Agenda item

[To receive the Performance Monitoring Information Report.]

Alison Hinds, Deputy Director of Social Care presented the Performance Monitoring Information report and highlighted salient points. The report provided an update on service performance as 31 May 2021.

There was still a high number of 10 – 18 year olds within the system however these young people would continue to be supported into adulthood.

Placement analysis showed that there continued to be good placement stability for children in care and increasing performance in this area. There were now more children placed with foster carers approved through the Family Values scheme and the service continued to recruit and retain foster carers. This also enabled children to remain living locally and retain their links to family and friends.

The report showed that 83% of children had up to date assessments which had improved over last 12 months. The majority of children had an up to date review and performance in this area had been exceeding the outturn of the last two years. Participation in reviews and assessments was high which was attributed to the development of many different ways of working with children to enable this to happen.

A report had been submitted to Corporate Parenting Board previously on work the service had been undertaking to improving support for children not engaged in education, employment and training. PEPs were currently at a high level and, although there was a slightly lower performance for year 12 and 13, some targeted work has been undertaken with the virtual school to address this therefore an improvement was anticipated for when the next report was ready.

A significant improvement had been seen with health and dental check performance and the issues experienced with the new recording system had been addressed. Initial health checks had been improving month on month. A slight improvement had been emerging in the number of dental checks however figures were not where the service would like them to be. There was some work to do around getting children and young people back to see the dentist and recording the checks on the new system.

It was reported that there had been an issue nationally with children remaining in care proceedings for longer. The service was working closely with the Local Family Justice Board in order to reduce the time spent moving through proceedings. Not many adoptions this year, only four, however there was also a significantly reduced number last year as there had been a delay in scheduling adoption hearings.

It was acknowledged that the impact of COVID had made it a difficult year in terms of employment opportunities however the service and the Council overall had been working hard to support young people in making the most of any work opportunities available. This was a key area of concern and targeted work was being undertaken in alignment with the Relighting Our City work across the Council.

A query was raised around reasons for delays in care proceedings and it was reported that COVID had been the initial reason as face to face hearings had not been taking place. Once hearings had safely resumed, the courts had been faced with a backlog of hearings to schedule which had increased delays, although they had been working hard to clear this. Another factor was the undertaking of independent assessments sometimes requested by birth families’ if their circumstances had changed, for example, which was necessary but sometimes caused delays. Councillors voiced concerns that any delays may cause children to feel unsettled however reassurance was provided that children remained placed with their prospective adopters until the final decision was made to ensure stability. 

The work undertaken by the Children and Young People in Care service was commended. The commitment of the workforce to the children and young people of the City as well as the level of service delivery standards maintained throughout a pandemic was also acknowledged. 

Resolved:

That the Performance Monitoring Information Report be received.