Meeting documents

Communities Scrutiny Sub-Committee (DCC)
Monday 5 March 2007


            Meeting: Communities Scrutiny Sub-Committee (County Hall, Durham - Committee Room 1A - 05/03/2007 10:00:00 AM)

                  Item: A5 Promoting Strong Healthy and Safe Communities Quarter 3 Performance 2006/07


         

Report of the Head of Corporate Policy

Purpose of the Report
1. The purpose of this report is to provide an update of quarter 3 performance and 2005/06 quartile positions for the authority’s corporate priorities and the Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs) relevant to our Corporate Aim, Promoting Strong, Healthy and Safe Communities.

2. Performance for quarter 3, 2006/07 and quartile positions for 2005/06, for indicators aligned to Promoting Strong, Healthy & Safe Communities are available in Appendix A (Corporate Priorities) and Appendix B (BVPIs).

3. To gain maximum impact of performance management intelligence from Performance Plus, the system requires tolerances and milestones to be set for targets. A zero tolerance is applied alongside graduated milestones, where appropriate, up to the year-end 2006/07.

Priorities for Improvement
4. There are 3 priority areas for improvement aligned to our Corporate Aim, Promoting Strong, Healthy and Safe Communities.

Protecting and Supporting Vulnerable Children

Within this theme there are 3 outcomes that have been identified as areas we want to improve.

Fewer children at risk - to know if we are succeeding at this we are measuring:
  • PAF A3 - re-registrations on the Child Protection Register



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Good performance for this indicator is low, and with current performance of 11, outturn continues to be better than target. It should be noted however that performance can be prone to fluctuation as re-registrations often include large sibling groups.

Better access for young people to mental health services - to know if we are succeeding at this we are measuring:
  • LAA C&YP 2b - acute mental health referrals within 5 days
Data have now been provided up to the half-year point with performance meeting its 100% target.
  • LAA C&YP 2c - non-acute mental health referrals within 15 days
Performance for non-acute mental health referrals within 15 working days was 100% at the half-year point.

Fewer young people offending - to know if we are succeeding at this we are measuring:
  • LAA SSC 1f - first time entrants to the youth justice system
New data are available. From April to the end of September there were 523 first time entrants into the youth justice system in County Durham. This performance at the half-year point equates to just over half (50.4%) of the 2006/07 annual stretch target of 1037.

Protecting and Supporting Vulnerable Adults

Within this theme there are 2 outcomes that have been identified as areas we want to improve.

Improved opportunities, choice and independence for vulnerable adults and older people - to know if we are succeeding at this we are measuring:
  • BV056 - % equipment delivered / adapted within 7 working days

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With the exception of September 2005, this indicator has shown continual quarter-on-quarter improvement. Performance is 3.5 percentage points higher than at the same time 12 months ago and is performing better than target. During 2005/06, this indicator was 0.1 percentage points short of a top quartile position. However, this PI is also a PAF indicator and current performance lies within the “Very Good” dark green banding.
  • BV 196 - acceptable wait for care packages

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During the last 12 months, 92% of new older clients experienced completion of assessment to provision of all services in the care package within four weeks. Performance has improved by 6.1 percentage points compared to the same time last year and is better than target. This rate of improvement has been quicker in recent months.

2005/06 outturn resulted in a drop from second to third quartile for this indicator. Durham’s performance from 2004/05 to 2005/06 improved by 2.61% whereas the average improvement for all authorities was higher at 4.44%.
  • BV 201 - adults receiving direct payments of benefits
(LAA stretch target)


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95.4 adults and older people per 100,000 population received direct payments during the 12 months ending 31 December 2006. Performance has improved at a steady rate and is 18.2 percentage points higher compared to the same time last year and is better than target. Quartile thresholds have been produced for this indicator and it has dropped from top quartile to second quartile.
  • LAA HC&OP 3b - older people in receipt of council tax benefit (LAA stretch target)

At 30 June 2006, 31,618 people over the age of 60 were in receipt of council tax benefit. This is an increase of 120 people since 30 June 2005. An overview of the district information can be seen below.

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The graphs below show future projections based on the last 3 data points

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  • LAA HC&OP 5a - % receiving intensive home care


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This indicator measures households receiving intensive homecare (more than 10 hours and 6 or more visits per week) as a proportion of households receiving intensive home and residential care. The indicator is calculated using a sample week. Although remaining static during quarter 3 performance continued to exceed target.


Improved employment opportunities for people with learning difficulties - to know if we are succeeding at this we are measuring:
  • LAA HC&OP 4c - % people with learning disabilities (known to the Council) in work

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Performance of this indicator is continuing to improve. During the last nine months, performance has more than doubled and is ahead of the year-end target for 06/07.

Improving Health

Within this theme there are 3 outcomes that have been identified as areas we want to improve. However, only one indicator has been updated during quarter 3. An update of all other indicators will be provided following the year-end.

Reduction in the number of people smoking - to know if we are succeeding at this we are measuring:

  • LAA HC&OP 1e - no. of 4 week quitters using NHS service
(LAA stretch target)

Performance for the number of 4-week smoking quitters attending NHS smoking cessation services is reported quarterly and by its very nature, cannot be produced until 28 days have elapsed following the end of the quarter. The following table shows the latest reported data (1 April 2006 to 30 September 2006) for this indicator with the strongest quarter historically still to come (post Christmas).

