Agenda

Pre-meeting information briefing

The meeting will be preceded by a presentation starting at 9.30am, in the meeting room.

Topic: School improvement programme

All members and substitutes of the Children’s Select Committee are welcome to attend.

Items to be considered while the meeting is open to the public

The Democratic Services Officer will open the meeting and ask for nominations in order to elect a Chairman for the forthcoming year.

To elect a Vice-Chairman for the forthcoming year.

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting and changes to the Committee Membership.

To approve and sign the minutes of the previous meeting held on 14 March 2023.

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

To receive any announcements through the Chairman.

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 30^th May 2023 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 1^st June 2023. 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.

To consider a report on a new service to replace children's centres offering support for families 0-19 (25 with SEND), before it is presented to Cabinet on 13 June 2023.

To consider the attached report providing an update on the business planning process for the council, linking to the activity of families & children and education and skills services and the progress against that activity.

To consider the attached report providing an update on Child Poverty in Wiltshire, including the national policy background, the data picture in Wiltshire within a national context, and the activities of the Council.

To receive the response of the Cabinet Member to the Final Report of the High Needs Block Funding Rapid Scrutiny.

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.

If no indication is made in advance of the meeting, officers are not expected to attend.

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

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.

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

The DfE published new non-statutory guidance in May 2022 to help schools, trusts, governing bodies and local authorities maintain high levels of school attendance. The guidance applies from September 2022.

This regular update is an opportunity for the committee to be aware of the latest requirements, as set out in the guidance.

To receive a very brief update highlighting key items from the last meeting of Schools Forum, to enable the Children’s Select Committee to be informed in a timely manner of the work undertaken by the Schools Forum through the year.

Full agendas and minutes for the Schools Forum can be accessed here  Schools Forum | Wiltshire Council

To receive a very brief update highlighting key items from the last meeting of the Corporate Parenting Panel, to enable the Children’s Select Committee members, as Corporate Parents, to be informed in a timely manner of the work undertaken by the Corporate Parenting Panel through the year.

To receive a verbal update from Directors highlighting any key issues (current or emerging), successes or milestones in their respective areas since the last meeting of the committee, which may not require a full agenda item and are not covered elsewhere on this agenda.

To receive a verbal update from the Cabinet Member and / or Portfolio Holders highlighting any news, successes or milestones in their respective areas since the last meeting of the committee, which may not require a full agenda item and are not covered elsewhere on this agenda.

To receive a verbal update from the chair on any work undertaken or news since the last meeting that would not require a full agenda item and would not be suitable under Chairman’s Announcements (where no debate is allowed).

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.

To note that the next scheduled meeting is due to be held on Wednesday 12 July 2023 at County Hall, Trowbridge, starting at 10.30am.

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

Items during whose consideration it is recommended that the public should be excluded because of the likelihood that exempt information would be disclosed