1 st.helens plan performance report quarter 2 2014/15 september 2014

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St.Helens Plan Performance Report Quarter 2 2014/15

September 2014

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Contents Page

Introduction 3

Overall Summary of Performance 4

Performance Information by Theme

Improving People’s Lives:

Healthy and Active 5

Skilled and Educated 8

Independent and Empowered 11

Creating a Better Place:

Safer and Stronger 15

Cleaner, Greener and Accessible 19

Thriving, Vibrant and Competitive 22

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Introduction

This is the St.Helens Plan Performance Report for the 2nd Quarter 2014-15. The purpose of the report is to monitor progress against the delivery of the priorities and performance measures contained in the St.Helens Plan 2014-17.

The agreed priorities and associated performance measures are based on the twin themes of ‘People and Place’.

The report contains:

• An overview of the performance of indicators contained within the St.Helens Plan, examining progress against target and improvement over time.

• A summary statement for each of the 6 priority areas, outlining significant issues around service delivery, be it notable performance, challenges, concerns, and key action being undertaken to improve delivery or performance.

• A table showing the overall performance of indicators for each of the 6 priority areas.

Contributions to the narrative sections of this report are welcomed from all partners. Contributions can be sent at the end of each quarter to [email protected]

Note on performance analysis

Direction of performance is determined individually for each PI, identifying whether performance has improved ↑, remained the same ↔, or

worsened ↓ relative to the degree of variance from target in the current reporting period compared to the period when data was last available, be it monthly, quarterly or annually.

Where reference is provided to the comparative quartile performance of an indicator, the data used to calculate the quartile position is the latest available for the relevant family / nearest neighbour group. Requests for further information in relation to comparative performance can be made to [email protected]

Further details of all our indicators are available in the Performance Indicator Database 2014/15.

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

https://umbrella.sthelens.gov.uk/PerformanceIndicators/secure/myindicators.htm

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Overall Summary of Performance

The following pie charts show the overall performance and direction of travel of all the performance indicators contained in the St.Helens Plan 2014-17 as key measures of success.

There are a total of 48 performance indicators contained within the Plan and details of the individual indicator performance can be found in the Council’s Performance Indicator Database 2014/15.

At the end of September 2014, 29, or 60%, of performance indicators were on or above target.

There was 1 performance indicator where direction of travel could not be assessed as there was no previous data to compare against. This indicator has been excluded from the calculations in the above chart. Of the 47 indicators where it is possible to assess direction of travel, 20 or 43%, showed improvement.

PIs on target = 29PIs off target = 19

https://umbrella.sthelens.gov.uk/PerformanceIndicators/secure/myindicators.htm

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Improving People’s Lives - Healthy & Active: Summary

The following St. Helens Plan priorities contribute to this aim:

• Improving health and reducing health inequalities so that local people live longer, free from long term health problems • Improving the health and wellbeing of children and young people• Encouraging participation in sport, physical activity and the arts to promote physical and mental wellbeing

In Quarter 2 the Children and Families Bill 2014 introduced reforms to Special Education Needs (SEN) statements which from 1st September 2014 were replaced by Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans. These reforms require partners to consider changing the way they commission services for children and young people with additional and/or complex needs, resulting in the establishment of an Integrated Children Commissioning Team, which sits within the wider Integrated Children’s Health Team.

The SEN sub group has taken a lead on the response to the reform programme, with the Task Group including Members, Council Officers, St.Helens CCG, Schools, the Voluntary and Community Sector and Health providers. A significant amount of work has been undertaken in order to provide a more joined-up and responsive service for children and young people with special educational needs and disability. Key new developments include:A transition plan to manage the process of transferring children and young people with Statements and young people receiving support as a result of a Learning Difficulty Assessment (LDA) to EHC Plans.

A ‘Local Offer’ for children and young people with SEN has been developed and is available at www.sthelens.gov.uk/senlocaloffer. This is a key component of the reform programme as it gives children, young people and their families a greater understanding and means of accessing the services and support available. It gives information about the universal, targeted and specialist support services that are available and will enable service users to exercise greater choice and control of the services they access to meet their needs. An EHC plan template has been developed to enable the child/young person and carer to play an active role in developing the plan and expressing the views, interests and aspirations of the child or young person. The EHC plan will offer holistic support by bringing together education, health and social care provision based upon the needs of the individual.

Work to improve the health of local people and reduce health inequalities is on-going and includes:• As part of the Health & Wellbeing Strategy, close work between midwives and the smoke-free service has helped to reduce the number of women smoking at time of delivery. The scheme has been expanded for 2014/15 and brings significant health benefits throughout life for mothers and babies.• The 2014 Joint Strategic Needs Assessment was completed and presented to the Health and Wellbeing Board and CCG Governing Body for approval.• The Falls Prevention Strategy 2014-17 was approved by the Health and Wellbeing Board and will be included as a related document in the Better Care Fund (BCF) Plan. The strategy, whilst led by Public Health, is the result of considerable partnership work from across the Council and the CCG.• ‘Healthy Balance’, the St.Helens Healthy Weight Strategy, was completed to provide a strategic framework in which to redesign and recommission weight management services. Tackling obesity is one of the 8 priorities within the St.Helens Health & Wellbeing Strategy. • The Health Improvement Team produced their first e-newsletter which aims to inform and update the local community and partners about the work they are doing and how to get involved. The interactive e-zine is sent out to consenting clients across all services, partners, Council staff and to GP surgeries. Recipients are encouraged to forward the e-zine to others, and add their email addresses to the growing list. Feedback so far has been positive.

Improving the health and wellbeing of young people remains a priority and progress includes:• The St.Helens Independent Advice Service (formally the Parent Partnership) received additional government funding to provide Independent Supporters

http://www.sthelens.gov.uk/senlocaloffer

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Improving People’s Lives - Healthy & Active: Summary continued

whose role it is to provide help directly to families of children and young people with SEN going through the EHC plan assessment and planning process. Government funding for Independent Supporters has been secured until March 2016. •The evaluation of St Helens Educational Psychology Service to schools (2013-14) was completed and identified excellent outcomes consistent with the previous 2 years. A high proportion of schools (53) returned service evaluations, with 100% either agreeing or strongly agreeing that the service performed to a high standard; a sample of parent and child satisfaction questionnaires identified an exceptionally high level of service satisfaction.•The Teenage Advice Zone (TAZ) Team funded Chelsea’s Choice, a drama production by Alter Ego, to raise awareness of child sexual exploitation (CSE). The play was endorsed by the National Working Group for CSE and has been seen by over 34,000 young people and hundreds of professionals. It has proven highly effective in raising awareness of healthy relationships, promoting safe Internet use, identifying risky situations, raising awareness of ‘grooming’ and child sexual exploitation and sign-posting to relevant services. •The 'One Year On' Child Health event provided an opportunity for strategic decision makers to hear the progress made in respect of child health priorities discussed at the Child Health Summit in October 2013 and the young people's conference 'The Importance of Being Me', held in January 2014. Also at the event, stakeholders and partners had the opportunity to comment on current service reviews which are in progress, such as: the ‘Healthy Child’ programme, Mental Health Tier 2 review, implementation of the SEN reforms, Sexual Health review and the Family Nurse Partnership (FNP). •A review of the Healthy Child Programme looked at current practice against local needs and national requirements to ensure that children and families in St Helens receive the services they need in a way that is most acceptable to families and local stakeholders. The following services are part of the Healthy Child review: school nursing, health visiting, vision screening, hearing screening and breastfeeding support services. To date over 350 stakeholders, including children, young people and parents/carers have been consulted to inform a local model of service.

