Agenda and minutes

Cllr Jon Hubbard’s resignation as Vice-Chairman of the Committee takes effect from this meeting.  It is therefore necessary to elect a new Vice-Chairman.

Nominations will be sought orally from those present at the meeting.  Voting will be by way of a show of hands.

The Chairman thanked Cllr Jon Hubbard for his work and sense of humour in Vice-Chairing the Committee since July 2009.

Cllr Jacqui Lay was appointed as the new Vice-Chairman.

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Mr Chris Dark, Cllr Peter Fuller, Cllr Jon Hubbard, Mr Neil Owen and Cllr Pip Ridout.

Cllr Howard Marshall substituted for Cllr Jon Hubbard.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 8 June 2010.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 June 2010 were approved as a correct record.

To receive any declarations of personal or prejudicial interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

No declarations of interest were received.

1.         Agenda Papers

At the Committee’s June meeting, members were asked to submit suggestions as to the Committee’s future focus, in light of the Coalition Government’s plans for children and education. 

The responses were collated and a paper containing the feedback circulated at the meeting.  It was suggested members referred to the paper under Agenda Item No. 08.

2.                  Downland School Funding

At the Committee’s May meeting, it was reported that Mr Neil Owen and the Chairman would meet with the Corporate Director for Children & Education to discuss a funding issue in relation to Downland School.  A recent moderation exercise had revealed that the school had been over-funded for several years due to a mismatch between the DCSF census form and the formula used by the Council to calculate appropriate funding. The Schools Forum subsequently agreed to implement a transition period where the school’s funding would be reduced to the correct level over a period of four years.

During the meeting, officers provided assurance that the census form and funding formula had now been aligned to ensure the mistake could not be repeated.  A proposal was also to be put to the Schools Forum to review the arrangements for transition funding after 2 years to establish how the school was progressing and whether the transition funding was still required. This was agreed.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting.  Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item.  The Chairman will, however, exercise her discretion in order to ensure that members of the public have the opportunity to contribute.

Members of the public wishing to ask a question should give written notice (including details of any question) to the officer named above by 12:00 noon on 18 July 2010.

Mrs Annette Griffin and Mrs Ruth Greening attended the meeting to submit questions on Item No. 11 – Review of SEN Provision Post Consultation Report.

It was agreed that the questions would be dealt with during the item itself.

A report from Alistair Cunningham, Service Director for Economy and Enterprise, on the level of basic skills amongst people in Wiltshire. This follows the comment in the 2009 Common Area Assessment (CAA) that “too many people in Wiltshire do not have basic reading and maths qualifications. Public services have increased their targets for the number of people getting basic qualifications but it is not clear whether they have met them.”

Alistair Cunningham, Service Director for Economy and Enterprise, presented a report on the level of Basic Skills (amongst adults) in Wiltshire.

This initial report was requested following comments in the 2009 Common Area Assessment that “too many people in Wiltshire did not have basic reading and maths qualifications.  Public services had increased their targets for the number of people getting basic qualifications but it was not clear whether they had met them.”

The following points were discussed:

(a)   There was significant concern around data quality with respect to Basic Skills, specifically the data submitted by the Skills Funding Agency to support performance management of the LAA/Local Agreement for Wiltshire. There was little confidence in this data or target data and this concern had been escalated to the Skills Funding Agency directly.

(b)   Although Wiltshire was within the lowest quartile of the statistics in relation to NI163 (working age population qualified to at least a Level 2 or higher), Wiltshire was performing well in relation to Basic Skills attainment in comparison to regional and national figures.

(c)   27% of Wiltshire’s working age population (approximately 73,000 people) have below Level 2 qualifications. Approximately 2,000 pupils left school in 2009/10 without 5 GCSEs or higher (the benchmark for Level 2), equating to a quarter of the county’s younger population.

(d)   It had been thought previously that the overall level of Basic Skills in Wiltshire was skewed downwards by the number of people in the armed services, who tended to have fewer academic qualifications. In reality, those in the armed services often achieve degree-level qualifications as part of their employment training programme.

(e)   Work was being done to identify all Basic Skills learning provision currently available in Wiltshire to ensure proper coordination by the Council. However, this was complicated by coinciding with the Coalition Government’s evolving agenda.

(f)     A proposal existed relating to joined-up working between Connexions and Wiltshire College regarding pathways for NEETs, i.e. progression routes/opportunities to bring young people back into the job market.  This was under consideration by the Wiltshire Programme Board. 

(g)   A Wiltshire Strategic Economic Partnerships would be established across a local geographic area.  Wiltshire Council would work with Swindon and Gloucester, or Dorset & Poole and Hampshire Councils.

(h)   Members considered whether the activity to increase Basic Skills in Wiltshire, enabled by receipt of a Performance Reward Grant, would benefit from consideration by a Task Group.  As the Grant had only been received in April and the project was due to commence in August it was proposed that the Committee receive an interim report on activities at the beginning of 2011. This report would include details of what work was being undertaken to address the issues of commuter figures (a significant number of Wiltshire residents worked outside of the Wiltshire area) and the shortage of skilled workers in the manufacturing industry. 

