Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 3B - Town Hall. View directions

Contact: Taiwo Adeoye - 01708 433079  Email: taiwo.adeoye@onesource.co.uk.

Items
No. Item

44.

DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS

Members are invited to disclose any interests in any of the items on the agenda at this point of the meeting.  Members may still declare an interest in an item at any time prior to the consideration of the matter.

 

Minutes:

There was no disclosure of interest.

45.

CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Chairman will announce details of the arrangements in case of fire or other events that might require the meeting room or building’s evacuation.

 

Minutes:

The Chairman reminded Members of the special meeting of the sub-committee on Foster Carers scheduled for 14 December 2017.

46.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 216 KB

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 31 August 2017 and authorise the Chairman to sign them.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 31 August 2017 were agreed as correct records and signed by the Chairman.

 

47.

QUARTER 2 - PERFORMANCE INFORMATION pdf icon PDF 204 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee received fourteen of the seventeen corporate performance indicators that fell under the remit of the Children & Learning Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee.

 

The Assistant Director of Policy, Performance and Community outlined that six (43%) of the indicators have a status of Green while eight (57%) have a status ofred under the revised tolerance ratings.

 

The report informed the Sub-Committee that the following three performance indicators that report to Overview & Scrutiny Board had all been rated at red for the   quarter.

·       Total number of in-house foster carers

·      Percentage of looked after children placed in in-house foster care

·      Percentage of young people leaving care who are in education, employment or training at ages 18-21

 

The Sub-Committee noted the following highlights

 

·         The percentage of schools judged to be Good or Outstanding had increased since the last quarter and remain above target.  Due to the school holidays there have been only two inspections since last quarter. Both schools were judged Good.

 

·         Recruitment of new in-house foster carers was ahead of schedule. Five new in-house foster carers were recruited in Quarter 2, putting the current number at eleven for the year and on track to meet the annual target of 20. 

 

·         The proportion of LAC who ceased to be looked after as a result of permanency continue to improve and was currently above target.

 

·         The percentage of 16-18 year olds who were known not to be in education, employment or training (NEET) was below the annual target of 4.3% (where lower was better).  The figure was also below the national (6%) and London (5.3%) averages. Havering had continued to deliver the Havering Raising the Participation Age (RPA) transitions event to support post-16 learners into positive destinations.  The event was attended by over 200 learners and 600 parents / carers.

·         During September, there were no new CP Plans relating to children who had previously been on a plan within the last 2 years, which brought performance back down within target.

 

The Sub-Committee noted that the following areas required improvements:

           

·         Care Leavers in education – the percentage care leavers in education, employment or training was on a downward trajectory, but there was expectation of an improvement as destinations become better known.  Six Pathway Coordinators have also been recruited to work with young people and care leavers to help them plan their transitions into adulthood, including their education / employment route.  The service was also supporting LAC and care leavers to remain in education, employment or training through the innovation programme and in partnership with LB Hackney.

 

·         Adoption – Ten children who have been adopted or were currently placed with their prospective adoptive families were awaiting orders, six waited less than 14 months between starting to be looked after and moving in with their adoptive families. It was an improvement on 2016/17's outturn of 50%, but outside of target. Scrutiny had been applied to the permanency process and oversight is provided by the Edge of Care and LAC Panel on a 6 weekly basis.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.

48.

PRESENTATION ON POWER BI pdf icon PDF 1 MB

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee received a presentation on Power BI. It was stated that Power BI was a suite of business analytics tools that would deliver insights throughout the service that would that enable the user to visualize and analyse data with greater speed, efficiency, and understanding.

 

Members noted that Power BI would connect users to a broad range of data through easy-to-use dashboards, interactive reports, and compelling visualizations that bring data to life with a unique 360 degree view for the user.

 

The Sub-Committee was informed that within the service, Power BI would be used to produce key performance indicators, Ofsted Review and Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Ofsted Review.

It was noted that a total of 140 licences had been purchased.

 

Members noted the interactive functions of the Ofsted Review dashboard and the SEND dashboard. One of its features included a drill down function that could be activated to support caseload management.

 

The following benefits of Power BI were outlined:

·         The system integrates seamlessly with existing applications that existed within the service.

·         The rich personalized dashboards. The outstanding feature of Power BI was the information dashboards, which could be customised to meet the exact need of the user/service. You can easily embed the dashboards and BI reports in the applications to provide a unified user experience.

·         Publishing reports securely. Power BI provided a setup function enable the user setup automatic data refresh and publish reports allowing all the users to avail the latest information.

·         The use of Power BI eliminates memory and speed constraints ensuring data was quickly retrievable and analysed.

The Sub-Committee was informed about the following next steps:

·         Following the roll out of the tool, the service would continually refine and improve existing reports.

