The Head of Operations (Interim) presented the report of the Director for Children, Families and Education. The report provided the latest performance information for Children’s Services. Where available, national, regional and statistical neighbour benchmarking data had been included in the report for comparison. The Performance Report (Appendix A) had been structured around eight indicator groups and the data contained in the report related to Quarter 3 of the 2022/23 financial year.  

Members sought further information on a number of performance issues detailed within the report including criteria for missing children, persistent absences, health assessments and dental checks, social workers leaving the borough and the level of casework they had. Members were assured that robust systems had been put in place to track missing children and that the challenge of dealing with persistent absences was being worked on. A lot of work had taken place regarding initial health assessments with the assessments team and with health partners and IT issues had been identified and resolutions had been found. Members were also assured that work had been undertaken to improve the attendance of children at dental appointments. Officers noted that there had been a real issue with workforce retention for both Adult and Children’s social care nationally. Work was ongoing with the Department for Education and officers from Wirral were staying involved with as much of this work.

Resolved – That the content of the Performance Report attached in Appendix A be noted.