Kirklees Council 3 year Corporate Plan 2011/12 to 2013/ /14 Revision - Year 3 edition

Transcription

1 Kirklees Council 3 year Corporate Plan 2011/12 to 2013/ /14 Revision - Year 3 edition

2 CONTENTS FOREWORD Page 3 BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 4-9 Picture of Kirklees, Kirklees and its localities, Levels of deprivation Demographic changes, Economic Position, National and local policy challenges, Health and Wellbeing, Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy, Public Health, Health improvement responsibilities and Community Safety Planning Council Vision for 2014 Values OUR INTEGRATED PLANNING FRAMEWORK MAKE OUR VISION A REALITY (Including our Priorities) Enhance life chances for young people Support older people to be healthy, active and included Business growth and jobs Provide effective and productive services Contributions from our full range of Council Services, including: Ensuring quality of services in all of our commissioning and delivery is critical. Two additional Council-wide strategies commissioned or delivered in partnership: Tackling Poverty Protecting the environment by reducing CO Kirklees Council three year Corporate Plan - Year three edition

3 FOREWORD Welcome to the Council s Corporate Plan for 2013/14. This is the third and final revision of our 3 year Corporate Plan from 2011/12 to 2013/14. The Plan summarises what the Council will aim to achieve in the short term as its significant contribution to Kirklees. It is an essential internal plan providing a Councilwide framework in which we detail our priorities and objectives. This information is used to inform all individual service delivery plans and the associated performance measures. We also provide evidence of our achievements. The Council s own short term vision sets a high level of ambition for our staff - both about what we should aim for and how we should meet our customers expectations in difficult economic times. In particular we are focusing on the District s impact in the City Region economy and particularly within the District to facilitate growth and access to jobs, including through apprenticeships. The buoyancy of the local economy will be increasingly important as we have the opportunity to keep some of the benefit of increases in business rates. We are expecting a significant reduction in our finances in the future, however in 2013/14 we will manage to deliver the 3rd year of our established plan, but this includes drawing on our reserves. As a consequence of the significantly increased pressures on local government services and finances the Council is clear that our current priorities have to be re-assessed and refreshed during 2013/14. We are committed to undertake public consultation on the options for our priorities for 2014/15 and beyond. Moving forward in we will continue to see and feel the cumulative impact of a reducing allocation of central government funding whilst facing increasing demands from residents who will be affected by Welfare and other Reform. There is a rise in the number of homelessness applications and the need to provide more temporary accommodation for homeless applicants. We and partners are seeing a rise in the demand for debt advice. We anticipate these demands will continue to increase as household budgets are squeezed by lower or stagnant wages and continuing rises in the cost of living, affecting the vulnerable, particularly fuel costs. We have a council wide Tackling Poverty Strategy which seeks to address the impact of poverty across the authority. Our aim is to mitigate some of the negative impacts for residents by providing early advice and strengthening our cross service working arrangements. We continue to maintain our focus on managing performance and ensuring we provide value for money. This is and will remain at the heart of how we commission services. Central government funding continues to reduce and faced with these significant financial challenges we will have to deliver services with less resources in the future, whilst still responding to the requirements of current and new government policy. We are committed to working closely with partners across all sectors to commission and provide services that meet the needs of local people. Adrian Lythgo (Chief Executive) Jacqui Gedman (Director for Place) Dr Judith Hooper (Director of Public Health) Alison O Sullivan (Director for Children and Adults) Ruth Redfern (Director of Communities, Transformation and Change) 3 Kirklees Council three year Corporate Plan - Year three edition

