Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Miss Sarah Busby and Cllr Alan MacRae.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meetings held on 6 June and 5 July 2013. (copies attached)

Resolved:

To confirm and sign the minutes of the previous meetings held on 6 June and 5 July 2013, subject to the following amendment to Minute No 77 of the meeting held on 6 June 2013:-

Min. No. 77 – Minutes of the Previous Meeting – Matters arising – Teacher Representatives on the Committee  First sentence to read:-

The Chairman referred to discussions that had taken place at the previous meeting concerning the availability of representatives of Primary School and Secondary School Headteachers to attend meetings of this Select Committee and enquired as to how this matter was being progressed.

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

There were no declarations of disposable interest or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

Secondary Parent Governor Representative

The Chairman reminded the Select Committee that in April 2013 the Council had appointed two parent governor representatives to this Committee, namely Revd. Alice Kemp as SEN schools representative and Ken Brough as primary schools representative. Unfortunately no nominations had been received for the secondary school representative and officers had restarted the process to fill this position; they were seeking interested parent governors from maintained secondary schools who would like to play a role in the work of both this Committee and that of the Schools Forum, the deadline for nominations being Friday 4 October.

Teacher Representatives   

The Chairman was very pleased to announce that Miss Sarah Busby, Headteacher of St Edmund’s School, Salisbury had been nominated to represent secondary headteachers on this Select Committee.

Officers were still investigating the appointment of a primary headteacher representative and were consulting the Primary Heads Forum.

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 above 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 above no later than 5pm on Tuesday 24 September 2013. Please contact the officer named on the first page 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 were no members of the public present or councillors’ questions.

A report from the Chairman and Vice-Chairman is attached reporting on outcomes of the meeting with the relevant Executive members and directors held on 15 August. This was to discuss the Council’s priorities for children’s services and the potential future work priorities of this Committee.

The report proposes some key Committee work priorities for this Council for discussion, prior to referral to the O&S Management Committee for endorsement. It also suggests some new ways of working in regards to Committee meetings.

Members are asked to consider the proposals within the report and make further suggestions as appropriate, including how each topic might be approached. Members are also asked to support further discussions between the Chairman and Vice-Chairman with Cabinet members, portfolio-holders and service directors to develop the forward work programme further, with a report coming to the Committee’s next meeting.

Consideration was given to a report by the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman which set out outcomes of the meeting with the relevant Executive members and directors held on 15 August 2013.  The purpose of that meeting was to discuss the Council’s priorities for children’s services and the potential future work priorities of this Committee.

The report proposed some key work priorities for this Committee for discussion, prior to referral to the Overview & Scrutiny Management Committee for endorsement.  It also suggested some new ways of working with regard to Committee meetings to help achieve better productivity and add most value to the decision making process.

The Committee considered the proposed key work priorities for this Committee and commented as follows:-

·      Safeguarding Children and Young People – a Safeguarding & Young People Task Group was already established.

·      Family Placements – this also came under the terms of reference of the Safeguarding & Young People Task Group.

·      Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Learners with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities (LLDD)

- SEN in mainstream schools

- DCA Pathfinder (joined up services for life)

A task group should be established following a scoping exercise and a report be made back to this Committee at its next meeting.

·      Further education in Wiltshire - quality, range and equity of access

A task group should be established following a scoping exercise and a report be made back to this Committee at its next meeting.

·      Engaging young people in local decision-making and developing the leaders of the future – Considered to be a priority but further discussion was required with the Executive and appropriate directors before any further action was taken.

·      Early intervention – A report would be made to the next meeting of this Committee to help scope O & S activity.

In generally supporting the proposed work priorities, the Committee stressed that a key factor in determining priorities should be where work undertaken could add particularly value to children’s services. 

After further discussion,

Resolved:

(1)          To approve the topics proposed within the report as work priorities for the Committee and refer them to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee for endorsement, except provision for gifted and talented pupils, to be considered under a later item.

(2)       To support further discussions between the Chairman and Vice-Chairman with Cabinet members, portfolio-holders and service directors to scope the agreed work priorities further, with an update coming to the Committee’s next meeting.

