Performance Update - Quarter 2 / End September 2023

This quarterly report covers the period of July to September 2023 and provides an update on performance against the South Tyneside 20 Year Vision and five Ambitions, which are for all residents to be:

And we want these things for every resident, so we are committed to:

This report is more condensed than previous Quarterly Reports because it is intended to be read in conjunction with the Annual Report 2023, which has fallen at the same time as this quarterly update.

This report contains the latest available performance data (relative to Quarter 2). Updates on key projects and achievements against the five Ambitions are set out in detail within the Annual Report 2023.

Data within this quarterly report mostly refers to cumulative in-year data and comparisons to the same point in the previous year. Measures quoted in the Annual Report tend to refer to end-of-financial-year comparisons.

The Council reviews many performance measures – some data is collected by us, some by partner agencies, like the Police or NHS, and some by Government or national bodies. This data is available at different times and different frequencies, for example monthly, quarterly, yearly, or less frequently.

We will therefore formally report on performance on both a Quarterly and Annual basis, reporting on quarterly measures in each report and on annual measures as they become available.

Below is the initial list of measures that will be reported - this list is under constant review and will be refined and added to, as appropriate.

We have analysed the data from this quarter and this section provides the headlines of the areas where we are seeing strong performance and also where our services and communities are experiencing challenges. Further detailed analysis is included throughout the report, and additional information on what is being done across services to strengthen performance is available in the Annual Report 2023.

*Most of the data in this report is based on the 'financial year' (April to March) and financial quarters. For ‘snap shot’ data, such as the number and rate of Children Cared For, which represent a single point in time data is provided as at the end of the Quarter. For cumulative measures that rise as the year progresses, such as new referrals to social services, rates are calculated to show the rate from the 1st April to the end of the reporting Quarter to allow direct comparison with previous full year annual rates between 1st April to 31st March.

Our Performance:

• Area of strong performance Performing better than other areas or in the recent past
• Some concern Performing worse than other areas or in the recent past
• Concern Performing significantly worse than other areas or in the recent past

• % of people aged 16-64 claiming out of work benefits

  The out of work claimant rate in South Tyneside was 5.3% at the end of September, a reduction from 5.5% at the end of Quarter 1 (June) and 5.8% in March 2023. This position is the lowest observed in the borough since November 2018. Claimants totalled 474500, down from 4955 and 5220 for June and March respectively.

  The England wide claimant rate has not risen above 3.8% since March whilst the regional rate has dropped marginally by 0.1 percentage points to 4.0%. South Tyneside continues to have the highest claimant rate in the LA7, with Sunderland and Newcastle closest to our position with a rate of 4.3%. There is a large range between wards, from Cleadon and East Boldon with the lowest rate at 1.1%, to the highest rate in Simonside and Rekendyke with 8.7%. All wards have shown reductions since the Covid lockdown period.

  At the end of September, 7.4% of economically active residents aged 16 and over were claiming out of work benefits. This measure is down on 7.7% in June and 8.1% in March. The rate is the lowest level since late 2018 but remains higher than the North East (5.2%) and England (4.6%).

• Universal Credit claimants

  18895 people in South Tyneside were claiming Universal Credit according to our most recent confirmed employment data from September 2023. This represents approximately 1 in 7 of the borough’s 16+ population. The figure has risen from 18606 in June and 18366 at the end of March. Of those claiming, 35.1% were in employment, similar to the percentage observed in June (35%).

Additional information

Further detail on the work being delivered in line with our ‘Financially Secure’ Ambition can be found in the Annual Report 2023.

See the ‘Financially Secure’ Action Plan, which is part of the South Tyneside Council Strategy 2023-26 as well as the Health and Wellbeing Strategy for more information about plans in this area.