Encouraging participation in sport, physical activity and the Arts continued to contribute to improving health and well-being. Progress this Quarter includes:•Good attendance at most sports centres although increased competition from budget gyms has reduced overall Go Active membership. A series of autumn and winter promotions are being considered to increase membership.•Promotion of Golf reduced fees for tees during the middle part of the day and the introduction of promotional offers for the Driving Range at targeted times are being considered to increase visitor numbers.•The application to the Football Foundation for £500,000 towards the artificial turf pitch and changing rooms at Ruskin Drive will be presented to the Foundation’s panel on 29th October and if successful the grant will be awarded by the Foundation’s Board at their meeting on 10th December.•Following the award from Sport England of £249,000 to support a programme aimed at increasing participation, Sports Development has appointed 3 part time sports coaches acting as Activators to start to deliver the project in partnership with local sports clubs. •The School Games programme is currently fully funded by Sport England and the Department of Health but is only confirmed to July 2015. Work is underway with SHAPES (St.Helens Association for Physical Education and Sport) to identify alternative sources of funding to allow this highly valued programme of competition and training to continue.•The Saturday Family Art Club piloted in St Mary’s Market Event Space as part of Heart of Glass was extended throughout 2014 due to its success. Additionally, Heart of Glass funded the World of Glass to provide free family workshops for 4 weeks over the summer period.•The Library Service performed well overall with visitor and active membership numbers and the number of items borrowed all above target. This reflects the strong and improving performance of our online service delivery channel, dubbed the "14th branch", which recently expanded to include a mobile app, and eBooks.

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Improving People’s Lives – Healthy & Active: Performance Overall

3 indicators currently on target 4 indicators not meeting current target

2 indicators performing better compared to previous period 5 indicators performing worse compared to previous period

Indicators showing as on target Current performance against target Availability of Data

Direction of Performance

Quartile position

Mortality rate, all age, all cause per 100,000 population (male) – PH-01

Performance in Q2 is 683.4 which is slighter worse compared to Q1, probably due to natural variation, but a significant improvement from Q2 last year (707.5). Preventative initiatives such as influenza vaccination, smoking cessation, promotion of the alcohol liaison service and the links to Addaction and NHS Health Checks should all help to continue to improve mortality rates in the future.

Quarterly Upper middle

Mortality rate, all age, all cause per 100,000 population (female) – PH-02

Performance in Q2 is 498.6 which is slighter worse compared to Q1, probably due to natural variation, but a significant improvement from Q2 last year (530.4). Preventative initiatives such as influenza vaccination, smoking cessation, promotion of the alcohol liaison service and the links to Addaction and NHS Health Checks should all help to continue to improve mortality rates in the future.

Quarterly

Lower middle

Under 18 conception rate per 1000 15-17 year olds (3 year rolling average) – PH-04

The rate recorded at Q2 is 45.8 which is the 2013/14 outturn and an improvement on the 2012/13 outturn of 47.2. The latest quarterly data is for Quarter 2 2013 and shows a continuing reduction, with 8 conceptions less compared to the same period in the previous year. The annual outturn data will be published in February 2015.

Annual

(February)

Lower middle

Indicators showing as not meeting target Current performance against target Availability of Data


Quartile position

Number of visits to sports centres and attendance at activities supported by sports development

- CC-04

At Q2, 582,130 visits were recorded, which is 2% worse than target and a deterioration from Q1 (-1% against target). Visits to Sports Centres, with the exception of Queens Park, are ahead of target, and activities supported by Sports Development were well attended. The focus is on improving membership numbers to Queens Park and increasing the Swinskool programme in sports centres with pools. Attendance figures for golf were below target , reflecting a national decline, and significantly worse than last year (-6,251).

Monthly Not comparable

Number of people quitting smoking – PH-03a Performance at Q2 is 160 which is an interim figure as actual data has not yet been received. This reflects the national decline in people accessing stop smoking services, possibly due in part to the use of e-cigarettes instead. However 20 more pharmacies have started to deliver smoking cessation services, which may improve performance in the next two Quarters.

Quarterly No comparable data available

% of infants being breastfed at 6-8 weeks – PH-05

Performance at Q2 is recorded as 19.7%, which is worse than Q1 (23%). However this represents incomplete data so may improve once all data for Q2 is available. As part of the healthy child programme review, breastfeeding services are being reviewed.

Quarterly Bottom

% children in reception year who are overweight or obese – PH-06

The Q2 figure relates to the 2013/14 outturn of 24.6%, which is worse than the 2012/13 outturn (20.5%). New data will not be available until December 2014.

Annual

(December)

Bottom

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Improving People’s Lives – Skilled & Educated: Summary

As reported in Quarter 1, the Key Stage 2 results were excellent, with improvements in Reading, Writing and Maths, and were better than national averages. At Key Stage 4, provisional results show that our performance for 5 A*-C GCSEs including English and Maths remained more or less static against a background of reductions in performance at regional and national level. Performance is as follows:

• 54.7% of pupils achieved 5A*-C or equivalent including English and Maths at KS4, against a target of 62%, compared to 55.5% in 2013. This is above the national average of 52.6%.• 17% of looked after children achieved 5A*-C or equivalent including English and Maths at KS4, against a target of 25%, the same as 2013.• 18.7% of pupils at the end of KS4 achieved the English Baccalaureate, against a target of 25%, compared to 18% in 2013.• A percentage point gap of 30.4% between pupils eligible for free school meals and their peers in achieving at least 5A*-C or equivalent including English and Maths at KS4, against a target of 26%, compared with 27% in 2013.

Data recently published from the Early Years Foundation Profile shows that 62% of children in reception classes in St.Helens reached a Good Level of Development at the end of the academic year 2013/14. This represents a 5% increase from the previous year and is slightly above the national average of 60%. A Good Level of Development is said to have been reached if a child attains the Early Learning Goals in Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language, and Physical Development, plus Literacy and Mathematics. These areas include many of the skills and strengths viewed as necessary for 'readiness for school'. The Early Years Foundation Profile data also showed a narrowing in the gap in attainment between the average of the lowest attaining 20% of children in the borough, compared with the median score for the whole cohort, from 38% in 2012/13 to 36.1% in 2103/14.

The focus is now on continuing to improving performance of our schools in academic year 2014/15 and an independent chair of the School Improvement Board has now been appointed. It is also a priority to improve outcomes and deliver improvements in the educational attainment and outcomes of looked after children and the recruitment of a new Virtual Head is underway to facilitate this.

Considerable work has also been undertaken to ensure that the Partnership is ready to meet the requirements of the SEN reform agenda which was introduced on a transitional basis from September 2014. This has included the development of the Local Offer and implementing an agreed multi-agency format for education, health and care (EHC) plans and is explained in more detail in the ‘Healthy & Active’ section of this report. Parents, carers and children have been consulted on the changes through a range of events and workshops and training has been undertaken on the new Code for all front line practitioners.

