The performance information below shows how the Social Work Service performed in a number of key areas during 2010/11.

Our citizens continue to access critical services that meet their needs

The number of people who had a community assessment or review per 1,000 population decreased marginally in 2010/11. The target is to maintain the level of service.

The number of people who received a community care service per 1,000 population increased marginally through 2010/11.

The number of OT pending assessments had increased by the end of 2010/11.  

Assessments are prioritised for allocation in accordance with agreed eligibility criteria and it should be noted that there were no outstanding priority 1 assessments.

There was a decline in the number of carer assessments in 2010/11.

This is an indicator, however, where significant progress has been achieved in recent years. The numbers of carers assessments doubled in 2008/2009 from the previous year as a consequence of a much more pro-active approach being taken to offering assessments and improved recording. The level of uptake of assessments appears to have levelled out, however, the Service will continue to take a pro-active approach to offering these assessments and to monitoring uptake, therefore the target for this indicator is now to maintain the level of carer assessment carried out.

People will have equitable access to local health, support and care

Almost 90% of calls offered to the social work contact centre during 2010/11 were answered at first attempt.

The number of delayed discharges is reported monthly to the Scottish Government which has set a target of zero delayed discharges waiting for 6 weeks or more.  This target was met during two months in 2010/11, compared to 8 months out of 12 in 2009/10.

The key factors which continue to impact on multi-agency performance in this area are:

• the flow of admissions to local hospital
• the availability of rehabilitation service during hospital stays
• the working practices of staff across Health and social care systems
• the availability of care home places
• the implications of patients and families exercising choice in relation to the care homes they are willing to consider and reluctance to move to interim placements

830 people received the Rapid Response Service during 2010/11, fewer than in 2009/10.

However, the target in this service is to maintain a nil waiting list and this was achieved. 

Marginally less people aged over 65 years were receiving Home Care at the end of March 2011, compared to a year previously.  However, the volume of hours is increasing (see indicator below). 

The target is to maintain the level of service, however the service requires to review this target in the light of the introduction of eligibility criteria for adult social care services, which is a mechanism for ensuring that resources are targeted at those whose needs are greatest.

1.6% more hours of home care was provided at the end of March 2011 than a year previously.

The maintenance of levels of service hours when service user numbers may be falling, suggests that the service is targeting those in greatest need, in keeping with the eligibility criteria which have now been introduced.

The proportion of people aged 65 or over who receive personal care as part of their home care services increased between March 2010 and March 2011.  This reflects the priority which is given to the provision of personal care and the increased priority given to people whose needs are substantial or critical.

The percentage of people aged 65 or over receiving a home care service during the evening or overnight also rose and continues to demonstrate the priority given to meeting the personal care needs of the most vulnerable members of our communities. It should also be noted that assistive technology is increasingly provided to service users which can reduce the need for home care services during evenings and overnight.

Significantly more people aged 65 or over received a home care service at weekends at the end of March 2011, compared to a year earlier, reflecting the increased vulnerability of the people receiving these services. 

Vulnerable children will be protected

48.1% of social background reports were submitted to the reporter within the target time of 20 days during 2010/11, a significant improvement on the 33.5% reported in 2009/10.  It should be noted that the average of Scottish Councils during 2009/10 was 41.3%.

There was an increase in the proportion of children seen by a supervising officer within 15 days in 2010/11 compared to 2009/10.  

Child Protection

There were 380 child protection referrals dealt with by the Social Work Service under child protection procedures during 2010/11. This compared to a total of 362 in 2009/10. 

There were 59 children on the Child Protection Register at the end of March 2011, compared to 51 at the end of March 2010. 

The Falkirk Child Protection Committee monitors these trends and considers the factors affecting the trends.  

Looked After Children

443 children were being looked after at 31st July 2010.  This compares to 437 at 31st March 2009, the last annual figure reported to the Scottish Government. 

41.5% of these looked after children at 31st July were being looked after at home by parents.  This compares to 38.4% at 31st March 2009.  The Scottish average at 31st March 2009 was 38.8%.

This is a welcome move in the direction of being able to support more children to remain at home and has been commented on very favourably in a recent inspection of services to protect children.

Our citizens will be protected

930 MECs alarms were installed during 2010/11 compared to 777 in 2009/10.  These figures can vary significantly due to upgrades which are included here, so a target is considered inappropriate.

At the end of March 2011, 5,814 people (48.3 per 1000 population aged 18 or over) had community alarms installed, compared to 6,134 people at the end of March 2010.  

There were 76 priority 1 referrals during 2010/11.  All priority 1 referrals received MECS alarms within the target of 48 hours.

The percentage of criminal justice social work reports submitted to courts by the due date continues to be close to the 100% target. 

93.7% of new probationers were seen by a supervising officer within one week during 2010/11, a marginal increase from 93.0% during 2009/10.  

553 people had community service orders supervised during 2010/11.  This compares to 499 people during 2009/10.  A target is not considered appropriate for this measure since the orders are made by the Courts.

Management Indicators

This set of indicators has been developed corporately and apply to all Council Services.

Staff turnover in the Social Work Service during 2010/11 was 6.5%, well below the annual target of 13.2%.  The turnover during 2009/10 was 7.0%.

The Council benchmarks with the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development who produce an annual turnover survey. Low turnover rate reflects stability within the workforce and is also likely to reflect reduced occupational mobility arising from the recession.  However, this also limits utilising vacancy management to ease budgetary pressure.

The percentage of days lost to sickness absence in the Social Work Service during 2010/11 was 7.0% which is above the council’s target of 4% for all services.  The council average for the period was 4.2%.

This is a slight decrease compared to 7.7% in 2009/10, compared to the Council average which increased from 4.1%. 

Sickness absence continues to be a key managerial priority and the service continues to pursue initiatives to manage this issue as effectively as possible. 

The Social Work budget had an underspend at the end of March 2011 of 1.2%.  This situation was achieved as a consequence of the decision to allocate an additional £2m to alleviate the budget pressures experienced by the Service during the course of the financial year.  This compared to an overspend in 2009/10 of 3.6%.

The Service has robust monitoring arrangements in place to manage all service expenditure.  There remains a significant challenge for Social Work Services to provide services to those who are most vulnerable in the context of increasing demands for services.

70.2% of complaints investigations were completed within the target time of 20 working days in 2010/11, achieving the target of 70%.  During 2009/10 66.4% was achieved.

Conclusions

This report continues to demonstrate good performance in providing Social Work Services to our citizens at times of critical need.

Longer standing issues such as delayed discharges, pending Occupational Therapy assessments and sickness absence remain a challenge to the Social Work Service, reflecting the increasing demands and stresses on the profession.  However, these continue to be addressed through management actions that are consistent with Council Policies, and progress is reported to Elected Members.