4 BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT Picture of Kirklees Our understanding of Kirklees and the challenges we face is informed by intelligence, research and analysis. Partners work together to share and analyse information including data from resident surveys, local and national statistics, analysis of trends and external influences and the results of consultation and other involvement activity across the communities and neighbourhoods of Kirklees. This enables us to develop a thorough understanding of the needs and priorities of the communities we serve in order to make best use of public sector resources. We use this information to produce a suite of needs assessments, including: The Picture of Kirklees provides an overall summary with an update on progress against our priorities. The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment identifies the key health and wellbeing challenges of children and adults in Kirklees. The Kirklees Local Economic Assessment provides information and intelligence about the Kirklees economy. The Partnership Strategic Intelligence Assessment identities the community safety needs of Kirklees. All of this informs our priority setting and re-enforces where we focus our activities and resources, supporting an approach which is needs led and evidence based. Our strategic partnership boards use the above assessments to prioritise needs and develop partnership strategies and plans. The main strategies and plans are the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy, the Integrated Investment Strategy, the Children and Young People Plan and the Community Safety Partnership Plan. Kirklees and its localities Kirklees is made up of urban and rural communities, with residents having a strong sense of local independence and identity and attachment to local towns and villages. It is the 11th largest local authority in England and Wales. The latest census information estimates the population in 2011 to be 422,500, with a projected total of 450,000 by The 2011 Your Place, Your Say survey told us that 76% of Kirklees residents are satisfied with their local area as a place to live, although there are some differences by area and between groups. Overall, 54% agree that their local area is a place where they feel proud to live. However, almost a quarter (24%) feel that their local area has got worse as a place to live over the last three years and this is significantly higher in North Kirklees (30%). Whether or not people feel safe in their local area is likely to contribute to levels of satisfaction with the place where people live. Perceptions of safety have improved but there remain differences between some localities and amongst some specific groups. The capacity of communities to come together to contribute to positive outcomes in their neighbourhoods will become increasingly important. As the public sector has to more rigorously prioritise its resources based on need, a new relationship between public service providers and citizens will be needed and communities will be required to take on more responsibility working in partnership to achieve shared goals. There are geographic, demographic and socio-economic factors associated with differences in community capacity and individual resilience in Kirklees it will be important over the next few years to build a robust understanding of what factors help promote greater community capacity, self reliance and reduced dependency. 4 Kirklees Council three year Corporate Plan - Year three edition

5 Despite ongoing efforts to increase wider public engagement the number of residents who feel they can influence local decisions remains low, and there is a relatively low perception that getting involved would make any difference. A belief that by getting involved you can change the way an area is run is a strong predictor of wanting to volunteer more in the future. Our approach to how we work with and involve residents will take account of this type of analysis. Levels of deprivation High levels of deprivation are found within the larger urban centres of Kirklees, for example Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Batley. Poverty is still a day to day reality for many Kirklees residents. Up to 30% of households in the district live below an acceptable standard of living and large disparities exist in income levels a difference in average household income of 31,000 between the most affluent and poorer areas. Demographic changes The young population (0 19 year olds) is projected to rise by 6.7% from 2011 to 2021 (marginally higher than the projected increases in the overall population of 6.4% over the same period). Children who have the best start in life are more likely to achieve in school and work, live longer and experience better health. Disadvantage in childhood compounds problems experienced in later life. Tackling wider influences on health inequalities and eliminating child poverty are key factors in all of our priorities requiring combined partnership action in Kirklees. If we are to improve life chances for children, priority must be given to the early years to ensure that children get the best opportunity to make positive life choices for both themselves and the people around them. The population of residents aged 65 and over was about 65,000 at the last census in 2011, which is about 15.3% of the total population. Older people are projected to live longer post-retirement. The number of people aged 65 and over is projected to increase by 15,000 by 2021, a rise of 23.5%. This has specific implications for health and social care services. It is vital to focus on actions to increase the chances that these extra years of life will be healthy and fulfilling ones. The changing demographics of Kirklees represents a challenge for all local public services, individuals and communities need to be planning ahead so that we can all live life to the full. This is not just a social care and health issue it s about our housing, relationships, leisure, employment, planning and the built environment everything that goes to shaping the type of places and communities we want to live in. Economic Position The northern economy has suffered disproportionately since the economic crash in Against that national and regional backdrop in Kirklees we have made progress on growing the manufacturing baseline and investing in and promoting apprenticeships. We have had short term success and want to continue to expand apprenticeships in the long -term, but our ability to do so is likely to be limited due to the local and national economic position. The Kirklees economy is forecast to grow by around 2% in 2013 as it recovers from a double dip recession in This growth rate is slightly better than projections for either the Leeds City Region or Great Britain which are (1.7%). In the medium term (up to 2016) growth in Kirklees is projected to continue at around 2% - which is the equivalent to an extra 115 million per year in economic output. Over the same period, employment in Kirklees is forecast to expand by around 3.3% - which would equate to around an extra total net new jobs by Again, this rate of growth is slightly better than the national average (3.1%) but is slightly below the Leeds City Region (3.6%). 5 Kirklees Council three year Corporate Plan - Year three edition

