1         THE ISSUE

1.1To report tothe Executive the findings of the Annual Performance Assessment (APA) ofServices for Children and Young People as required by national APA governance.

2         RECOMMENDATION

2.1The CouncilExecutive are asked to note the content of the Annual Performance Assessmentletter and to acknowledge the excellent work of front line staff in deliveringthese judgements.

3         FINANCIALIMPLICATIONS

3.1None.

4         CommunityStrategy Outcomes

4.1The Services assessed under the APA contribute to thefollowing Community Strategy Outcomes:

·     Sharingresources, working together, and finding new ways of doing things

·     Buildingcommunities where people feel safe and secure

·     Improvinglocal opportunities for learning and gaining skills

·     Improving ourlocal economy

·     Improving ourlocal health and social care

5         CORPORATEIMPROVEMENT PRIORITIES

5.1The Services assessed under the APA contribute to thefollowing corporate priorities:

·     Reducing fearof crime

·     Improving lifechances for disadvantaged teenagers

·     Improving theenvironment for learning

·     CulturalDevelopment

·     Developing asustainable economy

·     Improvingcustomer satisfaction

6         CPA KEY lines ofenquiry

6.1The Services assessed under the APA contribute to thefollowing CPA Key Lines of Enquiry:

·     Ambition forthe community - i.e. What the council, together with its partners, is trying toachieve

·     Managingperformance of community ambition to ensure we achieve what we say we will

·     Creating anddeveloping a better quality of life for the area through

-         Safer andStronger Communities

-         HealthierCommunities

·     Improvingengagement with and a range of services for Older People and Children and YoungPeople

7         the report

7.1The Councilis the subject of an Annual Performance Assessment by Ofsted and the Commissionfor Social Care Inspection (CSCI) of its services to children and youngpeople. Each Spring the Council submitsa self-assessment of its performance and its capacity to improve services andkey performance indicators.

7.2Ofsted andCSCI Inspectors then consider the self-assessment and their own data set anddevelop a hypothesis about how well the Council is performing. This hypothesis is then tested out withsenior officers and the Executive Member for Children's Services. Following this meeting the Inspectors thenreach a series of judgements about the performance of the Council as aChildren's Service Authority.

7.3The judgementletter for 2006 is attached (Appendix 1). In summary the Council has been identified as Grade 3 which means it isa 'Good' Service which consistently delivers above minimum requirements forservice users. The service makes a goodcontribution to maintaining and improving outcomes for children and youngpeople both in terms of social care and education. The inspectors also concluded that theCouncil has good capacity for further improvement.

7.4Particularstrengths included:

·       Being Healthy: Joint workingbetween agencies, the development of new projects and initiatives and theproportion of schools achieving Healthy Schools Status

·       Staying safe: Improved rateand timeliness of initial assessments, sound/well audited child protectionpractice and good stability of placements.

·       Enjoying andachieving: Good and improving standards at Key Stages 1,2, 3 and 4.

·       Making apositive contribution: Involvement of young people in developing thework of the authority and the use of advocacy services.

·       Achievingeconomic well being: Family support services and provision forcare leavers and increased proportion of care leavers in education, employmentand training.

·       Management ofchildren's services: Partnerships with other agencies, clearidentification of priorities and involvement of stakeholders in planning andevaluation.

7.5Key areas forimprovement are also identified, these issues are already subject toimprovement activity and will be further targeted in the Service Plan for2006-7. Timescales for improvement aredependent upon the nature and scale of the issue identified and several areasfor improvement will require extensive partnership working particularly:

·       raisingachievement of Looked After and Black Minority Ethnic (BME) pupils;

·       raising standardsand achievement at 16-19 years/breadth of vocational options;

·       levels ofexclusions;

·       Child andAdolescents Mental Health Service (CAMHS) developments;

·       Offending ratesamongst Looked After Children;

·       Quality of EarlyYears provision.

7.6.Inconclusion the Council and Service are judged to know themselves well meaningthat areas for improvement had been identified already and activity wasunderway to address these. The Councilhas good services achieving good outcomes with and for children, young peopleand families despite a wider context of considerable financial and improvementpressures.

