Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor M Deakin

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 25 September 2017

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 25 September 2017.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in any item on the agenda.

Councillor B Dooley declared a non pecuniary interest in minute 29 due to being a director of TSS, in accordance with the code of conduct she remained in the meeting during consideration of the item.

To provide an opportunity for Members to declare the existence of a party whip in relation to any item on the agenda

There were no whipping declarations.

A total period of 15 minutes is allocated for members of the public to make a statement(s) on any matter that falls within the remit of the Committee.

Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes, but the Chairman will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned, where there are a number of speakers.

Note: In order for officers to undertake any background research, it would be helpful if members of the public contacted the Scrutiny officer listed at the foot of the agenda, at least one working day before the meeting to provide brief details of the matter to be covered.

There were no members of the public wishing to speak

To receive a presentation on education outcomes of Summer Born Children.

Consideration was given to a presentation on the analysis of outcomes of summer born children, the overall conclusions were as follows:

·         Summer born children (younger) attain/achieve less well than their peers.

·         Summer born children make better progress than their peers.

·         Research by Institute of Fiscal Studies found no evidence of long term difference in adults.

·         At key stage 4 the greater drop is between Autumn and Spring in most academic subjects.

·         There is no difference in attendance based on month of birth.

·         The number of Children with a statement of educational need or education, health and care plan is similar for Autumn, Spring and Summer born.

·         The number of children receiving additional support in schools increases by month/term of birth in primary.

·         There is a notable decline in support at secondary – possible transfer of pupils to specialist provision ?

·         Children who were held back a year did not achieve better outcomes.

The Committee received data from the 2017 census that indicated that children who were born in the summer were not more likely to have a statement of special educational needs. However they achieved less well due to age and therefore more summer born children were provided with additional support to enable them to make progress. It was noted that the priority for the Council was to close the gap between boys and girls.

RESOLVED

That the presentation be received.

To receive a presentation updating members on the implementation of transport reforms.

Further to the meeting held on 25 September 2017, the Committee received a presentation on the transport policy review, which included an update on phase 1 and 2 of the Available Walking Routes to Schools. In regard to Bollington to Tytherington High School, it was noted that a new crossing had been installed and the declaration of the route being available was imminent. The Committee agreed to walk the route in December.

The presentation also detailed:

·         Post 16 Travel Policy Statement

·         Independent Travel Training for SEN pupils

·         Sustainable Modes of Travel Strategy

·         Safer Routes to Schools, a decision would need to be made as to how Overview and Scrutiny would be involved, one possibility would be to hold a joint meeting.

·         Business Process Review, this would involve making efficiency savings.

The date for consideration by Cabinet had now been put back to March 2018.

RESOLVED

1.    That the Committee walk the Bollington to Tytherington available walk to school in December.

2.    That a further update be brought back to the next meeting of the Committee.

To give consideration to the annual report for 2016/17

Consideration was given to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) Annual Report 2016-2017.  Working Together to Safeguard  Children 2015 (WTSC) required local authorities to have a particular officer or team of officers to be involved in the management and oversight of allegations against people who work with children. The LADO provided advice and guidance to employer’s and voluntary organisations and would liaise with police and other agencies as required. The LADO had responsibility to monitor the progress of individual cases to ensure they were dealt with quickly, fairly and consistency, as well as identifying significant patterns and trends across the workforce.

It was noted that the number of referrals from the voluntary sector, particularly smaller organisations,  was low and that officers were working with the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board Lead to promote the service. A one minute guide on when to report a case to the LADO was available, the Committee agreed that this should be added to Councils Live Well web page and that more needed to be done to promote the service to community groups.

RESOLVED

That the one minute guide be available on the Councils Live Well web page.

To give consideration to the self assessment against the Ofsted recommendations

The Committee received a self assessment report on the progress to date against the recommendations from the Ofsted inspection in July 2015. A self assessment was also completed in July 2016, where it was agreed that although a number of the recommendations had been met, progress against all the recommendations would be revisited to ensure that progress had been maintained and to evaluate the Councils position relative to the other longer term quality or practice recommendations that had not been met.

The Council strived towards consistently good practice across the service, however certain areas such as safeguarding were complex. It was acknowledged that more work needed to be done in regard to Education Psychology assessments; the Council was currently in the process of recruiting additional Psychologists and the possibility of joint working with other authorities was being considered.

In regard to liquid logic, it was reported that the system was popular with staff, the quality of data was improving, it was being adapted to facilitate signs of safety and more Councils were buying into the product.

It was agreed that a paper on signs of safety and how it worked in practice would be circulated to the Committee.

RESOLVED

That a paper on signs of safety be circulated to the Committee.

To receive an overview of performance across the Children and Families Service for quarter 2 of 2017-18.

Consideration was given to an overview of performance across the Children and Families Service for quarter 2 of 2016/17. The measures rated red and amber related to child protection and cared for children, initial health assessments notified with 48hrs and the performance around EHCP being completed within 20 weeks.

RESOLVED

That the scorecard be received

To give consideration to the work programme

Consideration was given to the work programme. In order for the Committee to give consideration to the budget, it was agreed that an additional meeting would be arranged for 15 January 2018 and that the meeting scheduled to be held on 29 January 2018 be cancelled. The CAHMS update would be considered at the meeting scheduled to be held on 26 March 2018.

RESOLVED

1.    That an additional meeting of the Committee be arranged for 15 January 2018.

2.    That the meeting scheduled to be held on 29 January 2018 be cancelled.

3.    That the CAHMS update be considered by the Committee at its meeting scheduled to be held on 26 March 2018.