6 National and local policy challenges There are a number of external policy challenges and opportunities which will impact on Kirklees. The global and national economic outlook remains uncertain and the need for Kirklees Council to contribute to and lead local growth has never been greater. This is in the context of significant changes the coalition government has made to the sub-national economic landscape in recent years i.e. creation of the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEPs), the City Deal and the Regional Growth Fund. The Chancellors autumn statement in December 2012 suggested that public sector reductions will continue until at least 2017/18. The direct implication of this for Kirklees and other local authorities is that there will be no financial stimulus is 2013/14, followed by significant funding cuts in 2014/15. At the same time the council faces a number of significant challenges: Keeping mainstream services viable, whilst the demands for social care continue to increase Introducing a council tax benefit localisation scheme, in response to a reduction in central government funding All of this is alongside implementing significant reforms across many other service areas. In addition, various cross cutting government policy agendas will continue to be significant in 2013/14, including: The integration of public health service responsibilities into the Council A continuing focus on localism and on the opening up and diversification of public service provision Greater emphasis on community budget approaches as part of the sectors response to diminishing resources. The Council will focus upon continuing to reform how public services are delivered, with a strong focus on driving economic growth and reducing demand. To meet these key challenges we will for example: Make best use of intelligence and research to ensure our priorities, commissioning approaches and service redesigns are evidence based and needs-led. Coordinate action, interventions and commissioning across all sectors to ensure maximum impact within communities - the voluntary sector, local community-based suppliers and SMEs working with the Council and partners to provide services and shape outcomes. Support community capacity, resilience and self reliance, reducing dependency and ensuring that communities are able to do more through cooperation. Prioritise early intervention and prevention to improve outcomes for people and to prevent escalating costs to the public sector and society as a whole. use the integration of public health as a major opportunity to rethink how we work, taking the best of both organisational cultures and approaches and learning from each other s skills and experiences Health and Wellbeing From April 2013 the Health and Wellbeing Board will be the formal mechanism for promoting the effective integrated provision of health and wellbeing services. It will monitor the outcomes of partners in improving and protecting local health, and will: Provide strategic leadership of the Health and Wellbeing programme; Improve collaboration between the Council, NHS and local community representatives to strengthen the role of local democracy in shaping local health care Strengthen the connections between the Council and Clinical Commissioning Groups, introducing single integrated commissioning arrangements, ensuring that we work to the right priorities. 6 Kirklees Council three year Corporate Plan - Year three edition

7 Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy The first Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy (JHWS) for Kirklees sets out the vision for improving the health and wellbeing of local people and reducing inequalities at every stage of people s lives. The JHWS vision is that by 2020: No matter where they live, people in Kirklees live their lives confidently, in better health, for longer and experience less inequality. The strategy provides a framework and a set of tools to support the innovative approaches required, given the changing needs of local people and the current economic climate. It focuses on things that can be done in partnership rather than things within the remit of a single agency. It also recognises the need to understand where single agency action may have significant impact for other partners. The JHWS and the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) are the overall frameworks for improving local health and wellbeing and addressing inequalities across the life course. The JHWS supports the commissioning, design and delivery of better responses to local needs in a more integrated and effective way. The JHWS enables the Health and Wellbeing Board: To assess local plans and actions of its member organisations to ensure the vision and outcomes are being achieved by tackling the key local health and wellbeing issues and making changes to systems. To influence partner organisations thinking and subsequently hold those organisations to account for their actions against the JHWS. To make effective decisions in a clear and transparent framework. Public Health The Public Health (PH) function is transferring into the Council from the NHS in April The transition has been progressing over the past 12 months and a number of PH achievements are now included in our priority updates. This is a significant change which provides the opportunity to ensure that Public Health and wellbeing issues are at the heart of everything the Council does. The Council will have new duties, including: Mandatory functions for PH across the Council area 1) Steps to be taken to protect the health of the population. 2) Open access to sexual health services, excluding termination of pregnancy, sterilisation and treatment of HIV infection for all persons. 3) The annual National Child Measurement Programme of those aged 5 and 11. 4) The NHS Health Check assessment is offered to those aged once every 5 years. Also that these checks are recorded, including a dementia check for those aged ) Ensuring NHS commissioners receive the PH advice they need in respect of health improvement and protection for all people, including: A summary of the overall health needs of those people; Assessments of the health needs of groups of individuals with particular conditions or diseases; Advice on the development of plans for the anticipated care needs; Advice on how to reduce health inequalities. 6) To publish the annual report of the Director of Public Health 7 Kirklees Council three year Corporate Plan - Year three edition

