Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from the following Committee Members:

·       Cllr Jacqui Lay (Vice-Chairman)

·       Cllr Kelvin Nash

·       Cllr Helen Belcher (substituted by Cllr Adrian Foster)

·       Cllr Caroline Thomas

·       Dr Mike Thomson – Clifton Diocesan RC Representative

·       Catriona Williamson – Primary Head Teacher Representative

·       Nikki Barnett – Further Education Representative

Apologies were also received from:

·       Cllr Chris Williams

·       Terence Herbert – Chief Executive of Wiltshire Council

·       Tamsin Stone – Head of Performance, Outcomes and Quality Assurance in Children and Adult Services

To approve and sign the minutes of the previous meeting held on 19 January 2022.

Resolved

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 19 January 2022 were approved as a true and correct record.

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

There were no declarations of interests.

To receive any announcements through the Chairman.

The Chairman reminded the Committee that all Wiltshire Councillors had been invited to watch Item 14 on the agenda, Getting to Outstanding, because of their role as Corporate Parents.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

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. Please contact the officer named on the front of the agenda for any further clarification.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution.

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on Tuesday 8 March 2022 in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on Thursday 10 March 2022. Please contact the officer named on the front of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

No questions were submitted by the public.

To receive a verbal update from Directors on the Council’s current situation for services within the remit of the committee with regards to the impact of, and recovery from, the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Corporate Director People and the Director of Families and Children’s Services provided a verbal update on the steps being taken by Children’s Services to recover from the impact of the pandemic. It was reported that a Strategic Coordination Group was in place to oversee the recovery and to hold performance to account. Issues identified were similar to those existing pre-pandemic but had increased in terms of demand and complexity. The Directors explained that since the last meeting there had been an increase in the number of lower-level referrals from partner agencies, with over 100 per week coming in from the police. Auditing had taken place to monitor this trend and found that conversion to support cases remained steady.

The Director of Families and Children’s Services reported that there were 345 Child Protection cases, equating to about 32.5 per 10,000 children, which was in line with good/outstanding Local Authorities (LAs) and just below Wiltshire Council’s target range. The number of referrals for Children Looked After was below the rates of outstanding authorities but in line with other good LAs. They explained that case load levels were increasing but the expected surge in demand had not yet worked through the system.

During the discussion key points included:

• Members thanked the Directors for the update and for their work in addressing the issues caused by the pandemic.

• Questions were asked about whether the benchmark for referrals was too high as the number of Wiltshire’s referrals of Children Looked After was at 39.6 per 10,000 children when outstanding LAs were referring an average of 59 per 10,000.

• The Directors explained that thresholds for referral were constantly reviewed and that the Family Key Worker Service has had a known positive impact on onward referral. This part of the service had recently been independently evaluated by Oxford Brookes University. Analysis had shown that the Council’s emphasis on early intervention was having an impact on the overall number of cases being referred.

• Members were grateful for the information provided by the Directors but sought further reassurance, given that the number of Children Looked After referrals were roughly 50 percent higher in some outstanding LAs than in Wiltshire.

• The Corporate Director People highlighted that local factors, including deprivation levels, will account for much of the difference. She explained that long term trends had been reported to the Performance and Outcomes Board and offered to share details of the detailed analysis that had taken place.

• When asked about why Wiltshire was far closer to outstanding authorities on other measures than the number of referrals of Children Looked After, the Corporate Director stressed that the figures were an average. She pointed to the example of North Yorkshire County Council, which was an outstanding authority but had lower referral rates of Children Looked After than Wiltshire.

• The Director of Families and Children’s Services noted that checks and balances were in place across multiple agencies and shared through the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH). There  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

Updates on information valuable for the committee, but unlikely to require a decision. 

Members of the committee are therefore invited to indicate in advance of the meeting if they would like further information or have questions on these regular updates, so that relevant officers can be invited to attend the meeting.

The Chairman explained that written updates were available in the agenda pack and reminded Members that they were welcome to submit questions in advance of the meeting.

An update including a summary of recent activities of the Wiltshire Youth Union (WYU) and Children in Care Council (CiCC).

The Chairman highlighted that a mental health consultation had been carried out by the Wiltshire Youth Union and noted that the findings could be useful for the Committee’s planned Task Group.

He then welcomed the election of Wiltshire’s Youth Councillors and stated that the Committee really looked forward to engaging with the Youth Councillors and Shadow Youth Cabinet in their Overview and Scrutiny work.  Cllr Laura Mayes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education and Skills, reported that 41 Youth Councillors had been elected and that a welcome event had been held at County Hall. The Cabinet Member explained that they had already started work and had been involved in a meeting with the Skills Team to discuss apprenticeships. A system would be in place to allow Young People to shadow a Cabinet Member.

