Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Panel Members Mel Allcott and Tim Reid, CMR Karen May and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Panel Chairman Alastair Adams.

None.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance in writing or by e-mail indicating both the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 5 December 2023).  Further details are available on the Council's website.  Enquiries can also be made through the telephone number/e-mail address listed in this agenda and on the website.

There were two public participants, Amanda Black and Dawn Style who asked questions in relation to the agenda items on Performance and In year Budget monitoring and the Update on the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Accelerated Progress Plan.

The Chairman thanked the speakers for their questions and confirmed they would each get a written response.

(previously circulated)

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 27 September 2023 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

In attendance for this item:

Head of Service, West Mercia Youth Justice Service

Incoming Head of Service, West Mercia Youth Justice Service

Worcestershire Team Manager, West Mercia Youth Justice Service

Cabinet Member for Children and Families

Chief Executive, WCF and Director of Children’s Services, WCC

Director of Early Help, Children in Need and the Family Front Door

The Chairman welcomed the West Mercia Youth Justice Service (YJS) team, and it was noted that Keith Barham was retiring from the role of Head of Service, and that Lorna Tilley had just joined as the new Head of Service. 

The Panel received an update on developments relating to the YJS. A copy of the improvement plan referred to in paragraph 34 was circulated at the meeting.

The Head of Service provided an overview of the YJS. The Panel was informed that the service was subject to 3 main national Performance Indicators (PI’s):

·         In respect of first-time entrants to the YJS, it was highlighted that the figures had reduced by 79% in the past 10 years. This converted to 119 per 100,000 youth population, compared to 148 for the national average.

·         The figures for the use of custody were that 3 children had received custodial sentences in Worcestershire in 2022, which represented 0.06 per 1,000 of the youth population, compared to 1.11 for the national average.

·         The reoffending rate measured the proportion of children who had received a formal justice sanction who then reoffended within a 12-month period of the date of their sanction. The Worcestershire figure for December 2022 was 30.4% of children reoffending, compared to 31.4 nationally. 

Following an inspection by HMI Probation, from which the service was rated ‘requires improvement’, there were 9 recommendations to be taken forward. The Worcestershire Team Manager advised that she had been working closely with Worcestershire Children First (WCF) to progress Recommendation 4, and she highlighted some of their key activity including discovering what the youth justice system felt like from the young person’s perspective and using that experience to develop practice standards that guided professionals when they were supporting a child entering the system. Information provided to young people and their families had been updated and made more accessible with the introduction of cards containing QR codes giving direct access to the website. Training for social workers had also been introduced on a ‘child’s journey through the criminal justice system’ to aid and develop understanding. The Director of Early Help commented on the strong relationship that they had developed with the YJS which benefitted the CYP in terms of responses being co-ordinated quickly and decisions being made in a timely manner.

Members were invited to ask questions and the following main points were raised:

·         In respect of the determination of out of court disposals, it was questioned who made the decision whether an issue went to court or not. The Head of Service explained that for serious offences the advice of crime prosecutors was obtained, whereas for less serious offences , the Police made  ...  view the full minutes text for item 609.

The Panel received an update on performance and financial information for services relating to Children and Families. The Chief Executive, WCF provided an overview of the key performance indicators, highlighting some points of interest as follows:

·         The top 3 indicators of harm and risk for assessments carried out by the Family Front Door (FFD) were the mental health of the parent/carer, domestic abuse, and the mental health of the child.

·         Despite some staff instability, the headlines for the throughcare service were positive, but there were challenges with foster care provision. A new role of specialist foster carer had been introduced, aimed at supporting the under 12’s.

·         The latest figures on child protection plans (CPPs) showed that the levels were higher than statistical neighbours, but much lower on repeat CPPs. Comparison work on this area was currently ongoing with Warwickshire County Council.

·         With Children in Need (CIN), a redesign of services was taking place, with a new CIN support team being developed to focus on CYP who had an EHCP and were awaiting an autism assessment. Work was being carried out in conjunction with partners.

·         Workforce permanency rates were high at 85% for social workers. The Chief Executive detailed the support provided to social workers and managers working in this pressured environment.

·         Overall, 10 schools had improved their Ofsted grade in recent school inspections, with a couple of schools having been downgraded.

·         Children missing education was an area of concern. Weekly meetings were held to review each case, including those with an EHCP. It was highlighted that the 422 figure for September for children under investigation, would have now been reduced as September was the peak for school mobility.

The Interim Director of Resources, WCF provided an overview of the 2023/24  budget position, and highlighted in particular:

·         The full year WCF expenditure budget at Period 6 was £148m of which over half was the demand led budgets of Placements and Home to School Transport (HTST). A £2m risk reserve had been assigned by the Council to mitigate potential overspends.

·         The forecast outturn for 2023/24 was £28.6m with social care placements and HTST being the main cost drivers. The current number of placements had risen by 5.6% from last year, but it was the inflation on placement costs that was driving the overspend, with average increases of 25% compared to the same period last year. Some of the factors leading to this increase were highlighted.

·         The Panel was informed of the mitigating actions being taken to reduce the forecast outturn, which included ensuring achievement of planned savings of £1.3m which were currently on track, as well as meeting the corporate vacancy saving which was expected to be achieved.

·         It was explained that the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) was subject to a statutory override which was in place until March 2026, therefore it sat as a negative unusable reserve on the balance sheet, at which stage urgent budgetary pressures would be faced by every local authority. The DSG allocations were forecast to continue  ...  view the full minutes text for item 610.

The Panel received an update on the progress being made against the Accelerated Progress Plan (APP). The Director for All-Age Disability reminded the Panel of the background to this report from the initial Department for Education/ National Health Service England Inspection in 2018 through the monitoring and reinspection activity since. The 18-month progress review against the APP in September 2023 had looked at the 4 remaining areas of weakness. The outcome letter received in November had advised that with regards to Workstream 1 (The variation in the skills and commitment of some mainstream schools to provide effective support for children with SEND), clear and sustained progress had been demonstrated and therefore this workstream had been removed from the formal APP. The Director was pleased with this positive outcome, but also stressed that work would continue to be progressed on improving this area further. The Panel was informed that the revised APP was now focussed on the 3 remaining workstreams, and the 24-month progress review would take place in April 2024, although it was highlighted that a full inspection might take place before that date.  

Members raised a number of questions as follows:

·         A Member asked about the situation with Families in Partnership (FIP), which had received positive formal feedback, however, some parents felt that the way the group operated did not work for them. The Director was asked how the situation could be improved to encourage more parents to get involved. The Panel was informed that FIP was a parent stakeholder group to which representatives from parent groups throughout the County were invited to take part. The agenda was set by parents to include issues of general interest and in addition to the regular meetings, newsletters and information were circulated to all of the groups involved. The Chief Executive explained that the stakeholder group had not worked in the way WCF had envisaged and so feedback had been sought from the parent groups to gain a better understanding of why this was the case. The 0-25 Partnership Board being held in December was to look at whether an individual Partnership Board member could be linked with each of the 24 groups to form a more personal connection. The Director added that in recognition of the concerns that some parents had raised regarding FIP, she had contacted the DfE for support in providing mediation between those involved. She stressed the importance of parent groups being able to resolve the issues they had with FIP so that they could move forward and be able to work effectively together.

·         A Member raised the issue of SEND tribunals. The Director provided a brief overview of the current situation and the number of appeals that were lodged in the academic year 2022/23. The Director agreed to provide further detailed figures on the use of mediation and outcomes of SEND tribunals.

·         In response to issues raised by Healthwatch, the Director provided timescales for those waiting for a decision to assess, with an average of 95%  ...  view the full minutes text for item 611.

The Panel reviewed its Work Programme. A Member requested that agency staff be considered for inclusion on the Work Programme. It was recognised that this was a cross cutting issue, rather than just specific to this Panel. It was agreed that the Chairman would raise this at the Overview and Scrutiny Performance Board to determine the best way to proceed with scrutiny of this issue.

The Chairman reminded the Panel that the 10 January Panel meeting had been moved to a 2pm start.