Strategic Service Plan 2011/12-2013/14

Director:Mark Andrews (Acting)

Services: Family Community Teams

Version:1.6

Date:Thursday 12thMay2011

Contents

Section 1:
a) Service Purpose and Outcomes

VISION: Contribute to Family Nottingham by providing fully integrated and effective support for families in their communities

MISSION: We will identify and meet needs earlier to ensure that the full potential of children and young people is realised; break the cycle of poor outcomes within families; help children and families get back on track where problems have arisen; or prevent problems turning into crises that require specialist interventions

HOW: We will ensure

  • High quality universal services that give children and young people the best possible start on the road to success.
  • Integrated services that are locally accessible for children and young people with additional needs.
  • Prevention that provides extra support to vulnerable children, young people and families.
  • Early intervention to respond to emerging problems before they become serious and entrenched.
  • Raising aspiration to inspire children, young people and families to develop positive goals as well as the self esteem and self belief necessary to pursue them.
  • Support to help young people and families overcome problems when they have arisen.
  • Positive and proactive engagement to ensure that the support required is taken up.
  • Appropriate use of available powers where behaviour is unacceptable and support is rejected.
  • Increased quality and range of respite services for disabled children, young people and their families

BY:

  • Enabling and supporting communities to keep their children and young people safe and meet their needs.
  • Combining our professional expertise, knowledge and skills to identify and meet needs earlier.
  • Developing a workforce that has high aspirations for themselves and the children, young people and families they support.
  • Sharing information between professionals wherever necessary to safeguard children and young people, meet needs, and manage risks.
  • Providing a single point of access for children and young people, their families, partners and stakeholders to make access as simple as possible.
  • Putting effective and timely assessment of needs at the centre of all we do.
  • Working flexibly across professional lines and service thresholds to ensure that needs are met.
  • Building capacity and co-ordinating provision at a community level.
  • Developing resilience within families and communities.


Driver (type) / Headline Detail / Impact on Service Delivery
National Government - statutory / Childcare Act 2006 / Duty to contribute towards improving the five ECM outcomes for all children and reduce inequalities in these outcomes. Secure sufficient childcare for working parents and provide a parental information service, including information about services, facilities or publications which may be of particular benefit to the parents of disabled children or young persons or to disabled children or young persons. Ensure provision of sufficient childcare which is suitable for disabled children. Statutory duty to provide a range of short breaks for carers of disabled children.
Education and Skills Act 2008 / Promotion of provision of Youth Services
Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 / Statutory requirement to deliver Children’s Centres services, establishing and maintaining sufficient numbers to meet local needs. Provide advice and assistance to parents or prospective parents on gaining access to the service.
Requirement to ensure that young people in schools receive proper information, advice and guidance about vocational training opportunities.
Contribute towards commissioning and funding all education and training for young people up to 19.
Responsibility for securing education for young people in juvenile custody.
Education and Inspections Act 2006 / Contribute towards promoting the fulfilment of every child’s educational potential, intervening where performance is poor and securing sufficient leisure and recreational activity time.
Children, Schools and Families Act 2010 / Contribute towards increasing partnership working with schools, with strengthened power with regards to registration, inspection and intervention.
Child Poverty Act 2010 / Contribute towards tackling child poverty, promote co-operation between partners and report on progress in delivering commitment to end child poverty by 2020.
“Breaking the Cycle:Effective Punishment, Rehabilitation and Sentencing of Offenders 2010” Green Paper / Proposed requirement to improve the quality of work with parents including through greater use of parenting orders where parents will not face up to their responsibilities; simplify out-of-court disposals and increase the use of restorative justice
Local Strategic Partnership / The Nottingham Plan 2009-2012: / Context for delivery of services under the categories of Family Nottingham and Safer Nottingham through the Children and Young People’s Plan 2010-2014.
Fairer Nottingham / Provide services, some targeted at the most needy, to ensure citizenshave the same opportunities, no matter who they are or wherethey live.
Green Nottingham / Promote services and lifestyle choices at a neighbourhood level to movethe city towards a more sustainableeconomy and way of life.
Aspiring Nottingham / Encourage children, young people and their familiesto have high expectations of themselves andfor their future and have the motivation andabilities to follow their ambitions.
City Council / Public sector spending reductions and required savings to existing budgets / Increased pressure on provision of services through greater demand against reduced capacity. Implement Strategic Choices 2010/11.
Community / Economic recession / Reduced availability of jobs could mean a potential increase in young people who are Not in Education, Training or Employment (NEET).
Changes in demographics / Various changes in trends and levels of different demographics will place extra pressure on services and mean that others are not being as effective.

