Department

2000/2001

2001/2002

2002/2003

2003/2004

2004/2005

Chief Executives

Legal Services

Economic Prosperity

Property, Business and Regulatory Services

Registration Service

Transport

Regulatory Services

Social Services

Social Services

(cont.)

Day and Resource Centres PD

Day care OP

Day activities LD

Provider & Contracted Services MH

Employment services CS

Orange Badges PD

Receivership MH

Equipment & Technician Service and Occupational Therapy services and adaptations PD

Children in Mental Health services CF

Support services (incl., Finance) CS

Information Analysis CS

Complaints CS

Transport

Residential Care, Special Needs Housing and Adult Placement (Y1)

Assessment

Looked after Children

Carers and Respite Care

Residential Care, Special Needs Housing and Adult Placement (Y2)

Support for Older Persons at home

Multi-agency approach to supporting people who misuse substances

Support to people with aids/HIV

Support for children in the community

Meeting the social care needs of people with sensory impairment

Support for disabled people at home

Performance management

Adoption

Direct Payments

Education

Strategic Management of Education

School Improvement

Specialist Teacher Advisory Service

Admission team

Bi-lingual Support Service

Outdoor education service

Home to school transport

School Crossing Patrols

Inspection and Advice

Support for

Governors

Education Training

Music

Support for School Libraries

Educational Psychology

Education services for vulnerable children and those educated out of school or excluded

Education Welfare Services

Environmental Grouping

Passenger Transport

Road Safety

Transport Network Improvements

Policy Development (Y1)

Policy Development (Y2)

Development Control

Waste management

Highway Regulation

Highway Maintenance

Libraries

Library services

Inter-departmental reviews

Chief Executives linking to other departments

Support for the Voluntary and Community Sector

Democratic Services

International relations

Managing change (organisational development and internal communications)

External Communications and Marketing

Emergency Planning

County Treasurer with links to all other departments

Financial Management

I.T., with links to all other departments

IT Infrastructure

IT Professional services

PBRS linking to other departments

Catering

Estates

Management of Buildings

Procurement

Cleaning and Caretaking

Personnel and Training Dept. linking to other departments

Human Resources in a Changing Environment

Education linking to other departments

Lifelong Learning

Education

SSD

Youth (Y1)

Youth (Y2)

Early Education and Childcare

Environment Grouping
Education
SSD

Passenger Transport

Arts, Countryside and Community

Archives

Museums

PBRS

Environment Grouping

Cultural Heritage

Community and Cultural Development

All Departments

Social Inclusion - three-pronged review:
- Equality
- Rurality
- Disabilities

Internal Libraries

Office Services

Administrative and clerical services.

Risk Management

Name of the service

An alternative version is given where it is not clear what the service is from its title.

Purpose

A brief description of the purpose of the service identified by the review.

Current performance

A balanced appraisal of how well the service is performing at present

Proposed improvements

Key targets for improvement and the actions which will be taken to achieve them

Conclusion

Name:

Review of the Hampshire Registration Service

Purpose:

The Registration Service's key functions are to:

· Register births, stillbirths, deaths and marriages.

· Ensure civil preliminaries to marriage are legally complied with and perform civil marriage ceremonies.

· Maintain locally deposited registers of the National Archive, issuing certified copies of register entries, and making statistical returns to the Office for National Statistics.

· Manage the staffing, administration, provision and location of register offices

Current performance

Consultation with customers and stakeholders showed that users hold the service in high regard particularly the professionalism and sensitivity displayed by individual registration staff in performing their duties. This view was supported by HM Inspector of Registration whose own review demonstrated that the service was performing well against national standards and was particularly complimentary about the service's forward-thinking approach to training.

The common areas for improvement identified by the review:

· re-structure the service from ten separate registration districts into one registration district giving residents more choice of which office to attend

· the need to rationalise and improve existing offices to ensure they all meet national standards and customer needs

· opportunities to offer new services particularly embracing electronic service delivery methods

· other improvements including monitoring the performance of the service, customer feedback and communications

Proposed improvements and how they will be achieved

Two options have been recommended and further developed within the Best Value Improvement Plan. These are:

· Change to a single registration district together with the rationalisation and improvement of register offices and other supporting incremental developments.

· Changes to legislation to enable new service delivery methods, especially on-line registration and extended marriage times, and the provision of new services such as naming ceremonies.

Proposals for the new single registration district and rationalisation of offices will be subject to public and staff consultation. It is envisaged that most of the costs of improvements can be contained within the existing revenue budget, although further review of the telecommunications, IT and property implications is needed.

Conclusion

The service currently performs very well and there is a high degree of customer satisfaction. However, it will be significantly improved by changing to a single registration district instead of the current ten separate districts. Such change will eliminate restrictions on the public and enable them to use the office of their choice. In addition there will be a reduction in work for staff by eliminating the need to take registration declarations for other districts within Hampshire.

The review of offices identified the potential for rationalising the number of offices while preserving reasonable geographic access. This will result in modest financial savings and will mean that resources can be better utilised at the remaining offices. It will enable them to meet the needs of the public for improved accessibility, extended opening hours, better standards of decoration and facilities. Offices that are recommended for closure fall below minimum standards and are rarely used by the public. The changes will be supplemented by an improved peripatetic service and partnership arrangements with Districts where appropriate.

Name:

Review of Hampshire Transport Management (HTM)

Purpose:

The main functions of HTM are to:

· provide, manage and maintains the fleet of vehicles and plant which are vital in the delivery of many of the County Council's front-line services

· manage the County Council's internal courier service which collects mail from and delivers mail to County establishments, including schools.

HTM operates as an internal business unit and its customers include most County Council departments and a number of private sector organisations contracted to provide services to the County Council.

Current performance

Recent customer surveys have confirmed that HTM is highly valued by its customers for both its services and its expertise. Comparisons with other local authorities show its charges to be highly competitive; this is confirmed by its ability to gain substantial business with the private sector and its history of securing contracts in direct competition with the private sector.

HTM was recently accredited as an Investor in People.

Proposed improvements and how they will be achieved

The review identified a number of improvements and the majority of these have already been implemented. Although the improvements do not substantially change the way in which HTM operates, they do form part of an on-going programme of service improvements which are vital in HTM's continuing trading success.

HTM operates within a business plan which is reviewed annually and agreed by Members of the County Council. The improvement plan resulting from the review will be implemented and regularly monitored alongside the business plan.

Conclusion

HTM is a successful business unit providing important support services which are competitively priced and highly valued by its customers. The review has confirmed that HTM's services meet the continuous improvement criteria for Best Value.

Name:

Adult residential and accommodation services encompassing Older People, Mental Health, Learning and Physical Disabilities

Purpose:

The overarching aim of long-term adult residential services is to provide a comfortable and safe environment resulting in a high standard of physical, social and emotional care and support for people who, as a result of mental or physical illness and/or impairment, are no longer able to remain in their own homes.

Current performance

Older Persons

There are two national indicators that form part of the Performance Assessment Framework, by which the Department is monitored, that are directly concerned with residential care for older people:

PAF B13: The unit cost of residential and nursing care for older people. Hampshire's 2000/1 performance compared with other local Authorities was classed as "acceptable".

PAF C26: Admissions of supported residents aged 65 or over to residential / nursing care. Hampshire was classed as very good.

A recent independent user survey (MORI 2001) identified that 42% of service users were either fairly or very satisfied with care homes provided by HCC.

More people were very satisfied with privately run versus local authority run homes (49% vs 32%) with the main factor influencing the level of satisfaction stated to be `the standard of care'. Comparison of the cost of `in house' provision with the price of external provision must be cautiously undertaken as it does not reflect the cost to the provider or whether any `top up' is being paid by the service user .

The current price of external provision is based upon the current market situation. Should the market change, for example if there were no `in house' provision, this price would undoubtedly change. The Best Value review will investigate the potential impact upon price by contacting Social Services departments that have moved away from `in house' provision (for example Surrey, Dorset and Isle of Wight).

Nursing care is not currently provided `in house'. The dramatically increasing cost of provision in a highly volatile market coupled with increasing demand for this type of service make consideration of an `in house' focus on nursing care an important part of the Best Value review.

Disabilities

There is currently a degree of under-occupancy due to:-

· Homes with short stay beds cannot, by definition, be permanently fully occupied.

· Staffing vacancies/pressures in some homes mean that it is not possible to adequately support 100% occupancy.

· Some homes are undergoing major reconstruction work which necessities a level of under-occupancy.

Purchased residential provision for both learning and physical disabilities is based upon individual need and the costs correspondingly vary greatly.

The PAF indicators (2000/1) for the cost of residential and nursing home placements are shown below, these indicators include in-house and purchased services.

PAF Indicator Client Group Average unit cost

(£ per week)

B14 Learning Disability 759

B16 Physical Disability 518

It should be noted that the PAF Indicator B14 does not include the cost of placements made using money transferred from Health Authorities under Section 28A of the NHS Act 1977. Hampshire has Section 28A transfers valued at £12,958,000 (2000/01). The average weekly cost of purchased residential and nursing home placements, including S28A was £626.50 (2000/01).

Current performance on the above indicators is good but the in-house services, as shown from the unit costs, are above the average for purchased and in-house services taken together for the PAF indicator. More detailed work is required to be able to make sensible comparisons between "like" services.

Mental Health

Residential care is not provided `in house' for this client group. The costs for purchasing residential care vary depending upon individual need. An indication of the range and mean purchase price is tabled below:-

Weekly unit purchase

Cost (£'s)

Minimum 237

Maximum 1123

Average 328

(mean)

Hampshire is divided into three Health Authority areas for the PAF information: North and Mid Hampshire; Portsmouth and South East Hampshire; Southampton and South West Hampshire.

The PAF returns for 2000/1 relating to mental health performance are:

A6: psychiatric readmission rates - Only Portsmouth and South East Hampshire performed `well', indicating that psychiatric readmission rate in South West and North and Mid Hampshire was high. A high figure for A6 may be explained by a low figure in C31, if the need exists but is not being met.

B15: unit cost of residential / nursing care - Hampshire was rated 'acceptable' in this area.

C31: number of people helped to stay in own home (per 1,000 pop) - Hampshire generally has a 'good' performance against this indicator

Cross client group performance comparison

The following table shows the cross client group comparison between the actual weekly unit costs of providing `in house' residential care:-

1998 - 99 1999 - 00 2000 - 01

Older Persons 220 259 276

Learning Disabilities 482 577 759

Physical Disabilities 480 578 518

Mental Health No `in house' Provision

Comparison of average `in house' residential unit costs

Although Older persons unit costs are significantly less (approximately half) the unit costs of for other sectors it is important to note that the proportion of the total Social Services budget spend upon this sector is significantly higher. (See table below)

Expenditure on residential services (both `in-house' and purchased) represented 31% of the Social Services net budget as at 31^st July 2001. The following table shows the residential proportion of each user group's total budget. It can be seen that for both older people and people with learning disabilities more than half of the total client group expenditure is upon residential services.

% net residential % Social Services % client

budget net budget group budget

Older people 66.3 20.4 64.7

Learning disabilities 5 1.5 23.8

Physical disabilities 26.2 8 56.6

Mental health 2.4 0.7 23.2

Totals 100 30.7 N/A

Proposed improvements and how they will be achieved

The review of residential services is still underway and it is too early to report proposals.

Name

Best Value review of Care Management for adults and older people

Purpose

To assess the needs of vulnerable adults and older people and provide services in response to this assessment.

Current performance

In 2000/1 a questionnaire to 700 users and carers showed that:

· 86% said they got help quickly

This finding has been complimented by further qualitative research, undertaken by an independent organisation, showing that users believed that:

· the assessment covered all relevant areas

· they were included, respected and listened to in the assessment process

· following contact with Social Services, their difficulties were improved

The Department Of Health evaluation showed that in 2000/1 Hampshire, as compared with other Authorities, was rated as being good or very good in the following areas:

· the numbers of carers who had their needs assessed

· the numbers of adult and older people who are supported to enter residential or nursing care

access to services for people from ethnic minorities

Areas for improvement, identified through internal audit, user consultation or the Department of Health include:

· making sure that people get written details of the care that they will receive

· reducing the time between someone first contacting Social Services and an assessment of their needs being completed

· making sure that people getting services have their needs and services reviewed

· improving the access people have to care management staff

Proposed improvements and how they will be achieved

The review has focussed on:

· making it easier and quicker for people to have their needs assessed

· changing internal processes so that more people can have their needs and services reviewed in a timely fashion

· making it easier and more convenient for people to contact the right person in social services

Thus the major proposals concentrate on increasing the availability of front line care management personnel to respond to the public.

