Agenda item

The Board will consider a report giving key highlights from the latest Performance Monitoring data for Children’s Services.

Contacts:

Ophelia Rix, Head of Service for Children in Care, Care Leavers and Looked After Children

Janet Tolley, Virtual School Headteacher
Gill Addy, Designated Nurse for Looked After Children

Ian Mottershaw, Head of Service –Contextual Safeguarding and Y.E.S, Family Support and Child Protection

The Board considered the latest reports giving key highlights on Performance Monitoring for Children’s Services.

Ophelia Rix, Head of Service for Children in Care, Care Leavers and Looked After Children presented the key highlights in relation to Looked After Children and Care Leavers. It was noted that:

·         Data showed an improving picture in the work being undertaken.

·         There was a decrease in the number of Children Looked After which was now 615 compared with the previous month.

·         490 children / young people were subject to Special Guardianship Orders.

·         There were ongoing concerns in relation to the number of children in education, training or employment which was a key area of focus.

·         Links needed to be made to create wider opportunities for young people to aspire and achieve.

·         There had been an increase in the number of placements moves which was due to notice being given, issues relating to carers and the experience of young people throughout the pandemic.

·         Weekly meetings took place to consider stability, which was another area of focus.

·         There was a full overview report which set out the work being undertaken across the Children Looked After teams

Louise Hallas, Virtual School Team Manager provided an update in relation to the Virtual School, and highlighted that:

·         All children / young people in care aged between 3 and 18 years of age should have at least one Personal Education Planning (PEP) meeting each term.

·         The team continued to work virtually and were able to attend all PEP meetings.

·         As a result, 100% of children / young people had their PEP meeting each term.

·         96% of initial PEP’s were completed within 10 working days for new children / young people entering care, and 100% were completed within 11 working days.

·         Work continued across the service with social care to meet the educational needs of children / young people.

·         Attendance remained difficult to compare due to COVID absences.

·         Monitoring of attendance for all children / young people continued and individual work was undertaken with children / young people with attendance concerns or who were not in full time education.

The Board acknowledge that 100% of PEP meetings had taken place but questioned whether there was any disadvantage to doing them virtually.

Louise Hallas responded and advised that the advantages outweighed the disadvantages, as virtual meetings allowed an education professional to be present at each meeting who could support and challenge, which added quality to the meetings. Louise also advised that previously, only 40% of PEP meetings were attended in person due to the need to travel and that there was a clear criterion in place for when it was necessary to attend a meeting in person.

Gill Addy, Designated Nurse for Looked After Children provided an update in relation to Children Looked After Health, and highlighted that:

·         Kirklees Local Authority (LA) rolling 12-month data showed that 85.9% of Initial Health Assessments were completed in the statutory 20 working day timescales.

·         Locala monthly data showed that 100% were completed in timescales for February 2022.

·         A breakdown of the 12 month rolling data identified that there were only 4 children whose initial assessment was completed late within the last year.

·         Health assessments were still taking place via an initial telephone assessment followed by a clinic visit.

·         The 12 month rolling data for review health assessments (RHA) showed 91% of under 5’s and 91.6% of over 5’s were completed within timescales.

·         Locala monthly data for review health assessments showed 72% of under 5’s and 60% of over 5’s were completed within timescale.

·         There had been a reduction in the completion of RHA’s by the exact date over recent months.

·         A contingency plan was introduced to reduce pressure on the team and the team were now trying to complete RHA’s within timescales.

·         A business case had been developed to look at extra staffing but had not progressed.

·         The 12 month rolling data for dental checks showed 63.8% of children aged one and above had attended the dentist. The figure took in consideration data from the previous year when dentists re-opened and had a backlog of routine appointments to schedule.

·         Monthly data for February 2022 showed 73% of children aged 18 months to 4 years, and 100% of children 5 and above attended the dentist in February 2022.

·         89% of children aged 18 months to 4 years and 93% of children aged 5 and above were registered with a dentist. Those not registered were likely to be children who had moved placement, were new into care or young people who refused to attend their appointment and could not be kept on the register.

·         The flexible commissioning project continued to help ensure all children including Care Leavers could be registered with a Dentist.

·         Although data showed subsense misuse had increased slightly, this was for the same 7 young people already known to have significant issue.

Elaine McShane, Service Director for Family Support and Child Protection shared an update on adoption. The Board were advised that the data highlighted a lengthy timescale in terms of decision making. Elaine advised that a specific piece of work was being undertaken to understand the decision-making process in relation to the adoption pathway from the point of initiating care proceedings to the final offer, to provide further clarity and understanding.

RESOLVED: The Board noted the Children’s Performance Highlights Report, and it was agreed that a detailed update in respect of the adoption pathway and decision-making process be provided to a future meeting of the Board.