Agenda item

Report attached

The Sub-Committee received the Quarter Two performance indicators (PIs) update. The PIs are the standards by which performance of services are measured within the Council. The update provided an overview of performance against the eight performance indicators selected for monitoring by the Sub-Committee in 2019/20. 

The report outlined that seven of the indicators have been given a RAG status; two have a status of Green, one had Amber and four indicators have a Red.

The report provided the following highlights and potential areas for improvement:

•      The Number of children missing from educationin Quarter 2 was three, which was the same as the previous quarter and five fewer children than at the same point last year.

•      The  latest Department for Education scorecard performance (for the period December 2018 to February 2019) places Havering in the top quintile nationally for the Percentage of 16-18 year olds who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), or not known,  with a three month average performance of 3.1%. This compared to the national performance of 5.5% and a regional average of 4.8% (lower is better). The continued strong performance in Havering was as a result of strong post-16 partnerships with education providers through the termly sub-group meetings with  local apprenticeship providers and Participation Education, Training & Employment panel (PETE group) - an operational panel which case manages Havering ‘s NEET cohort in partnership with local providers, to progress them into participation.

•      There have been declines in the number of apprentices recruited in the borough in line with national and regional trends. Havering have seen a greater number of starts than the average for Outer London boroughs. Apprenticeships continue to be promoted as a post-16 option to Havering residents, there was an increased focus on apprenticeships for 2019/20 through the National Apprenticeship Week activities planned.

The areas of Improvements included:     

•      The percentages of Initial Child Protection Conferences held within 15 days have improved this quarter but remains outside of the accepted target tolerance. Cases have been referred for conference late by the social work teams are followed up with group managers to review the reasons and address any issues. Other reasons for late conferences this year have included lack of reports or representation from key agencies, and late reports from social workers. This area remains closely monitored by senior managers within the service and improved performance is anticipated in the second half of the year.

•      The percentage of looked-after children who ceased to be looked after as a result of permanency was behind its target. There were three potential adoption matches currently being considered by the new service, a number of special guardianship assessments have been filed with the court and several of these are anticipated to result in orders being granted when proceedings conclude.

•      Foster Carer recruitment across London and nationwide remains a challenge. In Havering there have been 2 new in-house foster  carers approved during the first half of the year.  The number of prospective carer households (at both stage 1 and 2 of the recruitment process) has more than doubled since the beginning of Quarter 2 and there are currently 10 households in the process of being assessed. Foster carer allowances are also being reviewed to ensure that these remain competitive in comparison to other local authorities. The service was also exploring what additional benefits other LAs offer, which the Council might consider in order to avoid losing carers to other agencies (e.g. Council tax exemption; parking charges exemption).

•      The percentage of care leavers in education, employment or training(EET) remain outside of the accepted tolerance but a significant improvement on Quarter 1’s outturn of 43%.  Members noted that there was on-going support to care leavers in the form of an EET Pathway Co-ordinator and targeted engagement activities for young people entering care post-16 and already disengaged with EET.

The Sub-Committee noted the report.