Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Cllr Ricky Rogers.

To approve and sign the minutes of the previous meeting held on 1 October 2013. (copy attached)

Resolved:

To confirm and sign the minutes of the previous meeting held on 1 October 2013

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.

The Chairman introduced Miss Sarah Busby, Headteacher of St Edmund’s  Girls’ School, Salisbury and welcomed her on her first attendance at a meeting of this Committee.  She would be representing secondary school headteachers.

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 26 November 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.

Julia Cramp, Associate Director, Quality Assurance, Commissioning, Performance, Schools & Early Years Effectiveness, will introduce and explain the Draft Early Help Strategy 2013-16 prepared by Wiltshire Children & Young People’s Trust and Wiltshire Safeguarding Children Board. The Strategy is out for consultation until 27 December 2013.

The Committee has agreed that Early Intervention is one of its work priorities for this Council and an information briefing for members will be provided prior to the meeting (9.30am in the meeting room).

Julia Cramp, Associate Director (Joint with CCG)for Commissioning, Performance and School Effectiveness introduced and explained the Draft Early Help Strategy 2013-16 prepared by Wiltshire Children & Young People’s Trust and Wiltshire Safeguarding Children Board.  This followed on from an information briefing which was provided for Members immediately prior to the start of this meeting. The Strategy was out for consultation until 27 December 2013. Members were reminded that the Committee had previously agreed that Early Intervention was one of its work priorities for this Council.  

Julia Cramp explained that the Early Help Strategy set out the improved outcomes the Council wished to see implemented for children and young people and the following priority objectives to achieve this:

Objective 1: Ensure the best start in life

Objective 2: Gaining the skills required to begin school

Objective 3: Being ready for adult life

Objective 4: Develop a family-based approach to early help

Objective 5: Develop effective structures and processes to access early help

It was noted that the Early Help Strategy would play a pivotal role in securing the high level outcomes set out in the Children and Young People’s Plan 2012-2015.  A range of early intervention and prevention key impact indicators were being developed as follows:

·       Tackling inequalities in low birth weight to improve health outcomes in childhood and adulthood

·       Readiness of children to start school at age 5

·       Improving foundation stage profile results for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups

·       Improving literacy and numeracy attainment at ages 11, 16 and 19

·       Success in closing the gap in educational attainment between children and young people from different socio-economic backgrounds

·       Reduction in the number of children and young people missing school

·       Reduction in persistence absence

·       Reduction in the rate of teenage pregnancies

·       Reduction in the number of children and young people experiencing poverty

·       Increased numbers of children and young people self-reporting a high level of wellbeing

·       Increased numbers of 16-18 year olds participating in education, employment and training

·       Increased numbers of young people engaging in positive activities

·       Reduction of anti-social behaviour

·       Reduction in the number of young people offending including first time entrants to the criminal justice system

·       Reduction in re-offending rates

·       Number of contacts made to children’s social care

·       Percentage of referrals to children’s social care going on to initial assessment

·       Number of children requiring statutory child protection intervention

·       Reduction in the number of children and young people in residential home placements including a reduction in the number placed in homes rated as less than “good” by Ofsted

·       Reduction in the number of SEND young people going to residential, out of county, educational or social care settings

·       Analysis of patterns and trends in young people attending GUM (Genito Urinary Medicine) clinics

·       Analysis of patterns and trends of Child Trafficking Investigations

·       Levels of children and young people admitted to hospital for non-accidental injuries including self-harm

·       Reduction in substance abuse

·       Reduction in inappropriate caring responsibilities

·       Improving attendance and attainment of looked after children

·       Number of children in need under Section 17 of the Children  ...  view the full minutes text for item 112.

A report by from the Further Education in the Salisbury Area Task Group, which met on 14 November 2013, will be circulated. This will:

·         report the outcomes of a progress review undertaken by the Further Education in the Salisbury Area Task Group 18 months after its final report was endorsed by Committee.

·         present further recommendations from the Task Group, based on the latest position, for Committee endorsement and referral to the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services for response.