TO VIEW CHART PLEASE CLICK ON PDF ATTACHMENT OR REFER TO HARD COPIES LOCATED IN CORPORATE SERVICES AND THE COUNTY RECORD OFFICE

Other Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs)
4. There are 21 performance indicators relevant to our Corporate Aim, Promoting Strong, Healthy and Safe Communities that are not aligned to our corporate priorities for improvement. Of these indicators 6 improved performance, 7 remained static, 2 deteriorated, 3 were not updated and 3 are calculated cumulatively so can’t be compared to the previous quarter.

It should be noted that 12 performance indicators achieved their targets for quarter 3.

Performance
BVPI
Improved
49 - Stability of payments of LAC (more than 3 placements)
53 - Intensive homecare per 1,000 65+ population (T)
54 - Over 65s helped to live at home (T)
127a - Violent crime per 1,000 population
163 - Adoptions of children looked after (T)
195 - Acceptable waiting times for assessment
Static
99ai - No. of road accident casualties: KSI all (T)
99bi - No. of road accident casualties: KSI child (T)
99ai - No. of road accident casualties: Slight injuries (T)
127b - Robberies per 1,000 population
162 - Reviews of child protection cases (T)
166b - checklist - trading standards (T)
226b - Advice and Guidance: CLS quality mark (T)
Deteriorated
126 - Domestic burglaries per 1,000 households (T)
128a - Vehicle crime per 1,000 population (T)
Not Updated
197 - change in
226a - Advice and Guidance: expenditure
226c - Advice and Guidance: direct provision
Measured Cumulatively
LPI 99a - No. of road accident casualties: KSI all
LPI 99b - No. of road accident casualties: KSI child
LPI 99c - No. of road accident casualties: Slight Injuries (T)

(T) denotes that the target for that indicator was met


Areas of Improved Performance
5. The performance of a number of indicators improved during quarter 3, 2006/07. Of particular note:
  • BV 49 - Stability of payments of LAC (more than 3 placements)
Although this indicator has improved, it has not achieved its target of 10. This is also a PAF indicator and with performance less than 16 remains in the top banding despite not achieving its target.
  • BV 53 - Intensive homecare per 1,000 65+ population
This indicator continues to perform better than target and was placed in the top quartile for 2005/06.
  • BV 54 - Over 65s helped to live at home
This indicator continues to perform better than target and was placed in the second quartile for 2005/06.
  • BV 127a - Violent crime per 1,000 population
There has been a slight decrease in the number of violent crimes per 1,000 population during quarter 3. However, performance remains worse than target.
  • BV 163 - Adoptions of children looked after
Current performance of this indicator is impressively 24% higher than target. Performance improved in 2005/06 and resulted in a move from second to top quartile.
  • BV 195 - Acceptable waiting times for assessment
This indicator dropped from second to bottom quartile in 2005/06 and although performance has improved by 3.35 percentage points, current performance remains below the target set.

Areas of deteriorated performance
6. The performance of a number of indicators deteriorated during quarter 3, 2006/07. Of particular note:
  • 126 - Domestic burglaries per 1,000 households
There has been an increase in the number of domestic burglaries per 1,000 households during quarter 3. However, performance remains within target.
  • 128a - Vehicle crime per 1,000 population
There has been a slight increase in the number of vehicle crimes per 1,000 population during quarter 3. However, performance remains within target.

Performance measured cumulatively

Some performance indicators are measured cumulatively rather than on a rolling year basis. This is true of the local performance indicators relating to road accident casualties.
  • LPI 99a - No. of road accident casualties: KSI all
It is predicted that the end of year total will be in the region of 237 casualties, well above the target. The largest rise is amongst young and inexperienced drivers (17-25) with young drivers being responsible for 82% of the fatal casualties. This group will form the basis of additional funding bid to DfT.
  • LPI 99b - No. of road accident casualties: KSI child
Quarter 3 performance was within the target but the cumulative figure continues to be above the target. Whilst with such small numbers causation is difficult to establish, the majority of incidents occur in Easington (9 KSI child which equates to 45%). Traffic calming measures and road safety programmes continue to make a difference. It is predicted that the end of year total will be 25, 2 above the year-end target of 23.
  • LPI 99c - No. of road accident casualties: Slight Injuries
This indicator is performing significantly better than target. It is predicted that the end of year total will also be within target.

Recommendations

That Corporate Scrutiny Sub-Committee Members:
i. note the contents of this report
ii. agree to receiving subsequent quarterly performance progress reports
Contact: Debra Kitching Tel: 0191 383 4186

TO VIEW APPENDIX A & B PLEASE CLICK ON PDF ATTACHMENT OR REFER TO HARD COPIES LOCATED IN CORPORATE SERVICES AND THE COUNTY RECORD OFFICE

Attachments


 communities macro for PFI tables - P+.pdf;
 communities macro for tables - P+.pdf;
 SHS Communities Scrutiny Report - 5 March 07 v2.pdf