Agenda item

To present the report of the Head of Children and Families’ Services.

The report of the Head of Children and Families’ Services outlining progress to date in implementing the Service Improvement Plan was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

The Assistant Chief Executive (Governance and Business Process Transformation)/ Director of Social Services reported that since the Service Improvement Plan was created in February, 2017 as a result of the CIW inspection of October and November, 2016 the pace of improvement within the Service has been significant with 13 of the 21 action points having now progressed to Green status. No action points are showing as Red and only 2 are on Amber with 6 on Yellow. The two amber areas relate to improving the quality of practice and reviewing all children who are looked after to ensure outcome- based care and support plans are in place in securing permanence. The Officer said that the Service is aware that some aspects will require more time to become fully compliant and these have been the subject of discussion in the Children’s Services Improvement Panel which continues to closely monitor progress against the Plan. It is envisaged that work on the Plan will continue in order to ensure that all the action points raised by CIW progress to Green status by March, 2019.

In addition, there continues to be improvement against Performance Indicators during the last quarters as demonstrated by the table in paragraph 3 of the report which shows the improvement during Quarters 1 and 2 of 2018/19 compared to the cumulative figures for 2017/18 for the national and local PIs listed. The Service is committed to ensuring that this improvement is maintained and taken still further.

The Head of Children and Families’ Services highlighted that as well as focusing on bringing the Amber and Yellow ragged areas to a Green status, the Service is also keeping a watching brief over the “Green” areas to ensure that no slippage occurs. The Service has continued to advertise and recruit experienced Social Workers with several appointments having been made leaving only one vacant Social Worker post that needs to be filled. Although the Service continues to employ agency staff who are engaged on an over-establishment basis as approved by the Executive to provide support to newly qualified Social Workers, the reliance on agency staff to fill vacant posts has greatly reduced.

The Committee in considering the report acknowledged the significant strides made by the Children and Families’ Services in addressing the areas highlighted by CIW in its inspection of 2016 as requiring improvement, and it thanked the Service’s staff for their collective effort, and also the Director of Social Services and Head of Service for their leadership in guiding the Service to this point. The Committee also made the following points –

•           The Committee noted that the financial pressures that come with rising demand are affecting Children and Families’ Services leading to overspending; the Committee sought clarification of how the Service assesses its likely financial position for the remainder of the current financial year.

The Assistant Chief Executive (Governance and Business Process Transformation)/ Director of Social Services said that the situation remains challenging with the number of children requiring care having increased further in the past 4 months. The Legacy Team established to reassess historical cases where the Service may not have responded appropriately has identified cases where the Service’s original input needs to be reviewed as a result of which over 20 additional children have been brought into care bringing the total number of children and young people whom the Authority currently looks after to 161. This has cost implications for the Service. The Service is putting in place plans to increase the availability of local placements via the Small Group Homes model and an enhanced Foster Carers package which should help to bring down costs in the long-term. However, the Service’s budget remains under pressure.

•           The Committee sought clarification of the Authority’s position with regard to the number of children and young people it looks after comparative to that of similar sized local authorities. The Committee further sought an update on the work of the Resilient Families Team which was established to provide early intervention for children and their families in order to limit more intense and costly interventions down the line when children are brought into care.

The Assistant Chief Executive (Governance and Business Process Transformation)/ Director of Social Services said that figures for children in care per 10,000 of the population are produced annually along with the average cost per county. When comparing the data for local authorities it is sometimes difficult to draw out a clear pattern because authorities may have different models or they may be at different stages of modernising their structures and working practices so the figures can vary from authority to authority. The Service in Anglesey has been clear about focusing on the needs locally while being mindful of the national statistics – the county’s figures for the number of children it looks after have been historically very low; they are now up to a level expected by the Authority and CIW if not slightly higher because the Authority is playing catch-up with regard to children who may have required care sooner and are now entering the system. Children who come into care remain in care for some time; where possible and where it is safe to do so the Service endeavours to return children to their families.

The Head of Children and Families’ Services in clarifying the work of the Resilient Families Team said that the team has worked with 58 children many of whom would likely have come into care had not the team intervened early to work intensively with their families. The cost of the Resilient Families Team is in the region of £250k which when balanced against the cost of a single care placement which can also amount to £250k demonstrates the value of the resource in terms of both effectiveness and value for money.

The Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer said that the Service’s financial position over the past two years has been challenging. The Service was overspent by £1.78m at the end of 2017/18. In anticipation of the continuation of the pressures on the service budget, the Service was given additional funding of around £300k from the Council Tax increase for 2018/19. Those expectations have been realised with the figures for Quarter 1 of the 2018/19 financial year forecasting an end of year overspend   of £1.28m; by the end of Quarter 2 the predicted overspend had risen to £2.03m. A further revision to the end of October, 2018 shows the figure to be £2.07m. It is therefore hoped that the overspend has peaked at around the £2m mark and that the implementation of the Small Group Homes scheme and the enhanced package of benefits for Foster Carers approved by the Executive will start to yield results and help contain the overspend by the end of the financial year. In forecasting ahead, the Finance Service basis its projections on a worst-case scenario taking into account children who are known to Children’s Services but who are not yet in care – if these children continue not to require care then the overspend will be reduced. For 2019/20 the Children and Families’ Services have been allocated an additional £1.4m in the draft budget with the reasoning being that the budget uplift and the Service’s own plans for managing expenditure will together bring down the overspend to a point where spending and the service budget more closely align meaning that from 2019/20, the Service is expected to operate within its budget. It has been made clear that in light of the Council’s reducing reserves, it is difficult to justify making available any further additional funding to the Children and Families’ Services unless there is a further significant increase in the number of children needing to be looked after.

•           The Committee noted that the Christmas period can bring additional problems or intensify existing problems within families. The Committee sought clarification of the Service’s arrangements for dealing with children who might require additional care at this time or be in need of care at short notice or in an emergency given that meeting those needs is likely to add to the pressures on the Service. The Committee noted the introduction of the Universal credit system to Anglesey in December as an added complication at what is already a difficult time for some families.

The Head of Children and Families’ Services said that although the Service has plans and is ready for Christmas and will be staffed over the period, historically there has been no major increase in referrals during this time. The Service always plans in advance of any significant events, holidays etc in the calendar year where circumstances can lead to or increase family tensions potentially creating more referrals. The Service’s staff have also received training in relation to Universal Credit and are equipped to provide support for those families who are known to Social Services; the Service will however check referrals to establish whether there is any increase due to families experiencing financial difficulties or trying to come to grips with Universal Credit.

The Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer said that the effects of Universal Credit are likely to be felt gradually over a period of time as individuals transfer to the new system during which time also services will be able to improve their understanding of the impact as they see the effects on the numbers transferring. The most significant change is likely to be seen at the end of the summer as seasonal work ends and individuals making benefit claims make those claims under the Universal Credit system. The Finance Service is planning on the basis of an incremental increase in the meantime with the potential for a sharper increase at the end of the summer.

It was resolved that -

•           The Corporate Scrutiny Committee is satisfied both with the steps taken to progress the implementation of the Service Improvement Plan and the pace of progress and also with the pace of progress and improvements made to date within Children and Families’ Services, and that

•           The Committee recommends the report to the Executive.

NO ADDITIONAL ACTION WAS PROPOSED