Briefing Paper: Performance, Standards & Targets

BRIEFING PAPER: PERFORMANCE, STANDARDS & TARGETS

RESOURCES & PERFORMANCE (Corporate Services)

How does our performance compare to other councils? What areas have been highlighted for improvement?

In previous years the Audit Commission has provided unifying figures for ‘corporate and democratic services’ (2008/09) that revealed Hertfordshire to have a comparatively low level of cost per head of population when compared with a group of similar authorities. Individual activities generally provide servicesat ‘below average’ cost with performance at ‘above average’.

In 2009, Hertfordshire was able to show an improved ‘Use of Resources’ score (from a 2 to a 3 out of 4) and was classed as ‘Performing Well’ as part of the harder Organisational Assessment test which formed part of the Comprehensive Area Assessment.

The Audit Commission issued its 2010 Annual Governance report and annual audit letter in November in respect of the Council’s financial accounts. This year’s report shows that the Council met nine out of the ten criteria failing only in the ‘reporting’ requirement to prepare good quality accounts to meet the statutory deadlines. Overall, the auditor’s conclusion was that ‘the Council had adequate arrangements to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the use of resources’. Detailed comments included:

The Council has a good understanding of its costs and the value they add enabling it to make efficiencies.
Robust decisions are based on sound information which includes clear cost-benefit and risk analysis.
The Council effectively manages risks and has further improved its arrangements.
Significant control weaknesses identified in last year’s audit in respect of fixed asset recording and accounting have been addressed.

More detailed value for money assessments for individual service areas are contained in the Corporate Services commentary accompanying the Integrated Plan.

Are thresholds/assessments consistent? And are entitlements/standards well defined?

Services within the Resources & Performance are responsible for the overall frameworks and governance for the authority as well as setting the standards and requirements across the authority for finance, HR and ICT.

Existing Service Level Agreements for internal support services which set out service standards and expectations are being reviewed for 2011/12

Has the impact of the budget proposals on performance been reflected in targets for PIs? …. i.e. are targets more stretching where there is growth / investment? Are existing targets deliverable where there have been savings / reductions?

Significant reductions have been made in the cost of front and back office services during the first twelve months of the transformation programme. Further improvements in quality and performance are being sought in the coming year to improve value for money and customer satisfaction.

Performance measures and targets are being reviewed as part of the service planning process and will reflect the availability of resources.

COMMUNITY PROTECTION (Fire & Rescue, and Trading Standards)

How does our performance compare to other councils?

What areas have been highlighted for improvement?

Are thresholds / assessments consistent?

And entitlements / standards well defined?

Has impact of budget proposals on performance been reflected in targets for PIs? i.e. are targets more stretching where there is growth/investment?

Are existing targets deliverable where there have been savings / reductions?

Fire & Rescue

Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS) is a high performing and low cost Service. HFRS is the sixth cheapest Fire and Rescue Service in England costing an average of £34.39 per resident compared to a national average of £40.60. HFRS is £5.36 per head of population more cost effective than the Family Group average at £39.75 and £4.75 per head of the population more cost effective when compared to the average of other County Council FRSs at £39.14.

HFRS is performing well in terms of Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) and scored 3s (performing well) in both its Use of Resources and Managing Performance assessment. HFRS is the highest performing FRS in the Eastern Region in terms of CAA results, with only one Service receiving higher scores nationally. HFRS is also the only HCC department to meet 100 per cent of LAA 2006/09 stretch targets. Areas for improvement include better integration of Information Technology systems and improving arrangements for delivery of the Risk Based Inspection Programme (Protection).

In terms of performance outcomes, HFRS is in the top quartile for all fire incident types in Family Group 4. The Service is performing strongly at a national level.

Metric / Ranking
National / Family Group / County Council FRAs
Incidents
Primary Fires / 3 /45 / 3 /14 / 2 /14
Secondary Fires / 11 /45 / 2 /14 / 8 /14
Deliberate Primary Fires / 5 /45 / 4 /14 / 2 /14
Deliberate Secondary Fires / 15 /45 / 3 /14 / 9 /14
Accidental Dwelling Fires / 9 /45 / 7 /14 / 4 /14
Automated False Alarms / 10 /45 / 5 /14 / 4 /14
Malicious False Alarms / 5 /45 / 1 /14 / 5 /14
Fatal Casualties / 4 /45 / 1 /14 / 3 /14
Non-fatal Casualties / 20 /45 / 6 /14 / 7 /14
Resources
Cost per head / 6 / 45 / 2 / 14 / 4 / 14
Community Safety Expenditure / 10 /44 / 3 /14 / 5 /14
Operational Staff / 5 /44 / 3 /14 / 2 /14
Senior Managers as percentage of all staff / 19 /44 / 9 /14 / 2 /14

HFRS also undertook an Operational Assessment of Service Delivery in 2009 led by IDeA. The CAA and IDeA reports said that HFRS is;

already a lean service
managing its performance well, is operationally effective and is providing good value for money
a high performing, low cost organization with a good understanding of costs and external factors, allowing decisions to be made on sound information
enthusiastic and confident about its future - aiming to be a lower cost more focused and further improved service and a ‘shining light for the council'
improving well every year with strong performance figures
demonstrating good practice in a number of areas … whilst maintaining a low level of expenditure. It was not clear to the review team how this will be sustained in the future given a tight fiscal outlook.