8 7) Joint Strategic Needs Assessments in collaboration with CCGs and the Health and Wellbeing Board, and to inform, develop and implement Joint Health and Well Being Strategies. These functions are mandatory in order to achieve greater uniformity and consistency of service provision. Health improvement responsibilities Public Health has the responsibility to improve health and reduce health inequalities in a number of areas: Tobacco control. Alcohol and drug misuse services including the Council s public health response in respect of licensing applications. Public health services for children & young people aged 5-19 and aged 0-5 after 2015 (health visiting) including the provision of Healthy Start vitamins. Consulting and making decisions on water fluoridation schemes. Tackling obesity such as community lifestyle and weight management services. Locally led nutrition initiatives. Increasing the levels of physical activity in the local population. Public mental health services (e.g. emotional well being and mental health promotion). Dental public health services specifically oral health promotion and surveys. Population action to reduce and prevent birth defects (e.g. reducing infant mortality). Behavioural and lifestyle campaigns to reduce the impact of cancer and other long term conditions (e.g. the self care programme). Supporting, reviewing and challenging the delivery of key public health funded and NHS delivered services such as immunisation and screening programmes. Cooperating with the police, probation and prison service to assess the risks posed by violent sexual offenders. The key objective for PH for is to ensure the council can deliver its new responsibilities and make a significant improvement to the public s health. Bringing the PH within the Council should strengthen the ability to have a positive impact on local health and reduce the avoidable gaps in health experienced by local people. In the future: The Council will also use health intelligence in the best way to understand what needs to be done to achieve outcomes, understanding challenges faced by local people as well as involving them in solutions; helping to inform effective and innovative work across all sectors, agencies and disciplines to ensure resources used are based on local needs. PH staff will bring with them experience and knowledge to support the Council in fulfilling its health improvement responsibilities. The transfer of PH brings additional capacity to develop, commission and deliver a wide range of evidence based action and services designed to improve health and wellbeing, and support positive behaviour change for health in both individuals and organisations. The Council will undertake its duty to protect the population of Kirklees by working effectively with other agencies locally, regionally or nationally; including minimising the risk of threats to human health, either by prevention, prompt detection and resolution, or dealing with the consequences. 8 Kirklees Council three year Corporate Plan - Year three edition

9 Community Safety Planning The 1998 Crime and Disorder Act and subsequent legislative amendments requires the Council to work with agencies such as the Police, Fire Service, Probation and Health to develop and deliver a Partnership Plan which aims to reduce crime and make people feel safer by dealing with issues such as anti-social behaviour, drug and alcohol misuse and re-offending. Based on the current evidence base of community safety problems across the communities of Kirklees, the current priorities identified are as follows: Confidence and Satisfaction Tackling Crime (Personal & Property) Anti-Social Behaviour Drugs and Alcohol Reducing Re-offending Community Cohesion and Involving Communities Our Kirklees Council Vision for 2014 In early 2011 we created a Council Vision that describes where we expect to reach by It is primarily for councillors and staff to remind ourselves of the high aspirations we have for Kirklees during this period and for us to use as a measure of success. We also use it as a reminder to ourselves of the need for new ways of working, innovation and productivity that will allow us to do even better with less. Alongside the Vision we developed new values for the Council based on Kirklees and our underlying ethos of fairness and integrity, with a contribution from all our people. Our values are applied Council wide, without exception, and used as a part of individual and organisation development. Our Vision: Kirklees has emerged from recession with manufacturing and small businesses, as well as the public sector, the mainstay of the economy. The Council is smaller but achieving even greater impact and influence in the local and regional economy and quality of life. Councillors set the priorities to achieve this with partners in their community leadership role. Kirklees towns and villages are vibrant places, provide a richness of life and culture and are safe places to live and work. We have evidence that shows the impact that our services make and we tailor our universal delivery accordingly. Through innovative reforms we are having greater impact and making better collective use of public sector resources. As a result, life chances are improving and inequalities are reducing. Our most vulnerable families are supported so that they are less dependent on statutory services. Early interaction with older people means they are healthier and more active and the social care available is responsive to their needs. Basic skills have improved in the local economy this has been driven by high performing schools and in the longer term, higher skills will deliver better paid jobs. Wealth creation, investment and private sector employment are growing facilitated by the success of our improved engagement with business. Building on the best of Kirklees, our empowered people celebrate the success and diversity of the district and go the extra mile in achieving this vision with citizens, communities and our partners. They take the right decisions at the right time. 9 Kirklees Council three year Corporate Plan - Year three edition

