Issue - items at meetings - Performance Reports

Report of the Director of Children’s Services (copy attached).

1.       That the data and analysis in the PIR be noted and the action taken to improve performance be agreed.

30.1    The Board considered a report of the Director of Children’s Services concerning Performance Reports, which presented the first quarter Performance Improvement Report for 2008/09 and which provided the Board with an overview of key issues which related to the governance of the CYPT (for copy see minute book). 

30.2    Mo Marsh, South Downs Health, was concerned that the quarter the report related to had already elapsed and more up to date data was not available. The Assistant Director, Quality and Performance, explained that, due to staffing problems, officers were unable to provide a more current and updated report. He indicated that he could bring any updates, as and when they happened, to Board’s meeting. Members were agreeable to this.

30.3    Prof. Imogen Taylor, Universities of Brighton & Sussex, stated that she would like to see a more integrated way of working, especially where early intervention was concerned.  The Assistant Director explained that CYPT teams were working together in order to achieve early identification of any issues and a better system of referrals.

30.4    Rob Scoble indicated that he was attending today’s meeting on behalf of the Youth Council to request that a provision of special circumstances was introduced where school attendance was concerned, to recognise situations which were different from truancy. The Director of Children’s Services clarified that the objective of the services in place was to target persistent truants who, without any justification, had become disengaged and absent from schools. The Director reassured Mr Scoble that the services would be supportive of those children who fell into a different category.

30.5    In the matter of persistent absentees, Eleanor Davies, Parent Forum representative, requested that officers and services looked with sympathy to those parents who tried hard to get their children to school without success. The Director recognised that it was difficult to check where parents were trying enough. She explained, however, that Education Welfare Officers worked closely with parents and she reassured Board members that officers would only use enforcement measures where needed and always as a last resort. 

30.6    Andrew Jeffrey, Parent Forum representative, referred to page 10 of the report. He was concerned that parents might not be aware of the support the report offers. He sought clarification as to what was the effective way to get that information to parents. The Assistant Director explained that officers had started a project to explore this concern and were looking at how this communication could be improved.

30.7    David Standing, YMCA representative, referred to the issue of teenage pregnancy and conception. He stated he would have liked to see more information about this issue in the report and, perhaps, reported in a different way to what it has been usually done. He considered that it would be worth recording and considering the causes that lead to this problem rather than looking at the symptoms. The Chairman explained that the Council and the Board had agreed to look at this closely.

30.8    The Board welcomed the report and thought it produced an encouraging picture in the different areas it reported on.

30.9    The Chairman thanked Rob Scoble for attending the meeting on behalf of the Youth Council and for bringing their views to the Board. 

30.40  RESOLVED: That, having considered the information and the reasons set out in the report, the Board accepted the following recommendations:

(1)      That the data and analysis in the PIR be noted and the action taken to improve performance be agreed.