Community Safety Unit

The CSU is a joint HCC/Herts Police Unit which is looking to collaborate further with partner agencies. This is one of the first initiatives of this kind nationally making it difficult to benchmark against other areas. The formation of the Unit found savings of approximately £400k across both organisations (£198k for HCC).

The Unit currently leads on two improvement areas in the LAA 08-11. The targets to increase the number of drug users in effective treatment and to reduce the number of repeat incidents of domestic violence are expected to be achieved by March 2011. Out of 47 expressions of interest, Hertfordshire was one of seven areas that were awarded Drugs System Change Pilot status and the attached funding. The unit developed and leads on this project, which aims to reduce the drugs misuse of offenders.

Trading Standards

HCC Trading Standards are low cost when compared to other local authority spend on Trading Standards. Performance in terms of national indicators and in comparison with other authorities is improving significantly with regards to business satisfaction and with regards to consumer satisfaction. The business satisfaction national indicator has improved from 67.7% in 2008/9, to 72.8% in 2009/10, with the current figure for 2010/11 running at 83.4%. The equivalent figure for consumer satisfaction has improved from 72% in 2008/9, to 81% in 2009/10, with the current figure for 2010/11 running at 91%.

HCC TS has an excellent national profile in terms of tackling crime and is at the forefront of local authority proceeds of crime work and illegal money lending activity. Performance reflects the level of investment in the Service and is in line with other HCC priorities. The Service has consistently been one of the lowest funded County Trading Standards Services per head of population, and remains within the bottom 15% of Counties in this respect. TS costs £2.80 per head of population in Hertfordshire, and the most recent CIPFA statistics for Trading Standards (2009) provide that there are only 5 English Counties (out of 34) which spend less than £3 per head of population on Trading Standards. In order of lowest – highest these are: Essex, East Sussex, Northants, Hertfordshire and Suffolk. The average net spend per EnglishCounty is £3.51. For Hertfordshire Trading Standards to move to the average spend for English Counties this would equate to a budget increase for the Service of £742,000. The spend per head of population statistics do not reflect the property savings that the Service has made by moving from St Albans to Mundells. This is a budget reduction and saving of £209,213 from 2011/12 onwards.

HCC Trading Standards were awarded the Government’s Customer Service Excellence mark in December 2009 following a comprehensive independent audit looking at all areas of service excellence, particularly in relation to customers. HCC Trading Standards at this time was only the third regulatory TS service in the country to be awarded this mark. Areas for improvement identified at the time of the award, included satisfaction levels of businesses and consumers. It is pleasing to note that the Service recently passed its 2010 audit and maintains the Customer Service Excellence Mark.The recent audit did not identify any areas of non-compliance for the Service.

Emergency Planning

Very little comparative data is available to evidence the relative performance of Emergency Planning compared to other Councils. The Civil Contingencies Secretariat’s Enhancement Programme accompanied the review of the Civil Contingencies Act and a self assessment tool has been developed. In time, this might well become a valuable tool for benchmarking and evaluating relative performance but at present no data sets on relative performance are available. The County Council was one of only seven authorities in England to be awarded “Beacon status” for emergency planning in 2007/08 and the authority continues to be held in high regard for its emergency management arrangements and strong multi-agency partnership in which it plays a pivotal role.

The service delivered to District Council partners continues to be very well regarded and highly valued with the achievement of an upper quartile rating (Excellent/very good) in annual performance indicators for all nine districts in 2009 (av. 87%) and 89% rating the service "very good" or "good" value for money.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS & FAMILIES: EDUCATION & EARLY INTERVENTION

How does our performance compare to other councils? What areas have been highlighted for improvement?

The past two years have seen a very significant improvement in the performance of Children’s Services, most notably in safeguarding but also across all the Every Child Matters outcomes. Most Hertfordshire children do well at school. Hertfordshire is one of the top performing local authorities in England in national tests and examinations and has improved annually at most key stages, over the last 5 years. The outcomes of school inspections compare favourably with statistical neighbours and the national picture. Inspections in the early years sector have improved rapidly. Behaviour and attendance is very good, absence figures are below national average and exclusions have fallen significantly over the last few years. Our young people benefit from a secure path into adulthood and we have the second highest proportion of young people in education, employment or training in the country. High standards and continuing improvement draw people to the county as a place to raise their families.