This will be achieved through radical changes to the internal processes of the care management system, many of which are not visible to the public.

Based on the pilot projects trailing these innovations, the tangible improvement to the public will be:

· in excess of 10% more care management time, to respond to people more quickly. In real terms, this will "feel" like 40 additional care managers dedicated to assessing and responding to the identified needs of vulnerable people

· a new service from a specialised finance team who will help you to claim any financial benefits you are entitled to and inform you quickly of any charges made for services

· easier access to someone who understands the care you receive and who can make minor adjustments to it

Social Services performance in this area will be evaluated against:

a) the proportion of people who's assessment of need is completed within 6 weeks of their first contact with a care manager (target = 10% improvement over 2 years)

b) the proportion of people in receipt of care who have their needs and services reviewed (target = 15% improvement over 2 years)

c) the proportion of people in receipt of care who receive written details of the care they receive (target = 45% improvement over 2 years)

Conclusion

Following a rigorous review in 1999, the national inspectorate concluded that: "The people of Hampshire are well served by their Social Services"

Performance information and user views acquired by the review team continues to support this view.

However we are convinced that further improvements to the efficiency and effectiveness of the service, following the adoption of the improvement proposals, will deliver an even better service to vulnerable people in Hampshire

Name:

Looked After Children Services: that is services to children who are in the care of the local authority either by court order or by agreement with parents.

Purpose of the service:

The requirement to provide services to looked after children is statutory; there are national objectives set by the Department of Health, which are described in the Quality Protects Programme. The main aim is:

· to ensure that children are securely attached to carers capable of providing safe and effective care for the duration of childhood are protected from emotional, physical and sexual abuse and neglect

In addition Hampshire has an over-arching Children and Families Strategy which includes objectives for looked after children services which state:

· when a child is separated from his or her parents for even a short time, we will give high priority to a full assessment of his or her needs, and the emphasis throughout discussions will be on planning for the child's return home. All plans and decisions will be made in partnership with parents and will take the child's wishes into account.

Finally Hampshire also has a Looked After Children's Strategy which supports both the above programmes and also aims to help children remain at home.

Current performance

Overall 10 national Performance Indicators reported under the Performance Assessment Framework and the Quality Protects Programme were identified as relevant to the Looked After Children Services. Compared with the national average, Hampshire performed above average for three indicators, at the average level for two indicators and below average for five indicators.

Hampshire is performing particularly well in relation to educational achievement of looked after children and their school attendance.

The main areas for improvement are in relation to care placements and staffing.

Proposed improvements and how they will be achieved

The review has identified 6 outcomes in its improvement plan. They are that

1. Looked after children gain the maximum life chances from education, health and social care provision

2. Through appropriate care placements looked after children are securely placed with carers capable of providing safe and effective care for the duration of their childhood

3. There is a competent and committed workforce within a participative and supportive management culture

4. Looked after children's individual needs and choices are met through maximising resources to deliver effective services that demonstrate value for money.

5. Users and carers are involved in planning; their individual care packages and the delivery of services

6. Services are planned to meet strategic objectives through accurate management information

The main performance targets are in relation to improvement generally in the areas of care placements and staffing. For care placements, they cover more children looked after reported as having appropriate health services provided, improvement in statutory reviews being completed on time, improvement in the long term stability of placements for looked after children, improvement in children and parents participation in planning and improvement in contracting with external providers. For staffing they relate to improvement in recruitment and retention generally and specifically in vacancy levels, sickness, morale, staff communication and training.

Name:

Best Value Review of Carers' Services and Respite Care 2001/2002

Purpose:

i) To ensure that carers and professionals have access to information about help and services available.

ii) To identify carers' needs.

iii) To allow carers to carry out their caring role.

iv) To allow carers to carry out other roles e.g. employment

v) To enable carers to take a break when they need it.

vi) To ensure the well-being of people who are cared for.

Current performance

1. Information and advice:

The Carers' Help Line handled a 53% increase in requests for information and advice in 2000/2001 compared with the previous year. There is an urgent need however, to link resources to allow easier access for carers and professionals and to target communication with groups of carers who are hard to reach.

2. Carers' assessments:

A total of 9,142 separate or joint carers' assessments were carried out in 2000/2001. However, performance could be better if access to care managers is improved.

3. Carers' support services:

The department has invested in a range of services across the county to provide support to carers and to promote wider recognition of their rights and needs. While these services have been developed over a number of years in response to local priorities, there is now a need to look at how they are being delivered to ensure that they are coordinated, consistent and cost effective.

4. Services for carers to take a break:

The Carers' Special Grant (`Take a Break) has helped increasing numbers of carers to take a break from caring. However, carers tell us that they need a range of services with greater flexibility to enable them to take a break when they need it. Following the success of the Havant/Petersfield pilot for the Department of Health, the review is proposing that voucher-type schemes are available across the county by 2004.

5. Carers of adults with Mental Health problems:

The following areas for improvement have been identified through consultation with carers and through mapping the services available across the county;

· Improved identification of carers

· Greater recognition and understanding of carers' needs

· Agreed eligibility criteria for assessment and services between Health and Social Services

· Development of a range of services including respite care to respond to local needs

· Specific training for staff to enable them to meet the needs of carers of adults with Mental Health problems

Proposed improvements and how they will be achieved

Key outcomes:

1) Improved access for carers and professionals about help and services available

2) Improved communication with carers from hard to reach groups and wider recognition of their needs

3) Improved access to assessment for carers

4) Increased cost effectiveness and consistency of local carers' support services

5) Increased range and flexibility of services to enable carers to take a break

6) More responsive services to support carers of people with mental health problems

7) Improved efficiency of in-house services providing respite care

Name:

The Sold Services of Hampshire Inspection and Advisory Services (HIAS)

Purpose

The objectives of the Inspection and Advisory Service are:

· to provide a school improvement service for purchase by Hampshire headteachers and governors through their delegated budgets and grant funds, so that they can raise standards and improve the performance of schools;

· to work in partnership with schools in securing and maintaining high standards;

· to lead and shape developments and improvements in schools;

Current performance

HIAS was seen as a successful and effective service for the continuous improvement of the performance of children in Hampshire schools. Because of the relatively under-developed supply side to the market for out-sourcing the service, the only immediate alternative, and greatest threat, would be from current members of the service leaving to set up in competition. Whilst the service is highly effective, its remaining so is at risk because of recruitment and retention difficulties.

Proposed improvements and how they will be achieved

The outcomes the Service seeks to achieve are:

· Improve the regular evaluation of the service's quality and impact on schools;

· Improve the planning for succession, retention and recruitment;

· Improve conditions of service and the rewarding of staff; and

· Sustain the cost effectiveness of the service through business planning disciplines.

The recommendation from the Review to achieve these outcomes is to maintain the quality, range and integrated nature of HIAS sold services, operating within business planning disciplines.

Conclusion

The service is highly effective, and the business plan and improvement plan will ensure continuous improvement.

Name:

Hampshire Governor Services

Purpose

The Service exists to ensure that all Hampshire maintained schools have effective governing bodies able to fulfil their responsibility to promote high standards of educational achievement.

The Service provides support for school governors in Hampshire and is a business unit in the Education Department. Operating as a "one-stop-shop" it enables and co-ordinates access for governors to professional expertise, training and advice throughout the County Council.

Current performance

The review team, having examined the evidence available found that most parts of the Service are market leaders, performing at a very high level. This conclusion was based on evidence supplied by the Service in the form of performance data relating to governor training covering the previous nine years, analysis of Ofsted Reports for the last six years and data from the Hampshire Governor Services' (HGS) Business Plan. It was supported by external verification of the quality of the Service through reports of independent inspections in 1995 and 1998, the Chartermark awards of 1995 and 1998 and the Service Quality Questionnaire returns from governors in 1999 (Winchester Local Office) and 2000 (New Forest Local Office). Minutes of consultative meetings with governors also recognised the high level of support and training provided to governors.

This information was submitted in full with the Scoping Report in April 2001. Further external evidence has subsequently been received in the form of the achievement of a third Chartermark award in December 2001, 2001 Service Quality Questionnaire returns for Havant Local Office and the LEA Ofsted Report which concluded, `Schools consistently report that the support provided by the governors support unit (Hampshire Governor Services) is excellent. Support ranges from good training courses for new and experienced governors through whole school governing body training to speedy and effective responses to queries from individuals.'

The review team therefore accepted that the Service complies with the best value principles of challenge, comparison, consultation and competition and that it has demonstrated an on-going commitment to these principles and the concept of continuous improvement.

Proposed improvements and how they will be achieved

The outcomes the Service seeks to achieve are:

· The updating of processes and the governor database to facilitate the use of new technology

· The development of new partnerships to strengthen and widen the services on offer to Hampshire governors

· The raising of the professional status and standards of clerking across the county

The recommendations from the Review are that:

· The Service should continue to administer governor appointments and maintain the County Council's governor database whilst seeking to improve standards wherever possible through the use of new technology and better processes.

· The Service should seek to improve standards through the development of new partnerships to strengthen and widen the services on offer to Hampshire governors whilst allowing it the flexibility to respond to future market changes.

· The Service should seek to improve the quality of clerking in Hampshire through the gradual expansion of the LEA Clerking Service and the raising of the professional status and the performance of all clerks across the county.

·

Conclusion

The Best Value review has confirmed this as an excellent service with very good mechanisms already in place to secure continuous improvement. The improvement plan and business plans will secure further improvements.

Name:

Hampshire Education Training Agency (now Professional Development and Training Services)

Purpose

The primary service is the provision of the departmental training programme for school staff that underpins the attainment of their improvement targets and those identified in the county's Education Development Plan. This is offered via a directory of quality training events for school staff and governors.

·

Current performance

The service provides:

· an efficient and responsive ICT-based booking and administration system which is offered to other county council departments and units

· a training and consultancy service to the Department and to schools on all aspects of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and Performance Management

· a brokerage service to schools on training and training providers

· the management of Falcon House as a training centre

· the administration of a number of Standards Fund professional development budgets

Proposed improvements and how they will be achieved

The Review Group's conclusions were that the service provided by the Education Training Agency is good over all and that the process has identified three areas which could form the basis for improvement:

· raising the standard of training delivery on certain courses

· improved communication with schools on the Education Department's professional development and training strategy, the Agency's role in that strategy and the rationale and the criteria for the design and selection of the courses, in the annual programme of training.

· better targeting of the course programme to the needs of the schools

The outcomes the Service seeks to achieve are:

· Improve the standard and consistency of the quality of the training skills of commissioned trainers

· Communicate clearly the rationale, purpose and selection criteria for each annual training programme offered to schools

· A specific action plan to address the service's part in the future targeting of training to meet school needs will be constructed as part of the 2002/2003 Business Plan

The recommendation from the Review to achieve these outcomes is that the Service should continue to be provided by Hampshire County Council and complete its integration into Hampshire's Inspection and Advisory Service (HIAS) to better support the changing needs of schools and the delivery of the Education Development Plan.

Conclusion

The Best Value review has identified areas for improvement and the improvement plan identifies how these changes can be achieved.

Name:

Hampshire Music Service (HMS)

Purpose

The mission of the Music Service is to encourage participation, enjoyment and achievement in music by providing the
highest-quality learning opportunities.

The aims of the Service are:

· to develop to the full all pupils' musical potential, and to enhance the impact of music on their lives

· to support all schools, their teachers and others in extending the range of music provision, improving the quality of teaching and learning, and implementing the National Curriculum

· to encourage life-long learning, fulfilment and social awareness

Current performance

The Best Value Review group endorses fully the findings of the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) Inspection of HMS, reported in February 2001:

· HMS is a very good music service, which has made very effective use of the Standards Fund grants, both to protect and to expand provision

· tuition given by the team of full and part-time tutors is very good overall, and never less than satisfactory

· pupils reach good standards in lessons, and very good standards in the majority of ensembles

· the Music Service is effectively linked with the local education authority's strategies for school improvement

· HMS is well managed, with a strong senior management team

Proposed improvements and how they will be achieved

The outcomes the Service seeks to achieve are:

1. improve the Service through the implementation of the existing HMS Strategic Plan and the OFSTED Action Plan

2. improve the accommodation facilities for HMS

3. improve the efficiency of the audition and selection process for Hampshire Music awards and ensembles.

The recommendations from the Review to achieve these outcomes are:

· the Service should continue to be provided by Hampshire County Council and should continue to improve and expand in line with existing service plans

· music awards and ensembles should continue to be funded by the County Council, and continue to be managed and led by HMS

· the provision for pupils with special educational needs should continue to be provided by the Service

· the existing priorities for Standards Fund expenditure should be sustained.

