Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Johnny Kidney and Maisy Humphrey, who was substituted by Joel Mutagayika.

To approve and sign the minutes of the previous meeting held on 6 November 2018 (Copy attached).

Resolved:

To confirm and sign the minutes of the previous meeting held on 6 November 2018.

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

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

The Chairman made the following announcements:-

a)    Cabinet items

For information on 11^th December Cabinet considered the following items

Outdoor Education

CSC involvement – task group report

Proposed Closure of Lypiatt Primary School

CSC involvement – Chair received a briefing note on the topic.

On 15^th January Cabinet would consider the following items

Wiltshire Council Adoption Service: 2018 Q1-2 6 Month Report

Lead officers:  Matthew Turner, Lynn Wheeler

b)   Overview and Scrutiny Councillor Workshop Outcomes

At OS Management Committee on 20^th November members considered the outcomes from a councillor workshop titled ‘Effective Overview and Scrutiny meetings’, held in October.

Management Committee noted the strengths of scrutiny at present, as agreed by attendees at the workshop. These were:

·         Informative pre-meeting information briefings

·         Effective chairing

·         A clear purpose

·         Addressing the right priorities

·         Generally an evidence-based rather than political approach

·         The right questions being asked.

Management Committee also noted a number of areas where Wiltshire scrutiny could improve, with relevant actions to address these. Some of the actions were for officers, but some related to councillors. It was therefore agreed that these would be disseminated to select committee members for awareness. The areas for improvement agreed were,

·         Councillors always reading reports prior to meetings

·         Councillors avoiding repeating questions that have already been asked, and

·         OS committees and activities consistently taking a countywide rather than parochial perspective.”

Members of this Committee were encouraged to discuss any questions or comments on these together with any other suggestions for improvement with Cllr Graham Wright, Chairman of the Overview & Scrutiny Management Committee or Henry Powell, Scrutiny Team Leader.

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 Monday 31 December 2018 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 3 January 2019. 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 had been received from councillors or members of the public.

The committee is provided with the report of the task group, which was received by the Health Select Committee on 18^th December 2018.

The Task Group was established jointly by the Children’s Select and Health Select Committees to look at the re-commissioning of the CAMH service, access and referral points to CAMHS, as well as how this service fits into the overall mental health offer for children and young people in Wiltshire.

Members are asked to comment on the content of the report and its recommendations. Comments from the committee will be taken to the Health Select Committee meeting on 5^th March 2019 for response.

The Committee received a report of the Task Group which had been received by the Health Select Committee at their meeting on 18 December 2018. 

The Chairman expressed some concern that the views of the Health Select Committee had been sought and passed to the Executive before this Committee had the opportunity to consider these recommendations. It was noted that this was due to the scheduled timing of these two committees in the Council Diary.

The Chairman welcomed Cllr Phil Alford, Chairman of the Task Group, to the meeting to present his report.

Members were reminded that the CAMHS Task Group had been established by this Select Committee and the Health Select Committee to look at the re-commissioning of the CAMH Service, access and referral points to CAMHS, as well as how this service fitted into the overall mental health offer for children and young people in Wiltshire.

Cllr Alford explained that although the conclusions drawn supported that the re-commissioned model helped to address the needs of children and young people in Wiltshire, however, work needed to be carried out to improve the transition arrangements between children and adult mental health services. Communication between different agencies within the CAMH service and mental health support needed to be easier to access for Wiltshire’s children and young people.

The Health Select Committee endorsed the six recommendations of the Task Group subject to widening the scope of recommendation 2 to include previously looked after children. The Committee also endorsed the areas the Task Group wished to explore further to clarify any misinformation previously received.

During discussion, Members stressed the importance of achieving a seamless join in the mental health support offered to young people and adults, especially that on offer to young adults on reaching the age of 18.

Resolved:  

(1)          To endorse the report and recommendations of the CAMHS Task Group.

(2)                To request that when the Task Group reconvene for their Part II exercise, they consider alongside their outstanding Terms of Reference how the Local Transformation Plan, as well as the third sector, aim to provide preventative services to children and young people in Wiltshire and to identify where there are any gaps in provision.

Members are provided with a report which details the response of the Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Skills and the Wiltshire CCG to the Final Report – Part One of the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) Task Group presented to Health Select Committee on 18^th December 2018.

The committee is asked to comment on the responses to the recommendations, taking into account their comments on the main report received under item 6a. Comments from the committee will be received by the Health Select Committee at their meeting on 5^th March 2019.

The Committee received a report which set out the response of the Cabinet Member for Children, Education & Skills and the Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to the Final Report - Part One of the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) Task Group.

The Cabinet Member reported that all the recommendations had been accepted except for recommendation 2(b) which stated:-

“For LAC and children and young people with SEND to be treated by CAMHS up to the age of 25, if they first approach CAMHS when they are in full-time education.”