The Chairman reported that an 18 month progress review of further education in the Salisbury area was expected to be circulated as a late supplement.  The Task Group, chaired by Dr Mike Thompson, undertook their review on 14 November 2013 at which was considered a range of evidence, including written and verbal contributions from a number of schools and post-16 providers from the Salisbury area, as well as officers and executive members.

The Task Group then agreed its findings and circulated their draft report to providers for comment.  Unfortunately, some of the responses received impacted on members’ initial conclusions and recommendations quite significantly and it was therefore felt that more time was required to reconsider the report’s contents.

Resolved:

To defer consideration of the Further Education in the Salisbury Area Task Group’s review of progress until the Select Committee’s next meeting on 28 January 2014 to allow further discussions to take place.   

On 1 October 2013 the Committee established a rapid scrutiny exercise to consider the proposals under a joint review between the Council and NHS Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group on overnight short breaks for disabled Children and Young People in Wiltshire. This included a proposal to close the Hillcote short breaks unit in Salisbury.

The exercise took place on 7 November and several members also attended a public meeting about the proposals held in Salisbury on 6 November.

The report of the rapid scrutiny group (copy attached) was referred to the Clinical Commissioning Group Governing Body, who will make the final decision on the proposals on 26 November. The group’s recommendations were referred to the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services who attends the CCG Governing Body but is not the decision maker.

The decision of the Clinical Commissioning Group Governing Body will be reported at the meeting.

The Chairman reminded Members that at its last meeting, the Select Committee established a rapid scrutiny exercise to consider the proposals under a joint review between the Council and NHS Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group on overnight short breaks for disabled children and young people in Wiltshire.  This included a proposal to close Hillcote short breaks unit in Salisbury.

The rapid scrutiny exercise took place on 7 November 2013 and several members also attended a public meeting about the proposals held in Salisbury the previous day.   The report of the rapid scrutiny was referred to the Clinical Commissioning Group Governing Body, the decision maker on this matter, and also to the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services. 

In the light of concerns expressed by many parties on the proposals, the CCG Governing Body decided to defer their decision on this matter until their next meeting on 28 January 2014, the same day as the Select Committee’s next meeting.

Cllr Laura Mayes, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, made the following comments on recommendations contained in the rapid scrutiny report:

1          The proposals have not been properly costed

The figure of £40,000 per specialist carer had been arrived at through discussions with two neighbouring authorities who had specialist carers providing overnight short breaks for disabled children (Dorset and Gloucestershire).  Although the two schemes were slightly different, the cost was roughly the same.  The cost included adaptations and equipment.  A member of staff from Wiltshire Council had gone through the costs in detail with contacts in these two authorities.

The new specialist carer scheme was highly unlikely to have any impact on the future use and sustainability of Canon’s House.  It was known that some families preferred residential provision, whilst others were happier with their child being looked after in a family home.  There will always be a need for a residential unit in a county the size of Wiltshire.

The proposal was cost neutral in that the CCG had signed up to re-investing the funding currently used to run Hillcote in other overnight short breaks and earlier support for families with a disabled child.  This commitment was included in the minutes of the CCG Governing Body meeting.  There was no intention on the part of the CCG to make a saving from the proposed closure of Hillcote – this was what cost neutral meant.

2          Potential difficulties in recruiting specialist carers

The Council had held detailed discussions with the two adjacent local authorities who had no difficulty recruiting specialist carers.  In Dorset, these carers were recruited from their Family Link Scheme.  In Wiltshire, interest had already been expressed in being a specialist carer by a member of Hillcote staff.  It was right to point out that it would be difficult to recruit a number of Specialist Carers before April 2014, but this was not an option that any of the five families of the young people currently using Hillcote wanted to explore.

3          Quality assurance and safeguarding checks of specialist carers

It was right  ...  view the full minutes text for item 114.

A report by the Senior Scrutiny Officer providing an update on Task Group activity since the Committee’s last meeting together with the Forward Work Programme is attached.

The Select Committee received an update on the activity of the following Task Groups since the last meeting together with the Committee’s Forward Work Programme:-

·                Safeguarding Children and Young People Task Group

·                Further Education in the Salisbury Area Task Group

·                Further Education Task Group – It was noted that the Overview & Scrutiny Management Committee had endorsed the setting up of this Task Group as part of the O&S forward work programme and all Members had been emailed inviting interest in taking part.  The following Members of this Committee so far had offered to serve on this Task Group:

Cllr Jon Hubbard; Cllr Jacqui Lay; Dr Mike Thompson; Kaylum House.

