Agenda item

To consider a report of the Corporate Director (Services to People)

The report presents for consideration the Annual Portfolio Performance and Resource Reports (PPRRs) for the Children & Young People and Lifelong Learning & Achievement Portfolios are presented for consideration by the Committee. These provide a summary of progress in delivering the portfolio priorities and budgets over the year and specifically during the fourth quarter of 2014/15. They include full-year out-turn performance and financial data for each Portfolio, or forecast / provisional data where this is not yet available. The reports also include the final position for the 2014/15 portfolio savings programmes.

The Scrutiny Committee are invited to consider and comment on the report.

Officer Contact: Simon Finch on Tel: 474 4019 or email: simon.finch@stockport.gov.uk

Representatives of the Corporate Director for People and the Executive Councillors (Safe & Resilient Communities) and (Supporting Children) submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) providing a summary of progress in delivering the portfolio priorities, budgets and capital programmes during the final quarter of 2014/2015, as well as performance and financial data for each Portfolio.

The following comments were made/issues raised:-

Children & Young People portfolio

·         Councillors were reminded of the successful Social Care Innovation Programme grant of £3.03m to further support the integration of social care with the integrated children’s service and the Stockport Family programme.

·         There had been a further increase between Quarters 3 and 4 in the number of early year providers and child minders being rated good or better.

·         The Council was continuing to work with partners to support people into employment, particularly young people and those involved with the Supporting Families Programme.

·         There had been a reduction in the number of young people subject to a domestic abuse referral for 2014/15 in comparison to the previous year.

·         There was a cost pressure on the portfolio budget relating to care placements, but this was partially offset by income from inter-agency adoption income.

·         Councillors welcomed the partnership working with Job Centre Plus and the Employment & Skills Advisers, and requested an update to a future meeting.

·         Budgeting support was provided to those transferring onto Universal Credit. Councillors requested further information on this support.

·         The improvements seen in early years and child-minding settings were sustainable and based on current analysis the sector in Stockport would be able to meet the likely demand arising from recent announcements about the extension of the hours of free placements.

·         The ‘decline’ in performance relating to children centre visits reflected the specific measure used that was based on the Sure Start model, which the Council was now moving away from toward a more flexible service. The measure counted registered children from within the area attending two or more formal sessions. Increasingly the services previously provided from the Children’s Centres were now delivered in more flexible ways and contact was being made with ‘registered children’ in their homes via midwives and health visitors. Any type of ‘contact’ with any children via Children’s Centres was likely to be much higher than the formal measure. There was specific monitoring for take-up of services by priority groups.

·         The provision of support for healthy weight in primary schools was under review, but the current provision was leading to positive improvements although it was hoped more could be achieved.

·         Teenage conception rates were higher in Priority Areas than elsewhere in the borough. There was a multi-agency strategy to reduce the instances of unplanned teenage conception, and the Family Nursing Partnership operated in these areas to work with young mothers to reduce the likelihood of early re-conception.

·         Recent changes to the methodology for the collection of data on children in care running away from their care home had enabled better tracking of the numbers, although there was no data for years prior to 2014/15 for comparison.

·         The Council worked closely with partners, including Stockport Homes, to support Family Learning in particularly through the Supporting Families Programme to assess the needs of clients. This would then inform a tailored programme of training to improve skills and employability. Councillors requested additional information in respect of the programme of activity provided as Family Learning.

·         Further details were requested in relation to the Drink-wise campaign.

·         Assurances were sought in relation to communication and information sharing between partners within the Integrated Prevention Service. In response it was stated that communication was working between partners, and improvements were being overseen by a Board comprising senior officers from the relevant organisations.

·         Councillors welcomed the involvement of the Stockport Credit Union with the delivery of the Local Assistance Scheme. Although funded from Central Government, there were not currently proposals to reduce the funding allocation.

Lifelong Learning & Achievement portfolio

·         There were further improvements in levels of attainment across all Key Stages.

·         There had been positive improvements in the number of young people not in education, employment or training.

·         There had been an improvement in the percentage of parents receiving their first preference of school during the current admissions round.

·         Concerns remained about progress with ‘closing the gap’ in levels of attainment between those children and young people from the most deprived backgrounds and those from the least deprived. It was commented that the relationship between families and schools were very important to improve outcomes and schools could use Pupil Premium resources to support that work. It was recognised that this was a complex area and it was important to ensure parents had sufficient basic skills to encourage and support early reading etc.

·         There was discussion about Pupil Premium, with councillors cautioning against the assumption that attracting pupil premium would automatically indicate a child would achieve less, and that there was still a need to target support to those most in need. Officers stated that Pupil Premium/ Free School Meals were not used as a tag in the same way as SEND, but that these pupil’s progress was nevertheless tracked to target support where needed. A further benefit of this would be that the Stockport Family programme would allow for additional interventions to be targeted at pupils within this cohort on the basis of this data. It was also commented that school governors had a key role to play in ensuring the appropriate use, and monitoring of the effectiveness of pupil premium.

·         There was a particular challenge in Stockport in raising the attainment of those attracting pupil premium in comparison to their non-pupil premium peers, as the latter group were improving their achievement at a greater rate. Rather than seeing the challenge as ‘narrowing the gap’ (which could be achieved by lowering attainment of those achieving highest) it was important to ensure that teaching was able to raise attainment for those in the pupil premium group. There were ongoing efforts to review and improve methods of teaching and engaging these pupils.

·         Efforts were ongoing to develop new models for teaching maths, and this reflected national debates. The Council sought to work with training providers to address potential shortcomings in secondary maths teaching, as generally primary teaching of maths was leading to high levels of achievement. Problems with recruiting maths teachers reflected national challenges. It was commented that there needed to be support for the current workforce to ensure they share best practice and develop skills.

·         In relation to permanent exclusions it was commented that engagement with academies in relation to managing challenging behaviour and minimising exclusions had proven challenging. It was hoped that the Stockport Family programme may prove successful at addressing the complex behavioural, emotional and social problems experienced by some of those at risk of exclusion.

·         Outstanding building works at Caste Hill School included completion of showering and toileting facilities in part of the school.

·         There were ongoing discussions with schools and the Schools Forum to ensure sufficient capacity within the Secondary sector in advance of the population bulge currently passing through primary schools moving into secondary phase.

·         Concerns were raised about the format of the report and instances of repetition of data and commentary.

RESOLVED – (1) That the report be noted.

(2) That the Corporate Director for People be requested to provide further information to members in relation to the following:-

·         budgeting support for those migrating from existing benefits to the new universal credit;

·         progress with works to complete Castle Hill School.