Agenda item

1. Ms Atkinson, Assistant Director Management Information and Intelligence, introduced the report, providing the Committee with an overview of the performance data of the individual indicators. 

2. In response to comments and questions it was said: 

a.    When asked about the high levels of red indications in Thanet district scorecard for Integrated Children’s Services, Ms Atkinson explained that there was regional variation in performance, which was expected and regularly reviewed by local teams. In addition to the score card, operational dashboards were used by teams and service managers to review performance at both team and individual worker level. It was highlighted that recruitment challenges or staff absence could significantly impact performance and this was therefore closely monitored. Within the overall Kent performance, underlying regional variation was always present and managers were engaged to understand the reasons and context. Where issues were identified, these were often supported by audit findings, which led to action plans including staff retention and recruitment measures, with a range of mitigations put in place to address concerns. 

b.    Mr Chapman, Interim Deputy Director for Education: Access and Inclusion, explained that there was a strict criteria for determining whether a 20 week assessment was considered to have been completed on time. A draft plan was issued to parents approximately three to four weeks prior to consultation and discussions. A legally compliant plan was then returned to parents and made available to the school within the 20 week time frame 

c.    It was clarified that the six week timescale for the return of educational psychology assessment requests was an internal performance metric. This was set because this information was critical to progressing the remainder of the process. The educational psychology report was a key professional assessment outlining the child's needs and without it officers would have been unable to complete the statutory 20 week process. It was confirmed that a return within six weeks meant a completed professional report had been provided and made available to officers. Mr Chapman explained that there had recently been constraints negatively impacting 20 week completion rates, largely due to the national shortage of educational psychologists. Significant work had been undertaken within the service to prioritise the most complex cases allocate additional time to them, enabling subsequent stages of the process to continue. Members were advised that performance had since improved, with backlogs largely cleared and that both educational psychologists and assessment officers were now in a stronger position to continue improving performance against both key performance indicators. 

d.    A Member highlighted the significant improvement in the number of Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) cases open past the 20 week time frame. Whilst acknowledging the positive aspects of this, the Member highlighted the number of outstanding cases across districts were slowly increasing and asked whether this reflected new demand rather than historic cases. Ms Atkinson explained that demand remained high, with a significant number of referrals received each month and a consistent seasonal pattern observed annually. Members were advised that while the data presented in the report covered the period up to the end of November 2025, there had been a notable shift in performance since that time, with more recent live system data showing improvement compared to the figures shown. The cases exceeding the 20 week timescale were not historic cases but had gone over due to ongoing issues such as securing appropriate school placements. Although these cases were beyond 20 weeks, they were not considered old and these figures were being closely monitored. 

RESOLVED that the Committee noted the report.