Agenda item

Purpose:

·         To provide assurance that the core business and council priorities for improvement measures (Council Strategy 2019-2023) are being managed effectively.

·         To highlight successes and where performance has fallen below the expected level; to present information on the remedial action taken, and the impact of that action.

Resolved that:

·         progress and achievements be noted.

·         the appropriateness of any remedial actions taken to improve performance had been reviewed, in particular for:

•   % of WBC provider services inspected by Care Quality Commission (CQC) and rated as good or better

•   % of repeat referrals to Children's Services within 12 months of a previous referral

•   Attainment results for Free School Meals (FSM) cohorts

·         areas where strategic action may need to be taken had been considered.

This decision is eligible to be ‘called-in’.  However, if the decision has not been ‘called-in’ by 5.00pm on 24 July 2020, then it will be implemented.

The Executive considered a report (Agenda Item 8) which provided assurance that the core business and Council priorities for improvement measures (Council Strategy 2019-2023) were being managed effectively. The report also highlighted successes and where performance had fallen below the expected level it set out the remedial action being taken and the impact of that action.

Councillor Joanne Stewart confirmed that the report provided assurance that the core business of the Council was performing to target or above. Where this was not the case then the exception reports set out the remedial action it was proposed to put in place. This was a Quarter Four report which did overlap with the start of the Covid pandemic and this had had an impact on services particularly Adult Social Care, Children and Family Services and Education. It was good to see that strong performance had been maintained within the Council’s core business activities in all but two areas. It was noted that crime cases appeared to be fairly static but domestic violence cases where police intervention was required was showing an upward trend and this was something that would need to be monitored particularly in relation to Covid. There had been a drop in the number of volunteers in the District’s libraries but the community had come together to support local residents and that was something that the Council needed to tap into and encourage them to continue with that work.

Councillor Graham Bridgman referred to the indicator around the % of WBC provider services inspected by Care Quality Commission (CQC) and rated as good or better in the area of ‘safe’ which was reporting as ‘red’. Six services had been looked at by CQC, four of which were care homes. Two of those care homes achieved an overall rating of ‘Requires Improvement’ and a consultant had been commissioned to work with one of those homes to review environment and practice and around specific areas of activity in order to improve the rating for 2020. Some of the inspection work had been stopped due to Covid but telephone management was in place for all those services. All six of the services referred to above had been rated by CQC as being of ‘no concern’ and were all open for business. Councillor Bridgman would be happy when inspections could resume again.

Councillor Dominic Boeck referred to the indicator in relation to the percentage of repeat referrals to Children's Services within 12 months of a previous referral. This was proving to be a stubborn measure to reduce and it was noted that the issue was that some recording practices had led to incorrect counting e.g. Early Response cases were being counted in the re-referral rates. This had now been addressed and indeed the number of re-referrals had dropped as a result of the Covid pandemic. Internal Audit had commissioned an external audit to ensure that there were no underlying issues but it was recognised that this was a difficult balancing act. He also mentioned the % of pupils eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) achieving a Good Level of Development (GLD) at Foundation Stage (EYFS). This had been the subject of a Strategy Board discussion in March 2020 but actions arising from that had not been implemented as the focus had been on the impact of schools closing. The attainment gap would almost certainly increase as a result of Covid as disadvantaged families would be those that would be affected most. A strategy would be required to catch up on time lost and it would be necessary to work with schools to put a plan in place. All schools would have effective remote learning in place by September 2020.

Councillor Lee Dillon queried whether there was a national standard of reporting referrals. Both of the above measures referred to by Councillor Boeck had been in relation to young people. The gap between the free school meals pupils and all other pupils had been known about for many years and there were pockets of deprivation in the West Berkshire district. It was also clear that this cohort would be even further behind after lockdown and his group would like to work with the Executive and through effective lobbying to improve and have funds to enable these children to catch up. It was all about life chances and the future of this group of children was in our hands. He asked what the Council was doing to encourage more apprenticeships across the organisation.

