Issue - meetings

The Panel considered the report of the Service Director, Legal and Governance providing an overview of performance across the Children and Families Division since June 2016.

The Panel noted the following points:-

·  The instability of the social care workforce and high levels of demand continued to put pressure on meeting agreed timescales. 

·  Each social care team now had an improvement plan designed to deliver key targets.

·  A Children and Families Transformation Programme, containing a broad and ambitious range of projects and activities designed to deliver systemic improvement and transformation to new and more efficient ways of working, was signed off by Transformation and Improvement Board in June 2016.

·  Plans had been developed to reduce the number of Looked After Children and Children in Need in Southampton. 

·  Progress had been made reducing the number of Children in Need and the target was to reduce levels to approximately 1,200.

·  The target for Looked After Children was a reduction of circa 200 over the next 3 years.  It was proposed that these targets would be met through transformation and improving the understanding of the cohort.

·  It was noted that the transformation activity was welcomed and required but concerns were raised as to why the initiatives had not commenced a number of years ago.

RESOLVED

(i)  that the Children and Families dataset provided to the Panel be updated to include additional indicators relating to the outcomes of Care Leavers; and

(ii)  that the presentation delivered by the Strategic Lead for Children Services Transformation be circulated to the Panel.