Agenda and minutes

Andrea Arlidge, Peter Mountstephen and David Williams who are all Co-opted Members of the Panel had sent their apologies.

Councillor Sarah Bevan gave her apologies as she would have to leave before the conclusion of the meeting.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officer before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

Councillor Sarah Bevan declared a personal and non-pecuniary interest in agenda item 9 (Home to School Transport) as she is a Governor at St. Gregory’s Catholic College and her son attends the school.

Councillor Loraine Morgan-Brinkhurst declared personal and non-prejudicial interest as she is one of the Council’s representatives on the Sirona Care & Health Community Interest Company.

The Chairman announced that there were a number of public speakers in relation to agenda item 9 (Home to School Transport) and that they would be asked to address the Panel at the beginning of that item.

The basis for this review was a letter received by the Early Years, Children and Youth (EYCY) Panel at their public meeting on the 23rd January 2012. The letter was from the Cabinet Member for Early Years, Children and Youth at the time, Councillor Nathan Hartley, in which he asked the Panel to consider undertaking a review of Home to School Transport in order to attempt to make some financial reductions as part of the 2013/14 budget setting process.

After considering what research had already been undertaken, it was agreed that the Panel would undertake a review of the Council’s current home to school transport policies and how the Council can maintain its commitment to maintain transport services for young people whilst ensuring the most efficient deployment of public funds and the full range of statutory Home to School Transport (HTST) policy duties in this field are being met.

Mr Raymond Friel, Head Teacher at St. Gregory’s Catholic College addressed the Panel. He said that he would like to take part in a focus group with the Chairman and other members of the Panel so that the review could be discussed in more detail. He stated that in particular the Filipino and Polish communities would be affected by any changes to the current subsidy as they would not be able to attend their school of choice and asked for that to be considered in any Equalities Impact Assessment.

He said that the school was not opposed to recommendations 1, 2, 4 or 5 and that recommendation 3c was the least of all evils.

He asked if the officers had calculated how much it would be for the Council to provide a cost neutral service.

He stated that if the subsidy were to be removed there would be a significant drop in the number of Catholic pupils in attendance.

He asked the Chairman to clearly outline the next steps of the review and how any focus group comments could be inputted into the process.

He ended his statement by asking for the subsidy to not be removed.

The Chairman asked Mr Friel to read out a brief statement from a member of the public, Mrs Phillips.

Mrs Phillips wished to let the Panel know that she was a parent wishing to send her child to St. Gregory’s because of her Catholic beliefs. She stated that the issue of denominational transport was significant and would affect the choices of a number of parents if it were to be removed.

Penelope Restorick and her daughter Phoebe addressed the Panel. Mrs Restorick said that denominational transport was a vital service that enabled parents to make a real choice for their child’s education. She stated that she had chosen St. Gregory’s for faith reasons and hoped to send her three younger children there also in the future.

She said that the service enabled children to travel safely to and from school.

She asked if pupils who currently receive the service would continue to do so.

She stated that if the subsidy was removed she would have to work fewer hours so that she could drive her children to school and that if this was the case with other parents the congestion on the roads should be taken into consideration.

Phoebe said that she was grateful to be able to attend St. Gregory’s and wanted her sisters to be able to join her there.

Mrs Webb and her daughter Lily addressed the Panel. Lily said that the school has a wonderful curriculum and a programme of events that she wanted her sisters to also experience. She explained that one of her sisters has a hearing impairment and would want the security of her or another sister to help her get on the bus to get to school. She added that she knew that despite the impairment St. Gregory’s would give her sister the chance to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

The Bath & North East Somerset School Sport Partnership was established in 2002 to implement the PE, School Sport & Club Links government strategy across the local authority. Since this time, the Partnership has established itself as a high quality service for schools and has been consistently recognised at a national level for excellent delivery and providing innovative programmes.

The Divisional Director for Learning & Inclusion introduced this item to the Panel. He explained that the Partnership has been supported by the Schools Forum to deliver a PE & sports service for all 63 primary schools in the authority. He stated that it has been an amazingly successful programme, but unfortunately since September 2011 has had its central government funding cut by the Department for Education and the funding will cease completely in August 2013 except for National School Games funding. He added that attracting new and additional investment is critical for its future sustainability and for Secondary School staff to be released one day a week to work with the Primary Schools.

