North East Lincolnshire Council organisational assessment 2009

Overall, North East Lincolnshire Council performs adequately

Description of scores:

1. An organisation that does not meet minimum requirements, Performs Poorly
2. An organisation that meets only minimum requirements, Performs Adequately
3. An organisation that exceeds minimum requirements, Performs Well
4. An organisation that significantly exceeds minimum requirements, Performs Excellently

Summary

Overall North East Lincolnshire performs adequately. The Council has made adequate progress on tackling the priorities agreed for North East Lincolnshire. The council is adequate overall at managing its money and making savings. But there have been shortcomings in treasury management and also the delivery of the capital programme.

The Council has a clear vision of what it needs to deliver, based on an assessment of local need. During the year the Council revised its strategic aims, and launched a new council plan. This is now more focused on delivering outcomes for the community.

The Council scores 2 out of 4 for managing its performance. Many of the Council’s services are effective and improve end results for people in North East Lincolnshire. It works well in partnership with other local organisations for example in reducing crime. The Council has contributed well to improving things in a number of priority areas. For example, increasing the numbers of 16 to 18 year olds in education, employment or training, and supporting more older people to live at home. It has been less successful in other areas, such as trying to reduce some health inequalities and improving housing services for vulnerable people.

Performance on recycling and composting is improving but not as fast as other Councils and there are still large numbers of children who are overweight and there are more teenage pregnancies than the national and regional average.

Ofsted has rated the Council’s children’s services as performing well. The overall effectiveness of a large majority of inspected and regulated services and settings is good or better. Performance against the very large majority of national indicators, including those for staying safe and enjoying and achieving, is at least in line with similar areas and national figures.

Performance in nursery schools, special schools, pupil referral units, school sixth forms and the sixth form college is above that found in similar areas and nationally. However, performance in primary and, particularly, secondary schools is not as strong, with both performing below comparators. There is a significant weakness in relation to educational outcomes and six secondary schools do not meet the minimum standards expected by the government at the age of 16 in August 2008. At age 11 and 16, gaps in achievement for groups whose circumstances make them vulnerable show good recent improvements.

Information supplied by the Council from the most recent 2009 GCSE results suggests exam results in North East Lincolnshire have continued to improve overall. But not all pupils in North East Lincolnshire are benefiting from these improved results. There is too much variability three secondary schools out of eleven still do not meet the minimum targets set by government.

The Care Quality Commission has rated the adult social care services as performing well. More people are being helped to live at home and fewer people are entering residential care but the use of residential care in North East Lincolnshire is high and does not provide good value for money. There is good provision of equipment for people to live at home but adaptations that are necessary to help people live at home are slow to be provided. The Council’s safeguarding arrangements have not yet been fully applied to Supporting People funded services although this work has begun.

Councillors and managers are well informed about progress against priorities receiving regular performance reports. However, there has been a lack of challenge from Councillors and managers in the past. This has been identified and revised structures have been introduced. There is a need to ensure that challenge in the future leads to improvement. Executive Directors now have a responsibility for the performance of their own priority area and also have a role as a ‘critical friend’ for one of the other priorities. This is to increase the challenge within the organisation and is intended to drive significant improvement. This new arrangement was implemented in April 2009 and its full potential is not yet being realised.

The results of the recent Place survey show that satisfaction with the Council has fallen since 2006/07 and now only 4 out 10 people are satisfied with the way that the Council runs things. This is below the national average but very similar to the regional average. The survey also shows that there are particular concerns around anti social behaviour. The public think that this is a problem and that not enough is being done about it. Rowdiness and drunken behaviour is also perceived to be a problem.

The Council works well to drive change and contribute to wider community outcomes through joint working with other organisations. For example, it has developed an innovative arrangement with North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus to provide a new integrated method of service delivery.

The Council scores 2 out of 4 for use of resources. It manages its finances adequately overall, but there have been shortcomings in treasury management and also the delivery of the capital programme. Failings in treasury management highlighted by investments in Icelandic banks led to a Public Interest Report. It showed weaknesses in the Council’s internal control arrangements which impacted upon the way it manages its finances. There was also a lack of realism in the Council’s approved capital programme. Despite significant re-profiling early in the year the planned capital was not spent. Improvements are required to ensure decision makers are provided with full information on the finances involved and the anticipated impact of options for change.

The Council has adequate arrangements to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the use of resources, except that it did not put in place adequate arrangements for: planning its finances effectively to deliver its strategic priorities and secure sound financial health; and managing risks and maintaining a sound system of internal control.

