Agenda and minutes

Councillor Liz Durham – Children and Families Portfolio Holder

Councillor Paul Bates - Communities and Health Portfolio Holder

Councillor George Hayes – Deputy Cabinet Member

Kath O’Dwyer - Executive Director of People & Deputy Chief Executive

Nigel Moorhouse - Director of Children’s Social Care

Jacky Forster - Director of Education and 14-19 Skills

Gill Betton – Head of Service - Children's Development & Partnerships

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 4 April 2016.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 4 April 2016 be confirmed 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.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of the existence of party whip.

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. 

Natasha Maroni referred to attempts she had made to secure a residential place for her daughter. At the present time, she had been offered 1 day placements outside of the Borough, which she considered to be unsatisfactory

Carol Jones referred to Article 3 of UNICEF (Best interests of the child):which stated that ‘the best interests of children must be the primary concern in

making decisions that may affect them’ and linked the article to the recent Cabinet decision regarding safe walking routes to school.

Sue Helliwell sought clarification about the costs involved in the Council’s February 2016 decision to de-designate four children’s centres. In particular, enquired as to how many vehicles would be acquired; how many support staff that would entail; how much equipment; and whether provision would be made within the vehicles for private and confidential discussions. She also sought assurances about the future of outreach services in Alsager.

Ted Wall expressed his disapproval of the Council’s decision to de-designate four children’s centres and the fact that the Council had ignored advice contained in a letter from Fiona Bruce MP to the Council about delaying a decision until the publication of a report on children’s centres by an all party parliamentary committee.

Susan Munroe referred to poor mental health of perinatal women which was often associated with isolation. She contended that a mobile children’s centre service would increase isolation. Permanent buildings provided safe places for mothers and children to gather together.

Maeve Kelly referred to a statement made at the February 2016 Cabinet meeting by a Cabinet member which had suggested that the provision of children’s centres was discretionary. However, Maeve contended that local authorities had a duty to provide children’s centres. The original concept of children’s centres was to provide facilities open to everybody, thereby removing any stigma.

Sally Handley referred to conflicting positions of the Leader of the Council and Health and Wellbeing Board in respect of footfall and usage of children’s centres

Ethel Ranson suggested that the Council had opened itself up to potential lawsuits having not followed its own policies on consultation in respect of the decision to de-designate four children centres

Paula Eaton informed the committee that she had three children and had been a regular user of the Sandbach sure start centre. She outlined the timeline of the decision making process explaining that the consultation period had ended on 12 February, report was then produced on 22 February 2016 and a final decision taken on 28 February 2016. She therefore questioned the process and the disregarding of the letter from Fiona Bruce MP.

Michael Unett stated that in view of the significant number of new houses being built in the borough recently, many of the people who would be expected to purchase these houses would probably not be local the borough and could therefore have benefitted if permanent children’s centres had been in place.

Susan Munroe, Maeve Kelly, Sally Handley, Ethel Ranson Paula Eaton Michael Unett each  requested that the decision regarding children  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consider a report of the Executive Director of People & Deputy Chief Executive.

The Committee considered a report of Kath O’Dwyer Executive Director of People & Deputy Chief Executive providing an update on the progress made against the Children and Young Peoples Improvement Plan to address the recommendations and areas for improvement identified by Ofsted in its inspection report of Children’s services published in September 2015.

Kath explained that good progress had been made and that the report before the committee today represented the 4^th quarter update.

In response to a question about the progress made in connection with recruitment and retention, Nigel Moorhouse explained that Macclesfield office was in a healthier position than Crewe in terms of recruitment. The Council had a large cohort of newly recruited staff and had cover for 5 vacancies from agency staff. Case loads had reduced. The Council had introduced an aspirant manager programme, but acknowledged that the Council had a large number of relatively inexperienced staff. The first ‘grow your own’ social workers would be coming through the system this year.

In response to an additional question about hour’s worked and case loads, Nigel informed the committee that across the whole Council there were currently 900 cases open. He stressed that although some officers worked long hours, social work was a not a 9-5 job and all efforts were made to encourage staff to take time back at appropriate times. In addition the Council had good mentoring programme, whereby social workers met regularly over a two year period with their supervisor and manager.

In response to an additional question about how the Council assisted care leavers to find jobs and accommodation, Nigel stated that care leavers who were not in education employment or training (NEETS) was an area of intense focus by the Council.

RESOLVED – That the report be received;

To consider a report of the Executive Director of People & Deputy Chief Executive.

The Committee considered a report of the Kath O’Dwyer Executive Director of People & Deputy Chief Executive.

In its report to the Council following an Ofsted its inspection in July 2015, published in September 2015, Inspectors had highlighted the need for this Committee to receive a broader overview of information to ensure it could take an overview of patterns and trends in performance. 

An outline report was brought to the Committee in February 2016 setting out a draft scorecard template and performance relating to quarter 3.  The format and content for future reporting were agreed and the scorecard at Appendix 1 reflected the changes agreed.  The scorecard set out the performance against the agreed indicators across the Children and Families Directorate for quarter 4, 1^st January – 31^st March 2016. 

RESOLVED – That the report be received.

To consider a report of the Head of Corporate Resources and Stewardship.

The Committee reviewed its work programme.

RESOLVED – That subject to the the item relating to SEND being amended to reflect the latest position, the work programme be approved.

To note the current forward plan, identify any new items, and to determine whether any further examination of new issues is appropriate.

The Committee reviewed the current forward plan.

RESOLVED – that the forward plan be received and noted.