Conclusion

Hampshire Music Service provides an excellent service to the pupils, schools and community of Hampshire, and has sound plans to ensure that this excellence is sustained.

Name:

Hampshire School Library Service

Purpose

The objectives of the Hampshire School Library Service (SLS) are to:

· provide a service to encourage the development and use of school library resources as a key element in the educational process

· provide and promote loan collections of books and related materials to meet the educational, informational and cultural needs of schools

· provide a wide range of professional advice on matters concerning library and book related issues

· provide appropriate and current advice on computerised library management systems

· provide high quality training on a charge basis on a range of library related issues

· provide book, audio and CD-ROM purchasing facilities for schools

Current performance

The Review Group's conclusions were that :

the Hampshire School Library Service shows very high levels of client satisfaction, a high level of comparative cost effectiveness and substantial progress towards achieving service objectives.

Overall, 98.5% of schools buy back into the service, compared with 83% for the OfSTED statistical neighbours.

In consultation with schools, 100% of primary school representatives at Focus Groups, 92% of secondary school managers and 100% of special schools said that the service would be missed if it did not exist.

Proposed improvements and how they will be achieved

The outcomes the Service seeks to achieve are:

· To improve resources provision to schools

· To improve service to Special Schools and children with learning difficulties in mainstream schools

· To improve SLS communication both internally and externally

· To improve SLS staff knowledge of service provided

· To improve aspects of purchasing facilities

To achieve these outcomes, the Best Value Review Team unanimously recommended that the School Library Service should continue to provide the service, with improved standards and with additional finance for resource provision for literacy across the curriculum.

The financial implications are £27,000 per annum. This money has been delegated to schools and is reflected through a matching increase in the subscription charge.

Conclusion

The Best Value review has recognised the strengths of this service and good value for money.

Name:

Hampshire Education Psychology Service

Purpose

The guiding purpose of the Service is to develop an inclusive education system and to promote the development and psychological well being of all children and young people within the context of home, pre-school, school and education;

Current performance

Stakeholders tend to rate highly the quality of what the Service does, but often express concern about the low quantity of educational psychologist's time available to them. Comparison with other services suggest that, in Hampshire, the ratio of psychologists to children and young people is relatively low. Stakeholders have raised important challenges regarding equality of access, particularly in relation to pre-school children, parents, looked after children, and young people in the 16-19 age group.

The Review Group recognised that the Service needs to work in closer partnership with other services provided by the County Council to local communities. There are no competitors that could run the full Service at present, but some functions could be outsourced or delegated in future. The main recommendation of the Review is that the Service should achieve a better balance between market sectors: as well as providing high quality statutory work, the Service needs to be more focused in its work with schools, and more available to pre-school children and other groups.

Proposed improvements and how they will be achieved

The outcomes the Service seeks to achieve are:

· Provision of high quality psychological advice to officers regarding the statutory assessment of children with special educational needs;

· Improved attainments in National Curriculum assessments and at GCSE;

· Improved behaviour in schools;

· Training and support for early years providers in Hampshire;

· Access to psychological services for looked after children when appropriate;

· Contribute to the supervision and training of Connexions Personal Advisers;

· Improve the access that each community team has to a manager.

The recommendations from the Review to achieve these outcomes are:

· Establish a Service Level Agreement with officers regarding statutory duties;

· Establish a task team to raise educational attainments in schools;

· Establish a task team to improve emotional development and behaviour management;

· Establish a task team to apply psychology in early years settings;

· Contribute to the proposed corporate team to support looked after children

· Contribute to the Connexions initiative.

· Improve the management of community teams within a revised management structure.

The financial implications of the Review are:

· Statutory work: existing resources.

· Improving attainments: existing resources plus £20,000 for an additional consultant educational psychologist to lead this initiative.

· Behaviour: existing resources plus £20,000 to co-ordinate support to parents.

· Early years: existing resources plus £20,000 for consultant educational psychologist to lead this initiative.

· Looked after children: £20,000 to ring fence educational psychology time.

· Provide training and supervision for Connexions Personal Advisers: £20,000

· Improved management: existing resources plus £20,000 for an additional community team leader.

Conclusion

The Best Value review has identified areas for improvement in the way that services should be delivered, and the improvement plan identifies how these changes can be achieved. However, some are dependant on sufficient additional funding being made available.

Name:

Transport Network Improvements

Purpose:

The Transport Network Improvements function is the devise, develop and deliver the transportation capital programme, this includes new and improved highways, cycleways, footways, bus priority schemes, public transport improvement schemes, traffic management and control.

Current performance

The review has focussed on six key areas of the work, and in particular challenged whether the provision of this service was appropriately placed in relation to delivering the service through external resources.The service has in recent times been subject to improvement reviews as a result of CCT legislation, recruitment difficulties and efficiency drives. The service has already seen dynamic change in the way it is delivered and this has provided a good platform on which to conduct the Best Value review. The overall aims and objectives of the service have not changed as a result of the review but clear improvement areas have been identified which will ultimately lead to greater productivity and customer satisfaction.

The delivery of the Transportation Capital Programme involves a number of key players and stakeholders. Historically the service has delivered the Capital Programme on time and to budget and Hampshire has been praised by Government offices for its efficient delivery of the service and awarded some of the highest levels of funding for this work. The Local Transport Plan (LTP) has been awarded the centre of excellence status which reflects the Council's policies and ability to deliver efficiently and meet objectives. The recent annual performance report gained further praise from the Government Office and helped Hampshire achieve one of the highest annual financial settlements for transport.

This good level of service can still be improved upon as there are areas of concern, such as engaging and involving the public in the decision making process ( a feature not solely related to this review) which do not meet our high standards. Consultation is a key issue and relates not only to the methods involved but ensuring staff are properly trained and skilled in this important activity. These issues were identified through the assessment of the service using the European Foundation Quality Management model (EFQM) and stakeholder challenge workshops. In order to measure our performance and improve our standing the County Surveyor through the CSS (County Surveyor's Society) has also assisted with the development of benchmarking clubs to share and compare statistics on delivery performance. Through this process greater sharing of data and experience will assist with improving the service.

An assessment of the cost of delivering the capital programme indicates that this service consumes about £8.5m per annum in fees, equal to approximately 33% of the total value of the programme. This includes all costs associated with delivering schemes.

Proposed improvements and how they will be achieved

This review has prepared a draft Improvement Plan and has identified four key topic areas for improvement;

Outcome 1 - Integrated joint working/working smarter

Outcome 2 - Providing Fit for purpose solutions

Outcome 3 - Providing an effective and responsive service

Outcome 4 - Effective people development

Conclusion

The delivery of the transportation capital programme is a complex process and involves a wide number of specialists and stakeholders in order to ensure the key aims and objectives of the schemes are delivered. The dynamic nature of the management of this service has already put into practice many of the aims of the Best Value review and resources to deliver the programme have been mobilised to meet the increased demand in line with government policies to increase partnerships with the private sector.

Name:

Economic Prosperity

Purpose

To examine how the third aim of the Corporate Strategy, "achieving economic prosperity", is delivered across the County Council.

As this is a cross-cutting thematic review, it has not been able to use the models developed for service reviews, but has aimed to keep to the `4 Cs' method as much as possible. However, with regard to `compare' and `compete', this was a much harder task as this was not a straightforward service review, so these have been adapted accordingly in order to fit the remit of the review.

Current performance

The review has identified some areas that need to be improved upon if the County Council is to fulfil its third Corporate Aim. These are in key areas, such as: communication (both internal and external); partnerships; strategic planning; information (both gathering and distributing); and collective working. Some key issues were also identified as requiring improvement, such as: planning applications; skills development; infrastructure; area-focussed regeneration; and investment. In general, however, we are regarded to be a good local authority and Hampshire's economy, despite pockets of deprivation, is viewed to be thriving.

Possible improvements

We will be looking at ways to increase the sharing of information and at improving working relationships across departments and at all levels. We are also looking at ways of improving our services to business across the County Council and at better ways of partnership working (some work is already being undertaken on this latter area). There are also a number of other improvements which we are hoping to make, pending approval from the Policy and Resources Policy Review Committee

Name:

Support for voluntary and community organisations through grant aid and in kind help.

Purpose:

The County Council provides support for voluntary and community groups in Hampshire either by giving grants or by providing help such as accommodation, equipment or professional services. This is an important activity for the County Council both to help in achieving the aim of creating a stronger community and to link into voluntary groups to reach those groups we are unable to tackle through our normal services.

Current performance

Currently the County Council provides grant aid of around £6m per year. The main concerns are around the processes in place for local groups to gain access to this and making sure that the grants and other support deliver what is expected in contribution to the County Council's aims. The review has confirmed the importance of maintaining this support.

There are no national performance indicators in this area, and comparison with other authorities is only useful in terms of processes.

Overall the review has demonstrated that the County Council needs to be clearer about its aims for support and improve the application and monitoring procedures.

Some discussion has also been held on the role of the County Council in relation to proposals to establish a Community Foundation in Hampshire and whether this body could provide a mechanism for distributing grants for the County Council.

Proposed improvements and how they will be achieved

Options were reported to members in February 2002 and it was agreed that the option to improve current delivery should be taken forward. Members also agreed that further work should be carried out on the possibilities for outsourcing delivery through agencies such as the proposed Community Foundation.

Headline improvement to be considered include:

- Strengthening the policy framework for funding

- Development of a corporate management system, including a single initial point of contact, and a database of grants awarded

- Production of clear information on grant availability, application processes, decision making and use of electronic acces

- Review of guidelines, application processes and monitoring

Further work, including a consultation workshop is being carried out and the final report sent to members in June 2002.

Conclusion

The review is still under way and due to complete in June 2002.

Name:

Financial Management

Purpose:

The Council spends some £12m on financial management, primarily in support of its wide range of services to the public but also to provide services directly to students and pensioners. Much of this work must be carried out by law (eg proper accounts must be maintained, suppliers must be paid) so the review was mainly about how the service is carried out.

Current performance

The finance function aims at continuous improvement and has implemented quality processes over the past decade to try to achieve this. It has achieved Investor in People status, externally validated quality standards for internal audit, and the Charter Mark for Student Support and Pensions. Customers are systematically consulted every two years, and the results of the fifth such survey were the best yet. The consultants, Lorien, who work with the County Treasurer's department to ensure the objectivity of this process, described these results as the best they had ever seen. In addition, the Government's Education Inspectorate concluded that financial services to schools were `very good'. In addition, financial management practices were assessed against a checklist provided by the Council's external auditors, who confirmed that good practices are being followed.

Benchmarking comparisons have been carried out with other county councils, showing that Hampshire is in the lowest quartile of cost. Work has also been won in competition with the private sector to carry out pensions, payroll and audit work, indicating keen prices. The only national performance indicator for financial management is to pay suppliers promptly. With 92% of suppliers paid within thirty days, the Council did fall short of the Government's target of 95% but was second best on this measure.

Proposed improvements and how they will be achieved

Building on this base, the Council is implementing new computer systems covering not just finance and payroll but also personnel and procurement. This enterprise resource management system is expected to enable costs to be reduced and management information to be improved. It will also help the Council to provide information and services directly to the public through the internet. It should also assist in meeting the Government's targets for prompt payment.

Some councils have externalised their financial management functions in conjunction with a private sector partner. Members concluded that this option was not appropriate at present, but that it should be revisited once the new computer systems have been implemented.

Conclusion

Members concluded that Best Value is being achieved in this area, whilst recognising that there is scope for improvement, both on a larger scale, by implementing and exploiting new computer systems and, on a smaller scale, by continuing to look for quality improvements in the day to day work of the department.

Name:

Review of catering services

Purpose:

Catering is a support facility to mainstream public services. The County Council has statutory obligations to provide catering services and meet nutritional standards in schools and in social service units. It also manages a number of visitor attractions (museums and country parks) where there is a public expectation of the availability of food and drink services.

Current performance

The County Council is currently meeting its statutory obligations in schools and social services units and that of public expectation in visitor attractions. In fact, customer satisfaction levels are good and where comparisons with other local authorities are possible, as for example in the primary school meals service, Hampshire compares well. However, against a background of increasing costs, the review concluded that the services could be managed in a more efficient way. Management is fragmented across a number of departments, diluting efforts to modernise the services and to efficiently manage health & food safety risks and unit costs.

The review highlighted the improvements that can be made in the management of people, premises & equipment and purchasing by consolidating existing personnel under a single professional catering manager.

