Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Corporate Director of People and Integration.

The report provides details relating to Mid-Year Portfolio Performance and Resource for the Children, Families and Education Portfolio with the Portfolio Report based on the 2022/23 Portfolio Performance and Resource Agreement (PPRA), which was considered by the Committee on 7 September and approved by Cabinet on 28 September 2022.

The Scrutiny Committee is asked to:

a)    Consider the Mid-Year Portfolio Performance and Resource Report; 

b)    Review the progress against delivering key projects, priority outcomes, targets and budgets for 2022/23;

c)    Highlight key areas of and responsibility for taking forward corrective action to address any performance or resource issues;

d)    Highlight any significant issues or changes to be fed back to the Cabinet alongside the Corporate Performance and Resource Report; and

e)    Identify how areas of strong performance and good practice can be shared in other services.

Officer contacts:

Gaynor Ward, Strategy and Performance Manager

gaynor.ward@stockport.gov.uk  (0161 474 3186)

Gill Dixon, CSS Manager (Specialist) Finance – Children’s Social Care

gill.dixon@stockport.gov.uk   (0161 474 3886)

Peter Hughes, CSS Manager (Specialist) Finance – Education & Schools

peter.hughes@stockport.gov.uk   (0161 474 3947)

The Corporate Director of People and Integration submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) providing details relating to Mid-Year Portfolio Performance and Resource for the Children, Families and Education Portfolio with the Portfolio Report based on the 2022/23 Portfolio Performance and Resource Agreement (PPRA), which was considered by the Committee on 7 September and approved by Cabinet on 28 September 2022.

The Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Children, Families & Education (Councillor Wendy Meikle) attended the meeting to respond to questions from the Scrutiny Committee.

The following comments were made/issues raised:-

Priority Two – All Children and Young People are well prepared for Adulthood and engage in Education, Employment and Training

·       Clarification was sought regarding the percentage of young people in Years 12 and 13 not in education, employment and training at the end of the 2021/22 academic year and whether measures were in place to track the young people and re-engage with them. In response, it was stated that Stockport has had consistent low numbers of ‘unknown’ young people with only 13 at the moment mainly due to moving out of the borough and other reasons. Diligent work has been undertaken to ensure the ‘unknowns’ are found as quickly as possible.

·       It was commented that about 61.5% of Stockport Schools were currently rated good or better according to the report by Ofsted and 66.1% of secondary school aged children living in Stockport attended these schools, but this was below the English average on both measures.

·       Members enquired about the Monitoring Committee and if there were any updates. In response, it was stated that a report regarding the Monitoring Committee would be submitted to a future meeting in 2023, but that schools continue to be monitored.

Priority Three – All Children, Young People and Families have access to an effective integrated early help offer.

·       Clarification was sought regarding the ‘incremental increase in contact record reviews’ and the ‘expected increase from previous years in light of the MAASH early help pathway’. In response, it was noted that from the summer period onwards there was specific focus on the MAASH to ensure that children and families coming through were stepping up into statutory social work interventions only when they needed to and thinking about the  alternative help that would be available at the earliest opportunity. The decline identified was a direct consequence of the activity, showing the proportionate involvement which could reduce the social workers caseloads.

·       It was commented that regarding the early help pathway the targets have been reviewed and updated following members comments at a previous meeting to ensure there was a complete plan in place.

Priority Five – All Children and Young People live safely and happily within their families, there are fewer family breakdowns and rates of crime and anti social behaviour reduce

·       Members welcomed the ‘Staying Close’ pilot which had been awarded £2.3m over three years to strengthen support for looked after children and recognised that it was a really good initiative.

·       It was noted that the SEND Revisit recently completed by the Ofsted and CQC inspectors has shown significant improvements and that the full report has now been published and would be shared with the Committee.

·       Clarification was sought regarding the hold that was put on the co-working of domestic abuse cases from quarter two onwards. In response, it was stated that it was an approach taken to improve the support of the workforce by upskilling and having a more focussed approach.

RESOLVED – that the report be noted.