Agenda and minutes

It was agreed that all items were Part I and would be discussed in public.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 January 2016 be agreed as a correct record.

Officers introduced an update on the status of the Children and Young People's Social Care Service Improvement Plan. The report provided a summary of the status of the Plan and was one of the quarterly updates that was due to be considered by the Committee. The Plan was substantially complete and was on track to meet the service objectives set in March 2015.

There were two main elements to the report presented. The first was the Service Improvement Plan itself which was a live document that would be regularly updated. The second was a six month progress report, which showed the progress made, to 8 February 2016, against each of the 7 work streams / 52 actions contained in the Plan.

Members felt that the format of information provided was much improved and commended the progress made in improving Children's Social Care.  The figures included in the Quarterly Casefile Audit Outcomes graphs in Appendix 3 included aggregated data.  Although it was acknowledged that progress had been made, to provide Members with a clearer picture and enable the Committee to adequately monitor the extent of this progress, Members requested that data be provided on a month by month basis rather than quarterly.  In addition, officers would provide Members with a more comprehensive glossary of acronyms. 

The Plan was now supported by a dedicated project manager, who was responsible for monitoring the Plan and progress made against each of the actions within it. Steady progress was being made against the actions included in the Plan, with 40 having been completed and 12 in progress (an increase from 48% of the actions completed to 77% since the previous quarter). The actions were being monitored on a monthly basis. In addition, a copy of the Service dashboard (at at 1 February 2016) and a glossary of terms used had been appended to the report. 

Although the original intention had been to include the Early Intervention Service in the current Plan, it would now be included in the 2016/2017 Service Plan and would incorporate recommendations from the major review. This would ensure that it covered the whole service.

Following the Committee meeting in July 2015, Members had requested greater transparency and a clearer audit trail surrounding changes made to the Plan. This request had been accommodated in the Action Plans presented to the Committee. The information provided had been made clearer and a 'traffic light' system adopted in order to show the progress made.

Significant progress had been made in the recruitment of permanent Team Managers and Service Managers and it was noted that the Senior Management Team would comprise permanent members of staff only from 22 February 2016. The nationwide recruitment process to appoint social workers had featured some of the Council's existing social workers in the advertising campaign and had resulted in approximately 65% of staff in the service area (excluding Skylakes) now being permanent. This had helped to stabilise the service and facilitate improvements. 

It had been anticipated that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

It was noted that this meeting had not incorporated a witness session as it was during the school holidays and that the Committee would need to be mindful of the holidays when undertaking reviews in the future. 

Confirmation was sought regarding which head teachers would be attending the Committee's next meeting in to provide evidence for the minor review. 

The Chairman advised that there was an expectation that a wide range of individuals be included in each of the Committee's reviews (rather than seeing the same faces).  This would help the Committee to gather a broader range of information

RESOLVED: That:

1.    Members be advised which head teachers would be attending the Committee's next meeting on 16 March 2016;

2.    An LSCB update be incorporated into the Work Programme.

3.    The Work Programme be noted.

Members queried whether any changes had been made to the Standards and Quality in Education 2014/2015 report after it had been considered by the Committee, before it was included on the Cabinet agenda for the meeting on 18 February 2016. The Democratic Services Manager would contact Dan Kennedy to establish whether there had been any changes. 

At its meeting on 13 January 2016, the Committee resolved that Early Years and Foundation Stage data be circulated to the Committee, broken down by educational planning area. The Democratic Services Manager would contact Mr Kennedy to establish whether this information had been circulated. 

RESOLVED: That:

1.    The Democratic Services Manager contact Mr Dan Kennedy to establish whether there were any changes to the Standards and Quality in Education 2014/2015 report considered by Cabinet on 18 February 2016.

2.    The Democratic Services Manager contact Mr Kennedy to establish whether the Early Years and Foundation Stage data had been circulated to the Committee, broken down by educational planning area.

3.    The Forward Plan be noted.