(3)       To approve the programme of pre-meeting information briefings to enhance the Committee’s ability to undertake effective overview and scrutiny.  Where possible, these should be aligned to items on the agenda.

(4)       To approve the proposed approach of making greater use of task groups, rapid scrutiny exercises and fact-finding meetings for looking at topics in detail before reporting back to the Committee. 

(5)       To approve the proposed approach of limiting Committee agendas to a few key items whenever possible, in order to allow greater time and therefore add more value to each topic considered.   

(6)          To ask Cllr Whalley and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 98.

A report from the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services presenting the Executive  response to the final report of the Special Schools Post-16 SEN Task Group – part 2 is attached.

The Task Group was established by Children’s Services Select Committee in September 2010. The Committee received the Task Group’s initial final report in July 2012 and the executive response was received in September 2012. The Committee then asked the Task Group to reconvene to undertake further work, consider the executive responses in detail, and to receive the various pieces of further information that had been offered. The Task Group’s Final Report – part 2 was endorsed by the Select Committee on 6 June 2013 and referred to the executive for response.

The Select Committee received a report which set out the response of the Lead Member for Children’s Services to the Final Report of the Special Schools & Post-16 SEN Task Group – part 2 which was endorsed by the Committee at its meeting on 6 June 2013 and referred to the executive for response.

The Chairman reminded the Committee that the Task Group, chaired by Cllr Graham Payne, had brought an initial final report to this Committee in July 2012 and the executive response was then received in September 2012.  The Committee then asked the Task Group to undertake further work and subsequently a second final report containing six recommendations was brought back to this Committee in June 2013.

After discussion,

Resolved:

(1)          To note the executives response to the Final Report of the Special Schools and Post-16 SEN Task Group – part 2.

(2)          To request the new task group looking at issues affecting children with SEN/LLDD to note the findings of the Special Schools and Post-16 SEN Task Group.

A report is attached summarising the joint review between the Council and NHS Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group on overnight short breaks for disabled Children and Young People in Wiltshire.

Following the review, the proposal is to change the service model including the closure of Hillcote (the NHS-run unit) from April 2014 and reinvest the money saved in more family based care and early intervention support services for families of disabled children. This proposal is out for consultation until 23 October and the final decision on the potential closure of Hillcote will be taken at the NHS Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group Governing Body meeting in November.

In June the Special Schools and Post-16 SEN Task Group made the following recommendations relating to Short Break Provision for Children and Young People in its Final Report – part 2 and the Executive responses to these recommendations are included in the attached report:

2. If there were to be any reconfiguration of short break provision in Wiltshire, any savings identified should be retained for services for children and young people with SEN/LDD and their families;

3. If a reconfiguration of Wiltshire’s short break provision was proposed, the Committee receives data showing the proposed capacity of the new model, demonstrating that  it could meet the demand for short breaks across Wiltshire and not equate to a reduction in the current provision;

4. The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services provides a response to the figures included under paragraph 16 showing that a large proportion of the overnight short break days available in Wiltshire are used by a small number of service users;

The Joint Director for Commissioning and Performance will attend to answer members’ questions.

The Committee is asked to provide feedback on the proposal to change the model of delivery of short breaks in Wiltshire.

The Committee considered a report which summarised the joint review between the Council and NHS Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group on overnight short breaks for disabled children and young people in Wiltshire.

The report proposed a change to the service model, including the closure of the NHS-run Hillcote residential facility and to re-invest the money in more family-based care and support services for the families of disabled children.

It was noted that the final decision on the potential closure would be taken at the NHS Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group Governing Body meeting in November 2013 following a three month consultation period.

Resolved:

To establish a rapid scrutiny exercise to consider proposals for reviewing the provision of overnight short breaks for children with SEN/LLDD, with authority delegated to the Chairman for seeking membership and for making arrangements to link this exercise with the public meeting currently being arranged.

A report from Carolyn Godfrey, Corporate Director, is attached providing an overview of the support provided by the Council and by schools for pupils identified as gifted and talented. Several members highlighted this topic as a potential work priority for the Committee.

Clive Angus,  Teaching and Learning Coordinator, will attend to answer members’ questions.