10 There is a new relationship between citizens, our communities and public services and we have made significant progress in transforming public services. Effective community leadership has supported more shared responsibility, with communities enabled to do more through cooperation. Communities, the voluntary sector, social enterprise and partners work together with the Council to provide services and shape outcomes in communities. As a result, communities themselves are stronger and more cohesive. They are vibrant, successful and increasingly more sustainable., including the continuing reduction of our carbon footprint. We receive consistent and excellent customer feedback on the quality of the services that we commission. Communities recognise that neighbourhood and Streetscene services are responsive to local needs and to the councillors that represent them. Kirklees is recognised regionally and nationally as a pioneering local authority. We have responded early and successfully to the financial challenges and our modern innovative and proactive engagement with individuals and communities has shaped services that meet their needs within the resources available. In 2013/14 the Vision will be updated to reflect the context in which the Council will operate over the coming years. Our Values: The Council has a set of values to support our vision, which were developed in a number of discussions with staff who work in all parts of the Council. Our staff are clear that our values should be a small set of guiding principles that we genuinely believe in and which can be recognised by customers. We use them to describe the behavior that is important to the Council in our day to day engagement with our customers and with each other. We are confident that they will hold good for a number of years. Introducing the values into the organisation will make a significant contribution to the culture that will emerge as we go through a period of unprecedented change. As they were developed within the organisation there is a strong sense of ownership that is carrying them through. We will make every endeavor to ensure that they engender loyalty and are not compromised. Our Values state that: We will work together with a common sense of purpose. We will be passionate about the difference that we make, confident in our abilities to get things done, and flexible in doing what we can, as well as we can. Most large organisations have statements of objectives, strategies and plans that show how they will deliver services and achieve improvement in the short, medium and long term. Local authorities have been required by government to produce a number of service and corporate plans and strategies that show how they will organise activity to achieve national and local performance objectives. Some of these strategies were widely focused; others addressed very specific issues. In many cases these have been supplemented by internal strategies and plans that the Council has established either to meet local objectives or to address national issues or regulatory assessment criteria. Targeting inequalities What is critically important in all of the above is that within any strategy or plan we are explicit about the differences that we are trying to make, for whom and how we will know when we have achieved it. In this context, we place a particular emphasis in Kirklees on understanding and specifically targeting inequalities between individuals and communities. This has been a strong area of focus for a number 10 Kirklees Council three year Corporate Plan - Year three edition

11 of years and has subsequently been mainstreamed into all our priorities. It is integral to the framework to implement the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy (JHWS). Managers are expected to ensure that inequality is considered at the start of the development of any service delivery plan or proposal. The JHWS presents a strategic thinking framework to help identify and take action about inequalities. The diagram on page 12 (our Plan of Plans) indicates those specific strategies and plans which govern the delivery of the organisation s objectives. The Council s Governance Framework Like all local authorities, the Council is run through formal management arrangements that reflect the responsibilities and accountability of councillors and officers. In summary: Councillors set policy. The formal meetings of councillors, for example Full Council, Cabinet and Committees such as the Planning Sub Committee have the authority and terms of reference to make different types of decisions or recommendations. Council officers, through our formal organisation structure and operational arrangements, are responsible for advising and implementing Council policy. The Council s Constitution sets down the Council s operating framework. Cabinet is responsible for implementing Council policy and for overseeing effective delivery of the Council s objectives in this year we have reviewed the Council s Policy Framework. This is available on the Council s website. Full details of our governance framework are available through our web site, The Council s Planning and Performance Management Framework We measure progress against our priorities, service improvements and the effectiveness of the delivery of services to customers. We use service delivery plans to assign resources (money and people) to activities so we achieve the best results. Enhanced monitoring and management of our activities and performance indicators (PIs) ensures we demonstrate whether we are achieving maximum impact and positive outcomes for people. Our appraisal system demonstrates (with evidence) everyone s contributions in achieving our stated goals. The Plan of Plans (see Page 12) demonstrates how our key plans and strategies fit together. There are other Regional plans that influence and impact on our priorities e.g. The West Yorkshire Transport Plan The City Region, City Deal Our Annual Performance Cycle (see page 13) illustrates the comprehensive planning process the Council undertakes to assign its resources. Our Integrated Commissioning Cycle (see page14) As a Council we want to increase our focus on commissioning, to ensure that we make the best use of our resource, improve the health and wellbeing outcomes for the people of Kirklees and support a vibrant local economy. An important step to achieving our increased focus on commissioning is to bring together via a single approach our collective resources in Adults Social Care, Children and Young Peoples Services and Public Health. The commissioning cycle underpins our approach and will become the cornerstone of how we work together. As a Council we also recognise that we can have a bigger impact on improving the experience and lives of the people of Kirklees, if we develop a more integrated commissioning approach with our NHS health partners. From April 2013 the NHS commissioning landscape changes with local commissioning responsibilities moving to the two clinical commissioning groups here in Kirklees (NHS Greater Huddersfield CCG and NHS North Kirklees CCG) again underpinned by the commissioning cycle we will enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop a single collaborative approach to commissioning. Our Performance Management Framework (see page 14) monitors and evaluates our achievements in relation to planned actions and targets 11 Kirklees Council three year Corporate Plan - Year three edition

