EDUCATION WELFARE SERVICE - BEST VALUE REVIEW

1. The Executive Member has considered an outcomes report, followed by an action plan, arising from the Best Value Review undertaken into the Education Welfare Service. The core function of that service is to help promote the regular and punctual school attendance of pupils: regular attendance and punctuality will help pupils fulfil their educational potential and increase their opportunity to contribute fully to an inclusive society.

2. The Education Welfare Service was recently restructured in order to meet concerns expressed during the course of an inspection by the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) which had identified weaknesses in planning, high turnover and the need for greater levels of support to increase school attendance levels further. The consultation and comparison exercises undertaken during the course of the review showed considerable satisfaction with services provided by the Education Welfare Service, which compares favourably with that of other local authorities in terms of cost.

3. Several specific areas for development were identified as outcomes:

· Further increase in already high school attendance levels.


· Improved support to "looked after" children, particularly in relation to school attendance.


· Achievement of an equalities ethos in both service delivery and service establishment.


· Reduced crime arising from increased school attendance levels.

4. An improvement plan to deliver the service outcomes set out above has been prepared, based on the option of undertaking a pilot study of retaining a centrally controlled service but locating Education Welfare Officers in schools and undertaking a range of other service improvements. On that basis the Executive Member has given approval to implementing the improvement plan for the Education Welfare Service.

8FR50603