Best Start in Life

Our Performance:

• Area of strong performance Performing better than other areas or in the recent past
• Some concern Performing worse than other areas or in the recent past
• Concern Performing significantly worse than other areas or in the recent past

• Referrals to Children’s Social Care

  1050 children were referred to Children’s Social Care between April 1st and September 30th. The rate of new referrals starting Children’s Social Care (698.4 per 10,000) has dropped sharply from the peak reported in June (844.5) and is lower than the 2022/23 rate (707.5). Despite the decrease, South Tyneside’s rate of referrals remains above the North East (615.1) as well as above the rates of our Statistical Neighbours (668) and England (545). It should be noted that there are varying approaches to referral recording across different local authorities which can make direct comparison difficult.

  30.4% of referrals originated from the Police, the largest source of new referrals, a slight increase from Quarter 1 when they made up 28.5% of new referrals. As with contacts, the proportion of internal referrals has increased and is now at 17%. This represents an 89.4% increase on the same period last year.

  * North East: Durham, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Redcar and Cleveland and Sunderland, and North West: Halton, Liverpool, Salford, St. Helens, and Tameside.

• Children in Need

  There were 1425 Children in Need in South Tyneside as at September 30th (479.8 per 10,000). This represents a drop on our Quarter 1 position (509.1 per 10,000, 1512 children) and is in line with the year end 2022/23 position (480.2 per 10,000, 1426 children). Our rate of Children in Need is 8% higher than pre-Covid levels (445.8 per 10,000, 1345 children).

  * Our Children in Need number covers all children with an open referral with Children and Families Social Care including children in assessment; triage, those with Child In Need Plans, Child Protection Plans, our Children Cared For and our Care Leavers.

• Child Protection Plans

  188 children (63.3 per 10,000) were subject to a Child Protection Plan at the end of September 2023. This is a 5% decrease on Quarter 1 (66.7 per 10,000, 198 children) and a 1% increase on 2022/23 (63 per 10,000, 187 children).

  The current rate of plans is 2% higher than pre-Covid (62 per 10,000). Our rate is higher than that of our Statistical Neighbours (63) but slightly below the North East rate (63.4). The South Tyneside rate remains considerably higher than the National rate (43).

• Repeat Child Protection

  38 Repeat Child Protection Plans commenced up to the end of September 2023. Of all new Child Protection Plans between April 1st and September 30th, 27.9% were repeat plans. This is an increase from our position of 22.4% at the end of Quarter 1 but it does represent a 13% reduction on year end 2022/23 (32.3%). South Tyneside’s position is above the emerging regional position (26%), our statistical neighbours (23%) and the national position (24%).

  Repeat Child Protection Plans within 2 years stood at 13.2% (18 repeats). This is a decrease on year end 2022/23 (15.4%) but continues to be higher than the North East (11.2%). 3 large sibling groups accounted for 11 of the 18 repeats.

• Children Cared For

  A total of 312 Children were Cared For at the end of Quarter 2 2023, a rate of 105.1 per 10,000 children. This rate is in line with year end 2022/23 (104.7) but it is an increase of 3.3% on the Quarter 1 position of 101.7. South Tyneside’s rate is markedly lower than our statistical neighbours (122.4) and the region (114.3) but remains notably higher than the national rate of 67.

  Of the 312 Cared for Children, 19 were Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking Children (UASC). This is in line with Quarter 1 (19 UASC) and an 11.1% drop on year end 2022/23. By way of comparison, there were 5 UASC at the end of 2021/22. The increase in numbers of UASC in recent years is reflective of the Council’s participation in the National Transfer Scheme.

• Children Becoming Cared For

  61 Children became Cared For between April and September 2023. This rate of Children Becoming Cared For (49.3 per 10,000) represents a 10% increase on year end 2022/23 (44.8 per 10,000) and a 58% increase on Quarter 1 (31 per 10,000). The North East (44.4 per 10,000), our Statistical Neighbours (46 per 10,000) and England (26 per 10,000) all reported a lower rate than South Tyneside in their most recent data updates.

• Adoptions

  Between April and September 10 children and young people were adopted. This represents 18.2% of Children Ceasing to be Care For. This is 16% up on year end 2022/23 (15.7%) and 12% higher than the pre-Covid position. South Tyneside is ahead of the national and regional positions for this measure (12% and 13.6% respectively).