However, despite this high quality environment, there is still a significant gap between the outcomes for vulnerable children and young people and others in the county measured in terms of achievement at key stages 2 and 4. The largest gaps in Hertfordshire at all key stages in 2010 continued to be for Children Looked After, pupils with SEND, those in receipt of free school meals and pupils from the following BME groups: Travellers of Irish Heritage, Gypsy/Roma and Turkish. The gaps for pupils of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin are also above those seen nationally. The same groups of children and young people are also less likely to move easily into employment

Schools may be unable to sustain levels of intervention (such as national strategies) given the ending of government funded programmes. Schools will need to develop, instead, longer term strategies for building capacity to ensure continued improvements in standards and quality, particularly for vulnerable group.

Whilst educational achievement is generally good, there is a risk that unless we improve outcomes for vulnerable children the present comparative strength in performance will not be maintained. There is a risk that schools may be unable to sustain levels of intervention (such as national strategies) given the ending of government funded programmes. Schools will need to develop, instead, longer term strategies for building capacity to ensure continued improvements in standards and quality, particularly for vulnerable groups.

Are thresholds/assessments consistent?

And are entitlements/standards well defined?

Thresholds for services for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are clearly defined and consistently maintained. These thresholds have stood up to scrutiny in the face of referrals to the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and hearings in the SEND Tribunal.

Criteria for home to school transport are based on statutory requirements. There are published criteria and a scale of charges for assisted transport. These regulations are complex and subject to review and simplification as part of a wider School Transport review to report later this year.

Has the impact of the budget proposals on performance been reflected in targets for PIs? …. i.e. are targets more stretching where there is growth / investment? are existing targets deliverable where there have been savings / reductions?

The targets proposed above take account of the changes proposed in the budget.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS & FAMILIES: CHILDREN’S SAFEGUARDING & SPECIALIST SERVICES

How does our performance compare to other councils? What areas have been highlighted for improvement?

The past two years have seen a very significant improvement in the performance of Children’s Services, most notably in safeguarding but also across all the Every Child Matters outcomes.

Performance in 2009/10 was in line with or above comparable local authorities across the majority of the national performance indicators for Children’s Services. Benchmarking by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) places Children’s Services in Hertfordshire as the highest ranking against the range of national performance indicators.

Safeguarding performance has improved significantly over the past twelve months and is now adequate and improving. Services for children looked after are adequate with some good aspects. Safeguarding practice has improved significantly and partner agencies are more responsive to concerns about children’s well-being and safety. The volume of referrals to social care has reduced as partner agencies now have a better understanding of the criteria for services. There are now more appropriate referrals to social care with better completion of assessments within statutory timescales and improved quality. Recruiting and retaining high quality social workers is essential in maintaining and improving our performance in safeguarding. Establishment of the Academy for newly-qualified social workers has received national recognition and was described as an “outstanding success” by OfSTED. Social worker vacancies in autumn 2010 were at their lowest level for five years, enabling continued reductions in expenditure on agency social workers.

In common with many authorities in recent years there has been continuing pressure on CLA services in terms of increasing numbers of children becoming looked after and in terms of the costs of provision. To respond to this position and the relatively high costs of these services in Hertfordshire the CLA Strategy has been developed through the Hertfordshire Children’s Trust Partnership (HCTP) HCTP has established a multi-agency commissioning group to review all aspects of services for children looked after. This group has an overview of the implementation of key changes arising from the Care Matters White Paper and the key subsequent Children and Young Persons Act 2008 as part of Hertfordshire’s CLA Strategy.

One objective of the CLA Strategy is to reduce the number of children looked after by Hertfordshire County Council year on year, and to reduce the costs of placements for those who are looked after by:-

improving the effectiveness of early intervention and prevention services so that children and young people enter care only where this is absolutely necessary.
providing high-quality support and improving care planning so that children can leave care as soon as possible, either returning to their family or a permanent alternative.
increasing the capacity of in-house provision and driving down the cost of independent placements through improved commissioning and procurement

CLA numbers and costs are reducing. A key test going forward will be the extent to which early intervention services are effective in their work with families in the most challenging circumstances where children are on the edge of care

Are thresholds/assessments consistent? And are entitlements/standards well defined?

Service thresholds for access to services for children with disabilities are clearly understood by all agencies and consistently applied through relevant multi-agency panels. In the case of thresholds for child protection, evidence indicates that there has been inconsistency and understanding between agencies, resulting in high levels of inappropriate referrals to social care. Hertfordshire Children’s Trust Partnership and Hertfordshire Safeguarding Children Board have recently approved revised simplified threshold criteria and there is early evidence that these simplified criteria, along with better screening at the Customer Service Centre, are already leading to reductions in the rate of referral.

The budget proposals made as part of the Children’s Services Transformation are expected to enable the service to continue its focus on improved performance whilst achieving efficiencies and more effective service through focussing service effort on priorities and applying service thresholds rigorously.