8         RISK MANAGEMENT

8.1The reportauthor and Lead Executive member have fully reviewed the risk assessmentrelated to the issue and recommendations, in compliance with the Council'sdecision making risk management guidance and this issue does not cause anymaterial alterations to existing risk schedules.

9         RATIONALE

9.1Therecommendation reflects the requirement to consider the outcomes of the APA andto note actions required.

10     OTHER OPTIONSCONSIDERED

10.1    None.

11     CONSULTATION

11.1    ExecutiveCouncillor; Section 151 Finance Officer; Chief Executive; Monitoring Officer

11.2    Consultation included Executive Councillor involvementin the preparation of the APA and subsequent discussions.

12     ISSUES TOCONSIDER IN REACHING THE DECISION

12.1    Social Inclusion; Customer Focus; Young People.

13     ADVICE SOUGHT

13.1    The Council's Monitoring Officer (Council Solicitor)and Section 151 Officer (Strategic Director - Support Services) have had theopportunity to input to this report and have cleared it for publication.

Appendix1

S:\Education\EMT SharedFiles\EWP Reports\E1541 - 2006 Annual Performance Assessment - Services forChildren & Young People -6.12.06.doc

Mr Ashley Ayre

Director of Children's Services

Bath &North East Somerset Council

PO Box 25

Riverside

Temple Street

Keynsham

BS31 1DN

1 November 2006

Dear Mr Ayre

2006ANNUAL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE IN BATHAND NORTH EAST SOMERSET

This letter summarises thefindings of the 2006 annual performance assessment (APA) process for your localauthority. We are grateful for the information which you provided to supportthis process and for the time made available by your colleagues to discussrelevant issues.

Summary

Bath and North East SomersetCouncil consistently delivers above minimum requirements for children and youngpeople. The majority of services demonstrate that they are improving theachievement and well-being of children and young people. Partnerships withhealth and other agencies are good and make a significant contribution toimproving services. Progress since last year's APA has been good, although someareas for improvement persist. The Children and Young People's Plan (CYPP) wasdevised with a good level of consultation with stakeholders and sets out theauthority's priorities clearly, showing that it has a good understanding of itsstrengths and weaknesses. Good strategic planning is ensuring thatimprovements, when achieved, are sustainable and based on clear policy androbust procedures. The authority's capacity to improve its services further isgood.

Beinghealthy

The council makes a goodcontribution towards improving the health of children and young people in thearea.

There are strong partnershipsand close working relationships with health which are evident in a range of newand developing initiatives. A specialist mental health service for disabledchildren has been established and an emotional support service has beenextended. The Child and Adolescents Mental Health Service (CAMHS) is developingsystems for evaluating effectiveness and new projects have built in evaluationprocesses. Although CAMHS waiting lists have not been further reduced thisyear, improved access to the rapid assessment and interventions service hasbeen maintained. It is a council priority to develop further preventative andearly intervention initiatives to reduce waiting times. Teenage conceptionrates are low and continue to decrease. However, the council has not metgovernment targets in this respect.

The number of schoolsachieving Healthy Schools Status is high, exceeding the council's targets. Theprogramme of early interventions, which is being extended through thechildren's centres, produces a good range of opportunities for children andfamilies to access information and support.

The health needs ofvulnerable groups of children are addressed. Looked after children's healthneeds are addressed primarily through the dedicated support of a nurse anddoctor. However, this year there was a decrease in the numbers of looked afterchildren having timely health and dental checks. Disabled children's healthneeds are addressed through holistic assessment and health action plans forolder young people. Black and minority ethnic (BME) children's specific needsare now starting to be addressed, which is an improvement since last year'sannual performance assessment. There are two new initiatives to analyse theneeds of BME children relating to palliative care and for children withlearning disabilities and mental health needs.

Stayingsafe

Outcomesfor children in this area are good. The council has established its LocalSafeguarding Children's Board (LSCB) with a detailed work plan for the year.There is good inter-agency collaboration for child protection training. Childprotection practice continues to be sound and the authority has maintained itsstandard for completing all reviews of children on the register withintimescales and allocating them social workers. There are comprehensive auditingsystems both within teams and via the safeguarding board subgroup to ensurethat thresholds are maintained and to assure the quality of child protectionpractice. The maintenance of the register is robust with a good decrease inre-registrations this year.

