This report summarises the latest performance indicators in relation tosocial care (appendix 1) and education (appendix 2)for children and young people as at the end of the financial year 2013/14. 

29.1    The meeting received the report of the Director of Children’s Services which summarised the latest performance indicators in relation toSocial Care and Education for Children and Young People as at the end of the financial year 2013/14.

29.2    A Member commented on the seemingly low performance at key stage 2 for higher level students and asked for the reasons for this.  The Head of Education Improvement and Efficiency advised that work on the identification of the issues around the higher level performance was being undertaken.  She went on to say that there had been some improvement but this would be hard to quantify until the next tranche of data was received, but that there was clear improvement in grammar, punctuation and spelling.

29.3    A Member asked whether there were any statistics for children educated at home.  The Head of Education Improvement and Efficiency advised him that these would be included in a future report to the Committee.

29.4    A Member commented that there had been a 57% increase in referrals to Children’s Social Care and asked for the reason for this.  The Head of Safeguarding commented that the increase was in line with increases in other councils, and that referrals resulted in a number of outcomes. She went on to say that part of the early help work was aimed at reducing the number of referrals.

29.5    A Member asked why the percentage of referrals within 12 months of a previous referral had doubled in the 12 month period.  The Head of Safeguarding explained that this rise was partially due to changes in the way that data was recorded.  The Director of Children’s Services commented that when compared with the Council’s statistical neighbours the figures were in line with the national picture.

29.6    A Member commented that the majority of assessments seemed to be completed at the end of the 45 day target period. The Director of Children’s Services commented that the length of time taken to do assessments depended on the complexity of the case especially where several agencies were involved.

29.7    A Member remarked that the number of looked after children (LAC) per 10,000 was still rising.  The Head of Safeguarding stated that, although there was still a rise in the numbers, the county was still well below the figures for both the statistical neighbours and the national figures.  She informed Members that the largest increase was in the 15 years and over age group and that there was also a rise in the 0 to 2 years age group which reflected our earlier recognition of cases of neglect.  The Director of Children’s Services commented that the decision to take a child into care was a difficult one and was always taken to ensure the best long term outcome for the child

29.8    A Member asked whether the data covered the Telford and Wrekin area as well as Shropshire.  The Director of Children’s Services advised that it covered the Shropshire Council area and that Telford and Wrekin compiled their own data.

29.9    The Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services reminded Members that when looking at the trends in the data it was important to take into account the work being undertaken around service redesign.

29.10  A Member asked whether the increase in the number of children with child protection plans (CPP) was due to an increase in the number of children with plans in place being more than the number of children having their plans removed.  The Head of Safeguarding commented that this may be the case.  She informed the meeting that work was ongoing on the issue of repeat CPPs and commented that it was important that the second plan did not just repeat what was contained in the first plan.

29.11  A Member asked whether the stability of placements depended on the quality of the placement.  The Head of Safeguarding commented that the change in the figures had resulted from the decision to move out of county placements back to Shropshire.  The Director of Children’s Services reminded Members that this decision had been made as it was better for the long term outcomes for the children and it was also more cost effective to accommodate children in Shropshire rather than out of the county.

29.12  The Chair thanked Officers for the report and for answering questions.