The Director of Families and Children’s Services highlighted that the Youth Council had come up with a proposal to support those affected by the Ukraine crisis by organising a blue and yellow themed non-school uniform ‘mufti’ day.

Resolved

To note the full support of the Committee for proposed engagement with young people and to consider ways this could incorporate links with the Committee’s work.

An update including information regarding the most recent Ofsted Inspection reports, presenting an ongoing view of the effectiveness of schools as seen by Ofsted Inspection.

The Chairman expressed concern that the number of good and outstanding schools in Wiltshire had fallen by two percent since October 2021, so was now at 79 percent. For context, he highlighted that the English national average was 86 percent and the regional average for the South West 81 percent. He noted that a large number of schools were no longer directly controlled by the LA but asked about the steps being taken by the Council to help schools to drive improvement in all schools.

In response, the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education and Skills, explained that the Wiltshire Learning Alliance had been established to allow schools to work more collaboratively and was based on a successful model adopted by Lincolnshire County Council.  Cllr Dominic Muns, Portfolio Holder for Education, noted that the Alliance had helped to promote a cultural shift in the way that schools supported each other. He also identified the work done by the Family and Community Learning Service in helping parents with home education during the lockdown as a way in which the Council had directly supported children.

In order to explain the specific support that could be given to academies, an officer reported that safeguarding reviews were carried out in all schools, not just maintained ones. She also highlighted the active role played by Wiltshire Council’s Traded Services Team, stating that training had been provided for free to outstanding schools. Head Teachers had also been encouraged to contact regional leaders in their area in order to improve collaboration.

Given that St Augustine’s Catholic College had previously been rated as outstanding but was identified as requiring improvement at its latest inspection, Members questioned the length of time between inspections of outstanding schools, as well as what support was now being put in place to help the school. In response officers noted that St Augustine’s, an academy, had joined with maintained schools and was benefitting from peer review.

Members also noted that the Wiltshire Governors Association had discussed Ofsted results at a recent meeting where the Head of Governors at St Augustine’s had provided feedback about their recent inspection. Other schools were able to learn from the feedback provided and the meeting was described as both positive and constructive.

Officers highlighted the importance of leadership in schools and noted that a number of Head Teachers had recently retired. However, they stated that a good number of replacement candidates were coming forward. It was explained that becoming an Interim Head teacher was a good way of helping Deputy Head Teachers to gain further experience and to promote their career development. A number of Interim Head Teachers from outside of the county had applied for full time Head Teacher roles in Wiltshire.

An update on developments relating to children’s services arising from the Department for Education.

The Chairman referred the Committee to the written update included between pages 25 and 30 of the agenda pack.

In response to questions submitted by Members in advance of the meeting, it was reported that school attendance in the week beginning on 7 February was 90.2 percent in Wiltshire. The national average was around 90 percent. In the same week school attendance by children with an Education and Health Care Plan was 86.2 percent compared with a national average of 85 percent. 484 penalty notices had been sent to parents for absenteeism, leading to 148 prosecutions.

Officers also reported the strategies being put in place to increase school attendance included tracking persistent absentees and discussing individual cases at multi agency meetings. Officers stressed that the Five to Thrive programme was being rolled out to help children with mental health issues. Leaders were being encouraged to have gentle conversations with children that they had concerns about, rather than adopting a more confrontational approach.

Members asked about the number of air cleaning units being taken up by Wiltshire schools, as well as the effectiveness of the systems themselves. Officers reported that any school could apply for a unit. Other measures being taken included leaving windows open, but it was acknowledged that this measure could have environmental and cost impacts.

Information, included on page 27 of the agenda pack, relating to the support being given to children’s mental health, was highlighted by Members. Members asked whether the figures behind the report would be made available, what Wiltshire’s own figures were and whether they included the comments of partners such as Bernardo’s.

The Corporate Director People explained that Wiltshire Council would remain vigilant about the issue of mental health and offered to share the results of their own health and wellbeing surveys. Work was also being done to increase recruitment to Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAHMS). She reported that the Integrated Care Board had recently held discussions across BaNES, Swindon and Wiltshire, to discuss further measures. Work was also ongoing as part of the Early Support Strategy and bids were being submitted relating to Family Hubs.

The Children’s Select Committee receives two reports a year from the Corporate Parenting Panel: the draft Annual Report and a 6-month update.

The 6-month update report, providing information on the progress made against each of the strategic priorities of the Corporate Parenting Panel, will be reviewed at this meeting.  