The Cabinet Member explained that transitions for young people with additional vulnerabilities (e.g. living in care, SEND) were recognised as needing review. It was planned to research good practice and work with providers over their transitions protocols to determine what steps would be required to make improvements. Current national policy, contractual arrangements and funding streams did not allow for an expansion of the CAMHS Service for all SEND young people up to the age of 25, resulting in officers being unable to implement this recommendation in full in the immediate future. National NHS planning guidance for 18/19 was expected to request dedicated mental health pathways for 17 to 24 year old people.   

During discussion, Members expressed the view that schools should be made aware of this problem and consideration should be given to investigating ways in which they could be engaged. It was reported that information was set out on the Council’s website and that this was being brought to the attention of schools. This was of course available to the general public to view.  Suitable publicity material had been sent to schools and it was recognised that a sustained campaign was required, including the use of social media.  It was suggested that this matter, entitled Pathways of Support for Young People be the subject of a briefing session to this Committee later in the year.

Resolved:

(1)          To submit the comments from this Committee regarding the Executive Response to the Health Select Committee at its meeting on 5 March 2019.

(2)          To endorse the Executive Response to the CAMHS Task Group report.

This report offers a summary of activities of the Wiltshire Assembly of Youth (WAY), Youth Safeguarding Board (YSB) and the Children in Care Council (CiCC) during the period November – December 2018.

The Committee welcomed Joel Mutagayika, a young person’s representative, to the meeting who made a presentation on the Youth Parliament’s House of Commons Debate

It was noted that 1,111,580 young people took part in the ballot to decide which topics should be debated, making it one of the largest youth consultations of its kind in UK history. Almost 1 in 5 of all young people aged 11-18 took part and it was decided that the following five subjects be chosen:-

·         Put an end to knife crime

·         Mental health

·         Equal pay, equal work

·         Tackling homelessness

·         Votes at 16

Putting an end to knife crime and Votes at 16 were chosen during the Debate as issues to investigate and the UK Youth Parliament would now develop campaign actions to enable members of the Youth Parliament to hold a day of action to be held during January 2019.

The Committee also received a report summarising the activities of the Wiltshire Assembly of Youth (WAY), Youth Safeguarding Board ((YSB) and the Children in Care Council ((CiCC) during the period November to December 2018.

Resolved:

(1)          To thank Joel Mutagayika for his presentation.

(2)          To note the contents of the report.

After being identified by the committee as a priority of the Wiltshire Assembly of Youth the Chairman and Vice-Chairman requested a briefing document which outlines the current situation for youth transport across Wiltshire.

Members are asked to comment on the briefing document, to be circulated, and consider potential future scrutiny involvement in the topic.

The Chairman reminded Members that the Committee had identified Youth Transport as a priority of the Wiltshire Assembly of Youth and together with the Vice-Chairman, had requested a briefing document which outlined the current situation for youth transport across Wiltshire.  The document addressed some of the specific points highlighted around fares and Wiltshire Council’s overall approach to public transport.

During discussion, it was suggested that a task group be established to explore the issues in more detail and to address some of the concerns of young people.

Resolved:

To recommend to the Overview & Scrutiny Management Committee that a Task Group be set up to explore issues raised regarding youth transport and that a young person be invited to take part.

The committee will be provided with a report which follows the report received by the committee on 17^th June 2018 which detailed progress on apprenticeships within the council’s workforce since the implementation of the apprenticeship levy in May 2017.

The committee is asked to provided comments regarding the new update.

The Committee received a report by the Director, Human Resources & Organisational Development (HR &OD), which provided an update on the progress on apprenticeships within the Council’s workforce since the last update in June 2018. The report also outlined future plans to ensure the use of the levy was maximised to support the development of the Council’s workforce.  

It was noted that the current number of apprentices employed by the Council was 145 as at 14 December 2018. 129 apprentices were employed by the Council with 24 as new recruits and 105 as existing staff who were accessing apprenticeship training to upskill. 2 new recruits were care leavers whilst 2.9% staff were Council apprentices. It was pleasing to note that this figure exceeded the target of 2.3%.  However, maintained schools had only 0.3% of their workforce as apprentices resulting in the Council’s public sector figure to report back to Central Government being 1.4%.

The Director, HR & OD explained steps that were being taken to raise awareness of apprenticeship opportunities.  Various events were being organised aimed at targeting apprenticeship opportunities at care leavers with the aim of encouraging applications from these young people for these entry level roles at the Council.  Further discussions were being held to explore ways of expanding these opportunities and also to encourage Council contractors to participate in apprenticeship schemes including the possibility of including such a requirement into contracts.  Members expressed much interest in this suggestion and requested that the Corporate Director, Growth, Investment & Place be invited to attend a meeting of this Committee in six months’ time to report on progress.

Resolved:

(1)          To note the contents of the report and the progress that had been made with the recruitment of apprentices.

(2)          To invite the Corporate Director, Growth, Investment & Place to a meeting of this Committee in 6 months’ time to provide an update on the employment of apprentices particularly by contractors.  

(At this point Mr John Hawkins joined the meeting.)

