Agenda item

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. The service had also developed greater visibility and expectation around Independent Review Officer challenging permanency planning.

·         Recruitment of Foster Carer - Despite the recruitment of new in-house foster carers being ahead of schedule, the total number of in-house foster carers was lower than target. The innovation programme would re-design the fostering offer, particularly for specialist carers willing to foster 11-17 year olds with complex needs. The innovation programme officially launched in Q2 and the current plan is to have 4 specialist foster carers in place by the end of the financial year, it is expected that performance would improve in Q3 and Q4.

·         The percentage of looked after children “Staying Put” was based on the number of young people who ceased to be looked after on their 18th birthday who have a foster care placement and remain living with that carer.  By the end of September, two 18 year olds cease to be LAC who were eligible for Staying Put, however only one remained in placement. It was stated that work was underway to implement pathway plans for all relevant young people eligible for leaving care services. The plan would help to identify at an earlier stage young people who may be eligible for staying put and ensure that conversations happen at the earliest opportunity. At the end of October, the proportion of care leavers “staying put” had risen to 66.7%, which was slightly below the target of 70%.

·         Care Proceedings – A substantial amount of energy and commitment was going into achieving a reduction in timescales of care proceedings.  There had been notable shift towards shared responsibility to reduce delay by Children’s Services as well as the Courts. In Quarter 1, Havering’s average timescale for concluding proceedings was 40.9 weeks.  In Quarter 2, it had reduced to 34 weeks.  It was noted that a number of long running cases which concluded in October 2017 would negatively affect performance in the coming months.

The Sub-Committee noted the performance report.