Children s Services. Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel. Report of progress against NPCYP and APA/JAR. 20 December 2007.

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1 Children s Services Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel 20 December 2007 Report of progress against NPCYP and APA/JAR Report by: Ward Implications: Catherine Fitt, Executive Director of Children s Services All For Information 1. Summary 1.1 This report updates on progress in Children s Services including NPCYP and summarises the judgements of the Newcastle s Children s Services Annual Performance Assessment (APA) It also includes information from the Tellus 2 survey of children and young people conducted by Ofsted in summer 2007, to which more than 900 Newcastle pupils responded. 2. Recommendation 2.1 Scrutiny Panel members to receive the report as information of the wider developments in Children s Services. 2.2 Members are asked to consider Progress in delivering the Newcastle Plan for Children and Young People (NPCYP), since the JAR and the APA 2007 outcomes Whether the revised priorities are the right ones for Newcastle moving forward and to be reflected in the Local Area Agreement (LAA)? 3. Introduction/Background 3.1 The Newcastle Plan for Children and Young People (NPCYP) is at the centre of our Children s Services Performance Management strategic framework, underpinned by Improving Outcome Plans and service delivery plans. This framework is aligned with other strategies of both NCC and partners. 3.2 All local authority areas are subject to one Joint Area Review (JAR). Subsequently local authority Children s Services will undergo a substantial annual external evaluation, the Annual Performance Assessment (APA). The APA is conducted by OFSTED and integrates evaluations from the full range of inspection agencies relating to services for children and young people. Our

2 own self assessment contributes to APA and is now incorporated into our annual review of the NPCYP, in line with statutory guidance. 3.3 The seven grades awarded to Children s Services that contribute to the Council s overall star ratings remain: Outcome 1 Being Healthy Outcome 2 Staying Safe Outcome 3 Enjoying and Achieving Outcome 4 Making a Positive Contribution Outcome 5 Achieving Economic Well-being Service Management including Capacity to Improve Overall Effectiveness of Children s Services. The grade for overall effectiveness is the performance rating for the purpose of section 138 of the Education and Inspection Act It will also provide the score for the CPA. 3.4 The outcomes and recommendations of the Newcastle JAR were reported in March Newcastle Children s Services and partners underwent the APA in summer 2007, culminating in on-site interviews and review of information by two Ofsted inspectors in early October As well as an update on progress across the Every Child Matters (ECM) outcomes, there was a specific focus on progress and achievements against the twelve JAR recommendations. The APA letter was published on 26 November 2007, providing the most up-to-date external assessment of Newcastle Children s Services (link to the full letter at the end of this report). 3.5 The APA evaluation letter grades the contribution of the Council s services to improving outcomes for children in each of the five ECM areas plus the capacity to improve, including service management. Quotation marks in the summary which follows indicate direct APA quotes. 3.6 The Tellus 2 survey is a national Ofsted survey of the views of children and young people that occurred for the first time in May 2007 and is proposed to be conducted annually. It includes results for young people in Years 6, 8 and 10 in a sample of schools (selected by Ofsted) in each local authority area. The 2007 results were published by Ofsted at the end of November and allow local authorities to compare the views of young people in their schools with those nationally and in other authorities (link to the full results at the end of this report). 4. Overall effectiveness of children s services 4.1 Children s services have responded positively to the recommendations raised in the joint area review report and have made steady progress since that time. There are significant social and economic challenges in the city because of profound levels of deprivation found in some areas. Many outcomes for children and young people are below the national average; however, there are signs of improvement during the last year. 4.2 The authority has made significant changes to its services for children and young people as a result of an increasingly accurate analysis of its performance. There is a strong shared determination to improve services but in many cases it is too soon to fully judge the impact of recent changes on children and young people.