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14 INTEGRATED COMMISSIONING CYCLE

15 Performance Management Framework In conjunction with our Annual Performance Cycle (see page 13) our Performance Management Framework shows key stages in how we improve, such as planning what we want to achieve (Plan), delivering those plans (Do), measuring, analysing and reporting performance (Review) and adapting the plans (Revise). 15 Kirklees Council three year Corporate Plan - Year three edition

16 MAKING OUR VISION A REALITY Our priorities and where they come from We are a large organisation with a huge scope of activity. Our four strategic priorities help us to focus on the things that we need to do to deliver lasting achievements in areas that have been prioritised for improvement across Kirklees. Our priorities for 2013/14 are a continuation of those agreed for 2012/13 adjusted for the circumstances we face. When reviewing and setting our priorities for improvement a number of factors are considered: our understanding of the communities of Kirklees, their challenges, how these have developed over the previous twelve months and what we can predict about the future; our performance in the previous twelve months in our areas of priority and our budget; our understanding of developments in the national context, for example changes in government policy or economic climate and the implications for Kirklees, and; the views of community, public and voluntary service, and business representatives. Future Challenges As a consequence of the significantly increased pressures on local government services and finances the Council is clear that our current priorities have to be re-assessed and refreshed during 2013/14. We are committed to undertake public consultation on the options for our priorities for 2014/15 and beyond. The Council s contribution Establishing the strategic shape of the Council s contribution to areas of critical priority for Kirklees is an important annual decision, agreed in our budget for 2013/14. This drives the Council s Service Delivery Plans (SDPs) and programmes of improvement and change. It is embodied in the detailed information within this plan and will inform and shape our services in 2013/14. Our 4 priorities are to: - Enhance life chances for young people - Working in partnership to improve health and educational attainment to enable them to reach their full potential. - Support older people to be healthy, active and included - Focussing on preventative work, while empowering those with long term conditions to live independent lives to the full and be in control of making their own decisions. - Business growth and jobs - Creating the right conditions for business to sustain the Kirklees economy, facilitating investment in skills, jobs and homes and providing pathways into work. - Provide effective and productive services - Ensuring services are focused on the needs of the community and delivering excellent value for money. 16 Kirklees Council three year Corporate Plan - Year three edition

17 Public Health are fully involved in contributing to the delivery all the Council s priorities. The following sections show these priorities in more detail. They demonstrate why and how they were established, how the Council has contributed to date and the actions within our Service Delivery Plans stating what we will do in 2013/14 to deliver the priorities. 17 Kirklees Council three year Corporate Plan - Year three edition

18 THE 4 COUNCIL PRIORITIES Council Priority: Enhance life chances for young people Working in partnership to improve health and educational attainment to enable them to reach their full potential 1. Lead Officer: Alison O Sullivan - Director for Children and Adults 2. Where did the priority come from / the rationale for our focus? The priority was agreed by the Kirklees Partnership in June The main areas of focus within the priority were discussed and agreed by the Kirklees Children s Trust and expressed in the Children and Young People Plan review and revision. The Children s Trust is the partnership led by the Council which brings together local agencies and organisations (both commissioners and providers) to lead and take responsibility for the work on making improvements in outcomes. Its remit is to improve the well-being of all children and young people through improving their future prospects and reducing inequalities between the most disadvantaged and their peers. The Youth Council and Children in Care Council also had a significant influence over the content for the priority. The changing national policy context and very challenging economic environment require different and radical approaches to services and ways of working. Within this context, the Council continues to have a focus on improving standards of attainment for children and young people and reviewing a range of services to improve our ability to provide integrated early help to those children and families with the greatest needs. In 2013/14 we will seek to mitigate the impact of the Welfare Reforms on the most vulnerable children, young people and families. Safeguarding and child protection and the continuing rising demand for these services remains central to our work as we seek to manage demand through getting better at early intervention and help for children, young people and families. To achieve this in 2013/14 we are continuing with the approaches we have used in 2012/13: A radical examination of the functions and services provided by the Council s Directorate for Children and Adults; Innovation in ways of working; greater targeting of resources to communities with the most acute needs, and; Greatly enhanced collaboration, joint commissioning and a realignment of services to achieve the most effective and efficient use of reducing resources. 3. What was achieved in 2012/13? Our arrangements for keeping children and young people safe are good and this is confirmed by Ofsted s inspections of services and settings: 94% of primary schools and 87% of secondary schools are judged good or better for their behaviour and safeguarding of pupils. A new relationship with schools, settings and external partners has developed in light of increased autonomy. Partnerships are at the heart of the development of an effective self improving system. Performance of children in the Foundation Stage remains strong. On the national benchmark measure (78 points or more across the Foundation Stage Profile with at least six points in each scale) we are the highest performing authority in Yorkshire and Humber. At 73% achieving the measure we are above the national average and the gap between the highest and lowest performing groups of children has narrowed. Children s progress between the end of primary school (Key Stage 2) and the end of compulsory schooling (Key Stage 4) at age 16 is strong: our performance in English is the best in the Yorkshire and Humber region. 18 Kirklees Council three year Corporate Plan - Year three edition

