Local area agreements: How far have areas prioritised social care?

June 30, 2008 in Community Care

Local area agreements for 2008-11 show that reducing the number of 16- to 18-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training is the top overall priority for local areas in England. But less popular are targets on care leavers, offenders and adults with learning disabilities.

LAAs are a new performance management system for councils and their partners in local strategic partnerships, under which each LSP must negotiate 35 indicators from a set of 198 with government to focus on over the next three years.

The table below shows how many LSPs have selected each of the social care-related indicators.

Children and young people
Indicator		Number of areas selecting
50	Emotional health of children	21
51	“Effectiveness of child and adolescent mental health (CAMHs) services”	43
54	Services for disabled children	23
58	Emotional and behavioural health of looked after children	5
59	“Percentage of initial assessments for children’s social care carried out within 7 working days of referral”	14
60	“Percentage of core assessments for children’s social care that were carried out within 35 working days of their commencement”	18
61	“Timeliness of placements of looked after children for adoption following an agency decision that the child should be placed for adoption”	2
62	“Stability of placements of looked after children: number of placements”	16
63	Stability of placements of looked after children: length of placement	29
64	Child protection plans lasting 2 years or more	5
65	“Percentage of children becoming the subject of a Child Protection Plan for a second or subsequent time”	11
66	“Looked after children cases which were reviewed within required timescales”	3
67	“Percentage of child protection cases which were reviewed within required timescales”	0
68	Percentage of referrals to children’s social care going on to initial assessment	10
69	Children who have experienced bullying	24
70	“Reduce emergency hospital admissions caused by unintentional and deliberate injuries to children and young people”	5
71	Children who have run away from home/care overnight	1
99	Looked after children reaching level 4 in English at Key Stage 2	0 (mandatory)
100	Looked after children reaching level 4 in Maths at Key Stage 2	0 (mandatory)
101	Looked after children achieving 5 A*-C GCSEs (or equivalent) at Key Stage 4 (including English and Maths)	0 (mandatory)
103	Special Educational Needs – statements issued within 26 weeks	0
109	Delivery of Sure Start Children Centres	1
110	Young people’s participation in positive activities	77
112	Under 18 conception rate	106
114	Rate of permanent exclusions from school	14
115	Substance misuse by young people	36
116	Proportion of children in poverty	45
117	“16 to 18 year olds who are not in education, employment or training (NEET)”	115

Youth justice
Indicator		Number of areas selecting
43	“Young people within the Youth Justice System receiving a conviction in court who are sentenced to custody”	0
44	Ethnic composition of offenders on Youth Justice System disposals	1
45	“Young offenders engagement in suitable education, employment or training”	20
46	Young offenders access to suitable accommodation	0
19	Rate of proven re-offending by young offenders	49
111	First time entrants to the Youth Justice System aged 10 – 17	74

Social exclusion – offenders, adults with learning disabilities. adults with mental health problems and care leavers
Indicator		Number of areas selecting
143	“Offenders under probation supervision living in settled and suitable accommodation at the end of their order or licence”	2
144	“Offenders under probation supervision in employment at the end of their order or licence”	10
145	Adults with learning disabilities in settled accommodation	10
146	Adults with learning disabilities in employment	29
147	Care leavers in suitable accommodation	1
148	Care leavers in employment, education or training	8
149	“Adults in contact with secondary mental health services in settled accommodation”	9
150	“Adults in contact with secondary mental health services in employment”	30

Adults
Indicator		Number of areas selecting
124	“People with a long-term condition supported to be independent and in control of their condition”	24
125	“Achieving independence for older people through rehabilitation/intermediate care”	41
125	Self reported experience of social care users	2
127	User reported measure of respect and dignity in their treatment	6
129	“End of life care – access to appropriate care enabling people to be able to choose to die at home”	5
130	“Social Care clients receiving Self Directed Support per 100,000 population”	81
131	Delayed transfers of care	10
132	Timeliness of social care assessment (all adults)	12
133	Timeliness of social care packages following assessment	2
134	“The number of emergency bed days per head of weighted population”	15
135	“Carers receiving needs assessment or review and a specific carer’s service, or advice and information”	80
136	“People supported to live independently through social services (all adults)”	46
138	Satisfaction of people over 65 with both home and neighbourhood	7
139	“The extent to which older people receive the support they need to live independently at home”	21
140	Fair treatment by local services	9
141	Percentage of vulnerable people achieving independent living	70