cabinet reports to council, 12th february 2014

8/13/2019 Cabinet reports to Council, 12th February 2014

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REPORT TO COUNCIL:12THFEBRUARY 2014

BUDGET PREPARATIONSMuch of the period since last full Council has been involved with the budget proposals in one

form or another producing the consultation budget, various meetings and discussions, formal

and informal, and preparing the revised proposals for budget Council. As there will be ample

discussion of these in a few days time, I am not dwelling upon them here.

CABINET ACTIONS DELIVERING OUR AMBITIONSOf the six Cabinet recommendations that require full Council approval, two are important but

fairly technical financial matters that we are required to consider and approve. Some key points

on the other items include:-

Whilst it may appear relatively minor, the agreed joint authorisations on undertakingenvironmental health work is a small but practical example of real collaboration todeliver better outcomes. It enables Councils to use resources better and respond more

effectively to concerns that cross local authority boundaries.

The review of the Discretionary Rate Relief Scheme represents a compromise betweenthe need to balance a rising budget whilst retaining what is a really important source of

financial help for small local charities and community groups.

The School Capital Programme proposals is something that Cabinet is particularly proudto bring forward representing as it does an investment programme that balances the


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to bring forward representing as it does an investment programme that balances the

Agreed to fund the replacement of the lift at Todmorden Town Hall, and supported a bidto the HLF to develop access to the heritage of Todmorden;

Approved the proposal for a Junior Savers Project (see below); and Backed the formation of a Calderdale Community Energy company to provide a vehicle to

develop renewal energy resources within the Borough.

HALIFAX PIECE HALLOn January 17th, the Piece Hall formally closed its doors ready for work to start on the

transformation programme. Final tenders for this are due to be issued imminently. Its more thanten years I think since the architect Will Alsop proposing making the Piece Hall into a new town

square as part of proposals made to the Halifax town team, and this in turn followed earlier

attempts to find private sector partners in the mid- to late-1990s. There is still a vast amount of

work to be done, not just on delivering the physical aspects of the project, but particularly in

building a strong governance structure for the reopened Piece Hall that has the resources and

skills to deliver on the very ambitious targets for visitors, shoppers and tenants in the business

plan. There are also some incredibly exciting proposals for how the heritage of the Piece Hall

and its place in the wider economic and social development of Halifax and the Calder Valley will

be presented when it reopens in 2016.

REGIONAL PARTNERSHIPSWork on establishing the West Yorkshire and York Combined Authority continues, with requests

for various appointments featuring elsewhere on the Council agenda. Most of the necessary

approvals are in place to enable the Authority to go live in April


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agreed that the eight identified schemes were only to be seen as illustrative and that the Calder

Valley and other schemes could be given equal consideration.

This issue has galvanised activity, with ourselves, Bradford Council and West Yorkshire ITA

working closely to raise the issue, together with the Chamber of Commerce and local campaign

groups such as HADRAG. Ive been in contact with leaders of all the Councils along the route to

ensure that this scheme is given the priority we need.

HEALTH AND WELL BEINGThe Health and Well being Board appears as a separate item on this agenda but for convenience

I am including this in a single report.

Better Care Fund

Much of the work of the Board both at the formal meeting in December and subsequently has

centred on the Better Care Fund; there is a special meeting to sign off Calderdales proposals on

Tuesday.

Joint Strategic Needs Assessment

At the December meeting, the Director of Public Health reported some of the key messages from

the updating of this important work, which brings together evidence about the state of health and

wellbeing across Calderdale. His presentation focussed particularly on the sections relating to

children and young people, highlighting some of the challenges we face in terms of infant

mortality; physical activity and obesity; mental health and wellbeing; and the use of tobacco


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Lead Member for Children and Young Peoples Services

Report to Council Wednesday 12thFebruary 2014

This report summarises various activities since the last Council meeting, and includes information for

members on the performance of key aspects of childrens services in Calderdale.

Ofsted reports on Childrens Centre daycare

Childrens Centres are vital for our ambition to raise achievement and reduce inequalities. The daycare provision in Childrens Centres is now inspected and rated by Ofsted, so I wantedto share with

members the current performance position:-

Name Childrens Centre Inspection Daycare Inspection

Central Halifax

Group 1(April 13 framework):

JubileeLittle Stars (Parkinson Laneand Warley Road)Sunshine (Mount Pellon)Beech Hill (outreach)

Inspected July 2013 as groupjudged Good Jubilee daycare judgedOutstanding no daycare inother CCs in group 1

Group 2only inspected under previous frameworks to date

Boothtown Satisfactory N/A

New Road Satisfactory Good

Siddal Satisfactory Good

S th N i ti t d t N/A


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sub groups going forward. In addition the board is presently managing and overseeing two serious

case reviews.

Responding to Ofsted and Childrens Social Care

We have made significant progress in achieving a permanent management team and have attracted

high quality applications from experienced social work staff for both front line and management

positions. Following the recent external reviews our improvement focus will be on Looked After

Children over the next few months. We have arranged an adoption diagnostic exercise sponsored by

the DfE to take place during the week commencing 10th March. This will focus on permanency

planning for LAC and will be followed by a peer review at the end of April...

As I reported to the last meeting, a number of external reviews have taken place to inform us on the

progress in addressing issues identified in the last Ofsted report, and ensuring we are on track to

meet the targets in the Direction Notice. I am attaching a two page summary of the reviews which

was reported to the Improvement Board in early January. If members wish to see more detailed

information on the reviews, and the actions being taken, then this information is available from the

Director.

