Agenda item

Members will consider an update of Children and Families key safeguarding performance information at the end of May 2011.

The committee considered the report on performance management data for Children and Families. It was noted that the out-turn for 2011/12 was not yet ratified, and would be reported at the October meeting of the committee, at which point it would be possible to draw comparisons between Haringey and its statistical neighbours, as well as the rest of the country.

It was reported that it was likely that the 10- and 35- working day targets, for initial assessments and core assessments respectively, were likely to be abolished. These would, however, need to be replaced in order to ensure that assessments were being undertaken in a timely manner and there was a current discussion nationally around what the new requirements might consist of.

In response to queries regarding the rate of referrals to children’s social care compared with the borough’s statistical neighbours, it was reported that this was largely as a result of the MASH, which enabled a triage service and for cases to be directed to the relevant agency at a very early stage. It was anticipated that other authorities would catch up with Haringey’s triage arrangements.

Further to the discussion in January around unclosed Child in Need cases, it was reported that work was still ongoing to close these outstanding cases, although the number had now greatly reduced. It was reported that Framework-I had permitted work to be captured as open when it was in fact closed, and the current clean-up work was to address this issue in order to ensure that the figures reported were accurate.

The committee asked about the percentage of initial assessments being carried out within 10 working days, and how long it was taking for those where this timescale was not met. It was reported that most of those initial assessments not carried out within 10 working days would have been completed within 15 working days, but that there were some cases where it could take up to 30 days in situations where it was not possible to locate the family. It was also reported that there could be some slippage in writing up assessments that had been undertaken, and that this was an issue where caseloads were high.

It was confirmed that, other than in exceptional circumstances, it was not possible to progress to a core assessment without an initial assessment having been undertaken. If it took longer than 10 days to undertake the initial assessment, this would not necessarily have an impact on the target of completing a core assessment within 35 working days, as this was taken from a different starting date.

The committee noted the figure for Child Protection Plans lasting 2 years or more, and felt that this needed to be monitored closely. It was noted that this figure did vary, and included a number of children who were undergoing care proceedings.

In response to a query regarding the higher rate of children subject to a Child Protection Plan than Haringey’s statistical neighbours, it was reported that this was something the service had been looking at, and the level of confidence in managing children via Child in Need plans may be a factor in this percentage. It was also noted that this data was 12 to 15 months old, at which time there was still a level of instability in the staffing for this service, which may have contributed. It was acknowledged that this was a complex area, and also that there was no definite answer as to what the ‘right’ level should be.

With regard to the rate of children becoming subject of a Child Protection Plan for a second or subsequent time, it was reported that this was often as a result of the resumption of relationships that had previously ended, or of new relationships starting which brought risk to children in the family. It was confirmed that, whenever a child ceased to be subject of a Child Protection Plan, the reasons for this were documented and kept on record.

RESOLVED

That the content of the report be noted.