Local Authority Education Services for

Children and Young People

Estyn Inspection 2010

Post Inspection Action Plan (Draft)

The Executive Board of WrexhamCounty Borough Council approved this Post Inspection Action Plan on 10 May 2011

(to be inserted subject to approval by the Executive Board, prior to submission to Estyn)
Introduction

This Post Inspection Action Plan shows how the authority will meet the recommendations made by Estyn following the inspection of Wrexham Local Authority’s Education Services for Children and Young People in November 2010.

The Layout of the Post Inspection Action Plan

The action plan takes the form of a set of tables using a common template, with a table for each recommendation (R) and each additional action (A). The recommendations are as stated in the inspection report. The additional actions relate to the areas for improvement identified in the report that are not included in the recommendations.

There is a summary of the recommendations and additional actions on the next page. This summary shows the lead officers responsible for action relating to each recommendation and area for improvement.

Each table has a set of objectives or areas for improvement related to the recommendation. These objectives or areas for improvement are the means of knowing that the actions outlined in each recommendation have been achieved by the specific dates mentioned. These objectives are quantitative or qualitative as appropriate.

Comments from the inspection report relevant to each recommendation or area for improvement have been included.

The tables are broken down into columns that identify:

Reference number / Action / Objective/ Improvement / Lead officer / Monitored by / Resource / Target date / Joint Plan Outcome
This is to aid tracking throughout the monitoring process. This reference number contains the
recommendation number from the inspection report and a letter identifier for each element of the recommendation or action / Action to be taken / Quantitative or qualitative outcome / Officer responsible for action / Officer responsible for monitoring / Funding and source / Date completed by / Joint Plan Outcome Number

Monitoring and evaluating progress in implementing the PIAP

Members and officers will monitor and evaluate progress in implementing the plan:

Strategic and Performance Director and Senior Management Team / Half termly / Agenda item for Senior Management Team meeting
Head of Lifelong Learning and Heads of Service / Half termly / Agenda item for Departmental Management Team
Head of Lifelong Learning will provide the Council with quarterly monitoring reports / Quarterly / WCBC quarterly monitoring programme
Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee / Six monthly: 16 November2011, May 2012 / Progress reports to Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee
The Executive Board / To approve the plan: 10 May 2011
To receive annual report : Spring 2012 / Progress reports to the Executive Board

The PIAP and progress reports will also be provided for:

Primary Heads Federation (PHF) and
Wrexham Association of Secondary Headteachers (WASH) / Six monthly / Agenda item for PHF and WASH meeting
The Strategic Co-ordinating Groups (SCoGs) of the Children and Young People’s Framework Partnership / Six monthly / Agenda item for SCoGs meetings
The LA and School Effectiveness Steering Group / Six monthly / Agenda item for meeting
Estyn District Inspector / Termly / Agenda item for termly visit to the local authority

The table below will be used to track progress. The Head of Service 0-8 has designated management responsibility for progress reports. Two Performance Development Officers provide designated support for the process of tracking progress. Where progress falls behind, exception reports will be produced to provide an explanation for the slippage and action to remedy the situation will be put in place.

Reference number / Outcome / Lead officer / Monitored by / Target date / Comments on Progress
R1 a
R1 b
Etc

The PIAP is an integral part of Wrexham’s Joint Plan which encompasses the Health, Social Care and Well-being Strategy and the Children and Young People’s Plan 2011-14.

Recommendations (R) and Additional Actions (A) Lead officer

R1 / Clarify the objectives for education within the council’s priorities and reflect these within its plans / ML
R2 / Make sure the roles of executive board and scrutiny support effective decision making to improve services to children and young people / MJ
R3 / Improve the quality and consistency of evaluation of services to better inform planning / ML
R4 / Develop consistent arrangements for reporting performance in education services and across the Children and Young People’s Partnership / ML
R5 / Reduce surplus places in secondary schools in line with the council’s realigned strategy for school reorganisation / DI
R6 / Improve the effectiveness of arrangements to tackle secondary school budget deficits / RE
A1 / Improve the opportunities for young people to gain accreditation in informal and non-formal settings. / DD
A2 / Involve the Senedd fully in council strategic planning and in the scrutiny process / DD
A3 / Ensure that Welsh language development is well-represented in the Senedd’s action plan and membership / DD
A4 / Ensure that all feedback to schools include issues relevant to leadership and management / HH NW VB
A5 / Provide moderation of teacher assessment in the core subjects to improve accuracy and consistency at the end of each key stage, with a focus on key stages 1 and 2 / HH NW
A6 / Improve the system for collating, evaluating and using data on the performance of pupils with additional learning needs to improve strategic planning of provision / GE
A7 / Improve the strategic collaboration between Inclusion and School Effectiveness teams to improve outcomes of pupils with ALN / GE with HH NW VB
A8 / Put a protocol in place for the assessment of learning needs of looked after children before they are placed in out of county schools so as to be able to monitor progress / GE
A9 / Ensure that outcomes of initiatives to support vulnerable learners are evaluated and that outcome information is used to target provision and support / GE
A10 / Refine and implement the plan to reduce fixed term exclusions / GE
A11 / Draw up strategic plan for the future of the pupil referral units, including the Key Stage 4 pupil referral unit / GE
A12 / Map priorities, provision and costs of youth support services / DD
A13 / Make sure that sixth form provision provides value for money / JD
A14 / Identify resource implications in the Joint Plan / ML with RE

There are structure charts and names of staff and their posts at the end of this plan.