Proposed improvements and how they will be achieved

The review proposes the establishment of a new County Catering Unit to oversee all catering services delivered in the County Council.

The unit will be established at no additional cost by consolidating existing specialist catering staff under a professional catering manager.

Its remit will be to:

· lead the management of catering costs, food and safety risks, modernisation and customer service improvement.

· develop best operational and business practice

· set standards for a catering service of excellence in the County Council, including those in schools and social services units with special diets or special needs

· examine the potential to extend private contractor involvement in the primary school and social services categories which are currently operated by County Council staff or its catering business unit.

Conclusion

Customers are satisfied with the current delivery of catering services in the County Council. However, by consolidating the existing fragmented management arrangements, modernisation and improvement programmes can be accelerated and better control of unit costs and health & food safety risks can be established.

Name

Services for Youth

Purpose:

The review is focused on informal education, personal development, social and recreational services for young people outside of formal education. The review is likely to recommend that a county-wide strategy for services to young people is developed.

Progress in the period to

January 2002

A widely representative review team has been established with consultation available from academic and operational sources outside of Hampshire. The review team has an agreed work programme aimed at maximising management information, quality data and conducting national and local consultation and ensuring a thorough analysis of such information. In addition a robust challenge team of external stakeholders has been established and is approaching the third of a series of meetings arranged for critical periods of the review. Comparison work with other authorities is underway.

The collection of key information phase is nearing completion, so the focus of the review is moving in to the phase of analysis and forward planning.

Proposed improvements and how they will be achieved

The review is expected to be completed by July 2002. The probable recommendation that a `Youth Strategy' be developed is likely to include some efficiency savings and it is already clear that a more co-ordinated, strategic and better advertised approach to services for young people is needed in order to achieve maximum benefit for service users and commissioners alike.

Conclusion

Initial impressions are of an affiliation of services which are well thought of by service users and the staff who provide them. However more work needs to be done on drawing together into a strategic framework to link statutory responsibilities and other responses to the current range of identified needs.

Name:

Cross-cutting review of Passenger Transport

Purpose:

This review brought together the three strands of passenger transport which are provided by social services, education and surveyors. A number of issues emerged that were pertinent to all three service delivery areas, therefore a `cross cutting' review was established to see what improvements could be made for the future coordination of transport policy.

Current performance

As this is the first cross cutting review there is no overarching performance criteria but the aim of the review is to establish the corporate performance indices for a total expenditure of £25m pa.

Proposed improvements and how they will be achieved

The review identified the need to consider 19 policy options and commission a consultant to provide information for future decision making on the best options for an improved service.

Three key areas where possible improvements could be made included;

Policy

Communication

Organisation and provision

An action plan is being implemented and being managed by a corporate group of officers. The main recommendations include:

· greater integration of services within urban and rural areas as well as across functional service block

· improving communication

· being more flexible in the design of services

· experimenting with new approaches

· ensuring that new member arrangements allow transport to be considered in a cross cutting way.

Conclusion

It is considered that this corporate approach is likely to lead to policy directional changes which could lead to more coordinated services and efficiency /productivity improvements. The link with lifestyles, sustainability and longer term thinking relating to the community needs have been identified by the corporate group of officers.

Name of the service

A description is given where it is not clear what the service is from its title.

Purpose

A brief description of the purpose of the service identified by the review

Proposed improvements

Key targets for improvement and the actions that will be taken to achieve them.

Progress in implementing the improvement plan

Progress achieved in the last year

Plans for future implementation

Plans for implementing the action plan.in 2002/2003.

Name:

Road Safety Services

Purpose of the service:

The County Council's key road safety services are concerned with reducing casualties on Hampshire's roads through targeted programmes of road safety education, training and publicity to the Hampshire community. Highway engineering programmes aim to prevent accidents on new or altered roads and reduce likelihood of accidents on existing roads.

Proposed Improvements

Through the Best Value Service Review, the following service improvement proposals were identified:

· To improve the awareness and take up of road safety education and training programmes at the local level through improved communications between District - based Road Safety Councils and other organisations

· To improve the prioritisation and effectiveness of all types of road safety programmes and strategies in Hampshire through a better understanding of casualty patterns and their link to demographic factors. This will be achieved by increased deployment of computer - based geographic information systems (GIS)

· The wider and more effective promotion of the County Council's highway safety auditing services to all County Council departments and other bodies promoting measures which may have a safety impact on the Hampshire highway network.

Progress in implementing the Improvement Plan

The following progress has been made in 2001/02 towards meeting the recommendations of the Improvement Plan:

· Detailed consultation has taken place with the Chairmen and members of Hampshire's eleven district - based Road Safety Councils over the re - shaping of those Councils to achieve the following:

o Improved communications between Road Safety Councils and other public bodies with shared objectives to improve the quality of life for Hampshire residents, including Health Authorities, Hampshire Constabulary and Hampshire Parish Councils, together with improved dialogue between Road Safety Councils over best practice approaches and campaign programming and development.

o An improved Membership structure, particularly focussing on clear opportunities for public bodies to have a larger influence over Road Safety Councils' priorities and campaigns, to be delivered in part through a review of Councils' terms of reference.

o Plans to improve the effectiveness of campaigns and education and training programmes, through increased opportunities for joint working between Road Safety Councils, opportunities for economies of scale to be achieved with those campaigns, whilst retaining priorities that are relevant to local road casualty problems within the District or transport strategy area.

· Development of the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the improved analysis of road casualty and crash data against other County Council databases, including population and other demographic data. These improvements have led to the County Council successfully bidding for additional Government funds for a national pilot of a child pedestrian training package in the Leigh Park area of Havant Borough, based principally on the authority's ability to demonstrate a linkage between high child casualty numbers and the area's high multiple deprivation index. Additionally, the County Council is using GIS to assist Hampshire Constabulary and other highway authorities in the Hampshire force area with an operational case submission to Government for increased safety camera deployment in Hampshire. That submission has been accepted and will lead to the commencement of additional safety camera operations in Hampshire later in the year 2002. It is proposed to deploy GIS further to prepare a comprehensive Child Pedestrian Audit for Hampshire, in furthering the delivery of the child casualty reduction target for the county.

· In delivering increased awareness of Road Safety Auditing practice across the County Council, the issue has been considered by the Chief Officers Management Team (CMT) as an important cross - cutting issue, accompanied by offers of training and support services available to all Chief Officers associated with infrastructure delivery affecting the highway network.

Name:

School Crossing Patrols

Purpose:

To ensure that road traffic management and safety, and the health and safety of school children, are properly provided through school crossing patrols.

Proposed improvements

· Transfer responsibility for School crossing Patrols to the Road Safety Team in the Environment Grouping. This will link to initiatives on `Safer Routes to School' and School Travel Plans

· Establish new School Crossing Patrols supervisors in the Road Safety Team

· Evaluate School crossing Patrol provision in Hampshire - the target is to carry out a site assessment at each of the 471 school crossings by 1 April 2002

Progress on implementing the improvement plan

Over £60,000 was spent during 2001/2002 carrying out a health and safety risk assessment on each of the school crossing patrol sites. The work was completed ahead of the target in the Best Value review.

Although the Best Value review recommended an early transfer of the management of the service to the Road Safety Team, it was agreed that the transfer would be better if it was based on the information from the health and safety risk assessments, to allow better planning of activity and resources with a new team.

The preparatory work for transferring the service from Education to Road Safety now shows that there may be additional costs not anticipated in the Best Value review, but that long term improvements in quality of service will be made.

Plans for future implementation

The service will transfer to the Road Safety Team in April 2002. An `invest-to-save' initiative will cover short term additional costs. The future investment in a dedicated support team will ensure that the service continues to improve.

Name:

Strategic Management of Education

Purpose:

Leading the Education Department effectively to respond to new challenges whilst retaining the fundamental focus on teaching, learning and school improvement.

· Anticipating future opportunities and threats

· Influencing regional and national policy

· Ensuring the department and corporate County Council work together to achieve strategic aims, particularly on cross-cutting issues and partnerships with others

· Maintaining partnership with headteachers, governors and other key players in the education and welfare of children

Proposed improvements

· Keep strategic management functions under review

· Review options for service delivery including market testing

· Strengthen the planning activities of the department

· Review and strengthen communication activities within the department

· Keep the Committee support function under review

Progress on implementing the improvement plan

· Development of new LEA strategy initiatives which will incorporate the leadership roles for the local educational community

· Active participation in National, regional and local initiatives to promote and define the role of the LEA

· Development of partnerships with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), Connexions and community planning with the local district councils

· New suite of performance indicators developed to focus planning and resource deployment

· Hampshire Inspection and Advisory Service (HIAS) in partnership with Vosper Thorneycroft to develop procedures to select headteachers as associate inspectors

· "Virtual schools project" established to assess the extent to which communications with schools might be streamlined

· new committee support procedures to support the introduction of `modernised' local government

Plans for future implementation

· the development of the new LEA strategy will provide the opportunity to bring together the further implementation of the review recommendations

Name

School Admissions Service

Purpose

The service supports school improvement by providing admission arrangements that work for the benefit of all children and parents in Hampshire. This involves meeting as many parental preferences as possible, providing accurate information and guidance to parents, governors and headteachers as well as ensuring that the County Council's admissions policy and admissions arrangements are `clear, fair and objective' (Code of Practice) and meet legal requirements.

Proposed Improvements

· Improve the information provided to parents - especially on catchment areas, the LEA's legal duties, what `preference' means, the effects of applying to non-catchment schools and how to go about an appeal.

· To write and publish for schools a single comprehensive volume of guidance about admissions and provide admissions training for newly appointed headteachers.

· To maintain the LEA's position in the top quartile of performance indicators on admissions and improving the quality of both internal and external performance data.

· Make better use of IT by implementing the UPR system to ensure that all children have a school place when they need one and to provide up-to-date information about admissions to parents and schools.

· Resolve team management issues by implementing a revised staff structure, recruiting and retaining suitable staff and effectively monitoring workloads.

· Follow-up survey of parental perceptions of and satisfaction with the appeals process.

· Review of contacts with Year R parents, particularly the hard- to-reach groups.

Progress on implementing the improvement plan

· Aiming to publish set of secondary catchment maps for admission round 2003-4; significant brochure revision completed to cover areas identified for improvement; detailed guidance on appeal process published; both brochure and appeal guidance have received Plain English Commission award.

· Guidance published in June 2001. Three training sessions organised, attended by 127 headteachers; training extended to school admin. officers, for whom 6 sessions were organised.

· Data for 2000-2001 more comprehensive and robust; despite increase in staffing admissions service remains very good value for money and retains its position overall in the top quartile.

· Admissions module of the Impulse system viewed, purchase arranged and pilot of junior transfer proposed for 2004 (costs lower than expected). Full implementation expected 2005 onwards.

· Review of staff structure deleted one post, otherwise fully staffed by September 2001.

· Survey and report completed September 2001: in contrast to national surveys, high level of parental satisfaction achieved.

· Co-operation of Health Authorities gained in enabling Health visitors to take school admission materials on home visits.

Plans for future implement

-ation

· 2002-2003 follow-up survey of parents about admissions processes in order to monitor parental approval ratings.

· Publish secondary catchment area information for 2003 admissions round.

· Continue to improve quality of data for monitoring performance including comparative information from other LEAs.

· Review equality strategies.

Name:

Hampshire Bilingual Learners Support Service - supporting ethnic minority achievement

Purpose:

The service provides support to schools, parents and pupils to meet the needs of new arrivals who enter Hampshire schools speaking a language or languages other than English. The Service also aims to raise attainment of all ethnic minority pupils at risk of underachievement in Hampshire, mainly through training mainstream staff in schools.

Proposed improvements:

The review recommended that the service:

· identify the `best service for pupils' with headteachers

· ask for increased funding

· improve data collection and analysis

· play a bigger role in monitoring ethnic minority achievement in county

· shift some of the responsibility for ethnic minority pupils from service to schools

· provide continued service for asylum seekers in schools

· maintain cross-cultural counselling service for ethnic minority pupils in schools

· develop website and more effective access for ethnic minority parents to education system

· develop literacy training with an ethnic minority perspective

· expand home-school after-school network for ethnic minority pupils

The county council agreed to the continuation of the service and approved the re-structuring designed to develop `best service for pupils'. A variety of weightings were considered but the county council agreed that the service was underfunded and should apply for a growth budget. Councillors approved equal funding for each of the three strands - achievement, new arrivals and training. It was possible to obtain £20,000 from Inclusion Branch for small promotions, travel and pay awards to implement the re-structuring.