Councillor Dominic Boeck thanked Councillor Dillon for his offer of support in lobbying the Government which was most appreciated. Councillor Dillon was right about young people about to embark on their working lives and he confirmed that work was ongoing with West Berkshire Training Consortium in terms of increasing the number of apprenticeships.

Councillor Lee Dillon noted that lockdown commenced on 23 March 2020 and that this report was in relation to Quarter Four (up to the end of March 2020). He therefore felt that the impact of Covid-19 and the lockdown would not have impacted the Council’s performance or some of the influencer measures at this stage. For example, the number of empty business rated properties had already started to decrease in Quarter Three of 2019/20 and in respect of the percentage of carriage repairs some of that would be down to high levels of rainfall and the need to repair roads as a result.

Councillor Alan Macro was surprised that the issue around care homes had not been specifically covered in paragraph 4.5. He referred to paragraph 5.7 in relation to the number of people receiving a long term service from Adult Social Care which was increasing in Quarter Four and he asked if this would create a budget pressure. Councillor Graham Bridgman responded that in relation to care homes the issue with Birchwood had been longstanding and he was confident in the measures put in place to address any issues. In respect of paragraph 5.7 numbers had been modelled and therefore part would not result in a budget pressure. Some of the numbers looked to be up and down and he had asked Officers to clarify as there had been fluctuations in Quarters Two and Three and it was necessary to understand the reasons for that. Some flex in the numbers was anticipated but that would need to be tested.

Councillor Erik Pattenden referred to pages 170, 174 and 175 of the agenda noted that the dates in the tables did not seem to be correct and he asked if that could be amended. He welcomed the efforts of the Education team to address attainment issues but as could be seen from page 170 the Council had been in the bottom of the 4^th quartile in previous years and he therefore felt that this was an area which needed more effort and focus. He noted that this was a strategic objective but improvements were not being seen. Councillor Dominic Boeck agreed that this was a difficult challenge and that was the reason why it had been included as a strategic objective. It would be necessary to put in place actions to reduce the gap and that gap would be harder to bridge going forward. Councillor Lynne Doherty responded that there was no silver bullet here and was not necessarily an Education issue but one of equality and this needed to be addressed through the Health and Wellbeing Board. It was also an objective in the Health and Wellbeing Strategy. Schools were trying really hard and there were so many good outcomes in West Berkshire which became more pronounced when there were inequalities. This was the reason why the measure had been retained in order that the Executive could be challenged on it.

Councillor Jeff Brooks agreed that Covid would have an impact on Quarters One and Two of this year and indeed going forward. However, this had been used as an excuse for poor or delayed performance in a number of areas throughout the report which was not acceptable. He noted that sickness absence levels had been slightly higher than in the previous year and was worse than other local authorities. He felt that this had an impact on morale and was therefore something that needed consideration. Councillor Joanne Stewart took on board the comments raised by Councillor Brooks. She had had a discussion about Covid being quoted as a reason for delay and was working with the programme lead in respect of the cause of drift. Covid had been an issue in some cases when Officers had not been able to visit people at their home when the virus was emerging.

Councillor Richard Somner referred to Councillor Dillon’s comment in relation to the percentage of carriage repairs completed. He agreed that there had been periods of extensive rainfall where flooding had occurred but that was not an issue every year. There was now a focus on trying to improve/address drainage which it was hoped would impact on managing the deterioration of the roads.

RESOLVED that:

1.    Progress and achievements be noted;

2.    The appropriateness of any remedial actions taken to improve performance be approved, in particular for:

·         % of WBC provider services inspected by Care Quality Commission (CQC) and rated as good or better

·         % of repeat referrals to Children's Services within 12 months of a previous referral

·         Attainment results for Free School Meals (FSM) cohorts.

Reason for the decision: To ensure that the Council was meeting the expectations set out in the Council Strategy and to address areas where performance was falling below the expected standards.

Other options considered: None.