·                SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) Task Group - The Chairman reminded Members that at its meeting on 1 October 2013, the Committee agreed that children and young people with SEN and Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities (LLDD) would be a key part of its forward work programme.  This also reflected the topic being a priority within the Council’s Business Plan 2013-17. A task group was established and authority was delegated to the Chairman to seek membership.

The Chairman had asked Alice Kemp to lead on developing the task group given her role as the Committee’s SEN parent governor representative, her knowledge of SEND and her experience on the Special Schools and Post-16 SEN Task Group.  The Chairman had met with Alice Kemp, the Senior Scrutiny Officer and executive members to discuss the executive’s priorities for SEND and where the Task Group might add the most value.  They proposed that the following terms of reference be adopted:-

To explore how we can best prepare young people with SEND for Adulthood, including:

Ø  Local education and training options, including managing transitions

Ø  Planning for employment and supporting local employers to employ young people with SEND

Ø  Providing housing options to support young people with SEND to live in their communities

Ø  Developing communities that are inclusive, welcoming and supportive of young people with SEND

·                Schools and the Local Authority Task Group – It was reported that following on from the last Select Committee meeting, the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Cllr Philip Whalley had met with the Associate Director (joint with CCG) for Commissioning, Performance and School Effectiveness, the Head of School Effectiveness and the Portfolio Holder for Schools to discuss this and gain the executive’s views on where scrutiny could contribute.   During discussion the following aspects of the academies’ programme had been considered:

(i)            The process schools followed when becoming an academy.  It was concluded that there was limited opportunity to add value here for the following reasons:

§    Schools received advice direct from the DfE and other bodies on process when pursuing the academies option.

§    The LA had a limited role in advising schools on process.

(ii)          The best leadership models for academy schools.  It was concluded that there was limited opportunity to add value here for the following reason:

·                The LA had no role in directing schools in their choice  ...  view the full minutes text for item 115.

Current legislation requires the Committee to appoint its statutory, voting, co-opted parent governor representatives (PGRs) only from the governing bodies of schools maintained by the Local Authority. The Parent Governor Representatives (England) Regulations 2001 state that,

“…a person shall, unless disqualified under any enactment, be qualified to be elected as a parent governor representative in an election held by a local education authority if …

a)  he is a parent governor at a maintained school which is maintained by the local education authority;

b)  he is the parent of a registered pupil who is educated at a maintained school which is maintained by the local education authority, or who is educated by the authority otherwise than at a school…”

This legislation was passed before the academies programme, a time when significantly more schools were maintained. The small number of maintained secondary schools remaining in Wiltshire has made it difficult to find nominees for the Committee’s secondary PGR position, and so far two appointment processes have been unsuccessful.

The Chairman asks the Committee to endorse a proposal that, as Chairman of the Committee, he asks the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services to co-sign a joint letter to the Secretary of State requesting changes to the legislation in order to reflect the current situation across the country in terms of school designations.

 The Chairman reported that over the past year, two unsuccessful appointments processes had been carried out to seek a new Secondary Parent Governor Representative to serve on this Committee.  He explained that one of the reasons why these attempts had been unsuccessful was that the 2001 regulations stated that all Parent Governor Representatives should be appointed from maintained schools and there were now far fewer maintained secondary schools in Wiltshire than when the legislation was introduced as a large number of them had sought and gained academy status.

Resolved:

To ask the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services to co-sign a joint letter to the Secretary of State for Education requesting a change in the legislation to reflect the current situation across the County in terms of school designations.  

A report by Carolyn Godfrey, Corporate Director, on developments relating to children’s services arising from the Coalition Government is attached.

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

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

There were no items of urgent business.

To note that the next meeting of the Select Committee is due to be held on Tuesday 28 January 2014 at County Hall, Trowbridge, starting at 10.30am.

Resolved:

To note that the next meeting of the Select Committee was due to be held on Tuesday 28 January 2014 at County Hall, Trowbridge, starting at 10.30am.