The council has recognisedthat there is a high proportion of BME children on the child protectionregister and a high proportion of children in need are from BME communities.However, the numbers are small and the council is clear about the children'sspecific needs.

The council is targetingschools where bullying has been identified as an issue. It is monitoring theimpact of its policies through surveying children's opinions.

Both the percentage ofinitial assessments started within seven days of referral and the proportion ofcore assessments undertaken this year have increased well. However, the timelycompletion of core assessments has been less effective, partly due to staffingshortages.

The council is clear aboutits corporate parenting responsibilities and has a corporate members parentinggroup. Stable placements are maintained for looked after children, particularlyfor those accommodated for over two years. However, targets for further improvementin this area are not sufficiently challenging. There is a strong focus onfostering with an increased use of residence orders reducing the numbers ofkinship fostering. Adoption rates are very low and the council's own target wasnot met this year. This is expected to improve in the next year and the councilhas worked hard to change attitudes to enable more children to have adoptivefamilies.

The range of placements isbeing developed. There is an increase in therapeutic foster placements. A newpost, funded jointly with the Primary Care Trust (PCT), to explore goodcommissioning and brokerage of new services has been developed. Reviews forlooked after children are not always conducted in a timely manner andperformance is lower than the national average. Good support services have beendeveloped in partnership with the voluntary sector to address the identifiedpriority of support to families and children who live with domestic abuse.

The council knows thewhereabouts of children and young people in the area through its effectivetracking systems. Any potential gaps are being explored through the LSCB.

Enjoyingand achieving

Outcomes in this area aregood. Standards and achievement are on an upward trend at all key stages.Support for schools through the Primary and Secondary Strategies is good.Children are supported well in schools in the early years, enabling them tomeet the early learning goals. However, the contribution of some early yearssettings to the quality of provision in enjoying and achieving is satisfactoryrather than good. The council is taking appropriate action to improve thequality in this area. Standards and achievement at Key Stage 1 have improvedsince last year when they were noted as an area for improvement. In reading andwriting, they are now well above the national average and above the average forsimilar authorities. In mathematics, they are above the national average. AtKey Stages 2 and 3, attainment is above that nationally and in similarauthorities. At Key Stage 4, the proportion attaining five or more GCSEs atA*-C is well above that nationally and above similar authorities. Theproportion of looked after children achieving satisfactorily at GCSE is low incomparison with this group nationally, but satisfactory given theircircumstances and starting points. The council has identified that theperformance of the pupils from BME backgrounds is unsatisfactory and it isdeveloping more systematic methods of providing them with support.

The number of exclusions fromschool remains relatively high both at primary and secondary schools. However,the number has reduced significantly this year and the proportion of exclusionsfrom vulnerable, minority and ethnic groups has decreased markedly. Goodsystems, procedures and protocols have been agreed with schools for dealingwith challenging behaviour and this is beginning to reduce the levels of fixedterm and permanent exclusions. The capacity to improve in this area is good.Attendance has improved and is now better than the national average in primaryschools and in line with national averages in secondary schools.

There are low numbers ofschools in categories of concern and the council provides these with a soundlevel of support. The council has a good knowledge of the quality of itsschools and provides them with appropriate and targeted challenge and support.

Making a positive contribution

Outcomes in this area aregood. The council has made good progress in involving young people in thedevising and implementation of the CYPP. A large proportion of young people,including looked after and disabled children, were involved in the consultationprocess and in prioritising actions. It is presently devising ways of ensuringthat these stakeholders contribute effectively to the plan's evaluation. Thecouncil is increasingly seeking the views of young people when monitoring theimpact of its provision and this is having a beneficial impact on services.

A number of projects supportvulnerable young people effectively, including special support services foryoung carers. The council has worked well to ensure that the views and needs ofminority groups are considered. Advocacy services are being used well to helpyoung people, including disabled young people, to express their views clearlyand make a positive contribution to their welfare.

