Agenda item

Michael Walder, Senior Policy and Performance Officer, attended and presented a report setting out details of corporate performance monitoring for the 3rd quarter of 2015/16 (October – December).

It was reported that a robust performance management framework would underpin the delivery of the new Corporate Strategy from 2016/17. A suite of key performance indicators would be established to monitor and manage the delivery of strategic outcomes, reported as metrics with targets.

For the interim period, regular corporate monitoring of performance across the authority as a whole continued, with the production of quarterly reports and analysis of corporate performance. Quarterly Quality of Service reports against the themes of Start Well, Live Well and Age Well were being produced, giving an overview of performance, along with Highlight reports for other areas of the organisation.

It was reported that each Quality of Service and Highlight report gave details of performance against Performance Indicators for that quarter. A performance summary was set out in the report.

An overview of the Quarter 3 budget position was provided at Appendix 'A' so performance could be viewed within the associated financial context.

It was noted that the latest Ofsted Post Inspection update was provided at Appendix 'B' and updates would continue to feature in the quarterly Corporate Performance Monitoring report going forward.

Reference was made to the suite of indicators for Start Well, Live Well and Age Well. The main points to note were:

·  By 10^th March all children looked after would have a Personal Education Plan.

·  The targets for carriageway and footway defects, street lighting fault repair times and the recycling rates have been met.

·  The performance regarding personal Budgets and Direct Payments is improving but will improve still further with the recalibration of the 'Resource Allocation Scoring' project in spring 2016.

Richard Cooke, Health Equity, Welfare and Partnerships Manager, attended and presented the Ofsted Post Inspection update.

A number of actions have been put in place since the last report to CCPI on 10 December 2015, these included:

·  All Children in Need (CiN) cases have now been audited and appropriate levels of intervention (ongoing, escalated or closure) had been put in place to ensure children are safe.

·  A key message from Ofsted regarding Children's Services in Lancashire was that "it is not all broken" and there was a need to maintain focus on the good areas.

·  An Improvement Board had been established, accountable to the Department for Education (DfE) which would meet on a monthly basis and be responsible for closely monitoring the development and delivery of an agreed improvement plan. The Improvement Plan would be submitted to the DfE on 4^th March 2016.

·  Tony Crane, the Independent Chair of the Improvement Board and specialist children's services improvement advisor for the DfE, would be submitting a diagnostic to the DfE, which would establish a detailed understanding of the capacity and capability of Lancashire's ability to improve children's services.

·  The outcome may be received in 3 or 4 weeks and could be either in the form of an improvement notice to the County Council which would specify areas of concern, level of improvement required and how progress would be assessed and reported, or it could be in the form of more direct intervention, which may mean parts of children's services being run by an external organisation or Trust.

·  Ofsted have agreed to spend 2 days a month in Lancashire to undertake further scrutiny and analysis of areas identified within the Improvement Plan.

·  The children's services pathway review initial findings from the team from Newton, indicate that there are opportunities to improve the effectiveness of social care practice and increase the amount of time social workers spend in direct contact with families. Their findings and recommendations have now reported to Management Team and will be presented to Cabinet soon.

·  A Children's Services Scrutiny committee has been established and from March would meet every six weeks.

·  There has been a focus on recruitment in children's social care and in most areas all vacancies have been filled. Management team have agreed to further social care capacity that was currently being recruited to.

·  A full review of all pathway plans had commenced to ensure all Care Leavers were receiving appropriate and effective support.

·  A concern raised by Ofsted was the ability to access timely and accurate data from LiquidLogic Children's System (LCS). A health check was undertaken by colleagues from LiquidLogic and practitioners and a report has been produced that outlines amendments to the system that will streamline the process. Support is also being provided by Blackburn with Darwen and Bolton.

Resolved: - That the report now presented be noted.