Agenda item

Matthew Wagner (Chief Analyst, Strategy, Policy, Relationships & Corporate Assurance) was in attendance for this item.

1.    Mr Wagner outlined the report for Quarter 4 (Q4) which set out the performance data up to the end of March 2024. Mr Wagner said that out of the 38 KPIs contained within the Quarterly Performance Report (QPR), 17 achieved or exceeded target (rated Green), 11 achieved or exceeded the floor standard but did not meet the target (rated Amber), and 10 did not meet floor standard (rated Red). The direction of travel analysis indicated 9 with a positive trend (2 more than the previous Quarter); 20 were stable or with no clear trend (one more than the previous Quarter), and 9 were showing a negative trend (2 fewer than the previous Quarter). Mr Wagner addressed the KPIs assessed as Red and the projected direction of travel, along with the proposed indicators for 2024/25.

2.    Further to comments and questions from Members it was noted:

·         In response to the (Red) Governance and Law KPI regarding the % of Freedom of Information Act (FoI) requests completed within 20 days – A Member training event was held to enable greater understanding of the challenges surrounding FoIs which was well received. The principal challenge remained however in managing the increased volume of FOIs received with the same level of resource.

·         In response to the (Red) Governance and Law KPI regarding KPI concerning % of Data Protection Act (DPA) Subject Access requests completed within statutory timescales – the direction of travel continued to be on a declining trend; however, it was noted that there remained significant challenge in meeting the statutory timescales due to the inaccessibility of electronic files, with a majority of records (69,000) held in paper archive form. It was an extremely onerous task and was one of the principal reasons for delay. Mr Jeffrey paid tribute to the officers for their continued hard work despite increased demand.

·         In response to the (Red) Customer Services KPI regarding the % of complaints responded to within timescale – it was noted that there had been a 10% increase in the number of complaints received compared to the previous year and this was again being managed with the same level of resource.

·         In relation to the (Green) Growth, Economic Development and Communities KPI regardingthe Number of homes brought back to market through No Use Empty (NUE) – tribute was paid to Mr Grimshaw and the team for their excellent work in bringing both commercial and residential properties back into use which generated revenue through taxes.

·         In response to the (Red) Education & Wider Early Help KPI concerning the % of Education, Health Care Plans (EHCPs) issued within 20 weeks – the indicator was expected to remain below the target while the service balanced completion of the backlog of older cases for those children and their families who had been waiting the longest. Prior to the internal changes made in April 2023, the oldest case identified was 119 weeks; however, due to reorganisation within the team and the implementation of new ways of working, the oldest case to date was 44 weeks old, with an expectation to reduce this to 40 weeks by the end of June 2024. Overall staff output in processing new requests had considerably increased and this would be reflected in later performance reports.

·         In response to the (Red) Education & Wider Early Help KPI concerning the % of pupils (with EHCP’s) being placed in independent or out of county special schools – a number of significant reforms were underway and the KPIs presented in the report emphasised the drive for those required changes and to ensure performance levels were brought back to an acceptable level. Mr Love noted the recent consultation launch on the Special Schools Review.

·         In response to the (Red) Children’s Social Care & Early Help KPI concerning the % of case holding posts filled by permanent qualified social workers – KCC expanded the number of Frontline Pods for September 2024 which was a recruitment programme aimed to fast track graduates into Social Work training. One pod was initially established in the county in September 2023 to analyse the methodology along with KCC’s own apprenticeship programme and in-house Step-up to Social Work initiative. From September 2024 there will be a pod in each of the four areas of Kent. Together with the Step-Up programme and apprenticeships, the pool of qualified Social Workers continued to increase.

·         In relation to Children in Care, it was noted that KCC’s figures remained within the lowest quartile of children per 10,000 which was a testament to the team of Social Workers and Early Help Workers in Kent, ensuring that children stayed safely within their families with the correct support in place.

·         With regard to the percentage of Children in Care (excluding UASC) placed in KCC in-house foster care or with family/friends, KCC had to make provision within its in-house fostering service as a result of High Court judgments and it was therefore paramount that work continued to progress at pace to open a reception centre and new children’s home estates in the coming 4 to 6 months to reduce the demand on KCCs fostering resource. Furthermore, KCC was an established partner in the South East Fostering Hub Network, whereby all interested parties could access support in meeting the needs of complex children and was heavily aligned to the work being undertaken by health and the Ministry of Justice.

·         In response to the (Red) Environment and Transport KPI regarding the % of satisfied customers with routine Highways service delivery, 100 call back survey – it was proposed that this be removed from the list of KPIs reported on and to reallocate this to be monitored under the new reporting tool. The new innovative system would ensure that residents could raise issues and receive automated prompt updates.

3.    RESOLVED to agree the recommendations as outlined in the report