In terms of Ofsted Inspection ratings of our Primary Schools there has been an improvement in 2 schools from “Good” to “Outstanding”, and at the end of Quarter 2, 18 are graded as “Outstanding”, 30 are graded as “Good”, 5 are “Satisfactory/ Requiring Improvement” and 1 is “Inadequate”. Amongst the 9 Secondary Schools in St.Helens, there has been no change in Ofsted ratings since Quarter 1, with only 3 schools judged as being good for overall effectiveness. The School Improvement Consultant continues to work with schools to provide challenge and support relating to leadership, management, teaching and learning.


• Improving the educational attainment of children and young people • Improving the skills of local people, particularly families and young people, to enable access to employment

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Improving People’s Lives – Skilled & Educated: Summary continuedFollowing the change in eligibility criteria to allow 40% of 2 year olds to qualify for Free Early Education Entitlement (FEEE), plans are in place to enable parents to apply online for 2 year olds’ FEEE. This should increase take up and will also introduce a means of secure electronic communication from providers to confirm actual numbers of places taken up in real time rather than the once per term headcount.

The St Helens figure for young people Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) is 7.7% at the end of Quarter 2, which is an improvement on 8.73% reported at the same time last year, and better than the Quarter 2 target of 9.5%. The September Guarantee outturn at 10th September was 98.2% in Employment, Education and Training for Year 11 (same as in 2013) and 92.7% for Year 12 (against 93.9% in 2013).

For the academic year 2013/14 there were 2650 enrolments for Adult Community Learner (ACL) courses, of which 26% were males who are usually underrepresented in the adult learning sector. ACL targets much of its provision on disadvantaged learners which resulted in 28% of all enrolments coming from those living in the top 10% deprived Super Output Areas and 57% from the 30% most deprived. This recognises the commitment of the service to work with the more deprived, and less likely to engage, members of our community. Achievement rates in qualifications were increased and, although final national data will not be released until December, initial findings suggest success will be above national averages.

Building capacity and skills in the voluntary community sector through LOCAL (Local Opportunities for Community Adult Learning) has been an area of considerable growth. LOCAL Leaders programmes delivered training to 120 volunteers to improve the quality and safety of the services offered through volunteering. Additionally LOCAL grants supported groups to offer targeted learning opportunities to 14 groups including those with mental health needs and socially isolated sectors of the community. This was made possible through strong local partnerships.

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Improving People’s Lives – Skilled & Educated: Performance Overall

Indicators showing as on target

Current performance against target Availability of Data


Quartile position

% of 16-18 year olds who are NEET – CYP-02

Performance at Q2 is 7.7%, which is better than the target of 9.5% and an improvement compared to Q2 2013 (8.7%). However, the Not Known figure is 12.4%, which is worse compared to Q2 last year (6.99%). Data sharing arrangements between local authorities is now in place which should reduce the Not Known figure substantially from Q3.

Monthly Lower middle

% children attaining at least the expected level of development in the Early Learning Goals - CYP-05a

The 2013/14 outturn shows that 62% reached the expected level of development, which is 5% more than last year and is better than the national average of 60%. Also the gap in attainment between the lowest attaining 20% and their peers has narrowed. Work will continue in the coming year to further improve attainment in literacy and maths, whilst still narrowing the attainment gap.

Annual

(August) Top

% pupils achieving level 4+ in Reading, Writing & Maths at KS2 – CYP-06a

Provisional outturn data for the 2013/14 academic year is 84%, which is an improvement on the validated 2012/13 outturn of 80% and is better than the national average. Validated data should be available in December 2014.

Annual (December)

Top

% of persistent absentee secondary school pupils (15% threshold) – CYP-49

Validated data for the 2013/14 academic year is 6.5% and is an improvement compared to last year (8.1%). The Education Welfare Service is currently under review and will continue to work towards continuing this downward trend in absenteeism. Validated data for 2014/15 will be available in March 2015.

Annual

(March) Top

Proportion of population aged 16-64 qualified to at least level 2 or higher- URH-06

The data recorded for Q2 is 68.9%, which is the latest data and relates to Jan-Dec 2013. This is on target but is a 0.3% decrease on the previous year. The overall trend over the past few years has been positive although performance remains 1.3% below the NW average. New data will be available in March 2015.

Annual

(March) Upper middle

Indicator showing as not meeting target



Quartile position

No. LA adult and community learners - CC-03

The 2013/14 academic year outturn of 2650 is worse compared to last year (2816), but still represents a 96% achievement. Performance has been adversely affected by changes in external funding criteria which place greater emphasis on gaining formal qualifications, and this has proven to be less popular with clients of Adult & Community Learning. However, new initiatives are being developed that will meet the new criteria and should be of more interest to adult learners.

Annual

(August)

Not comparable

% pupils achieving 5 A*-C or equivalent, incl. English & Maths at KS4 – CYP-07

The provisional 2013/14 academic year outturn of 54.7% has missed the target of 62% , is worse than the 2012/13 outturn of 55.5% but is better than the national average of 52.6%. This is the first year that students have been affected by DoE reforms to the early exam entry policy and changes to the way achievements are calculated.

Annual (January)

Lower middle



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Improving People’s Lives – Independent & Empowered: Summary

The Adult Social Care Act 2014 will be implemented through a range of statutory changes affecting eligibility, funding and prevention between now and April 2016. Final statutory guidance is available and the required changes will be embedded over the next 2 years, with the Act impacting on all aspects of receiving, providing or commissioning Adult Social Care. The focus of phase 1 relates to access to services and must be in place by April 2015, phase 2 focuses on paying for services and must be in place by April 2016. Demand for services for both vulnerable adults and their carers is likely to increase significantly and the Partnership is scoping the cost and capacity issues arising from this.

The Better Care Fund is a government directive that aims to transform local services whilst further integrating the health and social care sector to benefit local people. St.Helens’ BCF plan includes a commitment to 7 day working, better sharing of information and the protection of social care services. The plan has been approved and the Council, in partnership with St.Helens Clinical Commissioning Group, will now move forward to progress implementation.

