Agenda item

To receive a high-level presentation on Children’s and Young People’s Services (CYPS) performance.

This agenda item provided a presentation on introduction to Childrens and Young People’s Services (CYPS) Performance. The Chair welcomed to the meeting Anne Hawke, Head of Service for Performance and Quality and invited Anne to lead on the presentation, during which the following was noted:

What is Performance Management:

·       The Local Government Association definition for performance management was “for councils, performance management was about using data to inform action that would improve outcomes for people. The umbrella term ‘performance management’ included a range of processes, techniques, and methods to identify shared goals and various measurements of progress towards these. It was also closely related to the concept of governance and making sure arrangements were in place so that an authority’s objectives can be achieved.”

CYPS Performance Management and Reporting:

·       There was extremely robust performance and data reporting across CYPS.

·       There was strong Governance, which included the following:

o   Performance Scorecards

o   Directorate Leadership Team

o   Monthly Performance Board

o   Quarterly Assurance Board

o   Corporate Parenting Partnership Board

o   Place Board

o   All performance and data were linked to the Council Plan and Year Ahead Delivery Plan

o   Improving Lives Select Commission.

·       The service used data to recognise the need to focus on key areas of performance.

·       Performance management was a collaborative process across the whole directorate.

·       There was frequent benchmarking.

·       There was a focus on activity and demand.

Quarterly Members Scorecards included the following:

·       The measures included in the scorecard were agreed and developed with elected members the year before via a workshop setting.

·       The Scorecard included Key Performance Indicators.

·       Social Care and Early Help Performance.

·       Education Performance, which was timely throughout the year due to the timeframes of the academic year and assessments.

·       Linked Council Plan measures.

·       Timeline and whether the measures were a monthly, quarterly, or annual report.

·       Data notes.

·       Three months performance was provided at once.

·       Year to date and annual trend information was included.

Good performance on the scorecard included the following:

·       Direction of Travel (DOT) had a coloured arrow.

·       Red, Amber, Green (RAG) rating was included.

·       Targets and tolerances.

·       Year on year performance and trend was included.

·       Latest available benchmarking information was included.

·       There was also a glossary to assist interpretation of the scorecard.

Example One and Things to Note:

·       An example scorecard was provided on the presentation slide and the officer discussed how to interpret the data on the scorecard example.

·       In relation to this example, the following was advised:

o   Good performance for this indicator would be high.

o   The DOT indicated that when compared with the previous year performance had decreased.

o   This example indicated that current performance was in-line with the amber tolerance target (84%+)

o   Note the previous performance and peaks and troughs in the year-to-date trend lines.

o   Note that performance was consistently high and in-line with benchmarking for both statistical neighbours and national averages.

Example Two and Things to Note:

·       Another example scorecard was provided on the presentation slide and the officer discussed how to interpret the data on the scorecard example.

·       In relation to this example, the following was advised:

o   Good performance for this indicator would be low.

o   DOT indicated that when compared with the previous month performance had increased (e.g., the number had reduced).

o   RAG indicated that current performance was in line with the red tolerance target.

o   Take note of previous performance and also peaks and troughs in YTD trend lines.

o   Note that performance was consistently improving however it was still above (e.g., below) benchmarking for both statistical neighbours and national averages.

Annual Timeline:

·       The quarterly scorecard would be published following approval at the Performance Board every quarter. It would then be circulated to Members of the Improving Lives and OSMB.

·       Members were advised to send any queries on the circulated scorecards via email to the Governance Advisor. Any areas of concern raised would then be provided to the service and either a written response would be provided to members, or if deemed more appropriate an officer would attend the next Improving Lives Select Commission meeting to discuss any areas of concern raised.

·       The Scorecard would also be published on the Members newsletter.

·       The Annual CYPS Performance Report would be presented to Improving Lives in July 2024.

The Chair thanked the relevant officer for the presentation and invited questions, this led to the following points being raised during discussions:

·       Every year during quarter three and quarter four, the data and performance team reviewed the scorecard with senior leadership in CYPS. During the review, the performance over the year was assessed and the KPI’s were reviewed to ensure the right targets were in place for the next year. National targets and performance levels at that point in time were considered during the review, to ensure the service were in line with those levels. Checks and challenges were completed via the assurance board.

Resolved: That the presentation on the introduction to performance in CYPS be noted.