Council Plan Priority/Ref / Expected Outcome, Action(s), Timescales / Responsible Officer / Enablers/Current Focus
Family Nottingham 2,
Safer Nottingham 2
CYPP Operational Objective 1: Stronger safeguarding – Year One Priority / Strengthen and improve the safeguarding function and ensure that children at risk of harm are identified as early as possible by September 2011. / Viv McCrossen, Head of Service / Early intervention, Support the most vulnerable
Strengthen interagency work with families to address issues of domestic violence, drugs and alcohol, and mental healthby March 2014. / Viv McCrossen, Head of Service / Work effectively with others, Support the most vulnerable
Family Nottingham 2,
CYPP Operational Objective 2: Shift resources to early intervention and prevention / Identify opportunities to change how we design and deliver mainstream services for the longer term by March 2014. / Mark Andrews, Director / Re-shape our activities
Identify problems early and share information, and embed the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) by March 2012. / Viv McCrossen, Head of Service / Early intervention, Work effectively with others
Equip our workforce to ‘Think Family’ and be better placed to work togetherby March 2012. / Viv McCrossen, Head of Service / Working effectively with others
Family Nottingham 3,
CYPP Operational Objective 4: Improved parenting and family support / Support and empower all parents and carers to take responsibility for their own families and build greater resilience in familiesby March 2014. / Jane Richardson, Head of Service / Early intervention
Deliver the Family Support Strategy and a fully integrated care pathway for Family Support by September 2011. / Viv McCrossen, Head of Service / Early intervention, Work effectively with others
Make evidence-based programmes available across the city by March 2014 to continue to develop a world class workforce to support families. / Viv McCrossen, Head of Service / Re-shape our activities
Promote closer working between children and adult services to achieve demonstrably better outcomes for families by March 2014. / Mark Andrews, Director / Work effectively with others
Improve our understanding of, and support for all families - in particular young parents and carers - and deliver enhanced and better integrated services for all vulnerable families by March 2014. / Heads of Service / Early intervention, Work effectively with others, Support the most vulnerable
Family Nottingham 2,
CYPP Operational Objective 5: Improved support for children with learning difficulties and disabilities / Review our workforce’s capacity and skills and provide professionals with the right skills and training by March 2012. / Viv McCrossen, Head of Service / Re-shape our activities
Embed the five standards in the ‘Every Disabled Child Matters’ Framework in all that we do by March 2012, to improve the quality of life for disabled children and their families. / Viv McCrossen, Head of Service / Re-shape our activities, Support the most vulnerable
Healthy Nottingham 2,
CYPP Operational Objective 7: Healthy weights in children – Year One Priority / Work with Childcare practitioners to encourage healthy diets and increase the proportion of healthy weights in children by March 2014, through promotion of physical exercise and family-based support. / Jane Richardson, Head of Service / Work effectively with others, Early intervention
Safer Nottingham 2,
Healthy Nottingham 2,
CYPP Operational Objective 9: Reduced substance misuse – Year One Priority / Increase the rate of referrals for drug treatment from Family Community Teams by March 2014. / Ken Beaumont,
Head of Service / Early intervention
Identify early, measure and reduce the impact of drug and alcohol abuse by adults on children more clearly by March 2014 with our Hidden Harm programme. / Jane Richardson, Head of Service / Early intervention
Family Nottingham 4, Neighbourhood Nottingham 5,
CYPP Operational Objective 10: Strengthened positive behaviour / Promote socially responsible behaviour amongst young people to reduce anti-social behaviour levels by March 2014. / Ken Beaumont,
Head of Service / Early intervention
Family Nottingham 1,
CYPP Operational Objective 11: Engaging learners better - Improved attendance – Year One Priority / Extend our work to improve attendance and address persistent absenteeism by March 2014. / Ken Beaumont,
Head of Service / Re-shape our activities
Continue work with partners to achieve improved engagement with those aged 16-18 not in education, employment or training, with a particular focus on young offenders, by March 2014. / Ken Beaumont,
Head of Service / Work effectively with others, Support the most vulnerable

We also deliver actions against other strategic and operational objectives in the Children and Young People’s Plan that are either not priorities for the directorate or owned by other services. These include:

Operational Objective 3: Reduce infant mortality

  • Promote maternal health through better public information, midwifery and health visiting services and family support workers – as well as culturally sensitive services for some black and minority ethnic (BME) groups.
  • Support community midwifery services and target services to increase the proportion of women who breastfeed.
  • Use effective and regular campaigns to reinforce safety messages.

Operational Objective 5: Improved support for children with learning difficulties and disabilities

  • Offer flexible services, adaptations and equipment, choice and improved access to short breaks, including direct payments.

Operational Objective 8: Reduced teenage conceptions

  • Continue to work in partnership to deliver our Teenage Pregnancy Plan.
  • Ensure young people have access to appropriate contraceptive and sexual health services.

Operational Objective 9: Reduced substance misuse (Year One Priority)

  • Work with local communities to reduce the rate of under-age smoking.

Operational Objective 10: Strengthened positive behaviour

  • Establish Targeted Youth Support in all areas of the city to identify young people at risk of offending and intervene earlier.