Progress on supporting vulnerable adults to maintain independent living includes:• The integrated Continuing Health Care Team has cleared the backlog of work and can now focus on new referrals to provide a timely response and ensure that care packages are appropriate and meet the individual’s needs. • The integrated Commissioning Team worked on the priorities in the joint 5 year commissioning plan for health and social care. Projects included the joint Falls Strategy 2014/17; a review of the Falls Prevention Service (provided by Bridgewater) and provision of an enhanced service that has exceeded referral targets in its first few months of operation; and a workshop planned for Quarter 3 to progress establishing End of Life standards.• The integrated Access St.Helens (IASH) Team continues to reduce waiting times for assessments, ensuring referrals are made to the right services. All referrals to the Reablement Service and for Carers Community Support are now made through IASH.• The St Helens Care Homes Project is reducing attendance at Accident and Emergency for care home residents and raising standards in care homes. It received recurrent funding from April 2014 and continues to be monitored by the Integrated Commissioning Team.• The Reablement Service worked with 5 Borough’s Partnership to make assessments more accessible and help prevent unnecessary duplication for clients and staff. The out of hours community support worked with the Rapid Response element of IASH to avoid client hospitalisation and carer breakdown and have supported each other on joint visits, responding quickly when a client needs help to remain at home.• New Ventures provides supported employment to vulnerable people with disabilities and training provision at Stephenson’s Resource Centre provides opportunities for 12 in paid employment (of which 5 also volunteer at New Ventures) 10 in volunteering and work placements. A number of job opportunities have been created at Stephenson’s Resource Centre and Kershaw Day Centre, and recruitment to vacant posts for people with learning disabilities is being progressed within Kershaw and Day Opportunities. • The Council and St.Helens College continue to develop a work readiness programme with a pathway into supported work placement, and the Learning Disabilities Task Group are promoting opportunities, with Supported Employment involved in 20 work placements across the Council. Although this is not paid employment it creates opportunities to improve and enhance employable skills that may lead to future paid employment. External opportunities continue to be promoted through Job Centre Plus transition planning, Starting Point, Employment Skills Partnership and transition planning.


• Working across health and social care to support vulnerable adults to improve their quality of life and to live independently through personalised, accessible and inclusive social services

• Ensuring that children and vulnerable adults are safe from harm• Ensuring that children in care and care leavers achieve their full potential• Engaging and meeting the needs of all local young people

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Improving People’s Lives – Independent & Empowered: Summary continued• Following the review of Day Opportunities, the service is now more cost effective, flexible and responsive and has contributed to a draft Pathways to

Adulthood document which aims to promote post 16 opportunities and encourage long-term planning for adulthood. • The refurbishment of Brookfield is due to commence in January 2015 and work continues to ensure that plans will meet the future needs of the Resource

Centre and its clients. The Maple Unit shows positive results in terms of people returning to their own homes following a stay, after hospitalisation.

At the end of Q2 the number of Looked After Children is 6% lower than the corresponding time last year, evidencing the focus on improving exits from care to achieve long term solutions and better outcomes for children. The number of referrals has also begun to fall with 1,132 referrals at the end of Quarter 2 which is 230 lower than the same period in 2013. There has also been a reduction in the number of children on a Child Protection Plan from the last Quarter, with 239 recorded at Quarter 2, although this remains higher than the 192 CP cases in Quarter 2 2013.

Supporting and safeguarding vulnerable children and improving outcomes for Looked After Children remain key priorities and action taken to progress this

includes:• The implementation of single assessments for children’s social care, as a replacement for initial and core assessments, is proving successful as it

provides greater flexibility for assessments to be completed within timescale.• The number of children being re-registered on a Child Protection Plan has reduced and an audit of CP Plans will be undertaken to determine their

effectiveness.• The time between entering care and being placed for adoption has decreased, evidencing the effectiveness of plans put in place by the Wwish

Partnership Board. • The Early Help and Priority Families teams are now in place and, by the end of Quarter 2, 281 families had made evidenced improvements in line with

the government’s ‘Troubled Families’ Payment by Results outcomes (i.e. improved school attendance, reduced reoffending/ASB, progress to work). A dual approach is being taken to coordinate existing services going into each family in a better, more efficient way, to ensure a premium service is received by each family, and bring in new services (e.g. Home-Start, Starting Point), whilst bolstering and re-shaping existing services (i.e. Early Help) so unmet need is provided for.

The Youth Service continues to engage with, and meet the needs of, young people. However, it has been necessary to review youth service delivery to achieve the required budget. As a consequence of this review, the number of sessions currently available will reduce. Achievements in Q2 include:

• A hugely popular summer programme based in a number of the borough’s parks; of note was a comprehensive programme of climbing, abseiling, archery and mountain biking offered once a week in Taylor Park for which a nominal charge was levied for the first time and this did not prove to be a barrier to participation.

• Delivery of over 50 sessions each week, although following a 60% reduction in budget this will be reduced to 21 sessions each week from November. The transition to the new programme will take a number of months as it requires additional staff to be recruited so it will be the New Year before all 21 sessions will be operational.

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Improving People’s Lives – Independent & Empowered: Performance Overall11 indicators currently on target 2 indicators not meeting current target




Quartile position

% adults,18-69, with LD known to ASCH, in settled accommodation at time of most recent assessment, formal review or other MDT meeting – ASC-03

Performance at Q2 is 92.99%, which is better than the target of 92% , and better compared to Q2 last year (85.58%) . High priority is given to ensuring that clients have settled accommodation as it is perceived to help maintain health and well-being. Those who are not classed as being in settled accommodation are not homeless, but are in hospital, a nursing home or similar accommodation.

Monthly Upper middle

% social care clients receiving self-directed support –

ASC-04

At Q2 a provisional figure of 85.65% has been recorded, which is better than the target of 63% and substantially better than Q2 2013 (57.15%) . However, this only includes those in receipt of long-term services, as set out in previous guidance. A new target may be set later in the year, following work by the North West Performance Leads Group.

Monthly

Upper middle

% adults (18-69) with learning disabilities in employment –

ASC-07

Performance at Q2 is 6.58%, which is better than target (6%), a slight improvement compared to Q2 2013 (6.53%) and better than the NW average (5.2%) . New Ventures and Supported Employment continue to explore opportunities for paid and voluntary employment for this cohort.

Monthly

Lower middle

% of older people discharged from hospital to their own home or to a residential or nursing home or extra care housing bed for rehabilitation who are still at their place of residence 91 days after discharge – ASC-18

Performance at Q2 is 90.5% which is better than target (87%) and the same compared to Q2 last year. The Reablement Service is working with the Brookfield Resource Centre to improve the availability of staff and the provision of services and programmes to support clients following hospital discharge.

Monthly

Top

Number of older people aged 65 or over admitted on a permanent basis in the year to residential or nursing care per 100,000 population aged 65 or over - ASC-19

Performance at Q2 is 290.4, which is better than target (360), and significantly better compared to Q2 2013 (422). This relates to 96 permanent admissions for the year to date compared with 130 last year. All possible community based options are considered prior to permanent admissions being instigated.

Monthly

Bottom

All delayed transfer of care per 100,000 population aged 18 and over – ASC-25a

The rate at Q2 is 3.58, which is better than the target of 8 and relates to the latest available data at the end of August. Work is underway with the CCG performance team to identify Trusts where delays have occurred.

Monthly Upper middle

% of initial strategy discussions undertaken within 1 day of safeguarding alert to Contact Centre – ASC-29a

Performance at Q2 is 99%, which is better than the target of 97% but slightly down compared to Q2 2013 (99.67%). This demonstrates the high priority given to investigating and addressing safeguarding alerts promptly.

Monthly

Not comparable

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Improving People’s Lives – Independent & Empowered: Performance Overall continued11 indicators currently on target 2 not meeting current target


Indicator showing as on target



Quartile position

% of visits to victim undertaken within 2 days of initial safeguarding strategy discussion – ASC-30a

Performance at Q2 is 93%, which is better than the target of 83% and better compared to Q2 last year (85%). The reasons for delayed visits include availability of the victim and the need for more information prior to agreeing a course of action. All visits outside the timescale are investigated and the reasons for agreed delays are recorded.