• Domestic Abuse Incidents

  2540 incidents of domestic abuse occurred up to the end of Quarter 2 2023/24. The rate, 336.1 per 10,000 population, is a 1.8% increase on the year end 2022/23 position (330.3 per 10,000, 4992 instances) and is also up by 2.8% when compared to the Quarter 1 position of 327.1 per 10,000 (1236 instances). South Tyneside’s rate exceeds the most recently provided rates* for all other areas in the Northumbria Police force area. The next highest rate reported was Sunderland with a rate of 292.1 per 10,000 for 2022/23, whilst the average for the force area was 265 per 10,000 for the same period.

  * Rates have been calculated by the Council’s performance team, based on the Police numbers provided. It should be noted that the rising reporting of domestic abuse incidents could be seen as positive as domestic abuse is often not reported but the higher rate compared to other areas is a concern.

• EHCP Plans

  There were 1731 children and young people with more complex special needs supported by an Education, Health and Care Plan at the end of Quarter 2. This includes young people up to age 25. This figure is up on Quarter 1 (1709) and year end 2022/23 (1707). The position has risen markedly in recent years and is 11% higher than the pre-Covid position (2019/20).

Additional Information

See the 2023 Annual Review for more information on our work in this area. Our ‘Healthy and Well’ Action Plan, which is part of the South Tyneside Council Strategy 2023-26, also contains more information about plans and activities to support this Ambition.

Age Well

Our Performance:

• Area of strong performance Performing better than other areas or in the recent past
• Some concern Performing worse than other areas or in the recent past
• Concern Performing significantly worse than other areas or in the recent past

• Increase in number of people with Commissioned Services

  There were 3011 recipients of commissioned services in Adults Social Care at the end of Quarter 2 2022/23. This is a slight increase from year end 2022/23 (2985, +0.9%) and in line with Quarter 1 (3000 people). Our latest position is 7% higher than that reported for pre-Covid year end 2019/20 (2816 people).

  Commissioned services are care, support or supervision that has been arranged and paid for on a client's behalf by social care.

• Admissions of people aged 18-64 to residential or nursing care

  8 people aged 16-64 were admitted to residential or nursing care to meet their long-term support needs between April and September. The rate of admissions, 18.3 per 100,000, is identical to that reported in Quarter 1 in which 4 people aged 16-64 were admitted. The latest rate and number of omissions are also equal to the previous year (2022/23) when projected to year end. Our position is higher than the latest regional (17.8 per 100,000) and national (13.9 per 100,000) figures.

• Admissions of people aged 65+ to residential or nursing care

  There were 126 admissions to residential care for people aged over 65 over the quarter up to the end of September (815.7 per 100,000). The admissions rate for over 65s is 3% lower than Quarter 1 (841.6 per 100,000) and 9% lower than year end 2022/23 (899.9 per 100,000). The position in South Tyneside remains higher than the latest regional (738.5 per 100,000) and the latest national (538.5 per 100,000) reported positions.

• People in long-term residential placements

  897 people were in long-term residential placements at the end of September. This is an increase of 2% on Quarter 1 (883) and 1% on year end 2022/23 (891). This figure has risen in recent years and our position is 8% higher than 2021/22 and 17% higher than 2020/21. This is the number of people that were actually living in residential care on the 30th of September, whereas the new admission figures above show new admissions of people who have moved into long-term residential care since the start of April to the end of September 2023.

• People in short-term residential placements

  At the end of September there were 139 people accessing short term residential or nursing care, a marginal reduction on Quarter 1 (142) and year end 2022/23 (143). This is a decrease of 24% on 2021/22 (184) but higher than the pre-Covid 2019/20 position of 124.

  The indicators above and the performance for 2022/23 are under review against the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework (ASCOF) and are potentially subject to change pending the findings of a wider data quality exercise. The only outcome we would anticipate as a result of the review would be a positive decrease in the number of people who have been admitted within the period.