The committee is asked to note the report from the Corporate Parenting Panel and include the draft full annual report in its forward work programme for September 2022.

The Chairman reminded the Committee that they received two reports a year from the Corporate Parenting Panel (CPP): the draft Annual Report and an interim six-month update. He explained that the six-month interim update would be considered at the meeting and that the Committee would be asked to include the full annual report in its Forward Work Programme for September 2022.

The Head of Children in Care and Young People referred the Committee to the scorecard attached to Agenda Supplement 1, which outlined performance against eight strategic priorities. She explained that each of the priorities had a Councillor linked to them to ensure accountability. She also noted that the priorities had been identified two years ago by Young People and that they heavily relied on their feedback. She then went on to provide a number of examples of the work being undertaken, including rock climbing activity sessions being run by the Child and Youth Voice Team. Other examples included ensuring that community links were developed in the Fostering Excellence programme to make sure that children developed appropriate local links.

The officer explained that an Ofsted inspection carried out in January had found that Care Leavers had been provided with the right support and that the team had a skilled and stable workforce. Efforts were being made to make processes less bureaucratic for Young People to ensure that services were as friendly and accessible as possible.

During the discussion key points included:

• Members thanked the Head of Children in Care and Young People for the update and praised the positive actions in the report.

• Cllr Peter Hutton, Chairman of the CPP, drew attention to the Ofsted visit as well as that of Mark Riddell, National Adviser for Care Leavers, whose comments were included in the report. Cllr Hutton was pleased that the work of the CPP was being recognised and stated that they were looking forward to working closely with the newly elected Wiltshire Youth Council.

• In response to a question about the advertising of fostering placements, the officer confirmed that promotion was taking place across the whole of the county.

• Members asked questions about why the Health and Wellbeing key performance indicators were below target levels, specifically the number of Children Looked After accessing dental treatment. In response, the officer explained that the pandemic had had a significant impact on access to dental treatment, but that work was ongoing with social workers to ensure that appointments were being booked. The dental figures in the report were from financial year 2020/21 and she expected that there would be a significant improvement in these figures in the next financial year.

• As eight strategic priorities had been identified in the report, it was discussed whether the officers could present their findings in the form of a pre-meeting briefing rather than the Committee receiving the six-monthly update.

Resolved

1. For the Draft Corporate Parenting Panel report to go to the Standing Task Group again this year.

2. To receive  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

The final report of the Rapid Scrutiny on Provision of Accommodation for Young People at Transition Time – Gap Analysis was considered by the committee at its last meeting (can be accessed here).

The committee is asked to consider and note the executive responses provided.

The Committee were reminded that they had considered the final report from the Rapid Scrutiny exercise at their last meeting. The Chairman welcomed the acceptance of all of the group’s recommendations in full. In addition, he welcomed the opportunity for the Committee to be involved in the drafting of the accommodation strategy, covering the needs of children and young people with a learning disability, mental health issues, or autism.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education and Skills thanked the Rapid Scrutiny group for their recommendations, particularly surrounding SEND provision. She noted that the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, SEND, Transition and Inclusion was meeting with the Cabinet Member for Housing, Strategic Assets and Asset Transfer to take the matter forward.

Resolved

1. To note the Executive response to the report of the Rapid Scrutiny Exercise: Provision of Accommodation for Young People at Transition Time – Gap Analysis.

2. To consider the draft of the Accommodation Strategy covering the needs of children and young people with learning disability, mental health, and autism (to potentially be published mid-2022) – either at a meeting of this Committee or its Standing Task Group.

3. For the report to include the outcome of the gaps / needs analysis of Wiltshire Care Leavers (so that any strategy developed can be targeted and include metrics to allow measurement of performance).

4. To receive an annual update on relevant parts of the strategy’s delivery.

5. To continue to monitor the data on care leaver accommodation provided in the Corporate Parenting Panel’s annual report.

The findings of the Standing Task Group on Traded Services were considered by the committee at its last meeting (can be accessed here).

The committee is asked to consider and note the executive responses provided.

The Chairman informed the Committee that the recommendations of the Standing Task Group had been accepted. The Head of Traded Services then took the opportunity to thank the Task Group for their useful input. He stated that he would provide the Committee with as much of the requested data as possible, given the commercial sensitivity of the Traded Services Team’s work. It was noted that the full end of year report was due in November with an interim report to be provided in May. The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education and Skills welcomed the structure put in place to monitor the performance of the service and highlighted that it was important for Traded Services to remain nimble given the evolving national picture.

Resolved

1. To note the Executive response provided.

2. For the Standing Task Group to receive the May 2022 interim report on Traded Services – which will include the overarching principle and strategic direction for Traded Services.