3 5. Being Healthy 5.1 APA letter The contribution of the Council s services to improve health outcomes for children and young people has improved and is now good. (Grade 3) The JAR had recommended an internal evaluation of the strategies to reduce children s obesity, teenage conception rates and the incidence of smoking among expectant mothers. The APA acknowledges progress made on this and in particular underlines the good reduction in teenage conception rates in the latest statistics, the 7.3% point reduction in levels of smoking among expectant mothers, and the ambitious multi-stranded approach to tackle obesity The council recognises that breast-feeding initiation rates continue to be significantly low and levels of sexual infection, including Chlamydia, are high. Good progress is being made in tackling these issues. Decreasing levels of sexual infection has been highlighted in the APA letter as a new area for development. 5.2 NPCYP progress Delivery plans for the priorities of breastfeeding and child obesity are progressing on target. Data shows performance remains a high priority Tellus 2 survey: Newcastle results (national) 37% CYP said they were Very Healthy (31%) 71% never smoked (73%) 39% never drank alcohol (42%); 15% got drunk 3+ times in last 4 wks (7%) Higher percentage positive above information and advice in all areas 6. Staying Safe 6.1 APA letter The contribution of the Council s services remains adequate. (Grade 2). Improvements to services are evident, but evidence of improved outcomes has yet to be fully demonstrated The Council has made secure progress on the establishment of agreed thresholds for referrals to social care but there is still work to be done on the application of these thresholds amongst partners in children s services. Rates of initial assessments completed within seven day timescale remains low. The volume of core assessments in Newcastle is well above comparators. Completion rates within the 35 day timescale improved last year. Improved outcomes resulting from reshaping services into dedicated specialist teams and improvements in staffing and vacancy levels remain to be seen All children who are the subject of child protection plans have allocated social workers and the timeliness of child protection reviews continues to be good. A high proportion of looked after children are placed with foster carers and there is good performance in terms of adoption orders for children and young people where this meets their best interests. The continuing high proportion

4 of children and young people in placements out of area is being tackled through the establishment of a placements panel and a gate-keeping and resource panel. An Invest to Save strategy to increase the pool of in-house carers has been established to ensure resources are prioritised appropriately. 6.2 NPCYP progress After significant increases during 2006/07, the numbers of children on the Child Protection Register and becoming looked after (LAC), have stabilised in 2007/08. Indicators remain high compared to national and comparative local authorities high cost. CP reviews and a range of indicators for LAC, including stability of placements, are positive CYP killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents increased (2006) subject to fluctuation due to small numbers, approximately 20 per year Tellus 2 Survey: Newcastle results (national) 31% a bit/very unsafe in the local area (25%); 8% a bit/very unsafe at home (4%); 22% a bit/very unsafe on public transport (27%) (CYP priority) 72% never been bullied at school (70%); 7% bullied most days (5%) (CYP priority) Common Assessment Framework (CAF) assessments are above target. 800 practitioners have already been trained A Citywide Integrated Services Steering Group (CISSG) has been established and is incorporated into governance arrangements of the CYPSP, leading on early intervention and prevention. Locality Support Groups to support CAF and Integrated working are now in place and linked to the new Locality Structure. Locality Network Launch events are planned for November Parenting Support strategy and action plan drafted and out to consultation. This will inform the future commissioning and decommissioning of all parenting support services Pilot Anti-Bullying Accreditation for Action Framework complete and positively evaluated. The Framework seeks to support schools in developing their Whole School policies to encompass all bullying that might rise from any prejudice, intolerance or discrimination. ARCH data recording system launched to schools in October for recording bullying and harassment. 7. Enjoying and Achieving 7.1 APA letter The contribution of the Council s services to improving outcomes for children and young people in this aspect remains adequate. Some improvements are evident as a result of action implemented since the joint area review, although there are still some significant areas where improvements are needed. (Grade 2) The Council has responded well to the joint area review recommendation with regard to excluded pupils by ensuring that all permanently excluded pupils are immediately placed on the roll of the city s pupil referral unit or alternative education provision for older pupils at Oakfield Solutions. The proportion of pupils with fixed term exclusions is below the national average but it remains above the average for those permanently excluded.

5 7.1.3 There has been good progress in response to the joint area review recommendation that the progress of all groups of pupils, including those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, is celebrated Children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities who receive additional support do well when compared to similar children and young people nationally Attainment of 7 and 11 year old pupils has improved significantly as a result of targeted intervention in some schools; however, standards overall remain below the national average. At age 14 the proportion of pupils achieving levels 5 and 6 and above in English is particularly low with no trend of continuous improvement. The proportion of young people achieving five or more good GCSE passes has continued to improve and according to the latest Council data has now risen to above the national average in the maintained sector for the first time. The Council recognises that low levels of attainment in mathematics and English is a key priority action Children and young people s attendance at school is satisfactory overall. Effective work is taking place to reduce absence rates in particular targeted areas, families and schools. There is particularly good celebration of high attendance rates The number of schools who are a cause for concern has decreased. There are no secondary schools subject to special measures or a notice to improve. 7.2 NPCYP progress Educational attainment as above and in separate scrutiny report Tellus 2 survey: Newcastle results (national) 57% always/mostly enjoy school (58%) 79% more fun/interesting lessons would help do better (79%) 46% know enough about activities in area (36%) 28% think activities/things to do good enough (26%) School inspection outcomes are positive, especially secondary Extended schools meeting core offer (58) exceeds target Family Learning opportunities have increased across Newcastle schools, with an additional nine schools participating since May 2007, totalling 53 schools Free leisure activities are being provided to all children and young people in Newcastle, which was one of the priorities identified by children and young people in Newcastle through the What Matters to Us consultation processes that supported the development of NPCYP Work has started on all school sites in relation to BSF/PFI2 programme Phase One. Strategic Partnering Agreement agreed with the LEP. Work has started to organise engagements with schools in Phase 2