Resolved:

1.                  To note the report, including the progress made in improving the level of Basic Skills attainment in Wiltshire and the current and planned activity  ...  view the full minutes text for item 93.

At the Committee’s 8 June 2010 meeting, Members requested that a standing item be included on every Agenda providing updates on the new Government’s proposals for children’s services and education.

A verbal update to the written report will be provided at the meeting.

Members are asked to note the update.

The Service Director, Schools & Learning, introduced a report detailing the latest proposals from the Coalition Government in relation to children’s services and education.

The following points were discussed:

(a)         Further budget cuts could potentially be experienced within this financial year. £415k from the Children’s Centres budget had already been removed, and from November, the Council would receive no further funding for teacher training and teaching assistants. £1.9M on Quality and Access in Early Years to help design small buildings in schools could also go.

(b)         The Education Act in the autumn would set out accountabilities for local authorities. The Council currently has responsibility for school place planning, but it would be difficult to manage this function for academies.

(c)         DCE were also awaiting further details on the Academies Bill with updates being received daily.  Parliament was expected to consider the Bill before the summer recess to allow schools to become academies in September if they wished.

(d)         Large schools reverting to academy status would take approximately £450,000 of the local authority’s budget per academy.  Small schools would receive approximately £25,000. The Department for Education (DfE) had created a ‘ready reckoner’ enabling those schools considering conversion to academy status to calculate the level of funding they would receive as an academy.

(e)         It was agreed that members’ suggestions for future focus would be retained for further discussion following further budgetary announcements in October 2010.

Resolved:

To note the report.

A report from Carolyn Godfrey, Corporate Director for Children & Education, updating Members on the position regarding levels of NEET amongst young people in Wiltshire and the actions being taken to reduce them.

Merfyn Williams, Head of Individual Learner Support Services for Young People, will attend to answer Members’ questions.

Members are asked to note the report and comment as appropriate.

Paul Senior, Service Director of Targeted Services, and Merfyn Williams, Head of Individual Learner Support Services for Young People, presented a report on the levels of NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) amongst young people in Wiltshire and the actions being taken to reduce these.

Attention was drawn to the fact that ‘NEET’ in the report referred to 16-18 year olds as measured by National Indicator 117. NEETs within the 18-24 year old age bracket are recorded by Jobcentre Plus and responsibility for this age group rests with the DWP, not the LA.

NEET levels fluctuate constantly, with 3 or 4 Wiltshire people becoming NEET every day and 3 or 4 falling out of the NEET category. This fluctuation also reflected the periods of the year when young people tended to leave and join further education. The average duration of being NEET was 20 to 25 weeks. Children looked after and offenders were examples of those groups who were two or three times more likely to be NEET than the average. The National Audit Office reported an average cost per young person who becomes NEET of £156Kpa. This equated to approximately £35billion pa nationally.

Despite the economic downturn the levels of NEET within Wiltshire had been contained relatively well. Following a rise in 2008/9, there had been a trend of gradually reducing NEET amongst 16-18 olds evident in the subsequent 12 months.

Ensuing discussion included the following points:

(a)         The September Guarantee was a commitment that all 16-17 year olds received an offer of a learning placement. Wiltshire worked with Connexions, schools, colleges and other training providers to ensure all parties were working together.  Wiltshire had set a target of 95% of 16-17% year olds receiving the offer of a placement, and this had been achieved.

(b)         The January 2010 Guarantee was a commitment that all services working with NEET would ensure an offer of participation in employment or training was received by those NEET.  Over 300 16-18 year olds were affected by this Guarantee. The Government Office for the South West (GOSW) monitored performance in this area and Wiltshire were judged to be in the top quartile nationally.

(c)         It was understood that the Schools Career Service had been reorganised within the Connexions Service. Concern was raised that a 24% reduction in funding could impact upon the service provided.

(d)         With respect to young people with SEN within the NEET category, it was also noted that 3 of Wiltshire’s special schools did not have sixth form provision. Although these accounted for a small proportion of the children affected it was important not to lose sight of these children.

Resolved:

1.                  To note the report.

2.                  To receive an annual update on the levels of NEET, to include details of NEET courses.

A report from Carolyn Godfrey, Corporate Director for Children & Education, providing an update on proposed changes to the allocation of Youth Worker staffing discussed by the Committee on 28 January 2010.

Members are asked to note the content of the report and comment as appropriate on the current implementation of the staffing funding formula.

Kevin Sweeney, Senior Manager – Operations and Staffing (Youth Services), presented a report providing an update on proposed changes to the allocation of Youth Worker staffing discussed by the Committee on 28 January 2010.