Operational Objective 14: Reformed 14-19

  • Improve the way that we provide information, advice and guidance at key transition points in the lives of young people, to improve the rates of progression from one level to the next.

Table 2: Budget Overview

Service / Estimated Outturn 2010/11 £m / 2011/12 / Net Budget
Expenditure £m / Income
£m / Net
£m / 2012/13 £m / 2013/14
£m
North Locality / N/A / 5.37 / -4.19 / 1.76 / - / -
Central Locality / N/A / 11.53 / -5.01 / 6.53 / - / -
South Locality / N/A / 7.97 / -3.69 / 4.29 / - / -
TOTAL / 10.91 / 24.87 / -12.89 / 11.98 / - / -

Budget Overview

In 2010/11, Family Community Teams had a total gross 2010/11 budget of £27million; of which £14.5million was grant funding. This means that 53% of the grossbudget for the directorate last year came from external grants. The directorate had a total net 2010/11 budget of £12.8million, including £1.89million of contribution to corporate savings, which leftthe base budget for the directorate at £10.91million.

In 2011/12, Family Community Teams has a total gross budget of £24.9 million, of which £12.9 million is grant funding. The means that 52% of the gross budget for the directorate is now externally grant funded.The directorate has a total net budget of £11.98 million, including £1.38million contribution to corporate savings and £0.98 million to be found through strategic choices in 2011/12, leaving the base budget at £9.62 million.

The directorate has committed to deliver a total of£1.71million of Strategic Choices between 2011/12 and 2013/14.

Income generating activities that the service delivers and plans to maximise these streams

Few services in the directorate are traded to generate income. The Anti-Bullying Team did provide some income, but this was negligible against the cost of running the service. This team has been disestablished and the strategic responsibility will be met by a joint response by a number of teams in the local authority, reducing the cost of the service. The Community Education Psychology Service delivers some income towards a range of targets held across the local authority; not all of which sit within Family Community Teams. We have assessed the potential capacity for income generation within Play and Youth services and this will be incorporated into the strategic choice for these services. A critical appraisal of all directorate services will be undertaken in the coming months.

Delivery against the 2010/11 strategic choices

The directorate overall operates within budget, including a £1.89million contributiontowards corporate savings targetsin 2010/11. Cumulative savings against budgetary and efficiency issues year-on-year have resulted in some significant changes to the composition and capacity of some services.

A high proportion of services as well as the majority of management and infrastructure within the directorate are partly or wholly funded by grants from Government, making the directorate a low cost burden to the local authority, but at high risk of potential reductions in funding in future years; a risk that has begun to be realised in 2011/12.A number of areas of work within the directorate have been funded through external grants that have not continued into the new financial year. Partner agency contributions may not increase or may be reduced as a result of pressures on their funding.

The current economic situation may also lead to a greater demand of our services at a time where our services are being streamlined.

How does the service compare with others in terms of cost, quality and performance?

In line with Government direction, the directorate’s spendingis allocated on a per capita basis with an element to represent deprivation for grant-funded services. A number of services in the directorate compare themselves directly with statistical neighbours to evaluate their performance against cost and quality, the results of which are generally favourable. Several services have been highlighted nationally for best practice and several projects are being piloted through them.

Good engagement coupled with the use of demographic data and professional knowledge ensures a greater level of resource is locally targeted to neighbourhoods of higher need.The capacity of servicesto meet need is an issue in some areas and will be addressed by the realignment of services through delivery of strategic choices.


Ensuring the right numbers of staff are in the right posts/roles, including succession planning to deliver service purpose and priorities

There are currently 454.3 full-time equivalent (FTE) posts across the directorate, filled by a workforce of 625, with a further 147 sessional workers delivering additional services. A significant proportionof posts are currently vacant, with a severe impact on capacity and morale across services. Integrated working and allocating more generic roles across services has helped to support cross-cutting themes, but general recruitment and capacity issues need to be addressed. Project and programme management capacity and capability are still acute issues in large improvement programmes. Current financial formulas for staffing and benchmarking of costs for some services are still based on per capita rather than demand for appropriate services, meaning that resources cannot be managed accordingly. The restructure of services into locality and community-based working has brought together services to achieve greater efficiencies/capacity through more joined-up/streamlined approaches, but integrated working will need to continue to improve to meet demand for early intervention and preventative work.

The impact of service redesign on skills, competencies, technical gaps and weaknesses etc.

Family Community Teams were established in May 2010. A comprehensive workforce development plan has been developed as a result of the restructure, but funding limits the pace of change. Some of our services face significant challenges in adjusting from an established base in direct delivery to an enabling and supporting role for a mixed economy of providers, adapting to the demands of delivering more targeted support against need, not just profession. Procedures for monitoring the availability and uptake of training for staff have been reviewed to ensure all colleagues receive 3 days of appropriate training and development, but this still needs improvement. The implementation of the new Learning Management System will empower colleagues to take responsibility for their own learning and development and ensure our workforce has the required core skills and abilities to succeed.