• Care Quality Commission Ratings

  96.6% of the providers for residential, domiciliary care, extra care, specialist care, complex care and supported living used by South Tyneside Council, were rated as ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission, with one residential care provider being rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ and one rated as ‘Inadequate’. 2 of the 60 providers are yet to be inspected at this time.

Additional Information

For more information on the wider activities underway and planned around supporting independence and wellbeing through adult social care and commissioning, please see the 2023 Annual Review and our Living Better Lives 5-Year Adult Social Care and Commissioning Vision and Strategy and the ‘Healthy and Well’ Action Plan, which is part of the South Tyneside Council Strategy 2023-26.

Live Well

Our Performance:

• Area of strong performance Performing better than other areas or in the recent past
• Some concern Performing worse than other areas or in the recent past
• Concern Performing significantly worse than other areas or in the recent past

• Mothers smoking at the time of delivery

  11.1% of South Tyneside mothers were smoking at the time of delivery at the end of Quarter 1 2023/24 (our latest available data point). This is an 8.8% increase on the same time last year. South Tyneside is above the position on this measure for both the North East (10.5%) and England (8%).

• Significant rises in leisure centre usage and concessionary usage

  Leisure membership has continued to rise and there were 9139 leisure memberships at the end of September. This is a 6% increase as compared to Quarter 1 (8602) and a 10% increase when compared with Quarter 4 2022/23 (8307). The position is now 27% above the pre-Covid number of 7227 members (March 2020). 40% of memberships are concessions, a rise of 6% points on Quarter 1 and year end 2022/23.

Homelessness

Our Performance:

• Area of strong performance Performing better than other areas or in the recent past
• Some concern Performing worse than other areas or in the recent past
• Concern Performing significantly worse than other areas or in the recent past

• Risk of Homelessness

  Homelessness presentation are people contacting the Council concerned or at risk of becoming homeless, such as people at risk of losing their private tenancy or people who do not currently have a permanent place of residence. Most people contacting the council receive advice or guidance rather than accommodation.

  There were 1585 presentations up to the end of September 2023. The projected figure for the year of 3170 is a 2% increase on last year and a 40% versus the pre-Covid 2019/20 figure (2265 presentations).

• Rough Sleeping

  The number of rough sleepers throughout the month of September was 20, an increase from June when there were 18 rough sleepers through the month. There were 4 rough sleepers at the end of the month of September, in line with June.

  Rough sleeping rates are published nationally and compared in autumn as the level tends to be higher in warmer months and often reduces in winter. South Tyneside’s rate of rough sleepers was 2.7 per 100,000 residents in autumn 2022 (the most recent published measurement), up from 0.7 in autumn 2021. Our rate was below the region (2.3 per 100,000) and England (5,4 per 100,000).

  People sleeping rough are defined as those sleeping or about to bed down in open air locations and other places including tents and makeshift shelters. The snapshot does not include people in hostels or shelters, sofa surfers or those in recreational or organised protest, squatter, or traveller campsites.

Additional Information

More detailed information on the work being done in line with our ‘Healthy and Well’ ambition can be found in the Annual Review. See the ‘Healthy and Well’ Action Plan, which is part of the South Tyneside Council Strategy 2023-26, for more information about plans and activities to support this Ambition.

Our Performance:

• Area of strong performance Performing better than other areas or in the recent past.
• Some concern Performing worse than other areas or in the recent past.
• Concern Performing significantly worse than other areas or in the recent past.

• Primary Schools

  95.3% of pupils were attending South Tyneside primary schools which were rated ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’ (at the end of the summer term in July). This is higher than across the North East (94.3%) and England (91.1%).

• Secondary Schools

  72.7% of our secondary school pupils attended schools rated as ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’. This is lower than across the North East (75.9%) and England (83.1%).

• Special Schools

  100% of South Tyneside’s four Special schools are rated ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’ (at the end of the summer term in July). This is higher than across the North East (87%) and England (89%). Special schools are not included in the measures of pupils above, as many provide both primary and secondary education. The proportion of children in Good or Outstanding special schools is not published for the region or nationally by Ofsted.