Monthly

Not comparable

% children looked after at 31 March with 3 or more placements during the year – CYP09

At the end of Q2, 3.5% of looked after children had 3 or more placements, which is better than the target of 7% but worse than Q2 2013 (3.3%). Performance is better compared to the national averages (11% ) and the family group average of 12%. Focus continues on supporting children and carers to ensure placement stability.

Monthly Top

% of single assessments for children’s social care that were carried out within timescale – CYP-12a

Performance at Q2 is 97.7%, which is better than the target of 90%. This is is the first time is has been possible to report on this indicator since the introduction of the single assessment and should provide more flexibility than the previous system of initial and core assessments , resulting in more assessments being completed within timescale.

Monthly

Cannot assess as

this is the first time reported

Comparable data not available

Total number of attendances at Youth and Play Service Provision – CYP-53

28,394 attendances were recorded, at Q2, which is better than the target of 28,000 by 1.4%. Delivery of the Youth and Play Service programme has had to be cut by at least 50% to make cash savings. This means that from Q3 the target will need to be revised. The commentary states that it is anticipated that the 2014/15 year-end attendance will be approximately 32,000.

Monthly

Not comparable

Indicators showing as not meeting target



Quartile position

% social care clients satisfied with services received – ASC-02

The result of the 2014 annual Adult Social Care Survey is 65.5% , missing the target of 73%, worse compared to the 2013/14 outturn (67.2%), but better than the national average of 64.9%. This indicator is also a component of a wider quality of life index for the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework where St.Helens scored 19.4 from a maximum of 24, which is better than the national average of 19.

Annual

(June) Upper middle

% children becoming subject of a child protection plan for a 2nd or subsequent time – CYP10

By the end of Q2, 26 children had been re-registered for a Child Protection Plan, giving a figure of 17.6% , which has missed the target of 14.5% but is better compared to Q2 2013 (19.4%). An audit of CP Plans is being undertaken to ensure their quality and effectiveness .

Monthly

Bottom

15

Creating A Better Place – Safer & Stronger: Summary

Reducing crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour remains a key priority. However, a number of pressures have been identified regarding a rise in levels of violent, acquisitive and wounding offences, which, although comparatively low when measured against the City Region average, have continued to rise since the beginning of the year. As a result of a HMIC Inspection, like many of the forces across the country, Merseyside Police have changed their crime recording practices. Further discussion with Merseyside Police is in progress to identify the future impact of the new crime recording requirements on performance and to consider if future targets need to be reviewed in response to this. Any discussions on this will be subject to the agreement and endorsement of the Community Safety Partnership.

The Community Safety Partnership has identified one of its key priorities as the need to support victims of crime. This has resulted in targeted work, such as the ‘No Place for Hate’ campaign to encourage victims of all types of hate crimes to come forward to report their issues and concerns and to provide them with the necessary support and guidance. This has had a positive effect, with an increase in the numbers coming forward to report this traditionally under-reported crime compared with last year, reflecting the increased confidence victims have in reporting this type of crime.

The Safer Communities Service continued to support the work of the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) through its Delivery Plan. This included support for the Neighbourhood Action Groups and delivery of services at a local level. The Service incorporates a Neighbourhood Initiatives Team to support the delivery of neighbourhood management in areas agreed by the Local Strategic Partnership as facing significant deprivation and the challenges associated with this.

In relation to the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 a case review process for victims of anti-social behaviour, known as the ‘Community Trigger’, is due to come into force in Quarter 3. A report on this will be submitted to the Safer Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel in due course.

For the year to date (April – September 2014), there have been 44 young people who became First time Entrants ( FTE) to the youth justice system, in comparison to 28 young people in April-September 2013. St.Helens had 398 FTEs between January and December 2013, which was much better than the North West average of 429 and England average of 441. Due to our excellent recent performance in this area it will be more challenging to continue to achieve reductions in FTEs, although the Youth Offending Service are proactive in escalating and seeking agreeable resolution in those cases where action taken falls outside of agreed protocols and procedures. It must also be remembered that some young people will go on to re-offend following a diversionary intervention and will eventually exhaust their opportunities to be diverted from the criminal justice system. The service is also considering the nature of the diversionary offer and its effectiveness to address subsequent offending.

There were only 2 young people (2.6%) who received a custodial sentence out of a total of 77 court disposals between April and September 2014. This is better than the 11% being achieved at the end of Quarter 2 2013 and is better than the target of 7.5%. Work to develop and improve education and health resources within the YOS is ongoing and the service is focusing on the quality and effectiveness of the prevention and diversion interventions it delivers, as well as working with partners to provide a more joined-up service. A review of the Pan Merseyside YOS Diversion model is also underway to ensure a consistent approach throughout the region.


• Reducing levels of crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour• Making places feel safer for local people• Reducing the level of harm caused by drug and alcohol misuse• Supporting neighbourhood development and community cohesion

16

Creating A Better Place – Safer & Stronger: Summary continuedOther key priorities are to make places feels safer for local people and to reduce the level of harm caused by drug and alcohol misuse. Actions taken in Quarter 2 to address these issues include:• Operation Safe Space identified a number of vulnerable and hotspot locations for anti-social behaviour, criminal damage and/or arson, which concentrated on public parks and open spaces. Patrols and Outreach teams were directed to known hotspots and engaged with local young people via their Fire Fit Active Challenge taking part in a range of sports. Schools that took part in the Active Challenge included, Merton Bank Primary School in St Helens.• The Community Safety Partnership ran the ‘One Punch Can Kill’ campaign to highlight the links between too much alcohol and violence, which can have potentially fatal consequences. The campaign was targeted at the Town Centre evening economy and involved a publicity campaign and enhanced the Town Centre policing for a 7 day period to advise on the danger of excessive drinking.• Partnership working on reducing retail violence is being undertaken by Council officers across Merseyside in conjunction with the Police and a presentation was given to senior police officers and national retailers on the contribution health and safety enforcement work can make to introducing crime prevention measures into retail outlets. Targeted interventions are now being planned to tackle retail violence in local betting shops and other gambling establishments. It is likely that this area of work will develop further over the coming months.• To coincide with National Older People’s Day (1st October), Council officers attended libraries across the borough providing advice and information on how to deal with doorstep callers, avoid being a victim of scam mail and phone calls and choose reputable, trustworthy tradesmen. This advice included how to access our Trader Register which provides a list of local businesses who are vetted by St Helens Trading Standards and who are committed to good customer service. • Since April this year St Helens Trading Standards officials have been involved in 5 seizures of illicit tobacco leading to 35,000 cigarettes being seized and 8.4Kg of hand rolling tobacco. "Illicit" tobacco often contains unknown substances, including in some instances rat droppings, and may be sold cheaply and to children, undermining efforts to reduce tobacco use which kills half of all users and is particularly endemic in the most deprived wards in St Helens.

Alcohol related hospital admissions for all ages and for those under 18 remain better than target but there has been an increase in hospital admissions for substance misuse among under-18 year olds. Further analysis is needed to understand the reason for this so that appropriate service provision, support and pathways can be provided.