19 At GCSE (Key Stage 4) our performance on the percentage of pupils gaining 5+ A* - C grades (including English and Maths) is third best in the region and above the national average (61.6% attaining the benchmark locally against 58.6% nationally). Our improved performance and rates of improvement at Foundation Stage, Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 show we are narrowing the gap and bringing Kirklees in line with national performance. The Early Intervention Review has progressed well. The new service model and staffing structure for early Intervention and targeted support has been agreed and implemented together with the revised grouping of children s centres. Early Intervention Advisory Boards to support early intervention at a local level and bring partners and communities together are being developed and will start in April An innovative approach to extending child care and early learning has been developed which will combine high quality early earning and care for children from age two with support for parents to access training and employment opportunities. A broadly based commission has been established to develop options for future development of integrated youth support and will report before the end of 2012/13. We are doing well in ensuring the stability of placements for Looked After Children. A new placement service has been established to bring together all aspects of commissioning of placements. The White Rose consortium of Yorkshire authorities is now live and the contribution of Kirklees staff has been instrumental in its development. We produced the Disabled Children s Strategy and have begun realigning services across the partnership to better identify and meet the needs of disabled children and their families. We have begun the redesign and implementation of specialist services for children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) following widespread consultation on the Specialist Provision Review. The proportion of people aged who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) continues to fall (from 8.0% at the end of quarter 3 in 2011/12 to 6.6% for the same period in 2012/13) against a very difficult economic and employment climate for young people. The successful partnership approaches are being closely aligned to preparations for raising of the Participation Age. Outcomes for some of the most vulnerable young people have improved with the number of care leavers in education, training or work increasing. We have responded to the government s Troubled families initiative by establishing the Kirklees Stronger Families Programme which is working across the council and with partners to identify and provide targeted support to improve the outcomes of those families with the most complex needs. Infant mortality is reducing. Through good partnership work and engagement with identified communities the rates per 1,000 have fallen and work continues to maintain this trend. The teenage conception rate in Kirklees continues to reduce and is now below the Yorkshire and Humber average (33.2 per 1000 births locally against 35.3 for the region). This represents slow but significant progress from the position three years ago. Secured additional funding to provide the Healthy Start Scheme universally across Kirklees The Kirklees Healthy Start Scheme enables all pregnant and breastfeeding women and parents with children under the age of four living in Kirklees to access free vitamin supplements. The Mend 2-4 healthy lifestyle programme has engaged 138 families who have completed a 10 week health lifestyle programme showing positive changes in the number of fruit and vegetables consumed by the families and a reduction in the number of hours the children are watching television. Auntie Pam s service for Mums-to be. Maximum number of intake of local women engaged with volunteer training programme. Over 20 qualified volunteers supporting local women through the challenges of pregnancy (pre-conception to post natal). Volunteers trained to support new mums in Dewsbury District Hospital for Breastfeeding Initiation on site support imminent. Vaccination coverage levels are achieving target or approaching target uptake with Measles, Mumps and Rubella 1 uptake at 24 months at 94.8% and uptake for other primary course vaccines all exceeding or very close to the 95% target. 19 Kirklees Council three year Corporate Plan - Year three edition

