The Performance Manager will present the Quarter 3 Performance Report, attached.

The Performance Manager drew Members’ attention to the report detailing the Quarter 3 performance and gave a PowerPoint presentation to highlight the key messages captured by the technical performance dashboards using infographic images.  A copy of the presentation slides is included with the formal record of the meeting.  The Performance Manager added that there could be value in scrutiny looking in more detail at the detail behind the images.

The Committee noted that the detailed intelligence that informed the Quarter 3 performance report, was being monitored based on the four technical dashboards developed following work with Scrutiny members and Portfolio Holders during the Performance Management Rapid Action Group in January – February 2014, namely:

·         ‘Your money’ Outcome Dashboard (‘Feel financially secure and to believe in a positive future for myself and my family’)

·         ‘Your Environment’ Outcome (‘Live in an attractive, vibrant and safe environment, in a place that is right for me’)

·         ‘Your life’ Outcome (‘Feel valued as an individual and to live my life, with my choices respected and with as few compromises as possible’)

·         ‘Your health’ Outcome (‘Live a long, enjoyable and healthy life’)

Members considered each of the presentation slides in turn.  Slide 1 illustrated 4 key images from the ‘Your money’ outcome dashboard, images 7, 8, 9 and 10 and showed a positive picture for Shropshire schools and pupils standing up well in comparison with other areas and nationally in terms of outcomes.  The Performance Manager suggested that areas of good practice in other areas could be identified and used by Shropshire in future.

Slide 2 illustrated the number of referrals to Children’s Social Care and the proportion of children with a Child Protection Plan.  Members noted the significant variation throughout the year of those receiving a new Protection Plan and those stopping having a Plan; this point may merit further scrutiny by the appropriate Committee.  The Performance Manager commented that, in this case, a smaller number was better as long as the safety of the children came first.

The Committee considered slide 3 that illustrated the number of looked after children [LAC].  It was noted that the number of LAC had steadily increased following the trend in increasing demand e.g. through referrals to children’s social care services.  These results showed a plateau from September 2014.  The Chairman of the Young People’s Scrutiny Committee commented that the Committee monitored the situation and would continue so to do.  Members considered that the plateau in the figures showed that the situation was settling and portrayed a positive picture. Early intervention was understood to be key and it was recognised that the budget reduction in 2015/16 needed to be carefully monitored by scrutiny.

Members considered that the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee may wish to seek  further information at a future meeting on the content of slide 4 relating to higher than average results for mothers smoking at the time of delivery and a lower prevalence of breast feeding at 6-8 weeks after birth, below the national average for England. 

The Performance Manager drew attention to the content of slide 5 relating to key points within Adult Social Care [ASC] particularly the percentage of ASC users who found it easy to find information about the service [these figures were lower than the average for England and also the average for similar local authorities] and the percentage of ASC clients in control of their own care [these figures compared well nationally and with other similar councils].  It was noted that from April 2015 all information relating to ASC would be available in one place on an online portal.  In the light of this information, the general consensus was that the trend in this area should be checked when it became available in the next Quarter’s performance information when subsequent scrutiny intervention may or may not be required.

The Committee noted the final slide 6 relating to the rolling 12 month visitor numbers to the theatre, museums, libraries and leisure facilities.  The Performance Manager explained that changes had been made in the methods of recording this data and new electronic counters were now in place that should result in positive figures when next reported.

The Deputy Portfolio Holder for Transformation Performance commended this method of performance reporting and urged scrutiny Members to be proactive in the use of the information available.