• Young People NEET

  There has been a rise in the level of 16-17-year-olds who were not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) to 6.9% in Quarter 2 2023/24, which is higher than at the end of March 2023 (6.7%) but lower than the end of September 2022 (11%). NEET levels are below the national average (34.6%) and the North East average (21%). We continue to have higher rates of NEET in Year 13 (Upper Sixth Form) at 5.8% with NEET in this age group rising compared to Year 12 (Lower Sixth Form) at 3.2%.

• GCSEs

  60.3% of Children achieved a 9-4 Pass in English and Mathematics for the 2022/23 academic year, down slightly from 2021/22, where 60.9% of students achieved a 9-4 Pass. South Tyneside are slightly below the National (60.5%) as well as 1.9% points lower than the North East (62.2%). 37% of students in South Tyneside achieved a 9-5 Pass in both English and Mathematics, down from 39.2% in 2022. South Tyneside is below the National (42.2%) in this measure, as well as the North East (41.7%).

• A levels

  A Level results in the borough showed greater signs of improvement. 85.3% of students in South Tyneside achieved 2 or more A levels in 2022/23. This is 6.9 % points higher than the comparable results in 2018/19 (78.4%). In line with patterns seen nationally, outcomes have fallen when compared with 2021/22 and 2020/21 exam years when, under different grading and examination structures, the local positions were 91.8% and 91.9% respectively. South Tyneside’s performance is above the North East (83.3%) but slightly below England (86%).

• Care Leavers EET

  67.9% of South Tyneside’s 19-21 year-old Care Leavers were in Education, Employment or Training (EET) in September 2023, an increase of 12% compared with the 2022/23 year end figure of 60.6%. This is a 26% increase on the Quarter 2 2022/23 figure of 54% and remains higher than in England (56%) or the region (52%) but is down on 2021/22 when 68% were EET, which was in the top 16 Councils nationally. South Tyneside are now in the second quartile, ranking 41st nationally.

• Employment

  The estimated employment rate in the borough in the 12 months to June 2023 was 61.5% (latest published). This is a marginal decrease (0.8 percentage points) to 56,500 people since April 2022 to March 2023. Regionally, the 16-64 employment rate has risen to 71.2% in the 12 months to June 2023, compared to 70.8% in the previous period. England wide, the 16-64 employment rate for the most recent period was 75.8%, compared to 75.7% in the previous period.

  Note: This rate is based on an Office of National Statistics (ONS) survey of the population and a small local sample size for South Tyneside. The data has been queried with ONS who confirm that they are not aware of any quality issues, but also that the data is subject to confidence issues based on small sample sizes. The margin of error for South Tyneside is +/- 4.5% as compared with +/- 1.1% in the North East and +/- 0.3% in England. The change in South Tyneside’s employment rate is not statistically significantly different to the preceding four quarters but is highlighted as an ongoing trend. There have not been any large-scale redundancies or major movements in the labour market locally.

• Unemployment

  The model-based Unemployment Rate (16+) was 6.7% in the 12 months to June 2023, a fall of 0.9 percentage points from the previous period. Regionally, the rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points from last period to 4.2% and England-wide, it increased by 0.1 percentage points to 3.8%.

Additional Information

Details on the Council’s work around this ambition can be found in the Annual Review.

For more information on the activities planned to progress this Ambition, you can access the ‘Connected to Jobs’ Action Plan, which is part of the South Tyneside Council Strategy 2023-26.

In addition, there are a suite of plans and strategies associated with this ambition area accessible online on the Council’s website, including the South Tyneside Economic Recovery Plan.

The South Tyneside Works website provides more information about local support available to residents looking to get into work, change career path or boost skills and Invest South Tyneside provides more information on inward investment activity and major job creation schemes.

Our Performance:

• Area of strong performance Performing better than other areas or in the recent past.
• Some concern Performing worse than other areas or in the recent past.
• Concern Performing significantly worse than other areas or in the recent past.