R1 Clarify the objectives for education within the council’s priorities and reflect these within its plans
The report says:
  • There is not enough clarity about the authority’s priorities for education.
  • Links between plans at various levels are not always clear enough to help officers in their work to drive service improvements
  • The authority’s vision for its education services is not stated as clearly as it could be in some key plans. For example, references in the Community Strategy, the Council Plan and the current Children and Young People’s plan are too broad. However, the proposed joint Children and Young People’s and Health, Social Care and Wellbeing plan provides a strong focus for delivering the authority’s and partners’ priorities. In addition, the new structure of the Children and Young People Service gives clear reporting lines and accountabilities.
  • The Council has agreed the ‘Better Education and Skills for Employment’ project as one of its priorities. It has identified a small amount of funding for this. However, the project has too narrow a focus and the authority has not currently identified other aspects of education services in its main priorities.

Reference number / Action / Objective/ Improvement / Lead officer / Monitored by / Resource / Target date / Joint Plan Outcome
R1a / Members and officers ensure that the priorities and objectives for education are clearly stated in the Joint Plan 2011-14 and are the right ones to improve educational provision, achievement and wellbeing. / The Joint Plan has clear educational priorities and objectives to measure progress and improvement.
Links between the Joint Plan and service plans and performance indictors are clear / ML / JD / Existing / March 2011
Sept
2011 / 1,3 & 4
R1b / Cross CYPS Workshop agrees the vision and education priorities for the CYP service / An agreed vision statement and educational priorities inform planning at all levels / ML / JD / Existing / March 2011 / 1,3 & 4
R1c / Members review the current Council Education priority and agree a wider range of Council priorities for education services. / The Council educationpriorities and objectives are clearly stated in the Community Strategy, the Council Plan and the Joint Plan. These plans link together coherently and drive service improvements. / JD / CF
Executive Board / Existing / Sept 2011 / 1,3 & 4
R1d / Work with stakeholders through the Children and Young Peoples Partnership to deliver the priorities and achieve the objectives of the Joint Plan. / A set of objectives to achieve the Joint Plan outcomes are known, understood and worked towards consistently within the council and across partner agencies. / ML / CF / Existing / Sept 2011 / 1,3 & 4
R2Make sure the roles of executive board and scrutiny support effective decision making to improve services to children and young people
The report says:
  • Elected members and senior officers have good working relationships and engage well in a range of partnerships;
  • Elected members have taken difficult decisions, such as the revised transport policy which seeks to remove inequalities and inconsistencies. However, there is more work to do on other important education policies, such as reducing surplus places and ensuring that sixth form provision offers value for money.
  • Scrutiny holds officers to account well. There is a need to hold portfolio members more effectively to account for the work of their service.
  • The Local Service Board is appropriately developing its work in line with the priorities of the Community Strategy.

Reference number / Action / Objective/ Improvement / Lead officer / Monitored by / Resource / Target date / Joint Plan Outcome
R2 a / Undertake a series of Member, Officer and joint Member/Officer workshops to consider findings of the Estyn Inspection, WAO Report and Peer Review.
Receive WAO presentation on existing good practice
Research queries arising from workshops. Identify and explore alternative ways of working (both in England and Wales) that are seen as good practice, using WAO proposals and WLGA/LGA knowledge as a basis / Members and Officers agree the strengths and weaknesses of the current roles of the executive board and scrutiny
There is a good understanding of a range of different practices and alternative/innovative governance arrangements.
Members are provided with the evidence and given the opportunity to consider changes to the roles of the Executive Board and the Scrutiny function that would make decision making more effective. / MJ / CF
AR / Existing resources / April -October 2011
13 April 2011
Feb 2012 / n/a
R2c / Any proposals arising from the review to be considered formally by Members / To allow the new Council (following the May 2012 elections) to consider proposals / TBD / TBD / TBD / June 2012 / n/a
R3 Improve the quality and consistency of evaluation of services to better inform planning
The report says:
  • There is an increasing emphasis on self-evaluation
  • Most individual services do not evaluate outcomes consistently enough to target support effectively
  • Officers and teams regularly evaluate their work. The school effectiveness service uses performance data and external challenge well to improve provision. However, the quality of evaluation is not consistent across other services and a few do not evaluate the impact of training and initiatives consistently enough.
  • Access to youth support services and to young people’s entitlements is satisfactory. Current work gives a good foundation for improvement. However, the authority and the Children and Young People’s Partnership do not yet have enough information on provision to help them evaluate how well the services meet the needs of young people.
  • The authority was very late in providing a self-evaluation report for Estyn
  • The authority has not sufficiently evaluated the effectiveness of its use of resources to make sure it achieves best value