There are examples of the Council applying service redesign to improve the way it operates. However, the value for money strategy has not been fully implemented across the Council to act as a driver for service redesign. Many of the service reviews being undertaken are at an early stage.

Total spending is currently above average compared to similar councils. In 2008/2009 it saved £2 million, but it is not currently on track to save £3 million in 2009/2010. However, the Council has a track record of achieving these savings in the past. Savings are now being spent on improving local priorities.

About North East Lincolnshire Council

About 158,000 people live in North East Lincolnshire. North East Lincolnshire is deprived compared to other places in the country. Deprivation is concentrated in pockets, related to worklessness and in particular long term unemployment and low level skills. The health of people in North East Lincolnshire is generally worse than the England average. Early deaths from heart disease and stroke and from cancer are higher than the England averages and life expectancy is lower than the England average. The Council and its partners face a big challenge to improve the quality of life and prospects for the people of North East Lincolnshire. The population is predicted to increase by 12 per cent by 2031 but this increase is relatively small. However, the over 50 age group is expected to increase more than the England average. The population of the area is becoming more diverse, the BME population has increased to just under 5 per cent in June 2007.

North East Lincolnshire Council has 42 elected councillors each representing an area of the Borough. Since May 2009 it is controlled by a minority Liberal Democrat administration with a leader and cabinet model of governance. The Council provides services like schools, recycling and waste collection, some transport services and managing emergencies, like floods. It also deals with council tax collection, housing and leisure services.

Organisational assessment in detail

How well is the organisation delivering its priority services, outcomes and improvements that are important to local people?

Effective at identifying and delivering priority services and outcomes

The Council has developed new strategic aims for 2009-2012, which focus on improvements that are important to local communities and are priorities for the borough. Its four new strategic aims are:

- improve the quality of the built and natural environment;

- strengthen the local economy;

- create a safer and more secure area; and

- improve health and well-being.

Supporting these is a fifth priority to be a well managed, top performing council. Previously the Council had too many priorities, which has made it difficult to focus money and staff time on the most important areas for improvement.

The Council provides a number of opportunities for the public to influence how the Council spends taxpayer’s money and uses its staff, for example, Immingham consultation week. However, residents are not engaging in these opportunities. Satisfaction with their ability to influence decisions affecting their area is lower than average. The Council and the organisations it works with are trying to give people more say in local decisions. For example, the borough’s first community engagement week, ‘The Big Conversation’, took place in September 2008, involving over 2,000 people.  

The views of children and young people in North East Lincolnshire are valued. Well established opportunities to involve and consult with children and young people allow them to influence overall plans, services and decisions. This means the Council and the organisations it works with know what children and young people in the borough, including vulnerable young people, need and can plan services to meet their needs.

The Council continues to gather information about its customers to inform service provision but this needs to be more systematic and drive service design and delivery so that services are delivered fairly and equally across different communities.

Improving the services and outcomes for which the Council is responsible

Three-quarters of residents in North East Lincolnshire are satisfied with their immediate local area as a place to live. This is broadly the same as the average for similar areas but lower than the national average of 81 per cent.

Until this year the Council’s priorities were:

- neighbourhood improvement;

- regeneration and strategic housing;

- children’s services;

- older and vulnerable people;

- health and well-being; and

- culture.

Performance against each of these priorities is set out below.

Neighbourhood improvement 

North East Lincolnshire is generally safer today than it was a year ago. The Council and police have worked well together to achieve a significant fall in overall crime levels. Domestic burglary, robbery and car crime fell by 26 per cent in 2008/9, the equivalent of almost 1,300 fewer crimes than in the previous year. Effective practice has been implemented to manage the night time economy. But success has not been achieved across all types of crime. Violent crime has increased, and overall crime levels remain high. Antisocial behaviour and drug use or dealing is more of a problem to people in North East Lincolnshire than it is for those living in other parts of the country. A high proportion of the borough’s residents do not have confidence that crime and antisocial behaviour are being dealt with effectively. Their feelings about how well local people from different backgrounds get on together are also among the least positive in the country.

The Council and police know they need to do more to tackle youth crime and anti-social behaviour. So staff responsible for crime prevention and law enforcement from both organisations have been brought together in a single team to deliver a new Respect Youth Matters Action Plan. The Youth Task Force has earmarked a further £700,000 over the next two years to help cut youth crime and anti-social behaviour. More people are now working with parents of children with challenging behaviour to reduce the possibility of family behaviour becoming chaotic. A dedicated anti-social behaviour reporting line is launching in the borough this year.

