Agenda and draft minutes

To elect a Chairman of the Childrens Select Committee for the forthcoming year.

The Democratic Services Officer sought nominations for Chair of the Children’s Select Committee.

Cllr Laura Mayes was nominated by Cllr Jacqui Lay and seconded by Cllr Ross Henning.

No other nominations were received.

Following a vote, it was then:

Resolved:

The Committee elected Councillor Laura Mayes as Chair of the Children’s Select Committee for the forthcoming year 2025-26.

To elect a Vice Chairman of the Childrens Select Committee for the forthcoming year.

The Chair sought nominations for Vice-Chair of the Children’s Select Committee.

Cllr Denise Bates was nominated by Cllr Eric Wakeman and seconded by Cllr Dominic Muns.

No other nominations were received.

Following a vote, it was then:

Resolved:

The Committee elected Councillor Denise Bates as Vice-Chair of the Children’s Select Committee for the forthcoming year 2025-26.

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting and to note the membership changes.

Apologies were received from:

Cllr Sam Blackwell (substituted by Cllr Ross Henning)

Kathryn Davis, Director for Education & Skills

The Chair welcomed all new members of the Children’s Select Committee:

Cllr Denise Bates, Cllr Sam Blackwell, Cllr Maria Hoult, Cllr Laura Mayes, Cllr Dominic Muns, Cllr Mike Phillips, Cllr Julie Vine, Cllr Eric Wakeman, Cllr John Wells.

And welcomed back Cllr Jacqui Lay, Cllr Mike Sankey and Cllr Jo Trigg

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 12 March 2025.

Resolved

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting, held on 12 March 2025, 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 interest.

To note any announcements through the Chairman. 

The Chair asked all committee members, cabinet members and portfolio holders present to introduce themselves.

The Chair stated that there was an item, Short Breaks Offer for Children and Young People with Additional Needs, scheduled for Cabinet on 8 July.

The Chair noted two options for scrutiny before the Cabinet meeting:

• An online Chair’s Briefing which all committee members would be invited.

• A rapid scrutiny meeting, with a few members taking part who would then report their findings and recommendations, which is a more formal process.

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 Wednesday 4 June 2025 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 Friday 6 June 2025. 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.

There was no public participation.

The attached report seeks to report to the new Childrens Select Committee:

a)         Topics recommended for inclusion in Childrens Select Committee’s section of the Overview and Scrutiny (OS) work programme, as agreed by OS Management Committee at its meeting on 3 June 2025. (The OS Management Committee co-ordinates the OS forward work programme). 

b)         Next steps for further developing a comprehensive work programme that reflects the priorities of the council, its members and Wiltshire residents.

Julie Bielby, Senior Scrutiny Officer for Children’s Select Committee, introduced a report setting out the topics recommended for inclusion in the new Children's Select Committee work programme by the previous committee based on experiences during the 2021-2025 Council.

The Chair commented that further training may be needed for the committee as it is hard to scrutinise work on subjects not fully understood.

Councillors and Officers agreed that a briefing on Special Guardianship Orders would be beneficial as a report was due to be presented to the Committee at the next meeting on 16 July and it was vital that Councillors understood Special Guardianship and the difference from Adoption and Fostering.

Councillors also expressed a wish to retain “pre-meeting briefings” in the hour before regular committee meetings and described them as extremely useful to fully understand a particular topic they’d be asked to later scrutinise on.

Councillors also expressed a wish to include the subject of domestic violence and abuse in the Committee’s Forward Work Plan.

Resolved

1. To approve the legacy topics listed in Appendix A as a starting point for Health Select Committee’s work programme in the 2025-29 council

2. To note the next steps for developing Children’s Select Committee’s work programme further as set out in the report, including discussions between select committee Chair and Vice-Chair with the Executive and council directors to gain a more informed understanding about key priorities and projects.

3. To approve the re-establishment of Children’s Select Committee’s task groups and rapid scrutiny groups, if agreed by OS Management Committee, with the appointment of the task group memberships delegated to the Chair and Vice-chair following the invitation of expressions of interest from eligible members.

4. To approve the initial items requested for the committee’s work programme in Appendix B.

5. To approve continued representation of the Committee on the High Needs Sustainability Board.

To receive a brief verbal update from attending Cabinet Members (or Portfolio Holders on their behalf) highlighting any news, successes or milestones in their respective areas since the last meeting of the committee, not covered elsewhere on the agenda.

Cllr Jon Hubbard, Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Skills, stated that he was of course new in post and was being brought up to speed. Cllr Hubbard stated he was paying particular attention to the outcome of the Central Government’s SEND reforms and the High Needs Block.

Cllr Hubbard introduced Cllr Sam Pearce-Kearney as the portfolio holder for Corporate Parenting, Safeguarding and Children’s Voice; Cllr Stewart Palmen would be portfolio holder for Schools, Education and Skills and Cllr Charlie Stokes would be portfolio holder for SEND.

Cllr Hubbard also mentioned a new portfolio holder for the Safety Valve programme, but this position would report to Finance instead of Cllr Hubbard or Children’s Select. This would prevent conflict of interest between saving money through the programme and Cllr Stokes’ role of ensuring the best outcomes for SEND children.

To consider any other items of business that the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items

To confirm the date of the next meeting as Wednesday 16 July at 10.30am. 

The next meeting of Children’s Select will be on 16 July 2025.