To support neighbourhood development and community cohesion good progress continues on the Wargrave Big Local project with input from a range of partners, including Helena and the Council working together with local residents. A number of community consultation events have been held to determine priorities for the area and develop the action plan which will be completed and submitted early in the new year, thus allowing the draw down of funding to progress the community led regeneration project.

Creating A Better Place – Safer & Stronger: Performance Overall2 indicators currently on target 5 indicator not meeting current target

1 indicator performing better compared to previous period 5 indicators performing worse compared to previous period



Quartile position

Number of alcohol related admissions per 100,000 – PH-07

At Q2 performance is 1299.2, which is better than the target of 1571.5 and better compared to Q2 2013 (1281.9). During Q2, the ‘Real Lives, campaign was ongoing and aimed to use real life experiences to get across to local people the key health problems connected to alcohol misuse and the importance of reducing these risks. Local information indicates that this campaign was successful and resulted in more people accessing advice, support and treatment services.

Quarterly Bottom

% rate in repeat victimisation for domestic violence cases being managed by a MARAC – SC-06

At the end of Q2 the cumulative repeat rate for domestic violence cases was 19.8%, which is better than Q1 but worse compared to Q2 last year (9,4%). Comparative data is unavailable across Merseyside as the Merseyside Criminal Justice Board no longer collates this. Following the recent self-assessment of the St.Helens MARAC, an action plan has been put in place and progress will be monitored regularly.

Monthly

Not comparable

18

Creating A Better Place – Safer & Stronger: Performance Overall

2 indicators currently on target 5 indicator not meeting current target

1 indicator performing better compared to previous period 5 indicators performing worse compared to previous period

Indicator showing as not meeting target Current performance against target Availability of Data


Quartile position

% of drug users that left drug treatment successfully who do not then re-present to treatment again within six months – PH-08

The figure of 14.07% reported at Q2 relates to data available up to the end of August 2014, which is the latest available. This has marginally missed the target of 15% and is worse compared to Q2 last year (16.5%). However it should be notes that September data has not been included in the Q2 figure, which will need updated as data becomes available. Nevertheless, local performance for both opiate and non-opiate users is better than the national average.

Quarterly Top

Number of Violence Against the Person (with and without injury) offences – SC-01a

At the end of Q2 there were 1145 offences, which is 72% worse than the target of 666, and significantly worse compared to Q2 last year (752 offences), but remains better than the peer group average. The commentary states that the increase in offences was expected due to a change in crime recording practices, following a crime data inspection earlier in the year. Tackling violence crime remains a priority for the CSP and issues are discussed regularly and dealt with in line with the associated action plan.

Monthly Top

Serious acquisitive crime rate (per 1000 population)

– SC-02

During Q2 the crime rate for this type of offence was 5.43, which has missed the target of 3.9, is worse compared to Q2 last year (3.39) and is worse than the peer group average. The commentary states that the increase in offences was expected due to a change in crime recording practices, following a crime data inspection earlier in the year. A range of partnership initiatives are in place to address this type of crime.

Monthly

Upper Middle

Number of incidents of anti-social behaviour – SC-03

At the end of Q2 there were 3564 ASB calls, which is 22% worse than the target of 2922 and a 29% increase compared to the same period last year. Incidents of ASB usually involve rowdy and inconsiderate gatherings and the CSP ran Operation Safe Space which focussed on ASB in parks and open spaces. Also, 3 Section 30 Dispersal Orders operated across the borough. ASB in St.Helens has increased markedly compared to other Merseyside local authorities, particularly in Neighbourhoods D1 and D2.

Monthly

Not comparable

Number of first time entrants (FTEs) to the Youth Justice System per 100,000 population aged 10-17- SC-05

At the end of Q2, the rate of FTEs was 263, which has missed the target of 204 and is substantially worse compared to the Q2 rate last year (168). The introduction of Triage previously helped to reduce the number of FTEs but it is recognised nationally that this reduction will be difficult to sustain, given that repeat re-offenders will exhaust their options for alternatives to the youth justice system. However, reducing FTEs remains a priority, both nationally and locally, and our Strategic Annual Youth Justice Plan 2014/15 sets out a number of actions, involving multi-agency work, to improve performance. There is also a review of the Pan Merseyside YOS Diversion model to ensure a consistent approach across the region.

Quarterly Top

19

Creating A Better Place – Cleaner, Greener & Accessible: Summary


• Ensuring a clean and attractive Borough • Reducing waste and increasing recycling• Reducing our carbon footprint and impact on the environment• Improving the accessibility, standard and safety of our transport network and infrastructure

Progress this Quarter to ensure St.Helens is a clean and attractive borough includes:• The restoration of Victoria Park was completed and the park was officially opened on 19th of August 2014 by the Mayor, Councillor Pearl, and a number of facilities are now being maintained by their respective owners, including the Gate Lodge, Orangery, walled garden, tennis courts, pond, folly and rose garden, bandstand, lighting, footpath surfacing and edging, seating and litter bin installations, information notice boards and planting.• A meeting has been held with representatives from St.Helens College to involve their horticulture students in various aspects within Victoria Park, carry out some maintenance and future park developments including additional works on the Community Garden and also to provide instruction to the Community Garden volunteers and AgeUKMM clients about sowing and growing plants. The Greenhouse section of the Orangery will be used to deliver this training.• The Park’s Activity Plan has been amended and updated to reflect how events can be delivered using the restored facilities within the park with a main element of heritage connecting to these events.• A revised ten year management and maintenance plan for Victoria Park is being rewritten and will be used in the application for a Green Flag Award in January 2015. • The first community gardening event within the greenhouse section of the Orangery took place and regular monthly gardening events will continue to be organised.• An allotment Forum network meeting is being planned in Quarter 3 so that representatives from each allotment site can meet and share ideas of developing their own allotments sites for the future and to look for external funding to assist with this.• The Council submitted a bid to the Government’s Contaminated Land Contingency Fund to undertake interim and full remediation works on Jackson and McCulloch Streets and for full remediation works in the northern zone of the Tickle Avenue Estate. Local authority bids will be assessed by the Environment Agency on behalf of DEFRA and it is expected that decisions regarding submissions will be announced in October.• The introduction of the Environmental Wardens Service has resulted in the issue of an increased number of fixed penalty notices for littering, waste and dog fouling offences. The initiative operates borough wide with specific focus placed in areas of high footfall such as the Phase 1 Local Centres namely, Town Centre, Rainhill, Rainford, Fingerpost, Sutton, Cambridge Road, Billinge, Earlstown, Thatto Heath and Four Acre. The Environmental Wardens are working in conjunction with the Council’s Waste Collection and Street Scene Services to undertake a short focused project, which is aimed at assessing the impact litter enforcement can have on addressing wider issues of waste in residential areas.

Improving recycling rates and reducing landfill waste remain priorities and at the end of Quarter 2 we can see the following success:• 42%of household waste arisings have been sent for recycling, which is better than the target of 39.5% and is a significant improvement compared to Quarter 2 2013 (31%).