A request for growth budget was submitted in October 2001

Progress on implementing the improvement plan:

· `best service for pupils' identified with headteachers and implemented from April 2001

· achievement projects - 90 schools were targeted, six groups (Bengali, Cantonese, French, Portuguese, Turkish and Urdu) 2001-2002

· increased funding sought but not agreed

· data collection and analysis not yet improved - delay in implementing common pupil record nationally - despite key Local Education Authority OfSTED action point but achievement targets set for ethnic minority groups 2002

· team leader has started monitoring implementation of inclusion in relation to race equality - 18 schools in 2001-2002

· asylum seekers who are in schools continue to be supported but there are few asylum seekers waiting for five months for admission

· cross-cultural counselling service has been maintained

· website launched in December 2001 at www.hants.gov.uk/blss

· successful literacy training with an ethnic minority perspective Autumn Term 2001 to Key Stage 3

· the number of team meetings have been reduced to cut down on travel and reduce costs.

Plans for future implementation

The service, if funded for 2002-2003 and onwards will

· improve data collection and analysis for ethnic minority pupils

· try to involve attached inspectors in monitoring of achievement project schools

· continue to support asylum seekers in schools

· maintain cross-cultural counselling service

· continue to develop literacy training with ethnic minority perspective

· extend existing networks to spread good practice in provision for ethnic minority pupils from Basingstoke to Andover and Aldershot

Name:

Specialist Teacher Advisory Service

Purpose:

To provide advice to schools and parents about children with physical disabilities, visual or hearing impairment so that they can make as much progress as possible.

Proposed improvements

· Improve staffing levels and utilisation

· Increase equipment budget

· Measure demands on/activities of Special Advisory Teachers (STAs)

· Develop links with resourced schools/SEN service

· Improve use of ICT

· Evaluate professional development

Progress in implementing the improvement plan

· Some staffing improvements have been achieved, notably the reinstatement of the Senior STA for physical disability and back-filling of time spent teaching

· Job descriptions being prepared for Senior Specialist STA posts

· Equipment budget increased using School Access initiative and Standards Fund resources

· Plans in hand to measure activities of STAs and further work on analysis of customer data will depend on appointment of a head of service

· Joint training has taken place with resourced schools and better links established with SEN service

· Nearly all the service has accessed New Opportunities Fund (NOF) training for ICT

Plans for future implementation

Further progress will be delayed pending the appointment of a Head of Service

Name:

Outdoor Education

Purpose:

To promote and develop good practice in outdoor education in school, youth groups and voluntary organisations. To operate the counties advice, guidance and approval system for educational visits, off site and hazardous activities. To hold the counties adventure activities licence.

To provide training for teachers, youth workers, volunteers and all those involved with young people.

Proposed improvements

· The potential for the unit to act as a lead agency for environmental and sustainability development be explored

· The development of the training team learning and support structure be enhanced and developed

· The unit continues to pursue identified technical improvements and prepares and offers `emergency action' update training

· The unit continues to develop and promote partnership working

Progress on implementing the improvement plan

· Successful working with other agencies to prepare a Strategy for Education of Sustainable Development, principally through the Trailblazer Scheme. This has been well received

· Key performance indicators for training have been met

· IT2000 has been implemented successfully and the unit's database transferred on to the system

· Emergency training undertaken - positively received and further training activities planned

· Effective partnership working, in particular, with the Arts Countryside and Community Department

Plans for future implementation

To continue to action the BV Review Improvement Plan

Name:

Day and Resource Centres for Physically Disabled People

Purpose:

The Social Services Department provides a Day Service for disabled people between the ages of 18 and 65 years who have a range of impairments, and who require assistance and support to remain in the community. Access to the service is through a Care Management assessment of needs.

Disabled people's organisations promote the `Social Model of Disability' which identifies that barriers to social inclusion are not within the disabled person but within society's response to disability, citing ignorance, negative attitudes and poor physical access to the environment as the most important barriers for disabled people.

The objectives of day care within the independent living model are therefore:

· Provide information relevant to services supporting independent living and in particular direct payments.

· Enable respite for carers which is unable to be provided in the home or other setting.

· Provide skill and learning development and routes to work and training.

· Rehabilitation in partnership with Health and others.

· Routes to accessible community activities for social and educational needs.

Proposed improvements

Seven key objectives were identified in the report:

1. To implement the strategic direction in community support for physically disabled people

2. All key staff to receive training on independent living

3. Support users to access employment services

4. To enable a more flexible support service for carers

5. To promote direct payments as an option to maximise user control

6. To identify suitable performance indicators to benchmark services against

7. To clarify unit costs to enable comparative analysis.

Progress on implementing the improvement plan

The focus during the first year has been to work with the two in-house providers, Audleys and Hexagon, on achieving the key objectives. The following has been achieved in the seven areas, as listed above.

1. Links have been furthered with local colleges, employment services and independent agencies to meet the needs and interests of service users in the community. Signposts employment project has been set up using the brokerage model. Staff will be recruited to fill current vacancies, who will specialise in developing brokerage as a major part of their roles.

2. All staff have received training in the `Independent Living' model. At Audleys, almost all core staff have received training in the `Social model' and Disability Equality. The Hexagon held a 3 day Independent Living Conference in September - 76% of key staff attended.

3. Information is now provided on employment options. This is done through independent disability and advice centres, as well as through the Signposts project. The target of identifying 5% of users who want to pursue routes to work has been achieved. Audleys have arranged one sheltered employment placement and have specifically designed a pre-employment placement within the Centre. One individual has secured full time employment.

4. All carers at Audleys are invited to user's review meetings. Information is also provided through Carers Support meetings, and mailshots to carers who do not attend. Hexagon have further development work to be achieved in this area.

5. Various discussion groups have taken place on direct payments with invited speakers, for users and carers. Information is available for users and carers from in-house services. However, further staff training is required in this area. Although staff are aware of the Direct Payments Website, access to the internet is currently limited, until the roll out of IT 2000, currently planned for 2002.

6. Performance Indicators have not yet been set.

7. The Financial Services Unit are currently working on unit costings. Work is in hand to progress this.

Over the past 12 months in-house services have undergone a reduction in staffing levels but have still maintained their level of provision, as well as meeting many of the objectives set out in the action plan, as described above.

Plans for future implementation

Further plans for implementation and improvement include:

· Further work on developing the brokerage model

· Continued work to improve access to employment options and information, as well as specific individual programmes tailored to meet service user's goals.

· Furthering links with colleges and community facilities to widen the range of opportunities currently available to users

· Improving recording of carers needs for respite

· More staff taking up direct payments training

· Development of the Direct Payments Website to provide more accessible information across care groups

· Developing a set of performance indicators to benchmark against

· Rolling out development across independent day care providers

Name:

Day Care Services for Older People

Purpose:

Day Care Services for Older People have two main aims:

· To provide a variety of support which help older people and their carers to remain in their own homes;

· To help maintain or improve skills of daily living

Proposed improvements

The current way in which the service is delivered (mixed provision with approximately 40% across the county being delivered by in -house services) is highly valued by users and carers and was considered to be particularly effective at preventing social isolation. However, accurate information about the service in terms of activity, cost , need and demand was not easily available.

The action plan identified a number of areas for improvement, falling into two categories:

· Work at a strategic level to put systems are in place to ensure day care services are more effectively commissioned, from a sound knowledge base;

· Work at a operational level that can run concurrently or subsequently, dependent on the status of specific services in localities

Progress on implementing the improvement plan

Achievement of the objectives of the review action plan has been heavily dependent upon staff availability, which has been severely reduced over the time period following the adoption of the action plan. Additionally, some of the objectives have been affected by subsequent national policy guidance, for example the National Service Framework for Older People. Nevertheless, substantial progress has been made on six of the nine objectives of the strategic action plan, which lays the necessary foundation for the remaining three objectives, plus the operational objectives to be implemented.

Specifically:

· The Day Care Strategy has been updated and reissued to frontline staff, cascaded by Service Managers (Objective 1)

· Objectives 4,5,6,8,and 9 have been substantially completed through detailed work in two areas - the updating, expansion and reissue of Quality Days (Day Care Standards), and the development of comprehensive guidance and a model service specification for contracting purposes, to include management information requirements and reporting mechanisms, performance indicators and targets.

· The Contracting Guidance and Model Service Specification will enable the management information required to implement seven of the nine objectives in the operational action plan to be routinely collected by providers and monitored by Service Managers

Plans for future implementation

Implementation and use of the Contracting Guidance and Model Service Specification developed. This will include routine monitoring information that will then enable further targets and improvements to be identified.

Further training for commissioning staff and provider staff (via the Day Care Forum)

Name

Day Activities for Adults with Learning Disabilities

Purpose

· To maximise personal potential and increase independence through a range of stimulating activities, provided wherever possible in integrated, community based settings.

· To support family carers to continue to care for as long as this is appropriate for both them and their relative(s).

· Service provision is based on the principle that people with learning disabilities should have access to the same rights, choices, dignity and respect as any other and that equality of opportunity is afforded to all people.

Proposed improvements

· Social Services providers of day activities will make £15,000 available in 2001/2 for direct payments, to allow an increase in the number of people with learning disabilities who arrange their own day/evening or weekend activities.

· By the end of March 2003, costed plans will be prepared for the redevelopment of day activities across Hampshire, based on the needs and aspirations of people with learning disabilities and designed to provide more flexible and responsive services. This work will form the basis of reports to the Social Services Committee to gain approval for the implementation of plans.

· Links will be established with employment agencies and leisure services across Hampshire that will work pro-actively to support people with learning disabilities to have greater access to employment and leisure opportunities.

Progress on implementing the improvement plan

· All in-house day services have identified £8,000 PYE (£15,000 FYE) to be made available for direct payments, for people with learning disabilities who want to take control of this aspect of their service. A small number of people have taken advantage of this opportunity already. It is acknowledged that people need information on direct payments if they are to consider using them. Orchard Close, Hayling Island is planning its first residential conference for people with learning disabilities and staff to raise awareness about direct payments, which we hope will increase the number of people taking a direct payment for their day activities.

· Work is underway in most day services to build on current assessment and consultation information to develop plans for future services in each locality.

· Some areas (Havant, Alton/Aldershot, Basingstoke, Bishopstoke) have already undertaken a number of consultation exercises, with varying levels of assessment. In Havant and Basingstoke this has led to early requests to tender for independent sector providers being presented to relevant committees.

· Other services have been working on the assessment of need as a precursor to consultation with service users, carers and other stakeholders.

· All areas will develop costed plans for redevelopment of day services in their localities by March 2003.

· Links with mainstream employment agencies and leisure services have not been established at a strategic level or at a locality level.

· Work on the link with employment services will be progressed at a strategic level over the next year to comply with the priority set out in the White Paper - Valuing People: A new strategy for people with learning disabilities for the 21^st Century, for Partnership Boards to agree an employment strategy by Winter 2002/3. Local links will be encouraged through work with existing supported employment agencies and directly with mainstream employment services so that local views can inform the countywide strategy.

· Links with leisure services, at a local and strategic level, will require greater focus over the next 12 months to ensure that people with learning disabilities are included in the strategic plans of all leisure services.

· The Action Plan also included targets on developing a brokerage model, costed "menus" of services, performance indicators and reviews of the provision of transport and meals in existing in-house day services.

· Work has been progressing on developing the brokerage model, which has the potential to go beyond day activities and provide a more holistic approach to individual packages. Two pilot sites, Eastleigh and Alton/Aldershot have been identified and details are being discussed with staff in both areas.

· Information has been collected to inform the costed "menu" and will be considered against information from assessment work and the tendering for alternative services in Havant and Basingstoke, before being shared with day services to inform their costed plans.

· Following the publication of Department of Health guidance on undertaking Best Value reviews of services for people with learning disabilities, (part of the guidance linked to Valuing People) the indicators developed as part of the Best Value review of day activities have been revised and are being used in the Best Value review of residential services, this year. The indicators have been written in such a way that they can be used for residential, day and domiciliary situations, as appropriate and are based on outcomes for people with learning disabilities, linked to John O'Brien's five service accomplishments, as were the indicators developed for our review of day activities.

· All day services have been asked to review transport and provision of meals and where opportunities have arisen, action has been taken to make changes e.g. Andover Day Services - meals being provided through Work zone (supported employment service) and Havant Day Services - sandwich meals being provided through Southern Focus Trust (supported employment service).

Plans for future implementation

· For the redevelopment of day services to be achieved in Hampshire and to deliver on the priority given in Valuing People for this modernisation work, the outstanding work detailed above will have to be completed in accordance with the timescale in the Best Value Action Plan i.e. costed plans ready by March 2003.