·         With the roll out of Power BI, performance indicators data would be viewed as dashboard reports

·         There were plans to develop a Leaving Care dashboard.

·         Encouraging the wider use of the tool kit.

The Sub-Committee noted the presentation on Power BI.

 

 

49.

CHILDREN SERVICES ANNUAL COMPLAINTS REPORT 2016-17 pdf icon PDF 179 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee received the Children’s Services Complaints Annual report for 2016/17, which provided information about the numbers and types of complaints handled by the Children’s Service during 2016/17, as well as Members’ correspondence.

 

The report was a requirement under the Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006 that the complaints annual report be published.

 

The report informed the Sub-Committee that the service had made changes in its structure to strengthen its overall functioning and performance over the course of the last 18 months. The focus of the service to deliver on social care included the implementation of a systemic family therapy approach which entailed professionals spending more face to face time with children and families and working in partnership with and not doing to service users.

 

The  Sub-Committee noted that the introduction of the approach was intended to deliver increased opportunities for intensive direct work with children, young people and families who access a wide range of services including Early Help including Edge of Care, Child in Need, Looked After Children or Child Protection.

 

The report detailed that although Ombudsman enquiries increased from five in 2015/16 to six in 2016/17, there was one decision for maladministration injustice relating to SEN support, falling within the Children & Adults Disabilities Team coming under the responsibility of the Director of Children’s Services.

 

There was an increase in complaints from 74 in 2015/16 to 92 in 2016/17; fifteen of these complaints were directly from young people, using the MOMO app.  One Stage 1 complaint progressed to Stage 2 with no complaints progressing to Stage 3.  Enquiries that fell outside the statutory process had more than doubled in 2016/17.

 

Further to the changes within the structure of Children’s Services, which was designed to support and actively promote the systemic approach and direction of the service. The structural change could have been a contributory factor to the increase in complaint, although referrals leading to assessments also increased by 13% from 1,937 to 2,194.

 

The report detailed that the main reasons for complaint were in relation to the level of service, lack of communication and behaviour of staff, although the report stated  that the level of service and behaviour of staff have more than halved from 28 to 13 and from 25 to 11 respectively. 

 

The Sub-Committee noted that the service had taken steps to provide information leaflets explaining the process for children and young people on child protection or being looked after. However face to face complaint meetings have played a part in providing parents/carers with better understanding of why certain actions are taken.

 

The use of the Mind of My Own (MOMO) participation app by young people was increasing and it is encouraging that young people are using the app to raise their concerns. The main theme was lack of support/advice for those leaving care and in particular the early part of 2016/17 related to the transfer of savings on turning 18.  Children’s Services acted quickly by identifying those that were soon to be 18  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

50.

EDUCATION SERVICES ANNUAL COMPLAINTS REPORT 2016-17 pdf icon PDF 170 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee received a briefing on the Education Services Annual Complaints report for 2016/17.  

 

It should be noted that Maintained Schools and Academies have their own complaints procedure which are dealt with through their Governing Bodies and are not included within the report.

 

The Sub-Committee noted also that schools admissions and exclusions were dealt with through a statutory appeals process and not included in this report.

 

The report outlined one Ombudsman enquiry which did not progress to investigation. The number of complaints received also decreased from 31 in 2015/16 to 18 in 2016/17. The large number in the previous year was as a result of the school expansion programme that resulted in complaints for Education Provision and Commissioning Service, 2016/17 recorded a drop from 7 to 1.

 

The Children & Adults with Disabilities Team complaints also halved and the number of complaints for Education & Inclusion remained at the same level as in 2015/16.

 

The report informed that the main reasons for complaint were related to quality and reliability, late delivery or slow service and availability of the service that referred to delays in completing Educational Health Care Plans and implementing provision, placements at special units and general concerns about schools in particular penalty charges for non-attendance.

 

Members noted that of the complaints received 13 were upheld and 5 were partially upheld. Complaints responded to within timescale was slightly down from 97% in 2015/16 to 72% in 2016/17, which could have been attributed to the structure changes during the year.

 

The report outlined that Members enquiries decreased slightly from 54 in 2015/16 to 49 in 2016/17 with 84% being responded to within timescale, compared to 93% in 2015/16.

 

The Sub-Committee noted that the Education Services continue to use complaints as a feedback resource for learning and the collection of complaints data relating to schools as a means to identify particular themes arising within schools. It was noted that structure changes have had an impact on response times, however as the Service stabilises a return to the high response rates seen in previous years

 

Memnbers noted the update report.

 

51.

HIGH NEEDS REVIEW AND STRATEGY pdf icon PDF 211 KB

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee received a briefing on the High Needs Strategy from the Head of Adult and Children’s Disabilities.

