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Agenda item

Key Accountable Performance 2017/18: Quarter One (EX3180)

Meeting of Executive, Thursday, 7th September, 2017 5.00 pm (Item 32.)

(CSP: MEC BEC SLE P&S HQL MEC BEC1 BEC2 SLE1 SLE2 P&S1HQL1 MEC1)

Purpose: To report quarter one outturns, for the Key Accountable Measures which monitor performance against the 2017/18 Council Performance Framework.

To provide assurance that the objectives set out in the Council Strategy and other areas of significant activity are being managed effectively.

To present, by exception, those measures that are predicted to be ‘amber’ (behind schedule) or ‘red’ (not achievable) and provide information on any remedial action taken and the impact of that action.

To recommend changes to measures / targets, as requested by services.

Decision:

Resolved that:

(1) Progress against the Key Accountable Measures and the key achievements in all service areas be noted, in particular the Ofsted inspection outcome of ‘Good’ for West Berkshire’s services for children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers.

(2) Those areas reported as ‘amber’ or ‘red’ be reviewed to ensure that appropriate action is in place. In particular, to consider the results and improvement actions for:

(a) the timeliness of decisions on Benefit Claims, and

(b) the % of people presenting as homeless where the homelessness has been relieved or prevented.

(3) The additional measures requested by Portfolio Holders to be included as part of the performance framework be noted as follows:

(a) % of schools judged good or better by Ofsted under the new framework

(b) % of pupils achieving a good level of development at Foundation Stage

(d) Monitor uptake of Identification & Brief Advice (IBA) training

(4) The removal of the ‘% of claims for Discretionary Housing Payment determined within 28 days following receipt of all relevant information’ be approved as the data cannot be produced reliably on a quarterly basis.

This decision is eligible to be ‘called-in’. However, if the decision has not been ‘called-in’ by 5.00pm on 14 September 2017, then it will be implemented.

Minutes:

The Executive considered a report (Agenda Item 7) which reported quarter one outturns for the Key Accountable Measures which monitored performance against the 2017/18 Council Performance Framework. The report provided assurance that the objectives set out in the Council Strategy and other areas of significant activity were being managed effectively. In addition the document set out, by exception, those measures that were predicted to be ‘amber’ (behind schedule) or ‘red’ (not achievable) and provided information on remedial action taken/its impact. Finally, the report recommended changes to measures/targets that had been requested by service areas.

Councillor Keith Chopping reported that despite the Council facing continued financial challenges, its overall performance was good. In particular he highlighted the Ofsted Inspection outcome of ‘Good’ for West Berkshire’s services for children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers. The Council’s performance in this area had moved from ‘Inadequate’ to ‘Good’ and West Berkshire was the first unitary local authority to move up by these two ratings. He complimented all those involved in achieving this success.

Councillor Chopping added that more schools had been judged as good or better by Ofsted. The Council had further improved the timeliness of its assessments to help meet the Core Business area of ‘Protecting our Children’. Performance in terms of collecting Council Tax and Business Rates had improved and end of year targets were expected to be achieved. The outcomes of reablement services (post discharge from hospital) had been maintained and good timeliness of financial assessments had been achieved to aid older people and vulnerable adults’ wellbeing. The targets for determining planning applications were being exceeded as were the approval of Disabled Facilities Grant applications.

The report also proposed removal of the measure – ‘% of claims for Discretionary Housing Payment determined within 28 days following receipt of all relevant information’ as the data could not be produced reliably on a quarterly basis, this was detailed further within Appendix G.

Appendix F contained exception reports for those measures reporting as ‘amber’ or ‘red’. The following two areas had been identified for further scrutiny:

· The timeliness of decisions on Benefit Claims.

· The percentage of people presenting as homeless where the homelessness had been relieved or prevented.

Councillor Lee Dillon noted the measure proposed for removal and the reasons for this. However, in the past, performance in this area had often been below target and he questioned how Members would be informed of performance in this area.

Councillor Hilary Cole acknowledged that data collection/capture was the issue. Officers did not feel that the data collection for this measure was sufficiently robust, however work was ongoing to consider alternative ways to present and report this data. Councillor Cole agreed to provide a written answer once this had been established.

