Agenda item

Mrs D Shkalla, Head of Management Information, was in attendance for this item.

1.         Mrs Shkalla introduced the report and explained that it contained additional elements not included in previous years’ reports, eg comparative information for each indicator from Kent’s statistical neighbours.  It had been prepared using Government statistics for the period April 2010 to March 2011, to which had been added Kent’s progress since March, following the implementation of the Improvement Plan, to ensure a full picture is presented.  Key issues highlighted were as follows:-

• The rate of successful adoptions had not been high in the last year, but the reasons for this have been much documented, eg at meetings of the Corporate Parenting Panel, and action is in place to address and improve the rate. It is hoped that Kent can raise its rate to get very near the national target by the end of the year;

• The number of children subject to a Plan has fallen, which is good, and Kent’s aim is that Plans will only be established for children who most need them.

• The number of looked after children (LAC) is still rising. District plans are currently been scrutinised to ensure focused management is in place to achieve this target.

• The Children’s Services Improvement Plan had brought much progress against national performance indicators.

2.         Mrs Shkalla responded to a number of comments and questions from Members, and the following points were highlighted:-

a)         caseloads are now within the target of 20 cases per social worker.  The number of unallocated cases is monitored weekly and exceptions are reported to Mr Ireland and Mrs Imray, the Interim Head of Specialist Children’s Services;

b)         a central referral unit has added robustness and led to a welcome reduction in the number of referrals, meaning that those which do go forward are at an appropriate level.  The volume of referrals is at a safe level, but more work is required to continue this reduction;

c)         workflow is tracked, and the number of cases which require ‘no further action’ (NFA) or have ‘other  outcomes’ etc are monitored by the Senior Management team and all staff in SCS.  An audit of referrals leading to NFA cases was undertaken five months ago and tabled at the Improvement Board. Members asked that future reports to this Committee include this information, following an additional audit on NFA cases and NFA from referral, with an explanation of why no further action was required and what outcome these cases had; and

d)         the Children’s Services Improvement Panel will be considering a report of the number of re-referrals, and Members asked that this report also be supplied to this Committee. The number of re-referrals is an indicator of the appropriateness of the way in which each case was handled upon being first referred. 

3.         Mrs Whittle reported that this would be Mrs Shkalla’s last POSC meeting before leaving at the end of January to start a new life in Australia.  She placed on record her thanks for and appreciation of Mrs Shkalla’s work to improve the quality and transparency of Children’s Services data available to Members and the public. Members supported these comments and added their best wishes to Mrs Shkalla for the future.

4.         RESOLVED that:-

a)         the information set out in the report and given in response to comments and questions be noted, with thanks;

b)         future reports to this Committee include the information on referrals and cases  requiring ‘no further action’, and POSC Members be sent a copy of the report on re-referrals, as requested in paragraphs c) and d) above; and

c)         Children’s Services Scorecard information (produced monthly) be made available to the Committee.