Community Safety

• 8148 crimes were reported in South Tyneside up to the end of September 2023. This is an increase of 14% on the same period last year (7161). Force wide there was a 7% increase in the total number of crimes when comparing the same two periods. Violence against the person without injury was the most frequently recorded type of crime in the first two quarters of 2023/24 with 2150 offences, 8% higher than the position for April through September 2022/23. The period from April 1st to September 30th 2023 also saw notable increases in violence against the person with injury (+11%), vehicle crime (+30%) and theft and handling (+44%) when compared the same timeframe in the previous year.

• There has been an 1% decrease in Anti-Social Behaviour incidents between April to September 2023 compared with the same period in the previous year. There were a total of 2554 incidents up to the end of Quarter 2.

Housing

South Tyneside Homes Tenant’s Annual report can be accessed here: https://www.southtynesidehomesannualreport.org.uk/

There is also more information regarding the performance of South Tyneside Homes in the Council’s Annual Report 2023.

A more comprehensive set of key performance indicators will be brought forward in future quarterly performance reports.

Waste

• 17094 tonnes of household waste were produced and collected in South Tyneside between April and June 2023/24 (latest available). This measure is up 0.5% when compared to 17009 tonnes in June 2022/23. 62,336 tonnes of household waste were produced and collected in South Tyneside in 2022/23.

• The level of residual waste produced per household between April-June 2023/24 (latest available data*) has reduced by 3% to 144.68 kg/household compared to April-June 2022/23 (153.8kg/household). This follows the 5% reduction to 592.49kg for year end 2022/23 from 624.82kg in 2021/22. South Tyneside’s projected 2023/24 total of 594.72 would place us below the most recent North East annual figure of 623kg per household in 2021/22 but above the latest published (2021/22) England mean position (546.8kg per household). The rate had previously been one of the highest urban areas nationally in 2019/20, at 703.8 Kg.

  Note: over 95% of this waste is not landfilled but is sent to produce energy at a specialist ‘waste to energy’ power station. Whilst these reductions are very positive, there is still a long way to go to comply with the Government’s Environment Plan which sets out mandatory targets for the local authorities to reduce residual waste by 24% per person by 2028 and reduce overall waste tonnage by 25%.

• 36.9% of household waste was recycled, reused or composted between April-June 2023 (latest available data*). This is above the June 2022/23 figure of 34.6% and 2022/23 year end figure of 31%, however is below the average across other metropolitan councils (39.4% in 2021/22). This does not include the remaining residual waste re-used to create energy.

• The proportion of recycling bins waste that was contaminated as of June 2023 was 21.3%, this is up on the same period last year position of 18.4%. This is also an increase as compared to the 2022/23 year end figure of 19.1%.

  * Waste data requires many checks during the processing journey as part of the national data collections and is always provided a quarter later than most other data.
  In order to support improvements in waste management the council has hired two community engagement officers to work with the waste services team to target poorly performing areas in terms of recycling and contamination. A new waste management policy has also been implemented to further the waste minimisation message.

• Number of trees planted

  4,201 trees were planted in April to March 2022/23 which is above our target of 3,000 trees per year. 270 of these trees were replacements, giving a net total of 3,931 new trees planted. This includes trees planted in hedges.

Additional Information

Details on the Council’s work around this ambition can be found in the accompanying Annual Review.

For more information on the activities planned to progress this Ambition, see the ‘Part of Strong Communities’ Action Plan, which is part of the South Tyneside Council Strategy 2023-26.

In addition, there are a suite of plans and strategies associated with this ambition area that are accessible online on the Council’s website, including the Sustainable South Tyneside Strategy, the Making Waves South Tyneside Cultural Strategy, the South Tyneside Local Plan, the Integrated Housing Strategy and the Community Safety Partnership Plan.

Within individual services, a huge range of work has taken place over the last quarter that will support improved access and inclusion for different groups of our community. From work to install Blue Plaques across the borough recognise the social and cultural contributions of a diverse range of individuals and groups, to work with local disability and hate crime advocates to organise a Hate Crime Awareness conference, services have continued over the last quarter to target support and take action to address inequalities.

