In general, local authority day care facilities and residential homes, particularly those which are relatively new and purpose built, provide high quality services. The council is currently undertaking a number of best value reviews in these services which will recommend further improvements to the physical environment and the provision of care. The authority is working closely with service users and carers in the design and development of services. The respite centre for children and young people with special needs is valued highly by the children who use it and their parents. The authority has well developed systems for supporting staff in their work and is, therefore, better placed to attract and keep good quality staff.
Comprehensive systems are in place for the management of performance across social work services.
Through benefit checks and tribunal representation service users have received an extra 474,700 in unclaimed benefits and 773,000 as a result of successful appeals. Some services are less accessible to people in outlying rural areas and levels of consistency need to be addressed. The current information system is adequate for management information needs but is not yet used as a tool for practice. Attention now needs to be focused in this direction. The information contained on this WWW site is Crown Copyright but may be reproduced without formal permission or charge for personal or in-house use.