To scrutinise performance at Quarter 4 and identify areas that may require further investigation by an Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Report to follow.

Contact: Tanya Miles - Executive Director DASS/ Interim Chief Executive.

Tanya Miles, Interim Chief Executive and Executive Director DASS introduced the Performance Monitoring Report Quarter 4 which gave an update on key areas of performance across Care & Wellbeing and Children and Young People services. She emphasised the importance of identifying specific areas for future scrutiny and asked the committee to consider which performance areas they would like to focus on for the next meeting in January.

Natalie McFall, Service Director - Care & Wellbeing and Amanda Allcock, Service Manager - Ops South, outlined key areas of the report in relation to Adult Social Care. It was reported that there were ongoing challenges due to demographic pressures, increased complexity of cases and a high number of weekly referrals, but proactive measures were in place and the service was working closely with commissioning to improve delivery models and address demand.

In response to questions in relation to Adult Social Care members were advised that:

·       There was a specific mental health pathway for young people preparing for adulthood and the focus was on measuring success by achieving safe transition and appropriate support.

·       The main challenge regarding self-funded care was identifying and reaching people who were not known to adult social care, as these individuals often make decisions in crisis without information regarding the support available.

·       The team was focusing on improving advice and information in regard to self-funded care through family hubs and community outreach, to help people make informed choices before their savings were depleted.

·       The team was working to improve advice and information to enable families to make more appropriate decisions and avoid unnecessary early entry into care homes by recommending alternative pathways, such as reablement services or domiciliary care.

·       It was important to reach those not yet known to Adult Social Care through partnerships with GPs, pharmacies, and other health providers before their needs escalate.

·       The family hubs initially focused on children, but adults were now being integrated into the model. It was acknowledged that some areas of the County may need bespoke or outreach models due to local needs and limited existing infrastructure.

·       Adult Social Care has already taken £34 million out of its budget over recent years by transforming service delivery and that every possible efficiency was being explored including benchmarking against other councils and inviting independent scrutiny to identify further opportunities for sustainable budgeting.

David Shaw, Director Children's Services and John Rowe, Head of Education Quality and Safeguarding outlined key areas of the report in relation to Education. It was reported that there was a need for more challenge and support for Academies and it was noted that a new education excellence strategy to increase the local authority’s role in challenging, supporting, and intervening in all schools, including academies, to improve pupil outcomes was being developed.

In response to questions in relation to Education members were advised that:

·       Electively Home Educated (EHE) pupils were monitored by a specific service (EAS), which has become more proactive, especially regarding safeguarding and ensuring children receive a good education. It was suggested that Jo Kelly, Virtual Head Teacher who leads this area, could provide more detail at a future meeting.

·       The Council monitors planning applications and large housing developments to estimate the number of children likely to result from new developments and a formula was used to inform decisions in relation to school capacity.

·       The new education excellence strategy aims to increase its influence over academies, focusing on robust, constructive, and challenging conversations with Multi Academy Trust CEOs in relation to pupil outcomes.

·       The Council’s ability to monitor academies was constrained by the removal of the school monitoring and brokering grant in 2022, which previously funded these activities. As a result, the Council has limited capacity and relies on existing staff to support monitoring, making comprehensive oversight of academies challenging.

·       Resources such as the inclusion development grant and outreach programs were used to support students at risk of exclusion.

Lisa Taylor, Principal Educational Psychologist and Preventative Lead outlined key areas of the report in relation to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). It was reported that the rising demand of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) continues to strain resources and the need for early intervention and system changes to manage demand and maintain strong relationships with families and schools was emphasised.

In response to questions members were advised that:

·       Achieving financial sustainability for SEND and high needs by 2028 was extremely difficult due to a large and growing deficit, low mainstream school funding, and increasing complexity and demand. It was stressed that the problem was national in scale, and there was no straightforward solution or high confidence that EHCP growth can be contained within budget.

·       Settings were advised to use early intervention and additional resource pathways before pursuing an EHCP to provide targeted support for short-term or specific needs, potentially preventing the need for a long-term EHCP.

Sonya Miller, Service Director Children's & Young People outlined key areas of the report in relation to Children’s & Young People Social Care noting in particular the flow of children through the service and the impact of early help on reducing statutory interventions. She highlighted that the number of children in statutory services was at its lowest in over six years which indicated that the investment in early help was working.

In response to questions members were advised that:

·       Shropshire had a higher than- average number of large sibling groups, which increased case complexity, especially when multiple parents were involved. It was also noted that there had been an increase in child exploitation cases.

·       There was a lack of dedicated early intervention services for parents facing issues such as mental health, substance misuse, and domestic abuse and the need for more joined-up, early intervention services for families with multiple, complex needs was emphasised.

·       Shropshire Council uses both direct (in-house) foster carers and independent fostering agencies and that both were needed to ensure children were placed appropriately, with matching based on needs rather than whether the carer was in-house or agency.

·       The Council was not allowed to actively approach agency foster carers to bring them in-house but conversations about the Council's offer do occur, especially if carers have children placed with them long-term.

·       The Council has improved support through initiatives like the Mockingbird model and Stepping Stones to help foster carers manage challenges and prevent placement breakdowns.

·       Shropshire Council participates in the national transfer scheme for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and the government funding just about covered accommodation and living costs but does not cover all costs, such as social work time, travel, or PA support.

All officers were thanked for their reports and commitment to supporting people in Shropshire.

RECOMMENDED:

That the report be noted and the following areas be added to the work programme as future topics for the Committee:

·     Adult social care: Focus on the self-funding market - Joint item with HOSC.

·     Education - Academy liaison programmes and support, including sharing updates on the Academy strategy.

·     Virtual school – Jo Kelly to be invited to a future scrutiny meeting for more detail on electively home-educated children, children missing education and the outreach programme for supporting children with additional needs.

·     Fostering - Report on private foster carers versus local authority foster carers, including numbers and breakdowns.

·     Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children - hearing directly from young people about their outcomes and experiences.