Agenda item

Context:

The purpose of this report is to obtain approval for a 3 year Service and Financial Plan for Children’s Social Services which will form part of the overarching Social Care and Health transformation programme, Changing Practice, Changing Lives.

Key Issues:

This plan forms part of an overarching transformation programme in Monmouthshire County Council Social Care and Health which was designed to deliver the cultural and practice change necessary to realise the benefits from the legislative framework in the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act (2015). The transformation programme in Social Care has delivered both improved outcomes and quality of life for people and significant savings over the last 4 years in adult social services.

Recognising the differences in children’s services, and the different starting place, the first phase of the transformation programme in children’s services has focussed on getting the basics right and improving performance. The Changing Practice, Changing Lives programme will continue to be sensitive to those differences between adults and children’s services, but also build on the strengths within the different part of the business to deliver a coherent purpose and governance for practice and commissioning in Social Care and Health.

A shared understanding of ‘what good practice looks like’ and alignment of all systems (from supervision to quality assurance to management meetings) is needed. Change is delivered by individual practitioners and teams coming together around a common purpose, supported by managers and leaders who set direction and remove the barriers that exist. Some limited external support from a recognised expert in children’s services will be sought to develop the detail of practice transformation programme within children’s services.

This plan has been developed for a very specific purpose – to ensure there is clear set of prioritised actions to deliver service and financial recovery. It builds on the very positive progress which has been made in children’s social services over the last 2 years and sets direction over a medium term time frame to address increasing challenges around managing need, workforce stability and financial sustainability. It reflects increasing challenges since the Service Improvement Plan (SIP) for 2015/16 was agreed. As such, the plan includes a set of actions which are additional to current SIP. The 3 year timescale of the plan and financial model, recognises that practice led transformation requires sustained direction and effort over a prolonged period of time.

The detailed plan is appended to this paper. There are 4 themes contained within the plan which detail the improvements required:

Quality and Effectiveness of Social Work Practice

Capacity and Capability of the Workforce

Improved commissioning

Service and Financial Performance and Accountability

The plan also contains within it a financial model, risks, mitigations and measures which will enable robust tracking of whether the plan is delivering the outcomes required. The key actions from this transformation plan will form the core of an updated Service Improvement Plan for 2016/17. The plan will also need to be flexible and contain within it a dynamic model which allows service and financial performance to be monitored robustly and challenged.

Member Scrutiny:

It was asked how long the diagnostic expert would be with us, the Chief Officer answered that it would be short and sharp with solutions needing to come from within the Authority.

The Chair stressed that the Chief Officer should not be anxious to share ideas with the Committee, recognising this is the first part of a long process, the Committee will act as a critical friend who will help take things forward.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that the 3 year Children and Young People Services and Financial Plan be referred to Cabinet for approval.