
xv)
The
DSG remained calculated in four separate blocks – the Schools Block, Central
Schools Services Block, High Needs Block and Early Years. The estimated DSG for 2022/23 totalled
£605.3m. The 2022/23 MTFS continued to
set the overall Schools Budget as a net nil budget at local authority
level. However, there was a funding gap
of £9.1m on the High Needs Block which would be carried forward as an overspend
against the grant.
xvi)
In
relation to the Schools Block, the DfE had further stated its intention to move
to a ‘hard’ National Funding Formula (NFF), whereby budget allocations for all
schools was calculated by the DfE. For
2022/23, funding remained a ‘soft’ school funding formula whilst the outcome of
consultation was awaited.
School
Funding Formula
xvii) Despite an overall
increase in the minimum amount of funding per pupil, a number
of Leicestershire schools remained on the funding floor and could
experience a real term decrease in income.
Schools with a decrease in pupil numbers would see an overall decrease
in budget allocation. It was possible
for local authorities to transfer up to 0.5% of the Schools Block DSG to High
Needs following consultation with schools and with the approval of the Schools
Forum. Consultation had been carried out
with schools on two options for a transfer, with the majority disagreeing. A request to the Secretary of State for
approval of the transfer had also not been approved.
High
Needs
xviii) The High Needs DSG was
£94.7m, which was an increase of 14%.
The forecast position was highlighted although the financial plan would
be subject to change following the findings of diagnostic work currently being
completed by Newton Europe. These findings
would be reported to the Committee.
xix)
The
provisional Early Years Block settlement was £36.1m; the final allocation would
not be confirmed until June 2023. Although
there had been an increase in the hourly rate, Leicestershire remained on the
funding floor and received the lowest rate of funding.
Capital
Programme
xx)
The
proposed Children and Family Services capital programme totalled £94.1m, the
majority (£89.1m) for which external funding was expected. The programme continued to focus on the
delivery of additional school places and additional places to support the High
Needs Development Plan.
xxi)
A
capital investment budget envelope of £2.5m had previously been included in the
MTFS to develop and assessment hub and multi-functional properties to create
in-house capacity to provide placements at a lower cost. This was progressing well and the next phase
in the Residential Design Brief was to source a further four properties to
create additional residential capacity up to a total of £1.9m.
RESOLVED:
a) That the report and
information now provided be noted;
b) That the comments now
made be forwarded to the Scrutiny Commission for consideration at its meeting
on 31 January 2022.
Supporting documents: