Agenda item

The Panel was updated on performance information relating to Quarter 1 (April to June 2020) and financial information for period 3.

Budget Monitoring

The Director of Resources (WCF) made the following main points:

·       With reference to the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), at the end of June there was a forecast overspend of approximately £300k.  Members were reminded that the High Needs overspend at the end of 2019/20 had been £7.9m with a total deficit of £6.2m to be carried forward against future DSG income.  In 2020/21 the Council had received additional funding of £8.7m for Higher Needs.  This would keep pace with spending but would not address the historical deficit.

·       For Higher Needs, the Government had already announced a budget for 2021/22 with indicative funding.  The County Council’s share of this would be £7.8m, which would help keep pace with demand but would not address the current deficit.  The Council’s situation was in line with most other local authorities.  The budget was in a better position than last year but pressures remained.

·       In relation to the children and families budgets that had remained in the County Council there were no issues to report.

·       WCF budgets had now taken account of the transfer of services from Babcock with the inclusion of an additional £5.1m.  The area of greatest focus was on looked after children.  Placement numbers had been relatively stable over the last 12 to 18 months but covid-19 had put pressure on this demand led budget.  The latest forecast was for a £1.5m overspend.  This forecast also took into account the pay award that had recently been agreed.

·       Home to school transport was currently forecasting to budget.  An additional grant of £503k to support the return to school in the autumn term had been announced in August.

·       It was acknowledged that it would be a challenging year for the council and for local government as a whole, but the current forecast overspend was not as sharp as some other councils and could be seen as part of a national trend.

·       It was confirmed that the Council had had to continue to pay home to school transport providers throughout the pandemic, as advised by the government.

The financial information was received and noted.

Social Care

The Director of Children’s Social Care and Safeguarding made the following main points:

·       On average throughout 2019/20 the Family Front Door had received about 1000 contacts per month.  This figure remained consistent at the start of lockdown and throughout April and May but had now started to rise and in June there had been 1582 contacts.  This level of contacts was sustained throughout June and July with a slight drop in August.  This rise had also been seen in other local authorities and would need to be monitored carefully.

·       Officers were yet to see the impact of lockdown related ‘hidden harm’ that was predicted as children had only just returned to school and the figures were currently missing a big proportion of the school referrals that would normally be seen.  Members were reminded that school referrals were often most likely to convert to needing a social work assessment and intervention.

·       Although there had been a rise in the number of contacts through the Family Front Door, there had been a drop in the number of referrals meeting the threshold for a social work assessment.  In relation to this rise in referrals, where a social work assessment had been undertaken, a high proportion resulted in a decision that there was no need for a further social work intervention.

·       The Director was pleased to report that, although the workload had risen significantly for staff in the Family Front Door, 94% of assessments had still been completed within timescales.

·       Further staff were being brought in to work with the Family Front Door but it was important that any agency staff were good quality.  The service was under pressure but senior officers were doing what they could to manage workflow and support staff.

·       Members were reminded that work was ongoing with West Mercia Police to further refine the application of thresholds, work that had started pre-covid.  Although it would be important to see the evidence in Q2 data, the Director reported that productive meetings had recently been held with the police and she wished to emphasise their extremely positive response to the challenge.

·       The number of looked after children had remained relatively stable even though, for a variety of reasons, the number of children leaving care had seen a significant drop.  In Q1 2020/21 31 children had left care compared with 70 children in the same quarter last year.  The team had now resumed care planning work for children due to leave care and this was now picking up momentum.

·       The Panel was informed that, for three years, year on year the service had seen a reduction in the number of children coming into care.  The number was now lower than the England average and one of the lowest for local authorities in the region.  The service was safely supporting and challenging families to undertake their parental responsibilities to care for their own children and was effectively keeping children out of care whilst at the same time safeguarding those who needed it.

·       External placements remained a challenge with a number of factors impacting on this.  Demand was difficult to predict and placements could be very expensive.

·       A Panel Member highlighted the fact that outcomes for children who came into care were very poor and could last a lifetime.  It was, therefore, a massive achievement to have reduced the number of children being taken into care.

·       In relation to child protection, figures had risen sharply.  This was the result of child protection plans not being removed during the period March to August.  This was a safeguarding decision as it was not felt appropriate to remove a plan at a time when social workers were not able to access households and see children face to face.  In Q1 70 children had been removed from child protection plans, compared with 146 in the same quarter last year.  Review child protection conferences had now resumed so the figure would start to reduce.  However, at the same time the ‘hidden harm’ agenda may result in a rise in the number of children needing child protection.  Decisions would be taken on a child by child basis.

·       Similarly, children in need cases had not been closed at a time when children were not attending school.  Work had been started in August to update these cases and this would continue throughout September as children returned to school.

·       There had been a significant reduction in the number of children who were going missing from care and from home when compared to last year and it was suggested that this was in the main as a result of lockdown.

·       Members were informed that when asked for feedback staff had provided a positive response.  Although caseloads had risen, staff felt supported and welcomed the high degree of management permanency.  Caseloads for the Family Front Door were a major area of concern and this was being monitored closely.

·       The Chairman reported that where she had raised concerns in relation to particular cases, the response from social work management had been superb.

Education

The Director of Education and Early Help made the following main points:

·       Members were reminded that Ofsted inspections were currently paused.  Although visits were taking place throughout the autumn term, these would not affect judgements.  87% of maintained schools were currently judged to be good or outstanding.  The figure for academies was 80% giving an overall figure of 84% which was below the English national average.

·       It was interesting to note that in Worcestershire, historically attendance was normally slightly below the national average.  It was therefore important to monitor this at the start of an academic year which had particular challenges.  It was agreed that Members would be provided with data showing Ofsted performance by district council area.

·       At the start of the new academic year there was a clear focus on children missing education and ensuring that they were able to return to school.

·       Between July and September, 61 notifications for elective home education had been received, compared with 53 for the same period last year.  Since the start of term up to the previous day, 18 further notifications had been received, compared with 12 for the same period in the previous year.  The Panel was informed that other local authorities had seen a greater rise in the number of notifications.  Officers were clear with parents enquiring about home education that school would not continue to support them with resources if they elected to home educate.

·       Figures for the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) were always very high in September as information was gathered on young people’s destinations.

·       In response to a question about whether there was any pattern in the types of families who chose to home educate, Members were informed that there was a particular prevalence within the gypsy, roma and traveller community.  It was confirmed that, other than that, there were no standout common features.

·       It was agreed that the Panel would be provided with figures for the number of electively home educated children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) who were on the autistic spectrum.

·       The number of EHCPs completed in a timely manner continued to be at virtually 100% which was the result of ongoing work with families and other agencies.