Councillor Dillon next referred to the exception report for ‘% of clients with Long Term Service (LTS) receiving a review in the past 12 months’ which was reporting ‘amber’. He noted from the narrative that additional capacity had been put in place at the end of the 2015/16 financial year to ensure reviews were completed to meet the requirements of the Care Act and to improve performance at that time. It had however not been possible to maintain this capacity and performance level. During Quarter One of this financial year, the team had temporarily been increased to focus on completing overdue reviews, and Councillor Dillon questioned whether a more permanent recruitment solution was needed in this area in order to maintain performance. The exception report for this target also stated that there would be a focus on overdue reviews for clients whose primary support reasons were learning disability and mental health. Councillor Dillon suggested that the priority should be based on those most in need.

The measure ‘% of Adult Social Care safeguarding concerns responded to within 24 hours’ was reported as ‘amber’ when it had been a ‘green’ measure in the last two financial years. Councillor Dillon noted from the exception report that recording practices had impacted on this measure and queried whether this was the sole reason for the decrease in performance and whether this could be mitigated by staff training.

Councillor Rick Jones explained that there had been workload pressures in Adult Social Care in both of these cases and recruitment had proved to be a difficulty. However, significant levels of effort continued to improve performance. In addition, recruitment remained an area of focus as did training of new staff members. However, workload pressures had a negative impact on waiting lists and the ability to conduct reviews.

On the matter of prioritising clients, Councillor Rick Jones explained that this was a judgement made by the service. He pointed out that clients with learning disabilities or mental health issues were often those with the most complex needs. Councillor Rick Jones agreed to provide further clarity on this point in writing.

Turning to the exception report for ‘Number of weeks taken to conclude care proceedings (Children’s Social Care)’, Quarter One performance was 35 weeks against a target of less than or equal to 26 weeks and was above the national average. Councillor Dillon questioned how this target could be brought back on track and felt that this measure should be rated ‘red’ rather than ‘amber’.

Councillor Lynne Doherty agreed this measure should be rated ‘red’ and believed that the exception report was wrongly titled as ‘amber’. She did however add that delays were not attributable to the local authority, rather court capacity had contributed to delayed timescales.

Councillor Dillon gave his support to the additional measures included as part of the Performance Framework, listed in paragraph 2.3 of the summary report.

Councillor Alan Macro referred to the core business measure to decrease the number of bed days due to delayed transfers of care (DToC) from hospital. Quarter One data was not provided in the report as data had not been available, however the report indicated that this data would be published by NHS England in August 2017 and Councillor Macro queried the Q1 performance level.

Councillor Rick Jones stated that Q1 DToC data had been received and would form part of the Q2 performance report. He agreed to share this with Councillor Macro and Executive Members once this had been processed. Councillor Rick Jones clarified that the data was provided by both the Council and the NHS.

Councillor Mollie Lock advised that a scrutiny report had been drafted following the task group review of DToC and this would be presented in due course.

Continuing with core business measures, this time in Planning and Housing, this gave a measure for ‘major’ planning applications to be determined within four weeks and Councillor Macro questioned the accuracy of that timeframe. Councillor Cole clarified that the correct timeframe was 13 weeks.

The exception report for the ‘percentage of people presenting as homeless where the homelessness had been relieved or prevented’ showed that performance was 50% (red) against a target of 75% with a reduction in funding given as a reason for prevention activities being reduced. Councillor Macro agreed with the point made in the report that prevention was a cheaper alternative to a homelessness application and added that prevention provided a better outcome for those concerned and their families.

Councillor Cole clarified that the funding in this area had not reduced, the Preventing Homelessness Grant had been absorbed into the base budget. She explained that there had been severe staffing pressures in the team and this had resulted in the accumulation of a backlog. Councillor Cole had recently given approval for additional recruitment to the team to help alleviate pressures and improve performance levels.

Councillor Cole added that a new Prevention Duty was due to be implemented under the Homelessness Reduction Act. This was expected to place additional responsibilities on the Council to take all reasonable prevention actions and a paper would be brought before Members which outlined how the requirements of this duty would be implemented in West Berkshire.

RESOLVED that: