APPENDIX A

Joint Area Review
Hertfordshire Children’s Services Authority Area
Post-Inspection Action Plan

October 2007

1Introduction

1.1The Joint Area Review describes the outcomes achieved by children and young people growing up in Hertfordshire and evaluates the way local services, taken together, contribute to their well-being.

1.2Following analysis and fieldwork stages that took place in April and May 2007, the report was published on 14 August 2007.

1.3The report assessed the contribution of local services in ensuring that children and young people:

  • at risk or requiring safeguarding are effectively cared for.
  • who are looked after achieve the best possible outcomes
  • with learning difficulties and/or disabilities achieve the best possible outcomes

1.4The following investigations were also carried out:

  • the quality of provision and outcomes for Black and minority ethnic children and young people
  • the quality of provision and achievement for young people aged 16-19.

2Main Findings

2.1The main findings of the joint area review were as follows:

  • the arrangements for safeguarding children and young people are inadequate and the council’s arrangements to ensure safe staffing are weak. Improvements have been made in key areas; however, children’s social care services are starting from a low base and these improvements are not yet sufficiently embedded in practice.
  • The contribution of local services to improving outcomes for looked after children and young people is inadequate. Services are improving substantially, but again from a low base, although appropriate action is being taken to improve weaker aspects
  • Services for children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are adequate, although there is insufficient provision for those with less complex needs
  • While young people’s achievement is good and improving up to age 16, it remains only adequate overall post-16. Smaller sixth forms in some schools are not adding as much value to young people’s achievements as those in the larger schools.
  • Attainment of key minority ethnic groups has improved at Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 but school improvement processes are having insufficient impact on raising the attainment of young people in these groups at Key Stage 4 and in school sixth forms.

3Grades

Local Services overall
Safeguarding / 1 / Inadequate
Looked after children / 1 / Inadequate
Learning difficulties and/or disabilities / 2 / Adequate
Service Management / 2 / Adequate
Capacity to improve / 3 / Good

4 Communicating the outcomes of the JAR

4.1A number of events have taken place to disseminate the findings of the JAR report:

4.2A seminar for members was led by the Lead Member for Children and the Director of CSF to brief them on the County Council’s response to the JAR findings and the priorities for the PIAP.

4.3The outcome of JAR and ways to move forward together were discussed in a number of individual meetings between John Harris and CEOs of the key statutory partners, including:

  • Anne Walker, Chief Executive, Hertfordshire PCTs
  • Tessa Webb, Chief Officer, Hertfordshire Probation
  • Andrew Simmons, Chief Executive, Hertfordshire Connexions
  • Frank Whiteley, Chief Constable, Hertfordshire Constabulary
  • Liam Sammon, Area Director, Hertfordshire, Learning & Skills Council
  • Anne Freimanis, Chief Executive, East Herts District Council
  • Steven Halls, Chief Executive, Three Rivers District Council

4.4Ten roadshows for CSF staff were held across the county. Over 700 staff heard presentations from members of the board and had the opportunity to participate in a Question and Answer session with them afterwards. This approach was well received and represents a model for future Board engagement with front line staff.

4.5More than 100 representatives from partner agencies attended two stakeholder events that focused on the outcomes of JAR and considered the Post-Inspection Action Plan (PIAP) and the arrangements that will support the plan.

4.6Ofsted has now supplied a version of the JAR inspection report for children and young people and we will disseminate the findings in this report together with a summary of the actions we are taking, as described in this PIAP, to address the findings.

5External Support and Challenge

5.1Children First, a joint venture between Mouchel and Outcomes UK, has been appointed as an external support team to assist the County Council and HCTP in improving performance management, accelerating improvements in safeguarding and work with looked after children, and quality assuring existing action plans.

5.2Children First began work in Hertfordshire on September 3rd 2007. The members of the Children First team are:

  • Project Director / Performance Management – Simon Westwood
  • Interim Head of Fieldwork Services – Ann Goldsmith
  • Performance Management Lead – Sally Withington
  • Safeguarding & LAC Lead – Laura Eades
  • Partnerships Lead – Sarah Baker
  • HR Lead – Clare Morton

5.3An evaluation and diagnostic review was completed by Children First as the initial stage of the external support programme. This was presented to the Project Board in early October and a detailed work programme is being finalised, to begin in early November.

5.4Recommendations from the diagnostic review have been incorporated into the PIAP. Children First’s summary of the diagnostic report is attached as Appendix 1.

6Developing, Monitoring, and Managing the Post Inspection Action Plan

6.1The Post-Inspection Action Plan should achieve more than simply remedying the deficiencies identified by the JAR inspection. Instead, it presents an excellent opportunity to use the inspection findings to take children’s services in Hertfordshire to the next level – reinvigorating the council’s services to children and young people, improving the impact of Hertfordshire Children’s Trust Partnership (HCTP) and the Hertfordshire Safeguarding Children Board (HSCB), and putting in place systematic arrangements for preventative and early intervention services through integrated multi-agency teams of frontline staff drawn from key agencies across Hertfordshire.

6.2The Executive Group of HCTP will be responsible for the overall management and monitoring of the progress of the PIAP. This will be supported by monthly reports from accountable officers including measurement against key performance indicators and exception reporting.

6.3In addition, progress with the PIAP will also be monitored by the County Council’s Children’s Services and Corporate Parenting Panel and by the Boards of CSF and other key statutory partners, as necessary.

6.4A single report book will be developed to satisfy all of these reporting requirements.

6.5Additionally, progress reports will also be prepared to meet the monitoring requirements set by DCSF and GO East and to inform their reports to the Minister for Children, Young People and Families.

7Structure of the Post-Improvement Action Plan

7.1 The structure of the PIAP has adopted a ‘bookshelf’ approach. Section 9 of this document summarises the actions included in the plan and section 10 provides more detail, including proposed lead officers, and milestones. It also offers a signpost to the documents where further information on each action can be found.

7.2 Examples of such documents include specific Action Plans, Project Initiation Documents, and Performance Reports. Two illustrative appendices have been included: the Integrated Practice is Everyone’s Business Project Initiation Document as Appendix 2; and the ICS Programme initiation Document as Appendix 3.

7.3 There are also associated Post-Inspection Action Plans covering the recent Enhanced Youth Service and Youth Offending Team inspections that should be read as supplements to this Joint Area Review PIAP.

8The Timeframe for Improvement

8.1The Hertfordshire Children’s Trust Partnership (HCTP) is expected to agree the PIAP on 31 October 2007.

8.2Many of the tasks in the PIAP will be complete by the end of March 2008. However, the diagnostic report produced by Children First, the County Council’s External Support partner, suggests that it will take eighteen months to see the impact in terms of outcomes from the improvements driven forward through the PIAP and, overall, it is expected to take until about March 2009 to deliver the PIAP in its entirety. Deadlines and key milestones are set out clearly in this document.

8.3From April 2008, Hertfordshire’s new Children and Young People’s Plan (CYPP) will come into effect. Taking account of the JAR findings, this revised CYPP will be much shorter and simpler than before and will concentrate on a small number of outcomes – for vulnerable in particular.

8.4 In order to preserve this clarity, we do not want the CYPP simply to incorporate any outstanding actions from the PIAP at the end of March 2008. Instead, we will need to review our progress in April 2008 and ensure further improvements are taken forward alongside the new CYPP.

8.5As part of this review, it may be desirable to commission some external scrutiny to validate our progress.

9Summary of the Post Improvement Action Plan

A / Performance Management
1 / Restructure Hertfordshire Children’s Trust Partnership (HCTP) to make it fit for purpose
2 / Review the role and functioning of the CSF Board and management framework and responding swiftly to what we find
3 / Introduce the Integrated Children’s System (ICS)
4 / IntroduceHaving Your Say quality assurance and customer feedback arrangements
5 / Define and introduce a framework for needs analysis
6 / Define, document, and implement a suite of regular performance reports for audiences within HCTP and HCC.
7 / Produce a coherent set of plans with clear accountabilities (including named accountable individuals), an outcomes focus and fewer priorities, SMART targets and a ‘golden thread’ running through them
8 / Make performance management an embedded part of the CSF and HCTP working culture, including the development of a quality audit function
9 / Ensure that the delivery of value for money is an explicit and integral part of all commissioning processes and that outcomes are monitored.
B / Safeguarding
1 / Review the membership and functioning of the Hertfordshire Safeguarding Children Board (HSCB), and define and implement changes to ensure clarity of roles and responsibilities and follow-through on plans.
2 / Ensure that safe staffing policies and practices are thoroughly embedded throughout HCC.
3 / Institute, through the HSCB, a programme of review and implementation of safe staffing arrangements across partner agencies
4 / Implement the Every Improvement Matters programme in children’s social care
5 / Implement Integrated Practice is Everyone’s Business, including the Common Assessment Framework, Lead Professional and Teams Around the Child
6 / Ensure that bullying and racist incidents in schools are reported consistently and are addressed effectively by trained staff, especially for vulnerable children
7 / Ensure that multi-agency eligibility criteria and thresholds for access to service are devised and implemented in consultation with all partners
8 / Improve performance on the application of eligibility criteria, referrals, and initial assessments
9 / Increase the allocation of CYP on the CP register or with a CP plan
10 / Secure sufficient funding for CAMHS within the partnership to enable consistent and appropriate access for all vulnerable CYP
11 / Develop CAMHS services for CYP with less complex needs
12 / Improve educational provision for children excluded from school
C / Looked After Children & Young People
1 / Review the management structure for Independent Reviewing Officers and ensure that it meets the requirements of government regulations.
2 / Ensure that all CYP on the Child Protection register and those who are looked after receive visits within timescales and are seen alone, and that such visits are recorded and monitored by managers
3 / Improve the rate of annual health assessments and dental checks of looked after children and young people
4 / Improve the timeliness of reviews of looked after children
5 / Increase the allocation of looked after children to qualified staff
6 / Improve the proportion of children and young people in care who contribute to their own review
7 / Improve the quality of care plans and co-ordination with partners
D / Children & Young People with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities
1 / Develop and implement a partnership strategy for joint commissioning and consistent inter-agency work to ensure that children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities receive sufficient, timely and co-ordinated health and social care to meet their needs.
2 / Develop a strategy to enable children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities to have appropriate opportunities to influence the planning of strategic partners, particularly with regard to the services which directly affect the young people.
3 / Reduce special school exclusions
4 / Retain more children with additional needs in mainstream schools.
E / Children & Young People from Black and Minority Ethnic Communities
1 / Identify where the oversight and leadership for vulnerable groups, such as BME children and young people, lies within the HCTP
2 / Ensure that bullying and racist incidents in schools are reported consistently and are addressed effectively by trained staff, especially for vulnerable children
3 / Increase the proportion of young people from BME groups in education, employment, and training
F / Young People aged 16-19
1 / Ensure all Strategic Area Partnership Groups review the effectiveness of 16-19 provision for vulnerable groups, including BME young people and those with LDD, and implement robust action plans to improve provision for, and the achievement of, these young people
2 / Secure the implementation of the agreed 14-19 learner entitlement by providing strong support to underdeveloped SAPG and increase the pace at which achievement post-16 occurs in school sixth forms through the implementation of robust school improvement processes
3 / Improve employer engagement in 14-19 SAPG
4 / Improve post-16 achievement in the least successful schools