· Operational Service Managers will be tasked with taking this work forward in each locality in order that the timescales are met. Where work progresses ahead of the specified timescale, as in the case of Havant and Basingstoke, permissions will be sort from appropriate Executive Members and Committees to progress the implementation work.

Name:

Mental Health Provider and Contracted Services (Day and Community Support Services)

Purpose:

Mental Health Day Services provide support to adults with severe mental illness. This includes support in everyday living, providing meaningful occupation, social support, and help in gaining access to education, and training, employment and leisure services.

Services are provided in day service buildings, community facilities and people's own homes.

There is good evidence that people with severe mental health problems have difficulty in gaining access to a range of goods and services that are part of everyday living. Support in these areas promotes recovery and helps maintain good mental health.

Proposed improvements

· Service quality: to develop a service specification to ensure all services meet minimum requirements, and introduce regular monitoring and reviewing of directly provided services

· Each service should develop specific objectives and measurable outcomes that demonstrate effectiveness

· Priority of access to highest level of eligibility, but within available resources to allow access for those of lower eligibility who need continuing support

· Services should be available at times required by service users, including evenings and weekends

· Ensure systematic involvement of user involvement in the planning and running of services

· Efficiency improvements through combining smaller contracts; improved unit costing; and feasibility of externalising a support work service

· Ensure consistency of remuneration and support for professionally non-affiliated staff

· Improve collection and use of management information so that all service activity is recorded

Progress on implementing the improvement plan

· Service specification for mental health community support services will be developed for consultation by March 2002, and completion by July 2002

· Most in-house services do not have specific outcome measures. Action planning for the National Service Framework in several localities has identified a need multi agency local implementation teams to review the role, function and desired outcomes of these services in the light of other service developments

· New Day service in the west New Forest opened December 2001 and this will have evening and weekend opening

· Users and Carers involved in local planning processes, with plans to provide training to assist in this process in North/Mid Hampshire. Systematic user involvement in the monitoring and reviewing of in house services still needs to be achieved

· Efficiencies are being achieved through bringing a number of small contracts together (Andover); option appraisal for the externalisation of the Winchester support work service is ongoing, including a new proposal for joint management in a CMHT

· Some staff are on a new Certificate in Mental Health course; review of terms and conditions of staff needs to be part of County Council initiative

· Information collection has significantly improved; the PAF indicator for people with mental health problems helped to live at home increased from 1.0/1000 to 2.8/1000

Plans for future implementation

· Plans outlined above will continue. The main additional issues are:

· Plans to develop the joint management of social care services with NHS Trusts in place by April 2002, for implementation by April 2003

· New Care Standards Act requirements do not apply to these services at present, but service specifications will have regard to the general approach

· All services need a review by local implementation teams of role and function in view of other service developments, including those required by the National Service Framework, and the implications of the Welfare To Work agenda

· Continue with improved activity data collection so that information reflects actual activity and informs unit costing

Name

Employment Services (for people with mental health problems) plus people with learning disabilities

Purpose

Employment Services are paid for by Social Services and provided by independent organisations for people with physical or learning disabilities or mental health problems. The aim is to support people into open employment, where this is possible. This can take various forms from preparing people for the job through to supporting people in employment.

Proposed improvements

Two key objectives were identified for both service user groups

1. To assist the maximum number of service users into open employment

2. To assist the maximum number of service users moving into useful and meaningful activity such as training or voluntary work

Progress in achieving these objectives should be monitored by measuring these numbers for each service, along with the movement of people in and out of schemes, and the satisfaction of users of the service. A number of targets were set including a minimum of 15% users on a scheme moving into open employment, and 80% schemes conducting user satisfaction surveys by January 2003. Due to the lack of readily available information it was not possible to establish for most schemes an indication of their current performance.

Other objectives included:

3. Improved contract monitoring

4. Gain a better understanding of the costs of the service

5. Improved consultation with service users

6. Develop the Departments work with other agencies

7. The County Council to use its strong position as an employer in order to ensure that more people with disabilities are employed by the County Council.

Progress on implementing the improvement plan

Mental Health Employment services

· Where existing contracts are coming to an end new service specifications are being developed. Successful service providers must meet Best Value requirements to assist the maximum number of service users into open employment e.g. Havant and Petersfield

· The supported employment model is being adopted in Eastleigh/Romsey and the New Forest

· A mental health employment strategy has been agreed with health and social care agencies in Southampton and South West Hampshire

· Mental Health in the workplace conference in Havant to promote good mental health practice with local employers

New national policy initiatives in mental health with employment implications since the Best Value review include:

· Each Health Authority with partner agencies to prepare a mental health promotion strategy, including measures to combat discrimination and promote employment, by March 2002

· Health and Social Services should have a strategy to promote employment of people with mental health problems

· Social services Inspectorate report identified national deficiencies in Councils' support to people to enter employment

· Health and Safety Executive Guidance for employers to develop a mental health in the workplace policy

Relevant local initiatives include:

· Hampshire County Council has been selected as a national pilot site for the use of Direct Payments for mental health service users

· Carers Best Value Review identifies implications for employment

Supported Employment Services for People with Learning Disabilities

· A cross county group involving Learning Disability commissioning staff, unit and team managers and contracting staff have started work on writing performance indicators drawing from the detailed list of performance indicators set out in Appendix 3 of the Outcome Report to the Best Value Review Panel. This work is also taking into account the need to progress the possibility of setting up social firms with people with learning disabilities and accessing mainstream employment initiatives. This work will lead to a new form of contracting with employment services.

More recently, it has been agreed that two of the Operational Service Managers for Learning Disability services will take a lead on the contract monitoring for the largest provider of supported employment for people with learning disabilities, Kudos, on behalf of the County. It is anticipated that these two Service Managers will also lead on the contract monitoring of other smaller employment services. Within this context, work is being undertaken on the cost and capacity of the contract with Kudos, to ensure that the Service Managers have a full understanding of these aspects of the service across Hampshire. This work will contribute to further consideration of unit costing models for all employment services within this sector.

Plans for future implementation

Mental Health

We will continue to:

· Reshape our employment services to ensure they are focused on enabling the maximum number of people moving into open employment

· Review practices in other services to ensure that they assist the maximum number of service users gain access to employment, training, voluntary or subsidised work

· Work with employment and other support services to ensure they collect and report quantitative information on their achievements

· Ensure that all services consult and respond to service user's views

· Contribute to Health Authority led initiatives to promote mental health and good employment practices in local communities

· Know the unit cost of each service

· Compare information on service performance with other providers

New initiatives include:

· Together with NHS Trusts ensure that people with mental health problems have their employment needs assessed

· Promote the use of Direct Payments for mental health service users

· Inclusion of employment proposals from the Carers Best Value Review

Learning Disabilities

· The work described above will lead to better specified contracts, with clear indicators, against which the performance of the employment services will be measured. This will make it possible to monitor future performance against the target improvements for the two key objectives for employment services, set out in the Action Plan.

The White Paper - Valuing People: A New Strategy for Learning Disability for the 21^st Century requires the local Learning Disability Partnership Board to develop a local employment strategy for people with learning disabilities by Winter 2002/3. The work required to achieve this will encompass the strategic objectives set out in the Action Plan, which have not yet been achieved. Valuing People will be backed up by performance indicators for Local Authorities and their partners to deliver on. Increasing the number of people with learning disabilities in employment will be included in these indicators.

Name:

Occupational Therapy, Equipment & Technician Services

Purpose:

The combined role of these services is to assist people with physical disabilities,

living in the community, to regain and /or maintain as much independence as possible. Service users of all ages are assisted and some may have associated learning disabilities or mental health problems.

Occupational Therapists (OTs) and their Assistants (OTAs) assess the disabled person's needs , provide advice and may recommend items of equipment and/or adaptations to their home environment.

Subject to assessment by an OT or OTA :

- Equipment items are provided free, on loan by the Joint Equipment Services (JES) of which there are three in Hampshire wich have been set up in partnership with local health authorities . The JES for North & Mid Hants is run by the County Council. The service covering SE Hants is purchased from the Portsmouth JES (run by Portsmouth City Primary Care Trust) and that for SW Hants from the Southampton JES (run by Southampton City Council).

- Minor adaptations (ramps, grab rails etc) are provided by the Social Services Technician Service.

Proposed improvements

The Key Outcomes of the Best Value Review were as follows:

o The current national performance measure for all three services is the percentage of equipment costing under £1000 delivered within 3 weeks. The County Council is within 3% of the top quartile for performance by similar shire counties and has set itself to achieve this target by 2003.

o Average waiting times were found to be equal to the national average of 10 weeks but still unacceptably long for some users and it was proposed that waiting times should be reduced to existing County target levels by 2005.

o Pressure on OT teams is intense . Hampshire Social Services OT staff have the highest number of cases per OT by comparison to other similar sized Counties. Many of the recommended actions were therefore largely aimed at managing demand to try to maintain and improve performance on waiting times for assessment without further restricting eligibility criteria or the range of services offered.

o There was a strong message from users that given trustworthy, independent advice and information about equipment and adaptations, many people with simple needs would prefer to take the initiative to meet their own needs rather than access Social Services. It was proposed to introduce a County wide self-assessment form and better information to enable such people to do so , enabling OT resources to be refocused upon those with higher levels of need.

o Equipment Services in Hampshire were found to be in line with the Audit Commission's recommendations for community equipment services (`Fully Equipped' - March 2000). Two out of three JES exceed the Commission's suggested 70% target for recycling of equipment, by over 20%.

o Users are generally satisfied with the delivery time for equipment which currently averages 90% of all equipment delivered in 3-7 days but would like more choice as to colour, style and quality of equipment supplied.

o There was some concern about the delivery and collection performance of the JES in SW Hampshire . It was therefore to be monitored and benchmarked against the best performing JES.

o The Technician Service was found to be well run and well received, with the potential to trade as an independent business unit. It was proposed to exploit this potential subject to further advice from the County Treasurer.

o A pilot project to operate a combined OTA/Technician service providing simple assessments, fitting of equipment and grab rails in one visit, was to be pursued as a possible model for an improved fast track service.

o Health and Housing partner agencies and service users regard improved integration of community based services for people with disabilities as highly desirable. The NHS Plan may enable such integration and pooling of resources and this would be explored via strategic joint planning.

Progress on implementing the improvement plan

For the year 2001/02 the predicted performance for equipment costing under £1000 delivered within 3 weeks is 94% -an increase of 1% since the review .

Since completion of the review the Department of Health has published guidance on the anticipated `Integration of Community Equipment Services' linked to the NHS Plan. The initiative requires the integration of Social Services and Health equipment services under pooled budget arrangements by 2004. In tandem with this there is an expectation that the numbers of people benefiting from equipment services will increase by 50% by the same year. The impact upon the equipment services is being assessed. Social Services is represented on the newly formed joint service boards.

Waiting times for OT assessment are improving especially for category 1 cases where the wait is now 4 weeks or less (see revised plan)

Care Management is offered only where the category 1 waits are down to 4 weeks or less and only to users with high OT need as part of the referral.

A County wide self assessment form has been introduced and is sent out together with an information pack to users with identified simple needs.

Disability Team staff are working with designers to get suitable material on to the new County Council website , with links to `Social Services Direct'.

Proposals to engage with the independent sector over the use of complimentary services have been included in the `Integration of Community Equipment ` process.

The benchmarking of the three JES serving Hampshire has succeeded in bringing delivery performance up to the same standard for them all . The performance of the SW service has improved considerably - recycling of equipment has increased from 46% to 87%.

The OTA/Technician pilot project is about to be formally reviewed but initial indications are that it could provide a model for reducing waiting time for simple needs cases ( in the first 6 weeks of operation a 50% reduction in the local waiting list for such cases was reported).

The examination of improved income generation is on-going . Final reports are awaited but it seems likely that implementing charging will not be cost effective but that both the technician and equipment services could benefit from adopting a business planning approach.

Plans for future implementation

Joint working with partner agencies will continue, with a view to meeting the requirements of the NHS Plan by 2004.

Consideration will be given to the targeting and deployment of resources on a County wide basis to maintain and increase the improvement of Occupational Therapy assessment waiting times.

Joint Equipment Services will be held in steady state while the County Council engages with Health and independent sector partners on the NHS Plan implementation planning teams about the future of these services.

The OTA/Technician pilot project will be evaluated and adopted if found to be a means to real improvements in efficiency and effectiveness.