6 8. Making a Positive Contribution 8.1 APA letter The contribution of the Council s services to improve outcomes for children and young people in this aspect remains adequate. Although some improvement is evident as a result of actions implemented since the joint area review, there are still some actions that have yet to show impact. (Grade 2) The Council has established a corporate parenting advisory committee, as well as a participation steering group for looked after children and young people. There is strong evidence that the views of looked after children have influenced service development. For example views about support from social workers have influenced the reshaping of social care into dedicated teams There has been progress on the monitoring and evaluation of the impact of strategies to reduce anti-social behaviour and offending and the Council is able to provide evidence of some improved outcomes. The anti-social behaviour pilot has resulted in improved outcomes in terms of reduced criminal behaviour, exclusion levels and safer environments, with an increase in school satisfaction levels. This successful pilot is now being introduced in all secondary schools The rate of re-offending amongst young people has declined although the number of first time entrants to the youth justice system remains fairly stable and is above the national average Work with adult services to meet the needs of young carers is being improved through a programme of awareness raising and training, attended so far by 120 staff. There is active involvement of young carers in this work, including contribution to the development of the Young Carers strategy, consultations on the most effective type of support and involvement in recruitment panels. 8.2 NPCYP progress There are now 46 organisations with membership of Investing in Children including new membership for Walker Technology College and Newcastle Independence Network. This is above target Tellus 2 survey: Newcastle results (national) 36% said CYP s views listened to in decisions about area a great deal/fair amount (24%) 60% said CYP s views listened to in running of school (52%) Newcastle CYP more likely to have helped elderly/disabled person/someone who is sick/neighbour than national A Good Practice Guide for participation of children, young people, parents and carers in the recruitment process has been developed Work on schedule to establish a forum for children and young people with learning disabilities: currently membership is at Range of engagement/participation activities progressing. Newcastle City

7 Council has rejoined the UK Youth Parliament and now supports 4 young people from Newcastle to represent the City at national level; approximately 70 young people were involved in a conference to select the representatives. Over 100 young people, joined by local Members attended the Lemington and Newburn Children and Young People's Forum launch' As part of Parents and Carers engagement activities, there has been the 'Hundred Voices of Mothers, Fathers and Carers' event in June 2007, and an Engaging Fathers conference in October organised by Fathers Direct and the Newcastle Local Safeguarding Children Board in association with Children North East Fathers Plus. 9. Achieving economic well-being 9.1 APA letter The contribution of the Council s services to improve outcomes for children and young people in this aspect remains adequate (Grade 2), although some improvements are evident as a result of action implemented since the joint area review The Council has responded well to the recommendations of the joint area review by devising and implementing an integrated youth strategy. The recommendations of the area inspection have been subsumed into this strategy and been integrated with overall plans for 11- to 19-year-olds The proportion of young people aged who are not in employment, education or training has continued on its downward trend and compares well with similar authorities, although for those over 19 the trend is not as good. There is a higher proportion of young people whose current employment or training status is not known than in comparable authorities. There is particularly good progression into employment, education or training for looked after children There has been good collaboration between providers of education and training to set up a firm basis for the introduction of the diplomas. Overall the achievement of young people in sixth forms is above that of similar authorities. Results at the local college of further education are particularly good at Level 1 and Level 3. Achievement in work based learning provision is in line with the low national average. 9.2 NPCYP progress A level average point scores have fallen compared to 2006 (figure includes Newcastle maintained schools and Newcastle College). In Newcastle schools the average point score remained similar to last year although the number of young people staying in education increased % year olds NOT in education, employment or training fallen again to 8.3% (provisional) Tellus 2 survey: Newcastle results (national) 81% local area very/fairly good place to live (74%) 69% public transport very/fairly good (57%) 50% go to university (50%) 50% information and help to plan future good enough (35%)