The Council is also continuing to lead by example, supporting and celebrating different identities and experiences across the workforce. In the last quarter, the Council has signed up to the Anti-Racism Charter, pledging to examine and take action to address racial disparities experienced by employees, and achieved Level One status in the Carers Charter, recognising work undertaken to support employees who have care responsibilities.

Work has also continued over recent months to review and strengthen the Council’s wider strategic approach to equality, diversity and inclusion and to identify new corporate objectives to drive further improvements in this area.

Additional information

More information on efforts undertaken in line with this ambition is set out in the Annual Report 2023.

The new 'Our South Tyneside' report - has been published on the Council's website and made available to Elected Members, council employees and wider stakeholders, drawing together the latest data and intelligence on the local population, including demographics, health, independence, children and families, and the economy.

View the latest 'Targeting Support to Make Things Fairer' Action Plan, which is part of the South Tyneside Council Strategy 2023-26 for more information on the activities planned to progress this Ambition.

Additional publicly available data can be found here:

• The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities publishes a range of public health range and profiles, including some at local authority level, which can be explored using the 'Fingertips' tool.
• The Office for National Statistic's 'NOMIS' service publishes a range of official statistics related to population, society, and the labour market at national, regional and local levels, including data from current and previous censuses. View the latest Labour Market Profile for South Tyneside.
• The Local Authority Interactive Tool presents information on topics ranging from children looked after by local authorities, to pupil attainment, Ofsted judgements, youth justice statistics and more, in the form of interactive tables and charts with different local authorities rank and positions.
• The Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework contains a range of measures of how well care and services in different local authorities do on a range of quality of life measures.
• LG Inform is the local area benchmarking tool from the Local Government Association

Annual Report 2023

Borough Council 18 January 2024

Q3 2023-24 Quarterly Report to Cabinet

15 May 2024

Q4 2023-24 Quarterly Report to Cabinet

July 2024 (exact date tbc)

Care Leaver

The Care Leavers’ Association has a simple definition of a care leaver – any adult who has spent time in care. The legal definition of a care leaver comes from The Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 which states that a Care Leaver is someone who has been in the care of the Local Authority for a period of 13 weeks or more spanning their 16th birthday.

Care Leavers EET

This indicator is the percentage of 19 to 21 year-old care leavers in education, training or employment. It covers young people whose 19th, 20th or 21st birthday falls between 1 April and 31 March (each given year) who were previously looked after for least 13 weeks after their 14th birthday, including some time after their 16th birthday, are considered. The national measure is based on the situation around the young person birthday.

Child in Need

Under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989, Local Authorities have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area if they are in need. A child is in need when they are disabled, or they are unlikely to achieve a reasonable standard of health or development or if a child’s health or development is likely to be significantly impaired if services are not offered to him or her.

Child Protection

The safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect. It involves identifying signs of potential harm, responding to allegations or suspicions of abuse and providing support and services to protect children.

Child Protection Plan

For all those children who have been identified at a Child Protection Conference as being at a continuing risk of significant harm, a Child Protection Plan will be created. This is a plan setting out what steps and provisions are needed to safeguard a child’s welfare and minimize all risks of harm to a child.

Children Cared For

Cared for children are children in the care of the local authority (also known as a child in care, looked after child or child looked after). They might be living: with foster parents; at home with their parents under the supervision of social services; in residential children’s homes; other residential settings like schools or secure units; or in 16+ provision such as supported lodgings or supported accommodation. They might have been placed in care voluntarily by parents struggling to cope.

Children's Residential Homes

A type of residential care, which refers to long-term care given to children who cannot stay in their birth family home.

Claimant rate

Claimant Count measures the number of unemployed people receiving unemployment benefits.

Commissioned service

Care, support or supervision that has been arranged and paid for on a client’s behalf by a public authority such as: In the case of personal care, a local authority adult social care department.

Community shops

Shops that trade as businesses, but they trade primarily for community benefit. An example of this could be Lucie’s Laundry, a launderette for anyone in the community to use free of charge.

