Agenda and minutes

To consider and approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 18 June 2024 as a true and correct record of the proceedings and to be signed by the Chair.

Resolved:- That the minutes of the previous meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission, held on 18^th June 2024, be approved as a correct record of proceedings for signature by the Chair.

To receive declarations of interest from Members in respect of items listed on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest to report.

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any part of the agenda.

There were no items of business on the agenda that required the exclusion of the press and public from the meeting.

To receive questions relating to items of business on the agenda from members of the public or press who are present at the meeting.

There were no questions from members of the public or press.

This update will include the performance outturn for the reporting year April 2023 to March 2024 for Children and Young People’s Services. It includes areas of performance that are working well, alongside other areas where a continued focus is required.

This item provided an update on the performance outturn for the reporting year of April 2023 to March 2024, for Children and Young People’s Services.

The Chair invited Councillor Cusworth to introduce the report and the following was noted:

·       Councillor Cusworth in introducing the report paid tribute to the emergency services who had responded to the tragic events in Southport where three children had unfortunately lost their lives.  This incident had left everyone shocked and stunned with what had taken place.

·       The report that formed part of the agenda pack highlighted areas that were working well and others that were presenting more of a challenge especially around the numbers of looked after children coming into care. Whilst the numbers had slightly reduced the figure remained around the five hundred mark.  In terms of numbers requiring child protection and child in need support, whilst also reducing in number, remained challenging ensuring assessments were undertaken in a timely manner.

·       The Select Commission had also looked at Elective Home Education previously and this would need to be monitored as numbers were rising.

The Chair invited Anne Hawke, Head of Service for Performance and Quality, to provide an overview by way of a presentation on the Performance Report 2023/24 Outturn, particularly highlighting:-

·       Performance was considered against local targets, including associated ‘RAG’ (red, amber, green) rating tolerances. Reviewed annually and set in consideration of available national and statistical neighbour benchmarking data and recent performance levels. It ensured focus on the effectiveness of services and achieving good outcomes for children and young people.

·       Robust governance and accountability was in place, including monthly Performance Board and Quarterly Assurance Board in addition to service level performance clinics, Practice Learning Days and Quality Assurance processes.

·       Links to the Council Plan, Year Ahead Delivery Plan, Corporate Parenting Partnership Board, Place Board.

·       The Scorecard was circulated quarterly to Members of Improving Lives Select Commission, with an option to request officers to attend with any key areas of interest.

·       Breakdown of measures and indicators.

·       There were 75 performance measures across the service:-

o   22 where performance was benchmarked against national, regional and statistical comparators (Benchmark).

o   35 focusing on specific activities and/or demand (Activity).

o   18 for Education; all of which were either termly or annual academic year and therefore not included in any summary statistics.

·   Some of the measures have multiple components, 53 measures have targets set and 66 measure components have a ‘good’ direction of travel (DOT) identified.

Performance Measures 2023/2024 Graphical Progress Summary:

·   Early Help and Family Engagement – What was working well:-

o   Journey for families when engaging with an Early Help offer of support remained strong, with 91.3% of families contacted within three working days of allocation, an improvement on last year and significantly above the target of 75%.

o   Continued with 90.1% of Early Help Assessments being completed within 45 days during the year (2.5% more than last year).

o   27.5% of Early Help Assessments (EHA) were completed by partners during the year, a pleasing increase  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council’s social care services for children and young people were judged to be “good” following an Inspecting Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACS) inspection undertaken by Ofsted and published in 2022. The peer challenge was completed at the request of the council and focused on young people in care and care leavers aged 16 to 24. This update will provide information on the outcome of the peer review.

This item provided an update on the outcome of the Local Government Association (LGA) Leaving Care Peer Challenge and the Feedback Report, that was received as a result of the Peer Challenge.

The Chair invited Councillor Cusworth, Cabinet Member for Children’s and Young Peoples Services (CYPS) to introduce the report and the following was noted:

·       The Care Leavers Service was an area that required further focus and improvement.

·       There had been an increase in care leavers, this was due to an increase in unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in the borough, who were very welcome in Rotherham.

·       The Service asked the LGA to peer review the leaving care service to identify any areas of strength and any areas that required further improvement. The peer review took place between 12-15 March 2024.

·       Work was completed since the peer review in March, to date. An example was provided of the development of a Care Leavers Forum. There was an action plan in place as a result of the Peer Challenge.

·       Some local authorities declared care leavers as a protected characteristic. The Council chose not to implement this in Rotherham, to ensure children would not be discriminated against in any way because they were leaving care. The service listened to the voice of care leavers who advised that they did not want leaving care to be a protected characteristic, because they did not want being a care leaver to define them. Instead, the Service developed a Care Leaver Offer. The offer ensured that the support in place for children leaving care would continue by preparing them for adulthood, providing opportunities for children to reach their full potential, providing wrap around support for housing and access to skills and opportunities.

The Chair invited Monica Green, Assistant Director for CYPS to lead on the presentation and the following was noted:

·       The Council had been judged by Ofsted as a Good local authority in an Ofsted Inspection in June 2022.

·       In January 2023, a new judgement for Care Leavers was introduced to the Ofsted ILACS inspection framework, this was the experiences and progress of children in care and care leavers. The new judgement focused on the things that mattered the most to care leavers lives and included the following:

o   Relationships and access to social and recreational opportunities.

o   ability to influence the services they are offered.

o   health and emotional well-being.

o   learning and employment opportunities.

·       Inspections also considered whether local authorities were making good decisions for care leavers, and what they were doing to support them into adulthood.

·       The LGA Peer Review took place between 12th to 15th March 2024. A care leaver was a young person aged 16-25 years old who had been 'looked after' at some point since they were 14 years old and were in care on or after their 16th birthday. The Service invited the LGA to complete a peer review as they felt that there were challenges in the level in demand and diversity of the group of young children  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

To receive an update on the Commission’s Work Programme.

The Select Commission considered some of the detail of the Work Programme and the following was noted:-

·             A Scrutiny Work Programming Session had been arranged for the 8^th August 2024, for Chairs and Vice-Chairs of Scrutiny Commissions.

·             The work programme for 2024-2025 would return as a standard agenda item from September meeting onwards.

·             It was proposed that at the next meeting in September an update on the SEND Strategy would be included.  This would relate to the summary of the consultation period and the proposed strategy, with consultation amendments included.

Resolved:- That the Work Programme for the meeting in September 2024 be approved.

For the Chair/Project Group Leads to provide an update on the activity regarding sub and project groups of the Improving Lives Select Commission.

This item will consider the Scrutiny Review Report on preparation for adulthood for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The report is a result of the review completed by Members of the Improving Lives Select Commission in February 2024 and details the proposed recommendations agreed by Members of the review group.

Consideration was given to the Scrutiny Review Report relating to Preparation for Adulthood, for Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

It was noted the report was a result of the review completed by Members of the Improving Lives Select Commission in February 2024 and the report outlined the proposed recommendations.

Resolved:- That recommendations 1 to 3, as listed within the report, be approved and the report be forwarded to Cabinet for consideration and decision.

To consider any item(s) the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There was no urgent business to report.