Social exclusion

The outcomes for looked after children in Hertfordshire in 2008/09 showed improvement across all the key stages of the National Curriculum. Further work has been identified to increase performance in 2009/10.

National Achievement Targets

NI 99 and 100 - Looked after children reaching level 4 in English and Mathematics (respectively)at key stage 2. Performance improved for both indicators. The national average at this level is a good indicator of success in achieving 5 good GCSEs at age 16.

OC2 indicator: The number of looked after children who were in care for at least one year who were in Year 11 and achieved the equivalent of at least 5 A*-C GCSEs or GNVQ equivalent. In Hertfordshire, 9% achieved at least 5 A*-C GCSEs, this figure increased to 21% for the attainment of at least 5 A*-C GCSEs or GNVQ equivalent.

Percentage of Care Leavers Engaged in Education

The number of students who succeeded in gaining places at university remained high again this year at 8% with 13 students taking up places. This figure still exceeds the national average of 6%.

Source: Hertfordshire County Council Coprorate Parenting Data Management December 2008

Hertfordshire County Council has developed a plan to increase the opportunity for work experience, training and actual employment for care leavers. 62 young people have already been placed in work placements with other employers, whilst 3 others have taken up apprenticeships with employers arranged by the Teenagers to Work project worker.

There has been a rising trend of participation in education, training and employment over the past three years. The 16+ specialist Connexions workers within the Education Support Service have focused on working with young people who are not in education or employment (NEET), and have had significant success in reducing the number of young people in this category. A further reduction is anticipated to be reported in March 2010.

Indicator SE3 - Access to Transport

Access to key services, i.e. healthcare, education, work and food shops requires the availability of car, passenger, community or sustainable transport. Those people who have difficulty getting to key services may find that social exclusion is exacerbated. Local accessibility is measured by NI 175: Hertfordshire’s adaptation of this indicator is ‘percentage of people who find it difficult to travel to a local hospital’. The figure for 2008/09 is 30%. The target is 24% by 2010/11.

In 2009, several schemes implemented from the Accessibility Strategy 2006-2011 continued to help socially excluded groups. Apart from road engineering improvements which created more accessible routes, noteworthy schemes are:

The Lister and Broxbourne Shuttles: two separate services that transport patients and their visitors to hospitals in the east and north of the county. Numbers of passengers continue to grow, many are referred to the scheme when they ring the Travellink number which advises patients on the most appropriate transport solution for their needs.

SCooTs: a scheme that lends scooters for a set period of time to young people accessing training and job opportunities where there is no available passenger transport. There are currently 28 people in the scheme, however over its lifetime it has helped 83 people. The take-up of the project continues to grow to the extent that there are now 5 people on the waiting list. In 2009 the scheme had 30 scooters and 2 electric scooters, all were in use by young people.

Hertfordshire Partnership to Support Independent Travel met regularly in 2009 to discuss potential projects; the group continued to monitor the use of a training DVD for bus drivers to understand the needs of disabled passengers, as well as monitoring the number of orange travel wallets that have been distributed to disabled passengers who use buses. A booklet was also launched, along with posters, to help people who are disabled, older or mobility impaired to find contact details of community transport providers and help them access transport to a variety of services including health.

Indicator SE4 - Teenage Pregnancy (Under 18 Conception Rate)

Source: Hertfordshire County Council Teenage Pregnancy Strategy Unit 2009
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Data received in 2009 from the Office of National Statistics show that Hertfordshire’s under 18 conception rate was 26.3 per 1,000. This compares favourably with East of England under 18 conception rates – 33.1 per 1,000, and all of England 41.9 per 1,000.

The Ten Year Teenage Pregnancy Strategy, which commenced in 1998, gave Hertfordshire a target of a reduction in rates of 45% by 2010. This target would have taken our rates down to 17.6. Hertfordshire will not now meet its planned trajectory.

However, the Hertfordshire Teenage Pregnancy Strategy Unit and its partner agencies are working very closely together to improve services and facilities for young people and young parents.

Indicator SE5 - Child Well-being Index

Source: Local Index of Child Well-being 2009 Communities and Local Government January 2009

The Child Well-being Index (CWI) is an index designed to cover the major areas of a child’s life that have an impact on a child’s well-being. It is not an index of deprivation, as many of the variables are not strictly related to deprivation. The CWI is produced at Lower Super Output Area level (LSOAs) and is made up of seven areas: material well-being, health, education, crime, housing, environment and children (at risk of being) in need.

East Herts is ranked the fourth highest area within the CWI out of 354 districts in England. 80% of the district’s LSOAs are within the best 20% in the country. By contrast Broxbourne is ranked 164th although it is still within the top 50%. It has, however, five LSOAs within the lowest 20% in the country. There are four other districts who also have one or two LSOAs in the worst 20%; Dacorum, Hertsmere, Three Rivers and Watford.

It is of note that although Stevenage is ranked 147th in the country with only 6 LSOAs in the best 20%, it does not have any within the worst 20%.

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