20

Creating A Better Place – Cleaner, Greener & Accessible: Summary continued• New routes for collection of recycling materials commenced in Quarter 2 to improve efficiency and reduce the number of vehicles in use.• 483.19 kilograms of residual household waste per household has been collected, which is better than target (550kg) and has improved from Quarter 2 2013 (603kg). • Waste sent to landfill has also improved from last year and is just below 50% compared to 58% in Quarter 2 2013. • Tonnages of Green Waste have increased which is good news considering that cardboard and food waste were removed from the green waste stream. All green waste will be sent to Whitemoss at Knowsley from November 2014. • Food waste can now be placed in ordinary bags and the changeover from biodegradable bags to the much cheaper non-degradable bags is imminent. Food waste is now being taken to an ‘energy from waste plant’ where bags are shredded and removed before processing.• The Commercial Waste Service will be delivered in-house from early November following a tender process.• Special Bulky waste collections will be charged from 1st December 2014 for anyone requesting a collection of large heavy items such as a garden shed, three piece suite etc.• New calendars were distributed to all residents to inform them of Christmas Bank Holiday arrangements and the fact that Green Waste will be carried out on a monthly basis from November to February 2015.

Work continues to reduce our carbon footprint and impact on the environment and the following will contribute to this, as well as reducing costs:•The Street Lighting ‘’Invest to Save’’ programme of £1.7m over 2 years is ongoing and the installation of 1881 LED luminares for residential areas commenced this Quarter, with an expected completion date of mid November 2014.•The Central Management system installed on the A580 and A570 enabled dimming of the lights from early August.

Improvements to our transport network and infrastructure can be evidenced as follows:• The Warrington Road/ Jubits Lane junction improvement scheme (part of the Better Bus fund programme) is now fully operational and Merseytravel have approved funding for two additional schemes; Holt Lane Junction Improvement work will commence in Quarter 3 and Longton Lane Junction Improvement is due to commence in June 2015.• A flood relief scheme at Bell Lane, Sutton Manor has commenced on site and will reduce flood risk to two properties on the highway. The Environment Agency is progressing a scheme to protect properties in Blackbrook. • Work is continuing on the second phase of the local centres capital improvement programme, which was approved at an estimated cost of £500,000. The programme includes improvements to footways and carriageways, ensuring disabled access across footways, renewal of street lighting, renewing or providing new landscaping and looking for opportunities to make small improvements to parking. The aim is to improve the physical appearance of the identified local areas, sustain existing businesses, improve the potential for self investment and address equal opportunities for access to services.

21

Creating A Better Place – Cleaner, Greener & Accessible: Performance Overall



Quartile position

Amount of direct greenhouse gas emissions from local authority own estate and operations – EP-02a

Performance reported at Q2 is the 2014/15 outturn of 23.32 which is better than the target of 25.5 and better than last year’s outturn (26.55). Overall we have reduced direct GHG emissions by 18% compared to the 2009/10 baseline and there has been a 12% decrease from last year. Emissions from electricity in Council buildings are lower and from street lighting they are almost 20% lower compared to the baseline year.

Annual

(July)

No comparable

data available

% of household waste recycled

– EP-03

Performance at Q2 is 42.03%, which is better than target (39.5%) , better than Q1 (39.39%) and an improvement from Q2 2013 (31.04%). Recycling rates continue to increase although promotional work to increase rates in some areas is needed.

Quarterly Bottom

(2012/13)

Amount of residual household waste collected per household (kg) – EP-06

Performance recorded at Q2 is 483.19 kg, which is better than the target of 550 kg, is better than Q1 (517.97kg) and is a significant improvement compared to Q2 last year (603 kg). This is very positive performance which looks likely to exceed the annual target set and is in line with the increase in recycling and the corresponding decrease in landfill.

Quarterly Bottom

(2012/13)

Indicator showing as not meeting target



Quartile position

Number of green flag awards – EP-01 Performance at Q2 is the 2014/15 outturn of 11, which has missed the target of 12 and is worse than last year’s outturn of 12. The under-performance is due to the awarding body, Tidy Britain, only awarding 11 green flags from the 12 applied for. However, their decision not to award a green flag to Siding Lane has been challenged. The result of this challenge will be reported when available.

Annual

(August) Top

Number of people killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents

– EP-04

Performance at Q2 is the 2013/14 outturn (73) which missed the target of 56. Further speed limits of 20mph areas have been introduced across the borough, which should reduce the number and severity of accidents. New data will be available in March 2015.

Annual

(March) Bottom

% of land and highways that is assessed as having deposits of litter at an acceptable level – EP-05

The cumulative figure recorded for Q2 is 94%, which has missed the target of 96%, is slightly worse than Q1 (95%) and worse compared to Q2 last year (97%). However, the commentary states that sites found to be below the acceptable level are rectified within 48 hours of the inspection.




22

Creating A Better Place – Thriving, Vibrant & Competitive: SummaryThe following St. Helens Plan priorities contribute to this aim

• Strengthening the local economy, promoting business growth, retention and investment • Increasing employment and reducing numbers of people not in work• Delivering high-quality housing and housing support that meets local needs• Promoting a distinctive Borough and town centre

There was a series of significant announcements during Quarter 2 regarding key priorities and regeneration initiatives which will assist us to achieve our aim to establish St.Helens as a modern, economically diverse borough with business and employment opportunities, a choice of good quality housing and the availability of a range of cultural activities.

The promotion of business growth, retention and investment is paramount to strengthening the local economy and progress in this area includes:• The Government announced that £14.4 million will be allocated to the City Region to improve the public transport infrastructure. This funding is a major boost for the redevelopment of the Parkside site and will be used to create a Park and Ride facility at Newton station as well as major station improvements and will also provide transport links to the Parkside development.• Transformation of the former Parkside colliery into a new employment park continued with the completion of visual improvements to the existing site entrance and the development of a site Masterplan. Traffic engineers have also been commissioned to look at the highway implications of the proposal.• A public consultation on the Bold Forest Park Area Action Plan is planned and will detail policies and actions required for development. It is anticipated that work will be completed by 2030, making Bold Forest Park the heart of a thriving diverse economy, provide a hub for family leisure and adventure sport and provide a network of open spaces and routes accessible for all connecting the Forest Park to the wider countryside and local communities.• At the Linkway West development, previously known as West Point, work on the new Aldi supermarket started. It is anticipated that the new store will open in spring 2015 and will be followed by the construction of a new bowling alley and up to three new restaurants, with further developments envisaged. On completion, the site will provide parking for up to 230 cars and will create more than 2,800 new jobs in the Town Centre.• St.Helens Chamber was awarded the contract to deliver the Business Grant initiative to provide support to small / medium sized enterprises (SMEs) looking to expand or needing additional support but unable to access suitable finance in the current economic climate. The aim of the £1m grant is to support business expansion and to promote the development of new businesses. The Chamber will offer specialist support to local SMEs to help them prepare the feasibility studies and business plans required to obtain loans. The Scheme will provide grants of up to £10k to part fund expansion plans.