 

It was stated that following the government’s review of high needs funding and the consultation on the new national funding formula, it was considered that a review of how the high needs budget was allocated be undertaken, which also led to a re-drafted the Strategy.

 

The report informed the Sub-Committee that the revised strategy sets out the proposals for the additional capital and allocated High Needs block funding budget from central government, as well as proposals to improve the processes and services we already deliver.

 

The Sub-Committee noted that Local Authorities were required to refresh their Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy to ensure that it was up to date and reflected current and predicted trends. That the strategy should also provide clarity on how, and where, different levels of needs would be met and where the current and future gaps in provision were identified.

 

The Sub-Committee was informed that in refreshing the strategy, the service sought the involvement of early years providers, schools, post-16 institutions, local authority and health staff, as well as children, young people and parents to ensure that the range and quality of provision reflected the needs and aspirations of children and young people in the area.

 

The Sub-Committee noted the following emerging priorities for provision for Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and those requiring alternative provision were:

 

·         To establish a bursary scheme for early years’ providers, schools and post-16 providers to adapt their environment to make their school/ provision more inclusive

·         To increase the Inclusion Fund budget for early years

·         To increase the hourly rate for top up payments to schools for pupils with Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP) to £14.

·         To work closely with schools to reduce the number of exclusions, particularly amongst pupils with EHCPs, alongside monitoring the quality of alternative provision

·         To allocate a small budget for pupils with high medical needs, but who do not have an EHCP

·         To set a target of developing two new Additionally Resourced Provisions (ARP) per year

·         To develop the new free school for children and young people with complex Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and SEMH (Social, Emotional and Mental Health difficulties), for pupils aged from 3 – 16 years

·         To review the designation of special schools, particularly in light of the new free school to ensure all special schools complement each other to meet the range of local need

·         To re-draft the funding matrix for special schools to improve the appropriateness of funding levels linked to complexity of need

·         To improve and increase the offer for pathways to adulthood and support young people and parents to be aspirational and realistic

·         To ensure social care support complements the educational offer locally to support children and young people to meet their outcomes

·         To work more closely with the CCG to align priorities and help children and young people to remain in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

52.

HAVERING SCHOOL RESULTS pdf icon PDF 264 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Acting Assistant Director for Education Services briefed the Sub-Committee on the key areas of performance in each of the key stages of education statistics as at 31 October 2017. 

 

The report detailed that in the Early Years Foundation Stage (pupils aged 5), children in Havering had a strong start in their education, with the percentage of children improving and reaching a Good Level of Development (GLD) in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile exceeding the number found nationally again in 2017.  Havering ranked 52/152 of all local authorities, and 6th amongst our statistical neighbours.  The EYFS measure has been unchanged since 2013 during which Havering attainment had improved consistently.

 

The Key Stage 1 performance indicated that pupils performed well in their Reading, Writing and Mathematics assessments.  Havering had improved consistently and was in the second quartile across all subjects, and fifth amongst statistical neighbours.  However, the ranking dropped against London due to a faster improvement rate.                         

 

The data for Key Stage 2 for pupils aged 11 attainments in Reading, Writing, Mathematics and English spelling, punctuation and grammar tests indicated an excellent performance.

 

Alongside the attainment of pupils, the government also measures the progress they have made from their starting point (their last statutory assessment in the previous Key Stage).  Havering has been steadily improving the progress pupils make through those years and our ranking accordingly. 

 

In 2016 the rating was calculated entirely differently and was expressed as a point score above or below the calculation of the cumulative expected progress of the cohort (the national average will always be represented as 0.0).

 

The figure for 2017 were not available as yet for comparators on the measure,but Havering’s scores were positive, which indicated added value as pupils move through primary education.  The Sub-Committee was informed that it was likely that with the increased progress scores the rankings would be affected positively.

 

At GCSE level Key Stage 4 (students aged 16), with the introduction of Attainment 8 and Progress 8, the changes to the calculation recorded an headline drop in figures  nationally, however, Havering scores fell less than others and as such the ranking improved against all benchmarking groups.

 

In 2016, this first year of the Progress 8 measure, Havering performed poorly against all benchmarking groups, however in In 2017, as a result of concerted improvement activity, Havering’s score had improved, bringing progress in line with state-funded schools nationally, with ranking against all groups improving significantly.

 

The Sub-Committee was informed that at Key Stage 5 (A Level) the results outlined were state-funded Sixth forms but excluded Further Education Colleges.  There were six academy 6th forms in Havering. In 2016, the point score attributed to the A*-E grades were reduced by a factor of 7 (C grade – 30pts previously 210pts).

 

The report detailed that the Average Points Score (APS) per entry increased nationally by 0.2pts, whereas Havering and its statistical neighbours decreased -0.7pts and -1.5pts respectively, however it had no impact on the ranking compared to last year.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.