Satisfaction with how clean the borough is kept is lower than the national average. Although Cleethorpes has recently been awarded a gold award from Britain in Bloom for winning the best seaside resort category. Its performance is falling behind others despite an increase in waste recycled and composted in the borough. There are very high levels of satisfaction with recycling facilities among residents. But there are large amounts of waste collected rather than being recycled. Because of this the Council has stepped up its publicity and education campaign to change people’s attitudes to recycling. For example:

- its ‘door step’ campaign is encouraging take up of the kerbside triple box scheme for glass, cans and paper;

- more schools have become involved in recycling; and

- smaller waste bins are now provided for new properties and to residents who ask for them.

However, the ‘door step’ campaign has had limited impact so far on the overall amount of waste recycled, and the Council does not know the likely take up of smaller bins or how much difference they will make. A weekly refuse collection service continues to run, which is popular but does not encourage people to recycle.

The Council and it’s partners are developing a neighbourhood management model. This is aimed at giving local communities more say in local democracy, enhancing the community leadership role and delivering improved local services. However, it is too early to see the impact of this new arrangement.

Regeneration and strategic housing 

North East Lincolnshire Council has a good understanding of the regeneration issues in its area with its strengths and weaknesses and the challenges it is facing. It has a robust and well founded regeneration strategy which builds on the strengths of the area, and its economic development service has already delivered considerable inward investment to the area. Support is being delivered to key sectors such as chemicals and fish processing. It has good partnerships with key stakeholders in the area such as major firms, and has an increasingly good reputation locally and regionally. The Council in the main provides good support for development of key sites in the area, and fulfils its role well in regeneration, although some improvement could be made in addressing planning and environmental issues.

The renaissance of Grimsby and Cleethorpes is now gathering pace after a slow start, although this is likely to be delayed due to the recession. The Council is good at engaging with local residents and businesses affected by these developments. The Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI) is now having success in creating new business start-ups and jobs. The Council has turned its attention more recently to tackling persistent worklessness in the area. It is about to roll out a series of innovative activities that will benefit those in the most deprived parts of the borough.

The Council has a good understanding of local housing needs and the condition of the areas housing stock. To an extent the Council has shaped services around this but it has missed some important targets and weaknesses remain. North East Lincolnshire has some significant housing problems. In East and West Marsh, Cleethorpes and Hainton, Heneage and Park areas over 40 per cent of properties ﴾4,900﴿ do not meet the decent homes standard. However, the number of empty properties is falling. Investment has been secured to bring all social housing in North East Lincolnshire up to the decent homes standard by 2010. The number of new homes, especially affordable housing, built in the borough over the last three years will not meet local housing needs. However, the number of new affordable homes is increasing this year and future projections are more encouraging. 

Homes are becoming more energy efficient, saving people money and reducing carbon emissions. Joint working by the Council, South Humber Energy Efficiency Partnership ﴾SHEEP﴿ and Warm Front has resulted in over 3,000 homes receiving energy efficiency improvements between April and December 2008. However, the energy efficiency rating of homes is lower than the regional average but the same as the national average. And new homes being built do not benefit from the highest standards of renewable energy provision.

Children’s services

The rating for children’s services in North East Lincolnshire Council is that it performs well. The overall effectiveness of a large majority of inspected and regulated services and settings is good or better. Performance in nursery schools, special schools, pupil referral units, school sixth forms and the sixth form college is above that found in similar areas and nationally. However, performance in primary and, particularly, secondary schools is not as strong, with both performing below comparators. The overall effectiveness of childcare providers is above that found in similar areas and nationally, although for childminders it is below that found nationally. Judgements for staying safe and for enjoying and achieving in inspected services are good or better in a very large majority of cases.

Performance against the very large majority of national indicators, including those for staying safe and enjoying and achieving, is at least in line with similar areas and national figures. However, there is a significant weakness in relation to educational outcomes and six secondary schools did not meet the minimum standards expected by the government at the age of 16 in August 2008. Achievement at the age of 19 is also low. At age 11 and 16, gaps in achievement for groups whose circumstances make them vulnerable show good recent improvements.

Information supplied by the Council from the most recent 2009 GCSE results suggests exam results in North East Lincolnshire have continued to improve overall. Provisional results show the number of students getting 5 A*C GCSEs including English and Maths increased by over 6 per cent, from 39.6 per cent in 2008 to 46 per cent in 2009. But not all pupils in North East Lincolnshire are benefiting from these improved results. There is too much variability three secondary schools out of eleven still do not meet the minimum targets set by government.  

One school achieved 86 per cent 5A*C GCSEs including English and Maths, whilst another school achieved a disappointing 18 per cent having achieved 37 per cent in 2008. Action needs to be taken to make sure the prospects of some students are not damaged and inequalities further increased by poor performance in certain schools.