Ensuing discussion included the following points:

(a)   Nationally a number of authorities’ youth service departments had suffered due to inflexibility in their budgets. By relocating senior workers, more finances would become available to support part-time workers in other parts of the county.

(b)   Marlborough – the funding allocation would be considered by Cabinet in September.

(c)   Bradford on Avon – conversations were taking place regarding the funding needs.

(d)   Members understood the need to ensure a fair spread of funding provision across the County.  Members also noted that youth clubs also catered for the needs of other organisations, as in Purton where the youth club accommodated non-Wiltshire Council groups such as the ‘Beavers’.

Resolved:

To note the report.

A report from Carolyn Godfrey, Corporate Director for Children & Education, providing the outcome of the consultation on the Review of Special Educational Needs (SEN) Provision that was held from 22 February to 24 May 2010. The report makes recommendations for decisions on future provision based on the matters considered in the Review.

On 8 June, the Children’s Services Select Committee resolved to undertake two rapid scrutiny exercises looking at the Review of Special Educational Needs (SEN) provision, as follows:

1. Rapid scrutiny of the Review of Special Educational Needs (SEN) Provision consultation process

2. Rapid scrutiny of the Review of Special Educational Needs (SEN) Provision consultation results

Members will therefore be asked to consider the report of the Rapid Scrutiny Exercises alongside the Review of SEN Provision Post Consultation Report.

At the Committee’s June meeting, members requested that a Rapid Scrutiny Exercise be arranged to consider the Review of SEN Provision 2010 consultation process and consultation results. This was undertaken on 15 July. A copy of the Rapid Scrutiny Group’s final report was circulated, together with the post-consultation report to Cabinet detailing the outcomes of the Review.

Members of the public who had provided questions on this item were requested to present these. Details of the questions raised by Mrs Ruth Greening and Mrs Annette Griffin, plus the responses provided by Trevor Daniels, Head of SEN, are detailed in the Appendix to these minutes.

Mrs Kemp, SEN Parent Governor Representative, introduced the Rapid Scrutiny group’s Final Report. She stated that members had found the Exercise very helpful in providing an opportunity for detailed discussion with officers and the Cabinet Member. She noted that the majority of the Rapid Scrutiny Group’s recommendations addressed how Wiltshire Council consultations might be improved in future, as well as how implementation of the Review’s outcomes could be managed and monitored to ensure no child’s education suffered due to the changes proposed. Finally, she thanked the Cabinet Member and officers for taking part in the Rapid Scrutiny Exercise.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services was invited to comment on the reports provided.

(a)         The Cabinet Member commented that he considered the Review of SEN consultation comprehensive and successful. The consultation document had been widely circulated and all appropriate organisations had been involved.  Although the statutory minimum period for the consultation had been 6 weeks, the authority had extended this to 3 months. 

(b)         The Cabinet Member added that the responses received through the consultation process had led to the authority amending the Review’s original proposals.

(c)         Members requested clarification of how closing Special Learning Centres (SLCs) would affect SEN provision.  Officers reported that the Review addressed longstanding imbalances in SEN provision in Wiltshire and was a difficult step but one that needed to be taken. The proposed transport costs set out within the report were estimates but no increase in costs was anticipated.

(d)         Officers clarified that with the passing of responsibility for 16-19 learning from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to the local authority on 1 April 2010, the provision for the 16+ age group was being considered as a whole across Wiltshire and this would include SEN provision. The Select Committee had already resolved to consider establishing a task group looking at 16+ SEN provision in November.

(e)         Officers confirmed that under the final proposals to be considered by Cabinet on 27 July, the SLCs for Complex Needs at Malmesbury Primary School and Longleaze Primary School would be retained pending a review, starting in 2012, of all SEN provision in the North East of Wiltshire, including special school provision in the area adjacent to Swindon.

(f)           Members noted that when making decisions about matters as difficult and specialised as SEN provision, they were to some extent in the hands of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 97.

A document showing the items to be considered at the next meetings of Cabinet, Corporate Parenting Panel and Schools Forum are attached.

Relevant items to be considered by Cabinet, Corporate Parenting Panel and Schools Forum were noted by the Committee.

Resolved:

To note the relevant items from the work programmes of Cabinet, Corporate Parenting Panel and Schools Forum.

A copy of the draft Forward Work Programme is attached for consideration.

The draft Forward Work Programme was noted by the Committee with the following additions:

Role of the Schools Forum – September 2010.

SEN Review – November 2010. It was clarified that this item was to consider the establishment of a task group to look at SEN provision for the 16+ age bracket.

Resolved:

To note the Forward Work Programme as amended.

10.30am, 23 September 2010

10.30am, 23 September 2010.

Any other items of business which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

Visit to the Laverstock schools

A report of the Committee’s visit to St Josephs School, St Edmunds School and Wyvern College in Laverstock was circulated. Due to the late circulation of the report and some inaccuracies contained within, it was agreed to defer this item until the Committee’s September meeting.