Reference number / Action / Objective/ Improvement / Lead officer / Monitored by / Resource / Target date / Joint Plan Outcome
R3a / Cross CYP Service workshop to review and agree performance reporting arrangements and to agree consistent arrangements for self-evaluation. / A reporting system that provides an overall picture of progress and outcomes against the Council Priorities and the priorities of the Joint Plan. / ML
ML / CF
CYPFWPB
CYPS DMT / Existing / June
2011 / 1-4, 7 and 8
R3b / Cross CYP Training Programme on self-evaluation, measuring impact and value for money / Self-evaluation embedded as part of service planning and reviews / DI / JD / Existing / Completed by March 2012 / n/a
R3c / An agreed timetable of service reviews to develop robust self-evaluation arrangements and performance reporting. / Self-evaluation embedded as part of service planning and reviews / ML / CF / Existing / Completed by July 2012 / n/a
R3d / Implement an annual cross-service programme of self-evaluation and performance reporting / Timetable of cross-service annual evaluation and performance reporting agreed and in place that harmonises existing arrangements such as the ACRF / ML / CF
CYPFWPB
CYPS DMT / Existing / Sept 2011, then on-going / 1-4, 7 and 8
R3e / Annually Review:
  • Service Improvement Plans (SIPs)
  • Contracts with Commissioned Services
  • Progress in implementing the Joint Plan and outcomes against targets
/ All service plan are consistently high quality and outcome-focused and enable officers to manage service improvementand service commissioning. / Heads of Service
Contract Lead Officer
Contracts Officer
ML / ML
P & SC DMT and LLL DMT
CF
CYPFWPB
CYPS DMT / Existing / Existing annual cycle for SIPs
June 2011 for Cymorth contracts.
March 2012 for RSG funded contracts
March
2012, and then annually / 1-4, 7 and 8
R4Develop consistent arrangements for reporting performance in education services and across the Children and Young People’s Partnership
The report says:
  • There is not a clear shared overview of performance across the authority
  • Performance monitoring, reporting and planning for improvement are not always consistent. There is not a clearly understood system of monitoring and reporting to give the authority and the Partnership an effective overview of progress and impact of services.
  • The new structure of the Children and Young People Service gives clear reporting lines and accountabilities
  • Performance reporting is rather disjointed across the authority’s services and Children and Young People’s Partnership. The result is that the different reporting systems do not provide an overall picture of progress against council and partnership priorities.

Reference number / Action / Objective/ Improvement / Lead officer / Monitored by / Resource / Target date / Joint Plan Outcome
R4a
(see also R3 above) / Cross CYP Service workshop to review and agree performance reporting arrangements and to agree consistent arrangements for self-evaluation. / A reporting system that provides an overall picture of progress against the Council Priorities and the priorities of the Joint Plan.
An agreed timetable of service reviews to focus on developing robust self-evaluation arrangements and cross service evaluation and performance. / ML / CF
CYPFWPB
CYPS DMT / Existing / June
2011 / 1-4, 7 and 8
R4b / Review and agree programme for reporting performance in education services with Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee and Executive Board / Improved consistency and clarity in the regular reporting of performance to members to assist in the council’s planning and decision making. / JD / CF / Existing / Sept 2011
R4c / Implement an annual cross-service programme of self-evaluation and performance reporting / Timetable of cross-service annual evaluation and performance reporting agreed and in place that harmonises existing self-evaluation and performance reporting arrangements such as the ACRF. / ML / CF
CYPFWPB
CYPS DMT / Existing / Sept 2011, then ongoing / 1-4, 7 and 8
R4d / Undertake Joint Results Based Accountability Training with CYPFWP and HSCWBS Support Officers / Results Based Accountability is embedded in planning and implementation of services.
Report Cards are developed to report on progress against the outcomes of the Joint Plan. / ML / CF / Existing / May 2011 / 1-4, 7 and 8
R4e / Develop and use Report Cards to report on progress against the outcomes of the Joint plan. / We are able to report the extent to which outcomes are being achieved in an accessible and succinct way as part of monitoring, evaluation and improvement planning. / ML / CF
CYPFWPB
CYPS DMT / Existing / Sept 2011, then ongoing / 1-4, 7 and 8
R5Reduce surplus places in secondary schools in line with the council’s realigned strategy for school reorganisation
The report says:
  • The authority has not made enough progress in reducing surplus places
  • The authority has made good progress in reducing the number of surplus places in the primary sector. However, progress in the secondary sector is currently too slow and as a result, surplus places in secondary schools are the second highest of all Welsh authorities.
  • Elected members have taken difficult decisions, such as the revised transport policy which seeks to remove inequalities and inconsistencies. However, there is more work to do on other important education policies, such as reducing surplus places.

Reference number / Action / Objective/ Improvement / Lead officer / Monitored by / Resource / Target date / Joint Plan Outcome
R5a / Develop a comprehensive data pack for individual schools, to include performance measures, capacity (current and forecast), condition, suitability and development potential. / Data for Area Reviews by officers and members is complete, current and sufficient.
Ability to model the impact of changes at one establishment on others in the local area. / DI / RD / CF
JD
21st Century Schools Project Board / Existing:
Approx £8,000 software with an annual support charge of £4,500. / April 2011 / 4