CARDIFF FLYING START &

RESULTS BASED ACCOUNTABILITY™

AVRIL HOOPER, CARDIFF FLYING START &

RICHARD MORTON, PARTNERSHIP SUPPORT UNIT,

WELSH LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION

JULY 2010

Introduction

Flying Start is a multi-agency early years programme funded by the Wales Assembly Government (WAG) and delivered by each of the 22 Local Authorities in Wales in partnership with Health Services and others. The programme aims to improve the well-being of children under 4 years old and their families in defined Flying Start areas within each Local Authority area.

Flying Start is considered by its sponsors to be both a partnership approach to improving the well being of populations (within the defined areas) and a set of core services. The core entitlement for all qualifying children and their families is: enhanced health visiting; free part-time childcare; basic skills and parenting courses. In Cardiff, as elsewhere, this is supplemented by a range of additional services.

Getting Started

The first challenge to applying Results Based Accountability™ (RBA™) to the programme was to work out whether it should be addressed through Population or Performance Accountability (or both). After some discussion it was decided that in order not to lose the sense in which Flying Start is a partnership approach to whole population well-being the RBA™ process should start with Population Accountability then move on to apply Performance Accountability to the core and additional services.

These discussions took place between Avril Hooper, Cardiff Flying Start Manager, and Richard Morton of the Partnership Support Unit (PSU) at the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA). Richard Morton facilitated an initial awareness raising workshop for the Cardiff Flying Start management board and leadership team inJuly 2009.

Applying RBA™

RBA™ has been applied to Cardiff Flying Start through a series of workshops, facilitated by Richard Morton and PSU colleagues, with the management board, leadership team, service providers, and other stakeholders including service users. This included:

  • Awareness raising presentations & workshops with stakeholders.
  • Population Accountability workshops with management board and leadership team.
  • Performance Accountability workshops with service providers.
  • Meetings with the Cardiff Flying Start manager to tidy up product of workshops and take forward specific tasks emerging.

As a result of this work Cardiff Flying Start works to and reports 6 monthly on a set of Population Outcomes and Indicators for Children Under 4 and their Families in Cardiff Flying Start area as follows:

Population Outcomes / Headline Indicators
Flying Start children are healthy & thriving /
  1. % FS Children assessed, scoring > 2 deviations below their chronological age on the ‘Schedule of Growing Skills Assessment’ at 2yrs (21-29 mths)
  2. % FS Children assessed, scoring > 2 deviations below their chronological age on the ‘Schedule of Growing Skills Assessment’ at 3yrs (33-41 mths)
  3. % FS Families who respond to questionnaire, reporting that FS has helped their child “a lot” or more

Flying Start families are capable and coping well /
  1. % FS Children as a total of Cardiff Childrens Services ‘children in need’ & ‘child protection’ caseloads
  2. % FS Parents who respond to questionnaire reporting FS has helped them as parents/a family ‘a lot or more’
  3. % FS Children offered a childcare place, attending 75% or more of sessions offered

Flying Start children and their families are safe and feel safe /
  1. % FS Children as a total of Cardiff Childrens Services ‘children in need’ & ‘child protection’ caseloads
  2. % Total Cardiff Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARACs) convened for Flying Start families with child aged 0-3
  3. % domestic violence reports to police (PPD1s) received for FS families

Flying Start families are not disadvantaged by poverty (or its effects) /
  1. % FS Children living in households where no-one is working
  2. % Children in FS catchments eligible for free school meals
  3. % Children in FS catchments accessing free school meals

Each component service also has a set of Performance Measures which are reported on 6 monthly to the management board and leadership team. An example report card is included as Appendix 1.

Benefits

Applying RBA™ to Cardiff Flying Start has had a number of benefits. These include:

  • Better understanding of the different but related roles as both a partnership responsible to a population and set of services delivering to customers.
  • Stronger focus on outcomes and customer results.
  • Engagement of senior managers and service providers in performance management which is now seen less as something “done to them”.
  • Easier reporting between service providers and management.
  • Improved ability to identify service needs.

Challenges

Applying RBA™ has not been without challenges. These include:

  • Unpicking a complex programme required understanding and capacity which might not have existed without support which was free to Cardiff Flying Start from the PSU.
  • The time it has taken to apply the framework to such a wide ranging group of professionals and stakeholders.
  • The lack of availability of good local data and lack of expertise to understand when data which exists is good enough.
  • Understanding the relationship between Flying Start and the wide range of other partnerships, plans and organisation which often have their own outcomes.

Conclusion

Applying RBA™ to Cardiff Flying Start has been worthwhile and helpful, if not without challenges. Implementing RBA™ continues to take time and investment at both manager and practitioner level. It has helped managers and service providers focus on customer results and concentrate their efforts and resources on what works to do better. It has clarified levels of accountability for populations and for services, and the connection between the two. Use of RBA™ has enabled Flying Start service managers to undertake a ‘team led’ review of their services, including revisiting purpose; service delivery; partners; data collection, management and analysis. Service providers have been energized about embedding performance and evaluation into practice as it has become much more meaningful to them and isn’t being used punitively. Overwhelmingly, RBA™ has aided staff across a complex programme to ‘speak the same language’, share a common purpose and see (figuratively speaking) how what they do contributes to other broader strategic outcomes.

Appendix 1: Example Report Card