CaseloadsWe continue to keep a close watch on social work caseloads. Caseloads in the First Response Team

continue to improve and there has been a slight increase in cases for localities. However, there is

now only one social worker in localities with a caseload above the threshold.


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Voice of the Child

The Children and Young Peoples Scrutiny panel has been carrying out an enquiry into how we

engage with and listen to the Voice of the Child. This important work will be presented to their

February meeting.

School PerformanceThe charts and tables attached as Appendix 2 show the current Ofsted grades for our primary and

secondary schools. Currently 82% of Primary schools and 79% of secondary schools are rated as

Good or Outstanding; in each case this is the highest proportion achieved in Calderdale.

Appendix 3 shows a comparison of our level 2 and level 4 results with the English average. I am

pleased to be able to report that we are showing results above the national average at both key

stages for both attainment and progress. The improvement at key stage 4 from 2010 to 2013 is

particularly encouraging.

Visits and Events

Visit to schools including Warley Road J & I School, Beech Hill J & I School, Halifax High, and

shortly to visit Old Town.

Met with chair of governors and head from Ravenscliffe

M i f F i d f H h d h H h T


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Appendix 1 - External ReviewsProcess.

During October to December 2013 Calderdale Children and Young Peoples Service arranged forthree separate external reviews of practice.

These were, in chronological order, undertaken by:

LGA: Diagnostic Review (3 officers, 1 week)

Ofsted: Support and Improvement (3 HMI x 3 days)

DfE (Core Assets): Review against Ofsted report and Improvement Notice

(3 officers, 5 days desktop preparation and 8 days on site)

Initially the primary focus of these reviews was Childrens Social Care intake and assessment services

combined with a consideration of the transfer of cases suitable for longer term fieldwork.

It was further agreed from the outset that should the initial findings from the DfE commissionedreview find little evidence of inadequate work and no evidence of children at risk of significant harm,

the reviews scope would be broadened. This was in fact the case, allowing the Core Assets team to

move on from intake and assessment to also consider early intervention activity, including

childrens centre work, locality long term fieldwork, disabled childrens team work, the work of the

Independent Reviewing Officers and work relating to support for Looked after Children.

Wh ibl C ld d l Offi di d ifi f f h i h f


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use of case auditing, implementation of corrective action arising from case audit and thematic audit

leading to staff learning and development. Audit accurately measures the rate of improvement and

effectively targets future focus.

If these reviews are considered chronologically it is possible to discern areas for development and

suggested corrective action identified by the service within its improvement plan during the first

review that have been addressed or partially addressed by the time of the second or subsequent

review. This demonstrates the Local Authoritys accuracy of self diagnosis and ability to rapidly focus

and improve in relation to specific quality of practice issues, corrective actions and practice and

procedure improvements.

There were a number of general themes in relation to areas for developmentwith which the Local

Authority is in complete agreement.

The Local Safeguarding Board partners have not sufficiently gained a shared understanding

of social care thresholds alongside their capacity and willingness to participate in single or

multi-agency early intervention work. The LSCB is intensely focussed on addressing this

issue.

Both the Councils partners and Council officers at times have been risk averse, escalating

some contacts and referrals unnecessarily while some diagnostic analysis of incoming

referrals have lacked breadth and robustness. It is felt that this criticism has now been

addressed; however this practice will be subject to continued scrutiny and analysis and is

detailed in the Single Integrated Improvement Plan 2014.


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Appendix 2 Ofsted grades for Primary and Secondary Schools

Total Calderdale Primary Schools (inc special): 86

Total Primary School with Ofsted Grades: 84 (Outstanding: 16, Good: 53, Requires improvement/Satisfactory: 15)

Total Maintained Primary Schools with Ofsted Grades: 68 (Outstanding: 11, Good: 46, Requires Improvement/Satisfactory: 11)

Total Academy Primary Schools with Ofsted Grades: 16 (Outstanding: 5, Good: 7, Requires Improvement/Satisfactory: 4)

Graph indicates 82% of primary schools are currently rated good or better by Ofsted, this is the highest figure achieved by Calderdale. No primary schools

are in Ofsted categories.


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Total Secondary Schools: 14 (Outstanding: 4, Good: 7, Requires improvement: 3)

Graph indicates 79% of secondary schools are currently rated good or better by Ofsted, this is the highest figure achieved by Calderdale. No secondary

schools are in Ofsted categories.


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Appendix 3 - Key Stage 2 2013All measures above the national average in both attainment and progress

Key Stage 4 2013

All measures above the national average, attainment significantly above at 65.7%, good improvement on trend over time (54.5% to 65.7%)

School nameSchool

type

% of pupils making

expected progress

% achieving 5+ A*-C GCSEs (or

equivalent) including English and maths

GCSEs

% achieving grades

A*-C in English and

maths GCSEs English Maths 2010 2011 2012 2013

England - all schools NA NA 53.5% 59.0% 59.4% 59.2% 59.9%

England - state funded schools only 70.4% 70.7% 55.1% 58.2% 58.8% 60.6% 61.3%

Local Authority 72.6% 71.3% 54.5% 59.4% 61.1% 65.7% 65.8

School name Schooltype

% achieving Level 4 or above in

reading, writing and maths

% making expected

progress

2013 2012 Reading Writing Maths

England - all schools 75% 75% 88% 91% 88%

England - state funded schools only 75% 74% 88% 92% 88%

Local Authority 77% 77% 90% 93% 91%
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cabinet reports to council, 12th february 2014

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