Developments in improving employment opportunities include:• The Business Grants programme, which aims to deliver 250 business start-ups, should help to reduce unemployment by creating up to 420 new jobs. • The Council’s Apprenticeship Scheme continues to provide training and work opportunities for young people with local businesses.• Very positive progress has been made on the Council’s Graduate Work Experience Programme. A total of 169 applicants were shortlisted to 82, based on the criteria that the young people were resident in St.Helens and recently graduated. 79 subsequently attended an Open Day and 59 resubmitted applications for the posts on offer. A total of 26 have now been recruited and a number are already in full time jobs. The Council will continue to work with graduates over the coming 12 months to try to ensure they gain employment.

In a further boost for continued house building in the borough, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) announced that Helena Partnerships had been successful in securing funding from the Affordable Homes Programme 2015-2018 to develop 103 new affordable homes over the next three years. The new homes will be built at Sussex Grove, Seath Avenue and Granville Square. The HCA have also advised that further funding may be available under this

23

Creating A Better Place – Thriving, Vibrant & Competitive: Summary continued3 year programme and that they will be contacting the Council to discuss if more bids might be encouraged from registered providers operating in St.Helens to add to the units that will be provided by Helena.

The proposed partnership between Helena Partnerships and Golden Gates Housing Trust will bring the two together under a new parent organisation, Torus. Helena and Golden Gates will become subsidiaries to the group and focus on the delivery of local services, and the new organisation will manage 22,000 houses. Anticipated benefits include additional borrowing capacity to build affordable housing, efficiency savings by merging core functions such as HR and finance and improvements in existing services. Torus will take a leading role in working with its Council partners to enhance employment and training initiatives particularly in those areas of greatest need, enhance services for older people, lead on energy efficiency and renewable energy programmes and enhance their role in supporting financial inclusion and the provision of digital services.

The delivery of high-quality, affordable housing to meet local need is a key priority and the number of completions is expected to exceed last year’s total of 503 new homes. Progress is evidenced as follows:• A planning application was received from Persimmon Homes to build 338 two and three bedroom houses on part of the former Deacon Trading Estate in Newton-le-Willows. • The first residents moved into the Bellway Homes development at City Road. The site will provide 153 new 2, 3 and 4 bedroom accommodation, including new affordable homes. • At the former Triplex site at Eccleston, the new Sainsbury’s store was opened as part of a community hub which will provide a GP surgery, a vets and a pharmacy. This is the initial phase of the redevelopment of the site which has also seen the completion of 39 homes by Ernest Homes. • The Moss Bank Elderly Persons Home was demolished which Helena Partnerships will transform into a housing development as part of their wider programme for the Moss Bank Ward which will deliver 33 affordable homes consisting of 19 x 3 bed shared ownership units and 14 x 2 bed rented properties. A local lettings policy has been agreed to ensure that priority for the new homes is given to local people.• The Council’s enforcement policy is proving successful in prosecuting private sector landlords who fail to provide safe, decent and warm accommodation. Recently a London based landlord was fined £3,500 and ordered to pay costs of £3,800 after failing to comply with a Formal Improvement Notice after concerns about a property which had been converted into 6 bedsits. The landlord had failed to co-operate with the Council’s request to install a fire alarm and tackle cold and damp conditions that were affecting the health of residents, resulting in the appropriate legal action. • A successful campaign advised those in receipt of certain benefits of their potential eligibility to receive a £140 warm homes discount to help with fuel costs. Over 1,000 residents responded, with more than 95% identified as eligible to receive the funding in time for winter 2014. Those identified as not eligible have received advice on options to switch to an energy supplier who might be able to provide a cheaper tariff. Also a 2nd round of the Merseyside energy switch campaign, ‘Switch Together Save Together’ ran during Quarter 2. The campaign is organised by local charity, Energy Projects Plus together with the six Merseyside local authorities and aims to reduce people’s energy bills by using collective buying power to negotiate cheaper tariffs from energy suppliers. It resulted in 400 people registering for the scheme, with 33% switching supplier and saving an average of £203 per year.

As part of a series of wider measures to stimulate retail growth in the Town Centre, proposals were approved to establish a Town Centre Improvement Commission, led by the Ged Gibbons consultancy. The role of the Commission will be to produce a Strategy and Action Plan to secure a long-term viable future for the Town Centre by March 2015. The Commission is also tasked with increasing occupancy levels of vacant units together with a review of the Events’ programme to ensure it has the maximum impact on promoting visitor numbers to the Town Centre. Proposals were also approved to introduce free Saturday parking for all on-street and off-street parking in the Town Centre to further promote retail activity.

24

Creating A Better Place – Thriving, Vibrant & Competitive: Performance Overall5 indicators currently on target 3 indicators not meeting current target




Quartile position

Number of library service visits -

CC-02

Visits at the end of Q2 amounted to 463,660 which is 4% better than target. This is attributable to the success of our online service, which is included in the count and is boosting visitor numbers.


Number of net increases in dwelling stock – URH-01

At the end of Q2, 306 new dwellings are recorded as completed, which is better than the target of 87 and an improvement compared to Q2 last year (188) and is on target to achieve, or exceed, the year-end target of 350 dwellings..

Quarterly Not comparable

Number of affordable dwellings provided – URH-02

There were 22 affordable dwellings recorded at the end of Q2, which is better than the target of 20, although worse compared to Q2 last year (34). However, there are a number of units on site and under construction.

Quarterly Not comparable

% of working age population claiming out of work benefits - URH-05

The latest data available at the end of Q2 relates to DWP data for Feb 2014 and is 15.7%, which is better than the target of 16, better compared to Q2 last year (16.8%) but slightly worse than Q1 (15.6%). This mirrors national and regional trends (although overall the rate remains higher). Employment and skills programmes by the Council and Chamber will have contributed to this positive performance.

Quarterly

Bottom

Number of new business births per year – URH-07

The latest available figure recorded for Q2 is 485, which is 2012 data released in November 2013. This is better than the target of 430, is an 8% rise from the 2012/13 outturn of 450, and is in line with Merseyside and better than regional/national trends. New data should be available to report in December 2014.

Annual

(December)

Not comparable

Indicators showing as not meeting target



Quartile position

Number of visits to cultural events supported by St.Helens Council –

CC-01

At the end of Q2 there were 36,428 visits, which is 8% worse than target, due to low visitor numbers to the World of Glass. However, there was an inaccuracy in the 2013-14 outturn, with some visits being double counted. This resulted in an unrealistic annual target being set for 2014/15, which will need to be re-set, based on a re-calculated 2013/14 outturn.


No. households who considered themselves homeless, who approached the LA housing advice service and for whom caseworker intervention resolved their situation – URH-03

By the end of Q2 there were 218 potentially homeless households whose situation was resolved, slightly missing the target of 223 by 2% and worse compared to Q2 last year (265). However it should be noted that the number of successful interventions is dependent on the number of clients accessing the service.


Rate of employment (working age) – URH-04

Data for Q2 relates to July 13 - June 14, and is 66.8%, missing the target of 71.5%, worse than Q1 (69.6%) and worse compared to Q2 2013 (72.1%). This is the fourth consecutive decrease and is now below the NW average. Further monitoring is needed to identify the key factors in this change in trend.

Quarterly

Bottom

1 st.helens plan performance report quarter 2 2014/15 september 2014

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