Consideration was given to a report by Carolyn Godfrey, Corporate Director which provided an information briefing in relation to gifted and talented learners.  It also set out an overview of the duties, nature and range of provision for gifted and talented learners in Wiltshire.

During discussion it was noted that currently there was no statutory requirement for local authorities to track or offer support specifically for gifted and talented learners. However, schools did continue to identify, track and support such children and young people to ensure that they secured their progression and enabled them to fulfil their potential.

It was suggested that schools be encouraged to make arrangements for the business community to be made aware of these gifted and talented students.

Resolved:

To welcome the report and note its contents.   

A report from Carolyn Godfrey, Corporate Director, providing an update on the Power To Innovate (PTI) project in Wiltshire is attached, as requested by the Children’s Select Committee in November 2012. The Committee also requested figures showing the improved pupil attendance at Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) provision.

The Committee received a report proposing the closure of the Young People’s Support Service (YPSS) in November 2011. The service had been placed in Special Measures in May 2011 and was subsequently closed in August 2011. In its place, Wiltshire used the Department for Education’s (DfE) Power to Innovate (PTI) to delegate the responsibility for educating permanently excluded students to secondary schools, who receive the devolved funding.

Christine Whitfield, EOTAS Co-ordinator, will attend to answer Members’ questions.

The Committee received a report by Carolyn Godfrey, Corporate Director which provided an update on Wiltshire’s participation in the three year National Secondary Exclusion Trial (SET) and the development of provision for those pupils permanently excluded or at risk of permanent exclusion since the closure of the Young Peoples’ Support Service (YPSS).

It was noted that YPSS completely closed in Wiltshire at the end of August 2013 following which the funding was devolved to schools.

The Committee was informed that the SET was due to finish in July 2014.  The original intention of the trial was for the DfE to consider proposing primary legislation to delegate responsibility for permanently excluded pupils from LAs to schools.  The DfE had commissioned an independent evaluation of the trial and the final report was due to be published in Spring 2015, this meaning that primary legislation was unlikely to occur before 2016/17.

In these circumstances, Wiltshire secondary schools were planning for further interim arrangements beyond the end of the trial in 2014 and pending any legislation on 2016/17.  The LA had indicated that there was no intention to revert to the previous arrangements of proving support for permanently excluded children centrally and had given an undertaking to work with the Wiltshire Association of Secondary & Special School Headteachers (WASSH) to continue the present arrangements by means of a Service Level Agreement.

Resolved:

(1)          To note the update report.

(2)          To approve the arrangements proposed for continuing the model of devolving funding to secondary schools beyond the end of the exclusion trial in 2014, working with WASSH to revise the SLA.

(3)          To request a further update report in 12 months’ time.

A report from the Senior Scrutiny officer is attached providing an update on Task Group activity since the Committee’s last meeting.

The Select Committee received an update on the activity of the following Task Groups:-

·         Safeguarding Children and Young People Task Group

·         Further Education in the Salisbury Area Task Group

Resolved:

To note the update on Task Group activity provided.

A report by Carolyn Godfrey, Corporate Director, on developments relating to

children’s services arising from the Coalition Government is attached.

The Committee is asked to consider the report and agree further action as

appropriate.

  The Committee received and noted a report by Carolyn Godfrey, Corporate Director, on developments relating to children’s services arising from the Coalition Government.

Resolved:

To note the update provided.

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

The Chairman informed the meeting that this was the last meeting to be attended by Mrs Stephanie Denovan, Service Director – Schools and Learning as she would be leaving the employment of the Council on 18 October 2013.  He paid special tribute to the work she had undertaken for children and young people during her career as a teacher, headteacher and as an education officer culminating in her appointment as Service Director.

These sentiments were warmly endorsed by Mr John Hawkins and other members of the Committee who wished her every success in her future endeavours.

To note that the next meeting of the Select Committee is due to be held on Tuesday 3 December 2013 at the Council’s Offices at Monkton Park, Chippenham, starting at 10.30am.

Resolved:

To note that the next meeting of the Select Committee would be held on Tuesday 3 December 2013 at the Council’s Offices at Monkton Park, Chippenham, starting at 10.30am but preceded by a pre-meeting information briefing at 9.30am.