The rate of first timeoffending has increased this year, but there has been a good reduction in ratesof reoffending. The proportion of looked after children who received a finalwarning, reprimand or conviction has increased.

Achieving economic well-being

Outcomes in this area areadequate, with some good features. Family support services are performing well.The number of care leavers in education, training and employment has increasedsignificantly and the accommodation capacity for care leavers has alsoimproved. The number of direct payments for carers of disabled children and fordisabled young people has doubled since last year.

A full-time strategy managerto develop the 14 to 19 provision is in post, jointly funded by the council andthe local Learning and Skills Council (LLSC). The authority has worked wellwith the LLSC, the youth service, Connexions and other stakeholders to improveprovision in this area. The number of young people remaining in education,employment and training is high. The collaboration between the LLSC and thecouncil in the strategic planning for 14 to 19 education is beginning to have apositive impact. There is now a broader range of courses available at Key Stage4. Although these are still predominantly targeted at those with relatively lowprior attainment, there has been progress in ensuring that more vocationalcourses are provided for the more able and there is a significant improvementin this respect since last year. However, the vocational options do not yetcater for the full range of young people and are not accessible to them all.

The quality of educationprovided for 16 to 19 year olds remains adequate. There has been no improvementin the satisfactory achievement and standards reported in the last APA.However, the council is making sound progress in formulating the plans for thepattern of future provision in the area, involving key stakeholders in theprocess. The plans for a future 14 to 19 vocational centre are now welladvanced and schools and other institutions are involved in devising thenecessary area wide planning for 14 to 19 provision. Although the plans arewell conceived and procedures are sound, it is as yet too early for them tohave had a significant impact on standards.

The council's managementof its services for children and young people, including its capacity toimprove them further

The council demonstrates goodcapacity to improve. It has clear plans and priorities for the future. Theseare developed through wide consultation and good involvement of young peopleand partners in an effective Children and Young Peoples Strategic Partnership.The council and the PCT have decided to integrate children's, adults and publichealth services through an Integration Project Board.

The CYPP prioritises the workof the council and the delivery plans form an effective basis for the work ofthe children's service. The focus this year has been on developingcollaboration, which has been successfully achieved.

The council is able todemonstrate good partnership working and the close working relationship withthe PCT has had positive benefits in the provision of a flexible service andgood outcomes for children. Pooled resources are being used imaginatively toimprove the range of services and commissioning practice.

The council has demonstratedprogress in all key stages in education and in some areas of social care whichwere weak last year. There are some remaining areas where performance is notgood. However, the council shows an accurate understanding of its strengths andweaknesses and is approaching problems in both strategic and systematic ways. Thereis financial pressure on the council but budgets are realistic and wellmanaged. Unit costs are low and there is a proactive approach to ensuring valuefor money. The authority is approaching the improvement agenda with a focus onsustainable and systematic change.

Performance management iswell established with clear monitoring and accountability, although targetsetting needs to be sharper. The authority has demonstrated good use of qualityauditing.

There has been a highturnover of staff and periods when there were high numbers of vacancies insocial care. The council has identified actions to reduce the problem and theworkforce strategy has been revised effectively. Vacancies have now been filledand there will be a full review of the impact of the new childcare teamstructure.

The council is approachingthe improvement agenda with a concentration on sustainable and systematicchange and is making good progress on ensuring there are solid foundations forthis.

Keystrengths and areas for improvement

Aspectsfor focus in a future joint area review or the next APA

·       Breadth ofvocational options for young people aged 14 to 19.

·       The level ofexclusions from school.

·       Offending ratesof looked after young people.

·       CAMHS developmentand outcomes.

·       Quality of earlyyears provision.

We confirm that thechildren's services grade will provide the score for the children and youngpeople service block in the comprehensive performance assessment and will bepublished to the Audit Commission. The social care judgement is for CSCIinformation only.

Yours sincerely

Flo Hadley Divisional Manager Office for Standards in Education

Jonathan Phillips Director - Quality, Performance and Methods Commission for Social Care Inspection