Agenda item

Report of the Strategic Director, Resources and Digital

Committee received the six month Performance Management and Improvement Framework (PMIF).  The Committee was reminded of the background and development of the PMIF.

It was noted that the PMIF links performance to the budget approach, resource allocation is now included to link performance to priorities.  It was clarified that the document is live and tries to identify areas of challenge and analysis rather than looking at specific data.

Areas of continuing challenge were identified as; increasing numbers of families requiring support, increased numbers of pupils eligible for free school meals and pressure in terms of recruitment and retention as the lifespan of a Social Worker is only 8 years. There is also pressure in the medium term financial strategy, the increase in demand mean higher costs for external placement as providers are driving the market, this presents a real challenge when trying to make savings.

Areas of excellence were highlighted as the recent successful Focused Visit which highlighted the commitment of the staff within Children’s Services. There has also been a reduction in the time of children being in care as well as an increase in the number of early help cases being closed as more families are being offered and accepting family group conferencing.

Actions going forward were identified as; a focus on early intervention, development of an additional two residential homes for children with autism and learning disabilities and a therapeutic home, there is also a focus on developing strategies and the implementation of the AYSE Academy for progression opportunities.

It was acknowledged that there are concerns around employee morale with Occupational Health under increased pressure, work is therefore underway to develop a framework to support employees morale and wellbeing. It was noted that there are recruitment and retention risks across the Council and therefore succession planning is being looked at.

The next steps are to align the PMIF to the new budget approach, further develop the priorities and actions and report the six month performance to Cabinet.

It was questioned what the Youth Justice Divert from Charge referral process is. It was explained that this is a national programme for those young people on the fringes of offending, they are supported to move away from crime before they have criminal charges. This does not apply to all young people, there is certain criteria and access onto the programme must be agreed by the Police and the Youth Justice Services, this tends to relate to low level behaviour.

The point was made that employees are crucial in delivering services and therefore low staff morale is an inherent weakness. It was questioned whether there is or if there should be a strategy to increase wages at a time when people are struggling and the Council is not paying them enough.  It was acknowledged that the recruitment and retention challenges for Social Workers is not to do with pay as Gateshead is very competitive and benchmarks salaries against neighbouring local authorities. It was noted that good Ofsted’s are what attracts Social Workers to an organisation opposed to salaries.  The point was made that it would be counter productive for one local authority to pay more than other authorities and instead need to act regionally to uplift salaries together.  It was also suggested that aside from wages, the support in place for employees needs to be considered.

The point was made that the document is difficult to read electronically and as it was quite dense was not very user friendly. It was noted that this is being looked at for the year end report.

Further information on the PAUSE Programme was requested. It was explained the programme is commissioned for women who have had at least two children removed from their care. Practitioners work with them to break the cycle, through for example employment, learning skills, budgeting and improving their mental health and wellbeing.  27 women have engaged since the start of the programme and there are currently 18 women on the programme.  It was reported that none of the women who have completed the programme have gone on to have any further children removed from their care. It was acknowledged that this is a significant cost saving for every child the service does not remove. It was confirmed that only two women dropped out of the programme so far.

The point was made that there is nothing to show the gaps in SEND / EHCPs performance data. It was agreed that this could be looked at further for next time.

RESOLVED    -           (i)         That the comments of the Committee be noted for

areas of further scrutiny.

                                    (ii)        That the performance be reported to Cabinet for

consideration in March 2022.