Agenda item

The Panel will consider a verbal update on the performance highlights from the latest Children’s Services data report covering period ending 30th November 2024.

Contact:        Jo-Anne Sanders, Service Director

Pam Allen, Interim Service Director

Robert Fordyce, Head of Quality Assurance and Practice Development

Vicky Metheringham, Service Director for Child Protection and Family Support and Jo-Anne Sanders, Service Director for Learning and Early Support, presented highlights from the Performance Data.

Vicky Metheringham highlighted the following key points:-

Assessment and Intervention Teams

·       High caseloads were being experienced for Social Work Practitioners and Personal Advisors, and this, as well as vacancies, was impacting on data reporting, meaning that the some of the data presented was showing a position worse that the reality.

·       There was weekly oversight of Social Work Practitioner and Personal Advisor caseloads and they were being offered management support.

·       Checks were made to ensure children’s visits were being undertaken and risk was being appropriately managed.

·       There were currently vacancies for new Social Workers, but there was confidence that if retention was to remain strong, the vacancy situation would be much improved by late summer.

·       10 Frontline Practitioners were due to move to permanent Social Work posts later this year; this had been a successful recruitment strategy as all were indicating their intention to remain at Kirklees.

·       Student Social Workers, apprenticeship and Step-Up to Social Work students would also qualify later in the year.

Children in Care

·       Checks were made to ensure Looked After Children’s plans were reviewed, that they were seen frequently and that they were optimising their health opportunities.

·       Looked After Children’s dental check data looked lower than the reality. Dental checks for children in care was currently 90%, meaning that 90% of children in care had seen a dentist in the last year.

·       Through the Kirklees Parenting Board, a positive relationship had been built with the designated nurse for safeguarding children and there was the opportunity for a multi-agency data performance meeting to ensure the data aligned.

Child Protection

·       Social worker assessments should take place within 45 days for Children in Need, however this had been impacted by caseloads and vacancies. It had been identified that some cases should be closed because families were not in agreement for the assessment to continue.

·       Child Protection Plan assessments were completed in a timely manner.

·       The number of children at risk of exploitation increased in November, which could be due to a rise in reporting as partners worked with Social Workers to share information. All children at risk of exploitation’s plans were reviewed weekly to ensure timely intervention.

·       Re-referrals – there had been a small rise in the number of children who have been on a Child Protection Plan in the previous 2 years. A deep dive was planned in March 2025 to ensure an understanding of the reasons why children were on repeat plans.

·       Visits to children on a Child Protection Plan – data suggested visits within 15 days had dropped, however this was a reporting issue and did not reflect the actual picture.

Care Leavers

·       Care Leavers seen within 8 weeks and Care Leavers with an updated pathway plan – these numbers had dropped according to data. This was related to the number of Care Leavers increasing, due to the drive for contact with care leavers aged 21 -25, and a number of unaccompanied asylum seekers making contact. There were 2 Hubs, in Dewsbury and in Huddersfield, where Care Leavers were supported, however attendance at the Hubs was not recorded as contact.

·       Pathway Plans – Completion rates had dropped as the new My Pathway Plan had been introduced. Training was being rolled out and the quality of plans, co-produced and owned by Care Leavers, was improving.

Children and Adolescent Mental Health services

·       Waiting list for CAMHS – there was a rise in November which was within the normal range and was not anticipated to be an ongoing trend.

Children Going Missing

·       Return interviews – the drop of 10% after missing children episodes was due to a small but significant number of young people having multiple episodes of going missing, covered by one interview, which impacted on the data.  There was an ongoing review of the quality of those interviews.

In response to a question by the Panel as to whether there was a method to record visits by Care Leavers to the Hubs, Joel Hanna advised that after an increase in services offered at the Hubs, specifically work on isolation and loneliness carried out in partnership with Fresh Futures, footfall at the Hubs had increased. Visitors to the Hubs were encouraged to sign in, however not all visits were being captured. The 8 week measure was being reviewed, as Care Leavers might have contact with a wider variety of support than Personal Advisors only.

The Chair of the Panel advised that the Panel had visited the No 12 Dewsbury Hub on the 12^th December 2024 following a meeting with the Children in Care and Care Leavers Team and seen how successfully it was set up, and acknowledged that there was still potential work to be done to ensure Care Leavers knew how to access the offer.

Jo-Anne Sanders, Service Director, Learning and Early Support highlighted the following key points, focusing on exclusions and performance:

• In November 2024 there was an increase in the number of permanent exclusions. This was typical of the trend for spikes in exclusions during November and January.
• The number of children excluded permanently this academic year to date was 21, 0.3% of the school population.
• The same figure last year was 34 exclusions at 0.5% of the school population, which meant that numbers were moving in the right direction, with the ambition of a 0% exclusion rate.
• The hard work of schools to be inclusive, and the increase in access to services was having a positive impact.
• The Inclusion Multi-Agency Panel was available to support schools and parents and was seeing a huge take-up of people asking for help and support.
• The largest year group for exclusion was Year 10, followed by Year 9 and Year 11. There was a need to support these older children to ensure there was a post-16 pathway for them into Year 12.
• There were a number of children with EHCPs who had been permanently excluded in November.
• Work was ongoing in the SEND assessment and commissioning team (soon to be renamed the EHCP team) to ensure a smooth transition into alternative provision.
• Work had been undertaken to join services together however there was still more to do.

RESOLVED –

(1)  The Panel noted the report and thanked the Officers for their contributions.