Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor R Wright, and Councillor S Roe – Executive Support Councillor for Children’s Services, Community Safety, Procurement and Migration.

Martin Kyle, the Church Representative, and Emile van der Zee, the Parent Governor Representative, also gave apologies.

No interests were declared at this point in proceedings.

RESOLVED

         That the minutes of the last meeting held on 16 June 2023 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The Chairman announced that Dr Emile van der Zee had been elected as a new Parent Governor Representative and looked forward to his attendance at the Committee meeting in September.

Additionally, the Chairman had attended the Lincolnshire Education Excellence Awards which celebrated the exceptional commitment and talent within Lincolnshire’s educational sector. The Committee was informed that the Young People’s Learning Provision won the Community Involvement Award, which was a Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) commissioned programme which supported young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) to enter employment.

(To receive a report from Heather Sandy, Executive Director – Children’s Services, which enables the Committee to review the judgement outcome and findings from the recent Ofsted ‘Inspecting Local Authority Children’s Services’ (ILACS) Short Inspection of Children’s Services in Lincolnshire, undertaken by Ofsted in April 2023)

The Committee received a report and presentation from Heather Sandy, Executive Director – Children’s Services, which provided an overview into the findings and judgements from the recent Ofsted inspection of Children’s Services. The Council’s Service were judged ‘overall’ as ‘Outstanding’, and the following matters were subsequently reported:

·       LCC was one of 11 out of the 150 Authorities that were rated overall ‘Outstanding’ nationally.

·       The impact of leaders on social work and practice with children and families was rated ‘Outstanding’. Young People (YP) were well supported by a strong corporate and political commitment seen through the development of several new children’s homes. Additionally, the Service had successfully responded to challenges resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, and Lincolnshire was influential in sector-led improvements and the Family Hub programme.

·       The experiences and progress of children who required help and protection were rated ‘Outstanding’. YP benefitted from comprehensive Early Help Assessments, regular and well-attended child protection plan review meetings, and good relationships with practitioners and social workers who centered their voice, and there was a strong partnership approach to help children at risk of child criminal exploitation such as Future4Me.

·       The experiences and progress of Children in Care (CiC) were rated ‘Outstanding’ and resulted in their lives significantly improving. CiC received good educational support and maintained good relationships with Social Workers to ensure their views informed their care plans. Most foster placements were high-quality, and foster parents received exceptional support.

·       The experiences and progress of care leavers were rated ‘Good’. This was a new judgement area, and it was noted that most care-experienced young people were well supported by care workers and could access a range of special advice and support for their emotional and mental wellbeing. Most care leavers were also in accommodation that met their needs.

·       It was acknowledged that the quality and consistency of planning and case records for care leavers could improve; care leavers were a commissioned service delivered in partnership by Barnardos, and it was assured LCC was currently working with them on conducting a service review.

·       The offer to care-experienced young people aged 21 and over also needed to improve, and it was assured immediate actions were underway to address this, as well as a Service Review to ensure the correct level of service was in place.

During consideration of the report, the following points were highlighted:

·       The Committee congratulated Children’s Services on the overall ‘Outstanding’ classification.

·       Ofsted identified that time scales pertaining to actions in case work could improve, and the Executive Director – Children’s Services assured an improvement plan had been developed and was due to be considered by the Directorate Leadership Team (DLT). Additional scrutiny and consideration by the Committee in the future was welcomed.

·       Barnardos provided LCC with commissioned guidance and advice and both organisations were assessing their quality assurance processes for care leavers; this collaboration allowed a continuous cycle of improvement through implementing robust standards, particularly when documenting case notes.

·       Members were informed that the offer given to care-experienced YP aged 21 was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

(To receive a report from Jo Kavanagh, Assistant Director – Children’s Services which provides a summary of the Service Level Performance against the Success Framework 2022-23 for Quarter 4)

Members received a report from Martin Smith, Assistant Director – Children’s Education, and Sarah Nardone, Assistant Director – Sector Led Improvement which provided a summary of the Service Level Performance against the Success Framework 2023-2024 for Quarter 4. The following matters were reported:

Children are healthy and safe

·        Juvenile first-time offending was reported to be 108 which exceeded the target of 125 and this figure had reduced from the last quarter due to the work of the Joint Diversionary Panel.

·       Children in Care (CiC) per 10,000 children was 49.1 which exceeded the target of 51.9. It was noted this target had been increased to accommodate the impact of the National Transfer Scheme.

·       Children subject to a Child Protection Plan (CPP) was 390 which exceeded the target of 370. High figures were welcomed for this KPI as CPP processes were recognised as acknowledging risks to YP.

·       The average time taken to match a child to an adoptive family was 165 days, which exceeded the target of 175 days.

·       The average time taken to move a child from care to an adoptive family was 505 days, which fell below the target of 450 days. This was attributed to a legacy of impact from court delays from the pandemic

·       Juvenile re-offending was 45.5% which fell below the target of 37.9% because there was a tradeoff between reoffending rates and lower first-time offending rates. Certain cases had a significant impact on data due to the small number of children in the cohort.

Learn and achieve

·        The data for these measures was from 2021 due to a delay in national data being reported.

·       Permanent exclusions were 0.07%, which exceeded the target of 0.11%. Low exclusion rates were attributed to abnormal school operating circumstances during the pandemic which rendered exclusions unlikely.

·       The achievement gap between pupils eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) and their non-FSM eligible peers was 31.1% which did not achieve the target of 30.2%. The impact of the pandemic on school experiences exacerbated complexities around examinations at KS4, although this gap had closed by 1.5% since last quarter. Assurance was provided that the Education Strategic Plan was making good progress.

Readiness for Adult Life

·        According to Ofsted, 94% of Care Leavers were in suitable accommodation which achieved the target and young people were making informed choices about their living situations. There was a small number in unsuitable arrangements, although they were in agreement with them.

·       16–17-year-old CiC participating in learning was 83.2% which fell below the target of 90%, although this was an 8% improvement from Quarter 3, and the work of the Virtual School on student participation was noted.

Members were encouraged to review Appendix A which outlined the Service level Performance Indicators, Service Areas and targets.

During consideration of the report, the following was noted:

·       The Assistant Director – Children’s Education noted that FSM attainment was a key concern of the service moving forward, as well as reducing the time children are waiting to complete care arrangements. Additionally, the Executive Director  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

(To receive a report from Tracy Johnson, Senior Scrutiny Officer, which enables the Committee to consider and comment on the contents of its work programme to ensure that its scrutiny activity is focused where it can be of greatest benefit)

Members received a report from Tracy Johnson, Senior Scrutiny Officer, which enabled the Committee to consider and comment on the contents of its work programme to ensure that its scrutiny activity was focused where it can be of greatest benefit. The following was noted:

·       An exempt report on Education Provision Planning was added to the agenda for the 20 October meeting, which was a pre-decision scrutiny item prior to a decision by the Executive Councillor for Children’s Services, Community Safety, Procurement and Migration.

·       It was requested that an item be added regarding mental health service transitions. The Senior Scrutiny Officer highlighted that the Committee would be receiving a report on the children and young people mental health transformation programme on 1 December and would request officers include a section on transitions.

RESOLVED

             That the Work Programme be approved subject to the above amendment.