CQC

Care Quality Commission. CQC is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. CQC make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and we encourage care services to improve. They monitor, inspect, and regulate services and publish what we find. Where we find poor care, we will use our powers to act.

Economically Active

Those aged 16 and over who are either in employment or unemployed. Economically inactive people are those who are neither employed nor unemployed; they’re not in paid work, but they’re also not looking for a job or available to start work (this includes people who are retired, looking after family or sick/disabled)

Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP)

An education, health and care (EHC) plan is for children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is available through special educational needs support. EHC plans identify educational, health and social needs and set out the additional support to meet those needs.

Employment rate

The employment rate is the percentage of the population who are of working age (16- 64) who who did some paid work in the reference week (whether as an employee or self-employed), including those who had a job that they were temporarily away from (e.g. on holiday), those on government-supported training and employment programmes, and those doing unpaid family work.

Enterprise Zones

Geographically defined areas, hosted by Local Enterprise Partnerships in which commercial and industrial businesses can receive incentives to set up or expand. Businesses locating to an Enterprise Zone can receive business tax of up to 100% over a five-year period.

Fuel poor

Households are considered fuel poor if they are living in a property with an energy efficiency rating of band D or below and after housing and energy costs, their income is below the poverty line.

Grades 9-4

GCSE Grades are now numbered with 9 being the highest grade. Grade 4 or above is the equivalent of a C, a strong C is a grade 5.

Harder-to-house

Residents whose special needs and multiple risk factors make them complicated to serve and who are involved in an organized supportive services program(s).

Homeless presentations

Those who have no home or permanent place of residence.

Legacy Benefits

A legacy benefit is a benefit which is being replaced by Universal Credit. There are six legacy benefits: income-based jobseekers’ allowance, incomerelated employment and support allowance, income support, housing benefit, child tax credit and working tax credit.

Liason role

A Liason facilitates communication between two or more parties to help their organisation reach a beneficial decision for their needs.

Long-term residential placement

Means a placement in a where there is an intention that the placement shall become the Resident's permanent residence.

Out of work benefits

Employment and Support Allowance and other incapacity benefits, and Income SUpport and Pension Credit.

Reablement facilities

Reablement is an intensive short service, which is offered to those recovering from an illness or injury or after discharge from hospital. The aim is to help recover some or all of their independence.

Referral

The referring of concerns to local authority children's social care services, where the referrer believes or suspects that a child may be a Child in Need, including that he or she may be suffering, or is likely to suffer, Significant Harm. The referral should be made in accordance with the agreed local safeguarding procedures.

Residential Care

Residential care refers to long-term care given to people who stay in a residential setting rather than in their own home or family home. In Adult Social Care this includes residential care homes and nursing homes.

Rough sleepers

People sleeping rough are defined as those sleeping or about to bed down in open air locations and other places including tents and makeshift shelters. The snapshot does not include people in hostels or shelters, sofa surfers or those in recreational or organised protest, squatter or traveller campsites.

Short term residential care

A person moves into a residential or nursing home temporarily.

Special Free School

A school which is a free to attend and is specially organised to make special educational provision for pupils with SEN. EHCP’s replaced Statements for children and young people with additional needs under the Children & Families Act 2014.

The National Child Measurement Programme

A nationally mandated public health programme. It provides the data for the child excess weight indicators in the Public Health Outcomes Framework and is part of the government’s approach to tackling child obesity.

Unaccompanied asylum-seeking-child

A child who is under 18 years, does not have any parent or responsible older adult to look after them, and is making a claim for asylum can be described as an unaccompanied asylum seeking child (UASC). The local authority will be responsible for their care and providing them with a home if the child’s age is accepted as being under 18.

Unemployment rate

The unemployment rate is the proportion of working aged people (aged 16+) without a job who were available to start work in the two weeks following their interview and who had either looked for work in the four weeks prior to interview or were waiting to start a job they had already obtained. As Annual Population Survey estimates for local authorities are based on very small sample sizes, modelbased unemployment estimates produced by the Office for National Statistics, which also factor in Claimant Count figures, are used to get more precise estimates.