8 9.2.4 Transition Strategy written with proposed Action Plan. The agreed action plan and cost implications will go to the December CYPSPE for final agreement. 10. Capacity to improve, including the management of services for children and young people 10.1 APA letter The Council s capacity to improve its services for children and young people is good. There has been much improvement since the joint area review because of good management of services. (Grade 3) Since the joint area review was carried out processes and structures have changed to ensure a closer link between priorities and funding. There continues to be a strong focus on improvement. The Council has improved its structures using a co-ordinated approach to the development of multidisciplinary teams An adequate self evaluation process is in place. However some of the new strategies for improvement have not yet been sufficiently measured in term of outcomes for young people. Effective action has taken place in response to the immediate and six month joint area review recommendations NPCYP progress Value for Money work across children s Services is progressing and Newcastle has taken part in the national Children s Services mapping pilot Early intervention and prevention work is developing through range of integrated working The Transforming Outcomes programme to date has delivered: new governance arrangements to oversee the changes in working practices, resource usage and decision making which will make these benefits a reality the performance management framework to measure our success in improving outcomes for children and young people and delivering against our identified priorities the development of a commissioning framework which can utilise this performance information in commissioning services to match need in the community the framework and training pathway to prepare the large children's services workforce for changes to their working practices and working cultures to ensure they are adequately skilled, knowledgeable and safe to work with children, young people and their families effectively the locality networks which will inform, shape and deliver the new ways of working through integrated service provision and better use of information sharing and integrated working tools the ICT strategy which will develop the technical infrastructure to support these changes to working practices and make them the most effective for practitioners to access and utilise. 11. Annual Performance Assessment areas for improvement in services for children from 2007

9 11.1 In Health, one additional area for development was identified: strengthen sexual health services to decrease the levels of sexual infection and improve breast-feeding initiation rates For Staying Safe, two additional recommendations were contained in the November 2007 APA letter: improve the timeliness of CP assessments strengthen the consistency of the use of common threshold criteria for referral to social care Enjoying and Achieving, additional recommendations that are priorities for schools and children s services: improve overall achievement rates in maths and English ensure that arrangements to exclude pupils from schools are applied appropriately and that those excluded permanently make satisfactory progress To improve the positive contribution that children and young people make, Newcastle Children s Services should: measure the impact of recent key strategies and actions to improve the positive contribution by young people To improve services support for young people to achieve economic wellbeing, children s services should in addition to existing JAR recommendations: improve their literacy and numeracy skills so they are well equipped for employment, further education and training determine more precisely the progression routes of young people at age There is one additional area for development for service management: develop a comprehensive self-evaluation process that links the impact of new strategies to improved outcomes for children and young people The APA 2007 evaluated progress made on the 12 recommendations of the JAR report. The additional recommendations contained in the APA 2007 will be subject to a common planning process in January/February This will signify the start of the process of preparation for APA 2008 in which further improvements in the impact of the work of services for children will be evidenced and evaluated. 12. Priorities for 2008/09 and beyond 12.1 The NPCYP and must be reviewed in every year that a new plan is not being agreed. As part of this annual review, which is submitted to Ofsted and DCSF and forms our self-evaluation for the APA, we must review our priorities. The process of prioritisation involves Analyses of need, which are also linked to locality developments

10 Self evaluation and external inspection processes to assess progress in improving outcomes Negotiation with GONE/government departments over priorities 12.2 From April 2008 a new Local Area Agreement between government and the Newcastle Strategic Partnership (NSP) will determine 35 priority indicators for Newcastle from the National Indicator Set (NIS), plus 16 statutory education indicators. There will, therefore, also be further discussion and negotiation regarding the priorities for the Local Area Agreement Appendix One shows a draft list of priorities for Newcastle Children and Young People s Strategic Partnership and the City Council in 2008/09 incorporating all of the above and how these might feed into LAA priorities and / or indicators. 13. Equalities 13.1 Equalities issues are considered throughout our own processes of selfevaluation as well as through external inspection and assessment. There are a number of ways in which these are addressed: Outcomes are analysed for different groups of children and young people, e.g. BME, LAC, SEN Access to services and the extent to which services are inclusive is considered 13.2 A particular equalities issue that is being given a greater emphasis than previously is the impact of deprivation on outcomes for children and young people. It is proposed to be a key priority or theme of the LAA. 14. Further Information 1. JAR Report 2007 (March) stle_joint_area_review_main_report.pdf 2. APA letter, 26 November tegoryid=0&filename=\\apa\\apa_2007_391.pdf 3. Tellus survey ellus2_summary.pdf Contact Officer:- Deb Tyler, Head of Performance Management and Information, Children s Services, ext 25362