Opportunities for income generation will continue to be reviewed in the context of business plans for the County Council run equipment and technician services.

Disabled Persons Parking Permits Scheme
("The Blue Badge Scheme" - formerly "The Orange Badge Scheme")

Purpose

The Social Services Department's statutory role in the scheme is to administer the application and issuing process for a badge on behalf of the Department of Transport, Local Government and Regions.

The Best Value Review therefore was limited to consideration of the effectiveness of the administrative function rather than the criteria for a badge and the guidance issued by the D.T.L.G.R.

• Improvements

Four improvement outcomes were identified as a result of the review:-

1. Applicants to be confident of consistency about the process of decision making in relation to their application

2. Criteria for a badge is equitably and appropriately based upon proven, demonstrated evidence

3. Customers continue to be satisfied with the speed of the department's response to applications

4. Customers continue to be satisfied with the quality of customer care.

Progress on Implementing the improvement plan

· Revised procedures documentation and supporting materials have been produced and are in use.

· Administrative and Customer Care Training has been devised and delivered to both staff and managers.

· The service is currently being transferred from 11 local offices in the Social Services Department to a new dedicated `Blue Badge Unit' within County Treasurer's Department. The service will be delivered by a dedicated team of 4 staff in one location - i.e. 150 hrs as opposed to 255 hrs (approx). The transfer process will have been completd by the end of March 2002.

· Improved administrative systems and supporting IT systems are being developed while the service continues to be delivered to applicants. It is too early to determine the extent of service quality improvements or publish service standards. However it is apparent that significant improvements are being made to both efficiency, cost and equitable service delivery.

Plans for future implementation

· No progress has been made on implementing the most appropriate model of General Practitioner assessment for badge applicants. The scheme is currently under review by the Dept of Transport, Local, Government & Regions which may determine the future model of assessment of applicants' mobility disability.

· New application forms and information leaflets are being designed which will also be web-enabled for use from April 2002

· A comprehensive publicity programme is being developed for March and April 2002

· A dedicated telephone line and postal address will be provided for the service from March 2002

Name

Receivership Unit

Purpose

· The Receivership Unit enables the Social Services Department to manage the financial affairs of a person with mental disorder when the Court of Protection gives the Director of Social Services the necessary legal powers.

Proposed improvements

The review recommended that:

· The services of the Receivership Unit should continue to be provided as a service of last resort when no

suitable alternative person could be found to undertake the duties

· feasibility of whether it should become a business unit should be carried out

· work should continue to systems to improve financial and management information

· the Unit's business with Southampton and Portsmouth Cities should continue, and in the longer term to

consider other business opportunities

· access to information about the Unit was improved

· various steps be taken to improve the management of staff through staff performance reviews, and additional staff and additional accommodation

· the County Council review its policy on appointeeship (assistance with the management of the financial resources of people with mental disorder who have very limited assets) with a view to providing an improved level of service

Progress on implementing the improvement plan

· A feasibility study for the Receivership Unit to apply for business unit status is underway. Work on this was delayed because of the need to introduce new information technology; and to adapt to new requirements from the Public Guardianship Office (the successor body to the Public Trust Office).

· A new database and management information system has been developed and implemented

· A service continues to be provided to Southampton and Portsmouth Cities, and other business opportunities are being explored

· The Royal Bank of Scotland has agreed to help fund the development of information for service users

· Performance reviews for staff have been conducted and are a regular part of the Unit's practice; additional office space has also been identified. The need for additional staff will be reviewed as part of business unit feasibility study

· A project has been established to research the demands on the Social Services Department to act as an Appointee in certain circumstances, prior to reviewing the policy position

Plans for future implementation

The major areas of work will be the feasibility study for business unit status (including the collection of baseline performance information), and to research the demand for appointeeship. It may be that there is a case for the Receivership Unit to extend its brief to cover Receiverships, funded by income and charges from this additional activity.

Name

Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service

Purpose

The purpose of the service is to provide social work specialist input for specialist mental health clinics for children and adolescents with mental health problems.

Proposed improvements

i. Improve leadership and management

ii. Increase user involvement

iii. Clarify expectations between Health and Social services

iv. Provide regular supervision, support and development to staff

v. Develop identity for the service and staff

vi. Make the resourcing and model of delivery of service more equitable

vii. Develop and monitor performance data

Progress on implementing the improvement plan

The Service Manager (Strategy) - Children with Special Needs (SMS) started in her new post at the beginning of April 2001. Since then a CAMHS steering group has been set up which includes Service Managers, who have been developing a Position Statement to help clarify the requirements for CAMHS, particularly the prioritisation of LAC and CP cases. The Position Statement covers identified needs, priorities, performance indicators and proposals for a joint strategy. One of the most important performance indicators is the percentage of cases in specialist CAMHS teams which are Looked After Children, children on the Child Protection register and children at risk of exclusion from school. The target for that indicator being 70%. A second indicator is the length of time foster carers, residential carers, adoptive families and children on the Child Protection register have to wait before being seen. The target is being seen within 2 weeks of referral, with emergencies being seen within 24 hours.

The Statement is being consulted on at present and the SM(S) will then seek agreement from all stakeholders on a joint strategy. The SM(S) meets regularly with Health colleagues across the county and plans to set up a CAMHS Partnership Board, which will include representatives from Health, Education, parents, carers and users.

A workshop for CAMHS social workers and their managers was held in November 2001 to look at the position statement and give social workers an opportunity to comment on future developments.

Plans for future implementation

When the position statement has been completed, the SM(S) will take responsibility for ensuring that the outcomes identified in the statement are met by establishing a service specification for CAMHS (including performance indicators) agreed via a multi-agency CAMHS Partnership Board, including Drug Abuse teams and Youth Offending teams. This Board will have reporting to it local implementation teams to deliver locally the outcomes set out in the Hampshire service specification.

The Partnership Board will consider how best to set up a user group to reflect views across the whole of Hampshire. The Board in conjunction with PMU will develop a staff satisfaction survey. Additionally, for staff a ring-fenced training budget will be identified and the supervision policy will be implemented.

Future work planning will reflect the identified need to strengthen Tiers 2 and 3 services and the extension of the CAMHS grant (modernisation money) will afford an opportunity to do this.

Greater clarity is required about the linkages between: Substance Misuse and CAMHS; CAMHS and Adult services; CAMHS and Learning Disabilities. The SM(S) will address this in future improvement plans.

Name:

The Information Analysis Service

Purpose:

Information Analysis is a small service costing about £160,000 a year providing and analysing statutory information to central government and management information to support the Social Services Department.

It has 6 key objectives:

· To provide central government with sets of information that every Council with Social Services Responsibilities (CSSR) is required to produce

· To supply staff, Members and partner agencies (such as National Health Service) with key information about the Department's activity, resources and performance.

· To make sure data about the Department systems is accurate, complete and timely

· To analyse information to help the Department assess how well it is performing.

· To encourage the use of such information as part of decision-making processes by managers within the Department

· To interpret, define, incorporate and audit data standards, especially in response to Central Government initiatives.

Proposed improvements

The Best Value Review found that a step-change in the performance of the service was necessary if it was to fulfil its crucial role in helping the Department meet the mounting demands of Best Value, Social Services Inspectorate monitoring and other modernisation initiatives.

With the additional funding of £28,000 Phase one Improvements included:

i. Central Government will receive complete and accurate sets of statistical data from Hampshire County Council Social Services Department within the specified deadlines.

· 100% returns will be complete and delivered on-time by the end of 2002/3 (from a level of 45% in December 2000)

With the proposed funding of £108,000 remaining, Phase one improvements expected are

i. A report analysing current and past performance against an agreed set of standard indicators/targets will be regularly provided for the department's managers and for elected members.

· 100% planned reports will be delivered by the end of 2002/3 (from a level of 28% in December 2000).


ii. Requests for management information received by the Information Analysis service will be met in a timely fashion.

· 80% customers will be very satisfied with the completeness of information by the end of 2002/3 (from a level of 37% in December 2000)

· 50% customers will be very satisfied with the timescales that are achieved by the end of 2002/3 (from a level of 29% in December 2000).

Progress on implementing the improvement plan

Phase one

i) A new member of staff has been appointed and is completing training. The team is yet to benefit from the input of the new member team member

ii) The reports are currently being defined to identify key data and timetabling for presentation to management and PRC

Other actions have been taken to generate improvements:

· More resource from within the team have been dedicated to work on a system which makes basic information more accessible for extraction and enables the core team and other users to produce reports

· The team is working to reduce the number of "ad hoc" information requests from managers by re-using and manipulating data produced on a regular basis for high level departmental, or central government requirements. Breakdowns of this information are now being made available regularly.

Other areas of work resulting from phase one have been delayed until the resources proposed in the BV review have been invested.

Phase two

Other areas of work have been identified as part of phase two, but planned developments and improvements cannot be progressed without addressing some aspects of improvement now. Accordingly the following actions have been taken.

· Investigation into particular quality issues has already been started by staff in consultation with operational managers

· Standardisation of data definitions are being agreed and implemented. A small group of data definitions has been identified where there are potential differences in interpretation between central government, senior departmental management and operational staff. As this will affect data quality and system developments, these are being analysed in collaboration with other CSSR.

Name:

Complaints Service

Purpose of the service

The purpose of the complaints service is to deal with the concerns raised by people about the quality of the service they, or someone they care for, have about the service received.

Local managers, who can resolve the problem, deal with most complaints. However a small number of people's concerns are not resolved informally and they can request an investigation into the situation which has given cause for concern. The complaints section will organise such an investigation, using someone independent of the department and, if the report from the investigation does not satisfy the complainant, a review panel can be organised.

The complaints service also monitors complaints made about the department's services and can use this information to help staff improve all services.

The review proposed that the role of using information from complaints to improve services be extended so that information can be used from a variety of other sources, such as investigations under the Children Act.

The review further proposed that the extended service would include a responsibility for the implementation of a range of departmental policies and procedures, all connected by the common theme of the investigation and review of the department's performance when `things went wrong'.

Proposed improvements

The review identified an action plan to achieve the improvements to be made to the service:

1. Publication of clear service objectives and performance measures and a revised Complaints Procedure.

2. New Complaints information leaflets to be produced and published

3. Support to and supervision of Independent persons to be consistently given.

4. The staffing structure of the service to be amended to include additional staff time and changes to roles and responsibilities.

Progress on Implementing Improvement Plan

There have been a number of events which have delayed the progress of the implementation of the improvement plan. The key event is the restructuring of the department and the revised procedure cannot be completed until the responsibilities within the new management arrangements are clear.

New Complaints information leaflets have been produced and published. These are being printed in small print runs so that departmental structure changes can be incorporated as necessary.

Work has commenced on improving the support and supervision given to Independent Persons and an information pack has been put together. Negotiations have also taken place with neighbouring authorities to avoid duplication and offer similar conditions of service.

The staffing structure of the service has yet to be implemented, although accountability statements have been produced and agreed.

Plan for Future Implementat-ion

Plans have been made to ensure that as from April next year the complaints process will be in tune with the new departmental management structure. It is therefore anticipated that the revised procedure will be completed by that date.

The recruitment of the Complaints and Customer Care Officer should be completed by the end of the calendar year.

When fully staffed the service will be better able to respond to the support needs of Independent Persons.

Name

The Library Service

Purpose

To provide the people of Hampshire with an excellent library and information service which offers access to the widest possible range of resources through well trained, highly motivated staff.

Proposed improvements

The key outcomes from the review were:

· To improve equality of access to services, especially by those who are disabled or isolated.

· To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of services to public.

· To provide better IT access and support for the public.

· To evaluate the range of resources and speed of supply

Progress on implementing the improvement plan

Access facilities to branches and mobiles are being improved in line with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act. Extension of payments (for expenses) to all volunteers supporting the housebound service..

The Bee Aware national scheme has been adopted which offers a free postal service for registered blind or partially sighted people to obtain spoken word cassettes and CDs.

A wider range of resources e.g. Adult Basic skills stocks, videos, CD and DVD collections have been made available at more libraries. Plus the levels and range of bookstock are being improved in line with the new Public Library Standards.

Plans for future implementation

Opening hours of libraries are being adjusted to provide better times of access to the public but there are budgetary implications in extending this programme.

Non-users of the housebound service are being targeted and the mobile library service is being reviewed to re-organise and update its function.

The countywide ICT infrastructure of nearly 300 computers, funded by the New Opportunities Fund (NOF), will be rolled out in libraries in the autumn 2002. Staff training to European Computer Driving Licence level, which is also funded by NOF, has a target of 100% completion of staff (771) being trained by 2004.

