Agenda item

The Committee received the report on the key priority indicator information within Children’s Services, as detailed with the circulated report, for indicators:

·       Priority Indicator 5 – Number of looked after children by placement type.

·       Priority Indicator 6 – the number of children who have been discharged from care and then subsequently re-admitted.

·       Priority Indicator 7 – the number of cases held within the service categorised by status – child protection, looked after or child in need.

·       Priority Indicator 8 – The number of cases “stepped down” from Children and Young People Services to Team Around the Family.

·       Priority Indicator 9 – The percentage of children looked after during the year with a Personal Education Plan within 20 school days of entering care or joining a new school.

Members were informed that progress continued to be made by the Service. It was highlighted that the number of Looked After Children in Neath Port Talbot was 378 at 31 March 2016 and this was the lowest since June 2010.

For Priority Indicator 5 it was noted that there had been a slight increase in residential placements and even though it was small numbers they were high costs. Reassurances were given that this was being carefully monitored by the Senior Management Team.

In regards to Priority Indicator 6 it was highlighted that two children had been readmitted into care in March 2016. The reasons for this were explained to Members and had been looked at by the Senior Management Team. Members noted that there had been an increase in children being readmitted during August and asked if there were any trends during school holidays. Officers explained that there did not seem to be any trends at holiday times. However, the Service would expect to see more issues at those times and they would continue to monitor this to identify if there were trends appearing.

Priority Indicator 8 outlined that there had been an increase in the number of cases that had been stepped down to the Team Around the Family. Members asked why there had been a significant increase in stepped down cases between February and March. In addition were the cases that were stepped down and those stepped up the same cases, as they would be concerned with families having to work with different professionals. It was explained that circumstances for families may change and there was potential for families to reach the threshold again to be stepped up. It was agreed that officers would look into this and report back to Members. Members asked if there continued to be cases stepped down to the Team Around the Family did the Team have the capacity to deal with them. Officers explained that the Team would work with families until they were no longer needed and the cases would be closed, which would result in the figures stabilising. The current figures did not show the number of families leaving the system. Caseloads were monitored regularly and the necessary steps would be taken if more capacity was required. It was highlighted that there were no waiting lists for the Team at the moment and the data on interventions indicated that they were having a positive impact. It was agreed that a report would be brought to a future meeting that included the data and outcomes for the work of the Team Around the Family.

Members noted that for Priority Indicator 9 there had been delays in some looked after children receiving a Personal Education Plan within 20 days and asked why this was the case. Officers explained that this tended to occur when a child changed schools and more work was required to address this. It was noted that care plans would be in place for those children.

Following scrutiny, it was agreed that the report be noted.