There is cause for concern about over weight children and teenage pregnancy in North East Lincolnshire. Large numbers of children in reception year and year 6 are over weight and in 2007/08 this was above the regional and national average. Figures supplied to us by the Council show that performance has improved for year 6 children with a fall from 19.6 per cent to 18.7 per cent. But for children in reception class the situation got worse with 11.9 per cent of children being over weight. This missed the target of 10 per cent that the Council had set itself. The number of teenage children getting pregnant is also high. The rate has fallen since the baseline year of 1998 from 70 per 1,000 to the most recent figure of 64 per 1,000 but this is still above the regional and national averages. This is also a long way from the stretch target of 35 per 1,000.

The number of young people entering the youth justice system for the first time has reduced and a higher number of young offenders receive a custodial sentence than in similar areas. Young offenders’ access to suitable accommodation has improved well and is good.

Good work has been done to identify the skills local employers want and to provide opportunities for young people to enter the workforce with those skills. For example, an agreement with employers guarantees an apprenticeship for young people studying for an Engineering Diploma at the end of Year 11. More young people are successfully completing apprenticeships, advanced apprenticeships and Further Education long course programmes.

The Council has worked well to get young people who are eligible to leave school to go into either education, employment or training. Results have been very good and the numbers not in education, employment or training have fallen from 10 per cent to 6 per cent in the last five years to 2008. Partners have also contributed to this success for example, the Care Trust Plus has established some starter posts for young people who would otherwise not be in education, employment or training. A criteria for these posts is that applicants are from families suffering from second or third generation unemployment.

Older and vulnerable people

Overall North East Lincolnshire is performing well on adults social care services.

More people are being helped to live at home and fewer people are entering residential care. However, use of residential care is high in North East Lincolnshire as at March 2008was almost twice the national average. This is not good for individuals who prefer to be at home and it is expensive and therefore does not represent good value for money. The issue has been recognised and £1 Million pounds has been moved from supporting placements in residential care to supporting people to live at home. It is not yet possible to show how effective this strategy has been. 

The waiting times for major and minor adaptations, adaptations that help people to live at home are increasing. Waiting periods for major adaptations shows a significant increase with average waits being over 32 weeks.

The proportion of staff (including those in the independent sector) trained on safeguarding matters is below that of other councils. There has been an increase in the number of referrals and more of these cases are completed than was the case last year. The Council’s safeguarding arrangements have not yet been fully applied to Supporting People funded services although this work has begun. A review of the safeguarding arrangements has been done and recommendations are being implemented but it is too early to see the impact of this work.

There is good focus on equalities, access to services is good because the eligibility criteria are easy to achieve. There are a range of initiatives in place to engage with people from minority groups. Open Door provides access to services to some of the most disadvantaged groups in the North East Lincolnshire community. However, only level 1 of the equality standard for local government has been achieved by the Care Trust Plus who provide services on behalf of the Council. 

The Supporting People programme in North East Lincolnshire is still failing to meet needs, despite the involvement of a number of outside agencies. 

Vulnerable people in the area are not able to get housing related support to help them find and keep a home. The Council has not carried out work to understand the needs of local people and so is not in a position to work with partners in health, social care and probation to make sure that services are put in place. Vulnerable people are not involved in the planning and delivery of services and so do not have a chance to make sure that services meet their needs. It is not clear that all the housing related support services provided are helping people to find and keep a home and some of the money is being used to pay for care. The Council must do more to make sure that the vulnerable people, including young people, are kept safe in the housing related support services that they receive.

More people are receiving help to avoid becoming homeless. The Council helped 85 people in 2007/08, compared to 49 in 2006/07. The number of families living in temporary accommodation has also fallen significantly. But temporary accommodation in poor quality bed and breakfast accommodation is still used routinely. The needs of several vulnerable groups, especially homeless 16- and 17-year-olds are not being met. Many homeless families continue to suffer the damaging experience of living in temporary accommodation and vulnerable young people are being put at risk.

Health and wellbeing

North East Lincolnshire Council and North East Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust entered into an innovative partnership arrangement starting in September 2007. This arrangement saw the transfer of services between the two organisations and thus the creation of the Care Trust Plus. There were three distinct elements to the new partnering arrangements:

- integration of health and social care provision and commissioning for adult services into a care trust covering North East Lincolnshire;

- creation of a Children’s Trust for health and social care commissioning and community provision of children’s services covering North East Lincolnshire; and

- provision of a joint public health function, positioned within the Council, to maximise the positive impact on improved health and well being.