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A / Performance Management
Lead / Milestone / Measure / Further Information
1 / Restructure HCTP to make it fit for purpose
  • Leaner structure with less duplication
  • Clear, documented business support arrangements
  • Clear oversight and leadership for vulnerable groups
/ Martin South / Children First work – March 2008
2 / Review the role and functioning of the CSF Board and management framework and responding swiftly to what we find / John Harris / Children First work – March 2008
3 / Introduce the Integrated Children’s System (ICS) / Rebecca Price / Implementation complete by March 2008 / ICS PID
Board Updates
4 / Introduce Having Your Say quality assurance and customer feedback arrangements / Martin South / PID expected to be signed off November 2007
5 / Define and introduce a framework for needs analysis / Martin South / March 2008
6 / Define, document, and implement a suite of regular performance reports for audiences within HCTP and HCC. / Martin South
7 / Produce a coherent set of plans with clear accountabilities (including named accountable individuals), an outcomes focus and fewer priorities, SMART targets and a ‘golden thread’ running through them / Martin South / CYPP – Feb 08
CSF Service Plan – March 08
8 / Make performance management an embedded part of the CSF and HCTP working culture, including the development of a quality audit function / Martin South / March 08
9 / Ensure that the delivery of value for money is an explicit and integral part of all commissioning processes and that outcomes are monitored. / Alan Dinning / Claire Cook / May 2008
B / Safeguarding
Lead / Milestone / Measure / Further Information
1 / Review the membership and functioning of the Hertfordshire Safeguarding Children Board (HSCB), and define and implement changes to ensure clarity of roles and responsibilities and follow-through on plans. / Laura Eades / March 08
2 / Ensure that safe staffing policies and practices are thoroughly embedded throughout HCC. / Caroline Tapster / CRB Summary Improvement & Development Plan
3 / Institute, through the HSCB, a programme of review and implementation of safe staffing arrangements across partner agencies / Laura Eades / March 08
4 / Implement the Every Improvement Matters programme in children’s social care / Ann Domeney / EIM Progress Summary
5 / Implement Integrated Practice is Everyone’s Business, including the Common Assessment Framework, Lead Professional and Teams Around the Child / Gill Gibson
(Alan Dinning / Ann Domeney?) / July 2008 (7 districts by March 2008) / Integrated Practice PID
6 / Ensure that bullying and racist incidents in schools are reported consistently and are addressed effectively by trained staff, especially for vulnerable children / Gill Jones / Action Plan signed off by November 2008 / Action Plan for Anti-Bullying, Racial and Other Harassment
CYPP 08/09
7 / Ensure that multi-agency eligibility criteria and thresholds for access to service are devised and implemented in consultation with all partners / Gill Gibson / February 2008 / CAF PID
EIM Progress Update
8 / Improve performance on the application of eligibility criteria, referrals, and initial assessments / Ann Domeney / EIM Progress Update
9 / Increase the allocation of CYP on the CP register or with a CP plan / Ann Domeney / EIM Progress Update
10 / Secure sufficient funding for CAMHS within the partnership to enable consistent and appropriate access for all vulnerable CYP / Alan Dinning / CAMHS Action Plan to be signed off in November 2007 / CAMHS Action Plan
11 / Develop CAMHS services for CYP with less complex needs / Alan Dinning
12 / Improve educational provision for children excluded from school / Justin Donovan
C / Looked after Children & Young People
Lead / Milestone / Measure / Further Information
1 / Review the management structure for Independent Reviewing Officers and ensure that it meets the requirements of government regulations. / Ann Domeney
2 / Ensure that all CYP on the Child Protection register and those who are looked after receive visits within timescales and are seen alone, and that such visits are recorded and monitored by managers / Ann Domeney / EIM Progress Update
Story From the Frontline
3 / Improve the rate of annual health assessments and dental checks of looked after children and young people / Ann Domeney / 86% by Sept 2008 / EIM Progress Update
4 / Improve the timeliness of reviews of looked after children / Ann Domeney / Target - 90% of LAC reviews held on time / EIM Progress Update
5 / Increase the allocation of looked after children to qualified staff / Ann Domeney / Target - 100% / EIM Progress Update
6 / Improve the proportion of children and young people in care who contribute to their own review / Ann Domeney / Target – 80% / EIM Progress Update
7 / Improve the quality of care plans and co-ordination with partners / Ann Domeney / EIM Progress Update
D / Children & Young People with Learning Difficulties and / or Disabilities
Lead / Milestone / Measure / Further Information
1 / Develop and implement a partnership strategy for joint commissioning and consistent inter-agency work to ensure that children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities receive sufficient, timely and co-ordinated health and social care to meet their needs. / Catherine Pelley
2 / Develop a strategy to enable children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities to have appropriate opportunities to influence the planning of strategic partners, particularly with regard to the services which directly affect the young people. / Catherine Pelley
3 / Reduce special school exclusions / Justin Donovan
4 / Retain more children with additional needs in mainstream schools. / Justin Donovan
E / Children & Young People from Black and Minority Ethnic Communities
Lead / Milestone / Measure / Further Information
1 / Identify where the oversight and leadership for vulnerable groups, such as BME children and young people, lies within the HCTP / John Harris
2 / Ensure that bullying and racist incidents in schools are reported consistently and are addressed effectively by trained staff, especially for vulnerable children / Gill Jones / Action Plan signed off by November 2008 / Action Plan for Anti-Bullying, Racial and Other Harassment
CYPP 08/09
3 / Increase the proportion of young people from BME groups in education, employment, and training
F / Young People aged 16-19
Lead / Milestone / Measure / Further Information
1 / Ensure all Strategic Area Partnership Groups review the effectiveness of 16-19 provision for vulnerable groups, including BME young people and those with LDD, and implement robust action plans to improve provision for, and the achievement of, these young people / Liam Sammon
2 / Secure the implementation of the agreed 14-19 learner entitlement by providing strong support to underdeveloped SAPG and increase the pace at which achievement post-16 occurs in school sixth forms through the implementation of robust school improvement processes / Liam Sammon
3 / Improve employer engagement in 14-19 SAPG / Liam Sammon
4 / Improve post-16 achievement in the least successful schools / Justin Donovan

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