Name:

Public Transport

Purpose:

The Passenger Transport Group within the Environment Grouping provides the Passenger Transport service. The aims of the service are best summarised as working towards the goal of a high quality, high frequency public transport network and adopting a strategic approach to public transport service planning.

Proposed improvements

The following is a summary of the outcomes of the review.

1. That there should be a fundamental assessment of travel needs to allow a judgement to be made, firstly on whether the County Council's current level of activity in relation to this service is appropriate and, secondly, where adjustments to provision should be made. This work will be closely related to the County Council's Bus Strategy which is required as part of the Local Transport Plan process.

2. That work should be undertaken to identify additional sources of funding to allow expansion of local bus services and facilities to meet the County Council's overall transport objectives in terms of increased use of public transport as an alternative to the private car as part of wider transport policy. The consultation work demonstrated that the alternative option of transferring funding away from services designed to meet social need would not be a desirable way ahead.

3. That work should be undertaken to build more effective working partnerships with operators. This is vital as 85% of bus network services and the entire rail network services are provided by commercial operators and progress in raising overall perceptions of this service is going to depend largely on success in gaining the operators' commitment. Whilst initially a voluntary approach will be taken, there are contractual approaches, which may need to be invoked during the lifetime of the Action Plan.

4. That there is a need to look for more innovative, flexible and efficient ways of meeting public transport needs as an alternative to the conventional bus service, particularly where needs are disparate in nature geographically.

5. That there is a need to review the approach taken to public transport information and publicity and to implement an approach which provides a more effective way of presenting and communicating this material to both users and non-users.

6. That there is a need to review the current minimalist approach taken to the maintenance of public transport infrastructure and find a way forward in partnership with commercial providers, parish and district councils and operators. This will improve the `shop window' of the public transport network and the quality of the environment while waiting for the bus.

7. That there is a need to improve the quality of supported services by raising the standards required and improving performance monitoring. There is also a need to encourage competition for such services to allow a better choice of operators and lower overall costs.

8. That there is a need to develop an equitable community transport sector across the county and to ensure that such provision effectively crosses county and district boundaries.

Progress on implementing the improvement plan

1. The preparation of the Bus Strategy is underway and it is expected that this will be completed on in September 2002 . The strategy will focus on the conclusion that the primary aim of the Council's activity this area should remain to ensure social inclusion. The strategy will be the subject of consultation with district councils, transport operators and other stakeholders who were involved in the review.

2. There has been good progress in attracting new funding, but unfortunately this has been against a background of increasing revenue support costs which have put great pressure on budgets which maintain existing services.

3. Improvements to the public transport network have been implemented as the result of Quality Partnerships agreements with operators.

4. The Forest Link service providing a flexible demand-responsive service in the Brockenhurst area started in June 2001, although after some initial problems with the operation the service was suspended in March 2002 and will be re-launched with improved connections with train services in Summer 2002 (see below)

5. A comprehensive Passenger Transport Information Strategy will be prepared on target, for implementation from April 2002.

6. Work is underway to establish the base position with regard to bus shelter maintenance by undertaking a survey of the ownership and condition of non-advertising shelters

7. The County Council is currently undertaking a corporate review of standards applied across the full range of passenger transport services that it supports. This review will form the basis for a revised set of public transport standards which will be applied to all new contracts from 2002.

8. The issue of equity in community transport action is to be addressed through the Community Transport Development Plan that will seek to identify the baseline level of provision and resources that will be required in each district.

Plans for future implementation

1. Analysis of the Bus Strategy to look at characteristics of each community, so as population, car ownership, age profiles and location of facilities and will set out both a minimum service level and the service level that the County Council will aspire to achieve when resources allow. When this work is completed in the autumn of 2002 it will, for the first time, be possible to clearly identify how the Council can best use its resources to meet the needs of users.

2. There will be a further increase in Rural Bus Service Grant in 2002/03 and although part of this will again be required to maintain the existing bus network it should be possible to introduce a small number of additional experimental services.

3. Further work on the Quality Partnership schemes that are underway between Portsmouth and Waterlooville, Aldershot and Yateley, Romsey and Southampton and Salisbury and Ringwood

4. Demand-responsive services will be introduced during 2002 as part of three Bus Challenge projects. Firstly, two services will be introduced to the north and west of Andover replacing conventional bus services as part of the TESTBED scheme, secondly, new facilities will be introduced in Havant, linking Leigh Park with local facilities particularly to meet work, medical and social needs and finally, the Forest Link scheme will be developed to provide a greater element of demand-responsive scheduled services, with particular attention to integration with rail services at Brockenhurst in partnership with South West Trains

5. Following the completion of the Passenger Transport Information Strategy the intention is to develop a Public Transport Information Partnership with transport operators and district councils.

6. Following the completion of the Community Transport review there will be a need to confirm support for the plan from key partners, including district and parish councils, health agencies and the voluntary sector and a start will then be made on implementing schemes subject to resources being identified.

Name:

Home to School Transport

Purpose:

To provide as effectively and efficiently as possible, home to school transport for pupils and students entitled by statutory requirement or County Council Policy. The service provided by the County Council under section 509 of the 1996 Education Act, and is delivered by using contracted buses and taxis, bus and rail season tickets and direct support for some parents and pupils.

Proposed improvements

· The policy on home to school transport should be kept under review

· Privilege transport charges should be brought closer to the full cost of providing the places

· Further investigation needed into charging or introduction of voluntary contributions for post-16 transport for students with special educational needs

· Representation should be made to government to enable legal changes for 5-16 year olds not entitled to free transport could be made.

· Further work is needed on the possible delegation of home to school transport budgets to schools, or clusters of schools

· Better co-ordination of transport policy is possible and this should be considered by the cross-cutting Best Value review of passenger transport

· The potential of externalising all County Council transport should be referred to by the cross-cutting Best Value review of passenger transport

· Improved working relationships between education and the passenger transport group should be implemented

· Recruitment to the escort service should reflect the ethnic balance within Hampshire

· Extend the number of schools where home to school transport is reviewed annually

· Promote the minibus scheme to more special schools and pupil referral units and extend the scheme to mainstream schools

· Consider a fleet of coaches to be owned by the county council

· Further encourage parents to provide transport where this does not lead to an increase in the number of vehicles using the road

· Further work with governing bodies where rationalising school opening and closing times could lead to savings in transport costs

· Use of all county council vehicles contribution towards providing home to school transport should be referred to the cross-cutting Best Value review of passenger transport

· Action should be taken to improve the time keeping of home to school transport and to improve the quality of vehicles without raising costs or decreasing competition

· Improve the information to parents on who to contact

· Improve the speed of dealing with transport problems

· Gather more information about service delivery, including incidents of vandalism

· Make more use of the internet for applications for home to school transport

Progress on implementing the improvement plan

· Following discussion with Cabinet Member, no policy change on denominational transport

· Charges for privilege transport increased by 20%

· Work on post-16 SEN policy held pending new Education Act

· Pilot study on Voluntary Contributions not yet implemented

· Representations made to government on HTST Policy

· Working Party set up to examine delegation/devolution of budgets to schools - to report by July 2002

· Co-ordination of transport across service departments referred to cross-cutting review - 2 pilot studies established

· Externalisation of transport management considered and rejected by cross-cutting review

· Improvements to working relationships achieved by joint training events and role clarification

· Number of area reviews extended to four rather than three. Further expansion limited by staffing pressures

· Mainstream schools, PRUs and Special Schools all involved in mini-bus scheme

· Executive member decided not to proceed on Fleet purchase at this time

· Unable to identify a school cluster where rationalisation of school times would produce a saving commensurate with the time involved

· Use of all County Council vehicles considered by Cross-Cutting Review and incorporate into new pilot study

· Contract revision underway to improve - amongst other things, vehicle quality and timekeeping

· Further work being undertaken on improving speed and response to complaints

· No action yet on E Government

Plans for future implementation

Further work needs to be undertaken on policy reviews, now that the provisions of the new Education Bill have been published. More urgency needs to be given to improving responses to parents. The results of this year's parental survey will help to provide the impetus. Further work need to take place with the Social Services Department in supporting the HTST needs of looked after children

Name:

Social Services Transport Services

Purpose:

Transport is provided to enable service users to attend services provided both in-house and purchased.

Section 2 (1) (d) of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 places a duty on local authorities to provide facilities for assistance to and from home to participate in any service provided by the local authority under section 29 of the National Assistance Act 1948.

The Best Value Review completed in March 2001 supported the option for testing out what the benefits would be of organising Social Services transport needs corporately. Anticipated advantages of this option are around economies of scale in purchasing, policy, co-ordination and brokerage.

Members endorsed a pilot approach for a period of 1 year. Discussions have commenced with the County Surveyor's Department and it is hoped that the pilot will commence early in 2002. Over the recent months a scoping exercise has been undertaken with staff from the Eastleigh/Romsey area to determine the level of activity and resources required.

In addition to the Social Services review of transport, the County Surveyor's Department undertook a review of Passenger Transport, the Education Department reviewed Home-to-school transport and a corporate cross-cutting transport review took place in 2001.

The Best Value Inspection of the cross-cutting review was carried out in October 2001 and the Feedback Session and Final Report are due in December 2001.

Proposed improvements

The action plan included in the outcome report itemised 18 outcomes, and listed below is the progress being made in various areas.

Progress on implementing the improvement plan

· Eligibility criteria have been drafted and circulated to all County Managers for comment.

· In-house accident report forms have been amended to ensure that the manager has to authorise the report.

· Consistent Health and Safety Standards to be applied across the County Council. A corporate working group has been set up to co-ordinate the development of suitable standards.

· The increase in the number of unit reviews (from 2 to 4 per annum) commenced April 2002

· The opportunity has been taken as part of the review of Support Services during the Department's restructuring to consider relevant accountability statements to ensure that the appropriate links with transport provision have been included.

· Integration of `home' to school transport for looked after children has been included within the cross cutting review of transport.

· Closer working arrangements with the Department's Health and Safety Advisers are now in place with regard to transport issues.

· Income generation - charging for transport is being considered within the wider charging debate.

Plans for future implementation

Work will continue with our partners listed below who provide transport services to ensure that our service objectives are being met.

Hampshire Transport Management

Education Department

County Surveyor's Department

Name

Legal services

Purpose of the service

Legal services provide legal advice and support to all committees, members and departments, ensuring the County Council acts with integrity across the wide range of its activities.

Proposed improvements

· The review has reinforced a mindset which challenges the status quo. An example is the containment of spending on Child Protection cases, achieved by a combination of comparing money spent on Counsel fees with that in other authorities and taking action to increase in-house capability and social worker awareness of when it is appropriate to seek professional advice.

· Benchmarking with other local authorities has enabled the County Council to identify best practice and to implement improvements or efficiencies within the service at no extra cost. In future years it is anticipated that the development of nationally accepted performance indicators will enable Hampshire to measure and target its performance with the best in the field.

· The involvement of customers in the process and the results of the consultation have clarified future mechanisms for consultation.

· A significant number of operational improvements have been agreed with staff and will be implemented over a two year period.

Progress on implementing the improvement plan

Progress has been made in implementing the many action points set out in the Action Plan. Significant developments over the past 12 months are:-

· Investors in People accreditation has been obtained, following independent assessment.

· Legal Services has maintained Lexcel accreditation (indicating that the Law Society's best practice requirements are being met), following independent assessment in December 2001. To maintain the accreditation, a new enhanced set of standards needed to be met, including requirements for effective risk management procedures. The assessors' report states that case management and people management processes had improved since the previous assessment in December 2000.

· A summary of client responses to case- specific feedback questionnaires is now produced on a quarterly basis, and is available for reference by staff and clients. These indicate that clients are either satisfied or very satisfied in 98-99% of cases. Any expression of dissatisfaction is considered with a view to how services could be improved.

A desktop inspection of the service was carried out by the Audit Commission's Best Value Inspection Service in March 2001. A draft report was produced in August 2001, but contained a number of inaccuracies and flaws. Although a final report was received in December 2001, it has been acknowledged by the Acting Lead Inspector that there has been a lack of inspection quality in this instance. The report is therefore of limited value. Many of the recommendations in the report have been overtaken, in any event, by completed actions in the plan attached.

Plans for future implementation

The Action Plan was updated in July 2001 to include a number of new requirements. The action to develop web-pages on Hantsnet 2000 should enable further improvements to be achieved in communications with clients. Another action for the coming 12 months is a peer review with other legal services providers. It is important that the service continues to stay comparative while identifying further areas for improvement. The proposed peer review should assist in this respect.