20 The Base Drug and Alcohol service for under 25s has rolled out a programme to support over 100 users of legal highs and other newer drugs that are becoming increasingly prevalent, as use of heroin and cocaine declines in young people in Kirklees. 4. What are the expected high level outcomes for 2013/14? Looked After Children The educational attainment and progress of looked after children at ages 11 and 16 continues to improve and young people achieve in line with their predicted outcome. A large proportion of young people leaving care find education, training or employment. A very large proportion of young people leaving care are living in suitable accommodation. The accommodation strategy for Looked After Children continues to find more children appropriate placements locally and reduce the number of young people in external residential placements. Early intervention and an integrated approach to working with families Early Intervention Advisory Boards are established to support the new family support and children centres services and bring together partners and local communities to help commission appropriate local responses for children and families. Family support and children centre services are targeted more at those with the greatest needs and provide a joined-up offer of early help which will reduce referrals to children s social care. Integrated youth support is reshaped, following wide consultation on possible options, better to use reducing resources to support young people with the greatest needs. More disadvantaged two year olds are taking up early education and child care places (as part of a three year programme to expand this provision) The market for early learning and child care is supported and developed to ensure sufficient, high quality places. Teenage parents and those at risk of teenage pregnancy Teenage parents in Kirklees receive the support they need to make successful futures for themselves and their children, and avoid any subsequent unwanted pregnancies whilst still a teenager. Teenage conceptions are reduced. Infant mortality Infant mortality rates continue to decline, particularly in the areas with the highest occurrence of infant death. In addition to achieving outcomes in the areas listed above, the Council is focused on achieving the following outcomes in areas of core business in 2013/14: Arrangements for keeping children safe continue to be judged as good through inspection, and performance on the majority of staying safe indicators is in line with, or better than, similar areas and/ or national averages. Attainment of children at Foundation Stage, the end of Key Stage 2 and the end of Key Stage 4 is in line with or better than the average for similar areas and/or the national average. 20 Kirklees Council three year Corporate Plan - Year three edition

21 The gap in attainment between the most disadvantaged children and young people and their peers is narrowing at a rate which is in line with, or better than, that for similar areas and/or the national average. Vulnerable pupils are able to access education and achieve their potential. The proportion of young people aged 16+ participating in learning is increasing over time and is in line with, or better than, similar areas and/or the national average. The numbers of young people aged who are participating in education; training or employment is in line with our targets. 5. What areas of work will influence these outcomes, and what engagement and consultation have been undertaken? These high level outcomes represent the core business of children s services within the Directorate for Children and Adults. the partnership priorities are agreed by the Children s Trust Board. The Youth Council and Children in Care Council were consulted in their development. They influence all aspects of our work and are the basis for our planning, and inform the Joint Health and Well-Being Strategy. Developing new partnership relationships and arrangements with the Clinical Commissioning Groups and the Health and Well-Being Board will be an important influence on our work in 2013/14. The Council values stakeholder s views and comprehensive engagement will take place wherever it is agreed to be needed. 6. What plans cover this? Children and Young People Plan, and its contributing sub-plans Council Service Delivery Plans Joint Health and Well Being Strategy 7. Headline Actions in 2013/14 1. Implement the outcomes of the Early Intervention Review on family support and children s centres and continue with other strands of the Review (Early Learning, Healthy Child programme and Integrated Youth Support) to create an integrated offer of early help for children pre birth to age 19 which focuses limited resources on those with the greatest needs. Ensure that support and improved outcomes for complex and troubled families is integrated into this approach. 2. Develop the role of corporate parent to ensure that: the accommodation commissioning strategy is implemented and meets our sufficiency duty for Looked After Children (LAC) placements; the education, training and employment outcomes for LAC continue to improve; and front door assessment arrangements are reshaped to integrate better with the wide range of family support and ensure children and families get the right support at the right time. 3. Develop the role of the Council as champion for children and families to ensure that: we continue to forge and influence increasingly robust and resilient partnerships with schools, settings and external partners; we encourage institutions to embrace a schools improving schools approach; ensure we commission sufficient high quality school places and early learning opportunities so that the outcomes for all learners are maximised. 21 Kirklees Council three year Corporate Plan - Year three edition

22 4. Develop a broad understanding across the Children s Trust partnership of emotional health and mental well-being for children and young people and ensure that mental health becomes everyone s business. Develop a partnership action plan which sets out commitments, outcomes and measures for the improvement of children and young people s emotional health and mental well being and ensures the integration of services to achieve these. 5. Develop integrated commissioning arrangements across the Council (including Public Health) and with Clinical Commissioning Groups to ensure coherent pathways and services that meet the needs of children and young people (including universal services, targeted services and those for disabled children). 6. Ensuring the delivery of interventions to reduce infant mortality and improve the health of women of childbearing age by continuing to commission Auntie Pam s - a community based pregnancy peer support project and outreach across Kirklees, and designing and delivering genetic awareness training and information sessions both for professionals and for key at risk groups. 7. Support and develop maternal and early infant nutrition through the infant feeding strategy, including breastfeeding, weaning and the healthy start scheme. 22 Kirklees Council three year Corporate Plan - Year three edition