3. For the Standing Task Group to also receive the Traded Services full year report (November 2022) which should integrate the changes proposed in the third recommendation of the Task Group.

4. At this point in time a decision will be made on the frequency of future reporting and whether these reports come to the Children’s Select Committee or Standing Task Group.

The committee will receive updates from active Task Groups, Rapid Scrutiny exercises and the committee’s board representatives.

A report by the Senior Scrutiny Officers providing an update on Task Group activity since the last meeting is attached.

The Chairman referred the Committee to the report, included in the agenda pack, on the work carried out by Task Groups and Rapid Scrutiny since the last meeting. He also reported that a conversation was ongoing about the start date for the Business Plan Metrics Task Group. Furthermore, he explained that the Business Plan Metrics, Fostering Excellence and Disadvantaged Learners Task Groups were due to report to the June meeting of the Committee. 

Resolved

1.    To note the update on Task Group and Rapid Scrutiny activities provided.

2.    To endorse the terms of reference for the Fostering Excellence Task Group.

The Committee is asked to note the attached documents showing the relevant items from the overview and scrutiny forward work programme and the latest version of the strategy list for the Children, Education and Skills directorate.

The Chairman referred the committee to the Forward Work Programme outlined in the agenda pack and invited Members to speak if they had any additional items that they wanted to be included. He also noted the request, made by Members during Item 7c, for further information about the distribution and effectiveness of air cleaning units in schools.

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

There were no urgent items.

The committee received a verbal update on the council’s strategy to achieve an Ofsted’s Outstanding rating at its meeting on 7 September 2022. The full minutes can be accessed here.

This was followed, at the committee’s meeting on 4 November, by a report on plans and progress to date, including the four strands of work detailed at the previous meeting:

·       Self-assessment.

·       Service development.

·       Roadmap to excellence.

·       Line-of-sight.

At its November meeting the committee resolved to receive an update on the progress made, which is presented at this meeting, and to consider how Overview and Scrutiny can best add value to the process and the four strands of work focused on.

An Ofsted focused visit took place on 24 and 25 January 2022 looking at the council’s arrangements for care leavers. A letter summarising the findings of the focused visit is included with this agenda.

The Committee were reminded that they received a report at their November meeting on the progress made towards Getting to Outstanding. They had requested further updates so that they could consider how they could best add value to the process.

The Corporate Director People provided some background information about the development of Children’s Services over the past few years, explaining that performance was measured through a Performance and Outcomes Board. She noted that a large amount of self-assessment had been undertaken and results were shared with Ofsted. She, along with the Chief Executive of Wiltshire Council, had commissioned a test of assurance to assess the progress made, including through a series of interviews with officers. The Director stressed that Wiltshire Council was a sector led improvement partner and welcomed the opportunity to share experiences to support other LAs in their development.

A summary of the findings at recent Ofsted inspections, as well as the priorities for further development, were set out by the Director of Families and Children’s Services. The Director reported that the last full Ofsted inspection, in 2019, concluded that the LA was good in all areas. A follow up Ofsted inspection in January 2022, focusing on the experiences of Care Leavers, praised Wiltshire for being proactive and ensuring that Young People were not limited by their past experiences. The Council was identified as having a passionate workforce and for its leaders being open to challenge. Support for asylum seeking children was also recognised as a particular strength. Overall, Care Leavers were found to receive the correct support at the right time as Wiltshire’s processes and self-assessments were the correct ones.

A further inspection was expected within the next year and, given that Wiltshire was rated as good at the last inspection, it was anticipated to last for approximately a week. During the inspection Wiltshire Council would share detailed reports allowing Ofsted to test a range of activities, as well as highlight an area that it felt was in need of further investigation.

During the most recent inspection in January two areas were identified that would benefit from further development; the recording of reflective practice and increasing the depth of audits carried out on the experiences of Young People leaving the service. The Director announced that actions were already in place to make progress in these areas, including reviewing the balance of recording feedback by adapting the audit schedule. In addition, a line-of-sight document was being used to allow managers to better monitor the level of recording taking place.

Ofsted were impressed by the Council’s seven key priorities identified during the January inspection. The Director explained that priorities included a focus on early intervention, increasing adoption placement options and working closely with fathers. He then went on to outline how some of the priorities were being met, reporting that the Dads Matter Too project was being launched to strengthen the support in that area. To allow the Committee to maintain an overview of the work being undertaken in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

To note that the next scheduled meeting is due to be held on Wednesday 8 June 2022 at County Hall, Trowbridge, starting at 10.30am.

The date of the next ordinary meeting of the Committee was confirmed as Wednesday 8 June 2022, at 10.30am.