This is a good development and has already led to improved working practices. Early indications show that performance has also improved in adult social care since the arrangements were put in place and that staff generally feel positive about the changes. Work is still ongoing in developing the arrangements but potentially significant benefits are possible with this new arrangement.

People in North East Lincolnshire are generally living longer although their life expectancy is shorter than the national average. Early deaths from heart disease, strokes and cancers are high and more people feel in poor health compared with national figures. Participation in sport by children and young people is low, and childhood obesity has increased.

Health trainers are supporting people to make healthier lifestyle choices including – stopping smoking, eating healthily, increasing physical activity,  drinking sensibly. They are focussing on people living in the more disadvantaged parts of the borough. Fewer people are smoking following referrals to specialist services, but the number of people smoking is still high.

Culture

More people are taking part in cultural activities. Nearly 1.1 million people visited museums and libraries in the borough during 2008/9, an increase of 4 per cent compared to the previous year. Improved and newly reopened facilities, such as the Discovery Centre expansion and relocation of the Tourist Information Centre to Cleethorpes Library, have boosted visitor numbers. But the proportion of adults using public libraries, visiting museums and galleries and attending or taking part in the arts are all below national and regional averages.

Adult participation in sport and physical activity and use of the borough’s leisure centres are low but is increasing year on year. And free swimming for the over 60s is proving popular.

The Council plans to improve its leisure provision significantly. It is working to rationalise, refurbish or rebuild its ageing buildings and integrate community based leisure provision into its future schools building programme. This is expected to increase participation levels and help improve people’s health, while increasing community use of schools. Over £15.1 million is earmarked to fund improvements in leisure facilities over the next ten years. However, these plans are at an early stage. 

Does the organisation have the leadership, capacity and capability it needs to deliver future improvements?

The Council recognises that it faces significant challenges in the future. Although improvements are being made, these need to continue and at faster rate to reduce the gap between North East Lincolnshire and the rest of the country.

The Council has redefined its strategic aims, reflecting a clearer understanding and focus on what is important to the area and local people. The way the Council organises its staff reflects these new priorities and the transfer of services for adults to the Care Trust Plus. A new management team is now in place and should provide stronger leadership to support the Council’s drive for faster, targeted improvement. Performance management arrangements have also been strengthened with each Director being responsible for a priority area and acting as a ‘critical friend’ for one of the other priorities. This is to increase the challenge within the organisation and to drive significant improvement. This arrangement is in its infancy, is still developing so its full potential is not yet being realised.

New delivery models are in place involving the transfer and integration of staff between the Council, Primary Care Trust and police. These reflect a flexible approach to workforce planning and increase capacity and capability to deliver priorities. The Council’s staff are also increasingly positive about North East Lincolnshire as a place to work. Of the 23 questions asked in the 2006 staff survey and repeated in the first ‘In It Together’ online employee opinion survey in 2008, scores against nineteen increased.

The Council and its partners recognised the need to further strengthen its partnership working to effectively deliver local priorities and took a positive approach to brining in support. The action plan to address improvements identified by an independent review of the overall partnership of different organisations in the area is being implemented. It is also working to improve its involvement, working relationships and support for the voluntary and community sector in the borough. This includes looking at funding arrangements and how to make better use of council-owned buildings to support community use.

The Council’s Towards Top Performance Programme (TTP) is the major part of its improvement work. It aims to deliver the transformation the Council needs to become a high performing organisation that meets the needs of local people and service users. TTP is organised round the four themes of:

- excellence in customer service;

- high performing council;

- efficiency and effectiveness; and

- regeneration and property.

TTP is helping the Council to focus on improvement in some priority areas. For example, improved customer access points have opened in Grimsby and Cleethorpes and further work to improve customer services is underway. However, the benefits local people can expect to see from the programme are not always clear. Staff understanding of the programme, their views on how well the Council manages change and concerns about some aspects of its organisational culture will need to be addressed if the transformation is to be achieved.

The regeneration service does not currently have sufficient capacity to deliver its ambitions. Capacity is being addressed as part of the TTP programme through a procurement exercise to find a private sector regeneration partner but the outcomes the Council wants from this exercise are not yet clear. The Council is starting to work across boundaries to enhance capacity, such as with North Lincolnshire on the south Humber Gateway and the economic assessment, and with the whole sub region on the successful bid to the Future Jobs Fund.

The Council had £7 million invested with Icelandic banks when the system collapsed. This came about partly because of weaknesses in how the Council manages its finances. The Audit Commission has issued a Public Interest Report in respect of this matter and the Council has introduced additional capacity which means it is better placed to address the recommendations.

Find out more

• Find out more about organisational assessments

• View performance information for North East Lincolnshire