The committee is provided with the report of the task group which was presented to Cabinet on 11^th December 2018 to present the findings of the Task Group regarding the bids for the provision of outdoor education and potential sale of the Oxenwood and Braeside sites.

It should be noted that this report has been written to be included with a Part II Cabinet report and, as such, included information was provided confidentially. Sensitive financial information has been redacted from the original report in order to receive the report as part 1 in this agenda. However, this does not impact on the significant content of the report.

(Jen Jones, Further Education Representative, declared a non-pecuniary interest in this item as she was employed by Wiltshire College)

The Committee received a report which presented the findings of the Traded Services for Schools Task Group regarding the bids for the provision of outdoor education and potential sale of the Oxenwood and Braeside sites which was presented to Cabinet on 11 December 2018.

Mr John Hawkins, Chairman of the Task Group introduced the report and explained the Task Group’s four recommendations which had received a very satisfactory response from Cabinet. He took the opportunity of recording his thanks and appreciation to Cllr Philip Whitehead, Cabinet Member for Finance, Procurement, ICT & Operational Assets, for the very positive and inclusive way he had taken this issue forward.

The Chairman thanked Mr Hawkins and the Task Group for their excellent work which had resulted in a very satisfactory outcome.

Resolved:

To note the Task Group report which had been presented to Cabinet on 11 December 2018.          

The committee is provided with a report which includes information regarding the most recent Ofsted Inspection reports.  It provides an ongoing view of the effectiveness of schools as seen by Ofsted Inspection.

Consideration was given to a report by the Director, Education & Skills, which included information regarding the most recent Ofsted Inspection reports  published from mid-October to the beginning of November 2018. It provided an ongoing view of the effectiveness of schools as seen by Ofsted Inspection and also provided information on the most recent figures published by Ofsted including those from the HMCI Annual Report published at the beginning of December 2018. 

Alongside this Annual Report was published data regarding Ofsted outcomes nationally, regionally and for each local authority.  As at the end of August 2018, 86% of schools nationally were good or outstanding (84% of pupil places). In the South West 84% of schools were good or outstanding (82% of pupil places).  In Wiltshire 82% of schools and 86% of pupil places were in good or outstanding provision.

It was noted that in Wiltshire there had been nine inspections since the last report to Committee in early November 2018. Of these there had been eight short one-day inspections, all retaining a good grading and one two-day inspection which as a first rating required improvement. 

A review of processes to monitor, challenge and support schools was underway with an interim School Improvement Framework in place from January 2019. This was intended to support the precise identification of strengths within the school and areas for improvement.  The quality of provision would be evaluated and a comprehensive improvement plan developed to address the identified needs.  Members expressed interest in this Improvement Framework and looked forward to receiving information on its effectiveness in due course.

Resolved:

To note the update on Ofsted Inspection from mid-October to early November 2018.

(At this point Cllr Christopher Devine left the meeting)

A report by Terence Herbert, Corporate Director, is attached presenting an update on developments relating to children’s services arising from the Department for Education.

(Cllr Jon Hubbard, Chairman left the meeting and Cllr Mary Douglas, Vice-Chairman assumed the Chair.)

The Committee received an update from the Corporate Director, Education & Children, on developments relating to children’s services arising from the Department for Education from October to December 2018 as follows:-

·         Budget 2018

·         Public Services Performance tracker

·         Schools causing concern statutory guidance

·         School organisation statutory guidance

·         Schools funding

·         School security: draft guidance

·         Response to Education Select Committee report on alternative provision

·         Academies Update

·         Consultation on T-Level funding

·         Ofsted Annual Report 2017/18 and changes to school inspections

·         National protocol on reducing criminalisation of looked-after children

·         Care Leavers Covenant launched

·         Adoption Register Regulations

·         Rough sleeping strategy

·         Child death review: statutory and operation guidance

Resolved:

To note the update provided.   

The committee will receive updates from active Task Groups 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 Committee received an update on the activities of the SEND School Provision Task Group.

Resolved:

To note the update on task group activity provided.

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 Committee is also asked to consider the report detailing the outcomes from the meetings between the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the committee with the Executive member. These meetings were held on 12^th December 2018 and each dealt with upcoming priorities in the relevant portfolio area.

Members are asked to consider using the topics noted in the report to populate the future forward plan for the committee.

The Committee received documents showing:-

·         The relevant items from the Overview & Scrutiny Forward Work Programme, together with the latest version of the strategy list for the Children, Education & Skills Directorate.

·         The outcomes from meetings between the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Committee with the Executive Member.

Resolved:

(1)          To note the Forward Work Programme for this Committee and the Children’s Services Strategy List.

(2)          To endorse the topics listed in the report on the Forward Work Plan Meeting with the Executive and to use them to populate the Committee’s Forward Work Programme.

To note that the next scheduled meeting is due to be held on Tuesday 5 March 2019, at County Hall, Trowbridge, starting at 10.30am.

Resolved:

To note that the next scheduled meeting of this Committee was due to be held on Tuesday 5 March 2019 at County Hall, Trowbridge, starting at 10.30am.

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

There were no items of urgent business.