Agenda item

In order to accommodate Officer availability, the Chairman agreed to amend the order of the agenda items and consider Item 6 before Item 5.

In-Year Budget Monitoring and 2022/23 Budget Scrutiny

The following main points were made:

·       As previously reported, the key pressure on the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) was in the High Needs Block, a pressure that was in line with the national picture.  The DfE had acknowledged this pressure and the deficit would sit on the Council’s balance sheet as an unusable reserve while the DfE considered the way forward.  However, it was important to note that the legislation allowing this carry forward would expire at the end of the 22/23 financial year when the deficit could potentially revert to the County Council.  Members were reminded that the High Needs Management Plan was in place to monitor this budget closely.

·       The forecast overspend in the Education and Early Help Directorate had been driven by pressure on Educational Psychology. A nationwide shortage of educational psychologists had caused staffing problems leading to an income shortfall and a reliance on a number of agency arrangements.  It was confirmed that recruitment to these posts had now been completed.

·       Trading income was now becoming more stable following the pandemic.

·       In terms of forecast overspend, Worcestershire was in a positive position when compared with other local authorities, including statistical neighbours.

·       The Chief Accountant informed Members that the Council was still awaiting specific details from the Government in relation to the budget for 2022/23.  A further announcement was expected in mid-December.  It was expected that there may be some cash increases and an increase in council tax, but this would be set against increasing demand and cost pressures.

·       With reference to Home to School Transport, the Vice Chairman congratulated the team on the much-improved budget picture.

·       It was confirmed that current budget discussions were broadly based on allowing 2% for staff pay increases, although the final figure was still under consideration.

Q2 Performance Information

During the discussion, the following main points were made:

·       Although there had been a slight decrease in demand experienced by the Family Front Door, levels of demand remained higher than those seen pre-covid.  The ‘conversion rates’ of referrals from agencies requiring ongoing social worker involvement remained a challenge.  Referrals from schools and the police were back on track but those from health (at 19%) remained an area of concern.

·       Although referrals to the Family Support Service had increased, an audit of these referrals had revealed that they were not all appropriate.  Further work would be carried out in November and December to better understand the data.

·       The number of Looked After Children was in line with statistical neighbours at 74 per 10,000, which put the Council in the bottom 2 of 14 West Midlands local authorities.

·       The rates of children leaving care (ie no longer needing to be looked after by the local authority) remained a challenge.

·       Although the number of children coming into care continued to increase, the rate of increase was not as fast as statistical neighbour authorities.

·       The success of Supporting Families First was acknowledged and the Panel was told that the service was now also able to focus on children in need, allowing a more preventative approach to be taken.  Safeguarding teams were better able to employ effective risk management strategies to manage potential risk in the home.

·       On average, caseloads for social workers in the Looked After Children teams were now 22 or 23 cases.  Although this was a significant reduction on previous levels, there was still further work to do to reach the desired level.

·       As had recently been reported to the Corporate Parenting Board, there was currently a focus on getting Care Leavers into work via the Government’s Kickstart programme, which offered work experience placements to encourage young people into work following the pandemic.

·       In response to a question from the Chairman about the delay in care orders as a result of the pandemic, it was confirmed that conversations with the courts and CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) were ongoing and there was a promising picture in relation to the backlog of cases.