He introduced Dave Burston & Beth Jones from the School Sport Development team to address the Panel.

Dave said that following the funding cut in 2011 they have only been able to deliver a restricted programme and that the service was a necessity to enable children to take part in sport at school. He wished to thank the Schools Forum for their support. He added that the Primary Head Teachers have spoken of how much they value the programme.

He informed the Panel that they also run expansion schemes for Secondary pupils with the help of partners such as Bath Rugby, University of Bath, Bath Spa University & Bath City FC.

He said he was very pleased that all secondary, special, primary and independent schools were due to take part in the new National School Games initiative. He added that within B&NES the School Games events were being coordinated by the School Sport Partnership with support from the County Sport Partnership and that funding for the School Games is provided by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department of Health.

He wished to highlight to the Panel two particular areas of work within the Partnership.

Playground to Podium Initiative

Playground to Podium was the national strategy for the identification, development and support of talented young athletes with a physical, sensory or learning disability. National funding has now ceased. However, the Partnership has maintained this excellent programme in B&NES. The Playground to Podium framework forms a pathway which take young people with a disability from school based participation, through to high level performance and competition opportunities. The ultimate aim is to produce our next Paralympian and elite disabled athletes. We currently have over 50 pupils from mainstream primary, secondary and special schools. They are invited to experience days at the University of Bath and are signposted onto local clubs or performance pathways where required.

The Dance Umbrella

The Dance Umbrella Festival brings together young people from across the Authority in a celebration of schools dance.  Hosted at the Forum in Bath, this event provides pupils with the opportunity to perform in front of a live audience.  Dance pieces include whole class routines developed as part of curriculum PE lessons and after school clubs run by enthusiastic teachers. Over the three nights, over 2000 pupils from over  ...  view the full minutes text for item 73.

Councillor Eleanor Jackson introduced this report to the Panel. She explained that since funding was received for the partnership it has attempted to reach out to as many young people as possible. She informed them that following the results of the questionnaire a number of practical workshops, activities and skills programmes were set up that lead to young people achieving certificates in a variety of subjects.

She wished to highlight the lack of rural public transport, street lighting and poor road conditions in the area.

She stated that she believed in a universal provision approach and that all youth work should be professionally led. She added that for the Partnership to continue its work it required further resources.

Councillor Liz Hardman congratulated her on the work of the Partnership and asked how long was left for the funding of the project.

Councillor Jackson replied that the last church activity would take place in August 2013 and that the trustees were actively fund raising.

The Chairman on behalf of the Panel thanked her for the report and commended the work that has been achieved.

Councillor Dine Romero, Cabinet Member for Early Years, Children & Youth said that she had noted the comments made during the presentation of the report.

This is a draft of the third Annual Report of the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) compiled in accordance with a national template.  The Panel considered, and commented upon the draft report of 2011/12 in November 2011 prior to its submission to the Children’s Trust Board and reviewed the final report at its meeting in July 2012.  The Panel requested the opportunity to contribute to the draft report for 2012/13 prior to its submission to the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board on 5th March 2013 and the Children’s Trust Board on 14th March 2013.

The Divisional Director for Safeguarding, Social Care and Family Services introduced this item to the Panel. He explained that the appendix was a draft of the third Annual Report of the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) compiled in accordance with a national template. He added that the Panel had requested the opportunity to contribute to the draft report for 2012/13 prior to its submission to the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board on 5th March 2013 and the Children’s Trust Board on 14th March 2013.

He said that the work programme for 2013/14 would be completed by the LSCB on 7th February 2013 and the final Report would be signed off by the LSCB at its meeting on 5th March 2013 for publication on 1st April 2013.

The People & Communities Strategic Director commented that there had been more permanent exclusions in the period from September to Christmas 2012 than the whole of last year and that the service was working on provision for these pupils. He added that feedback on the report was welcome by any means.

The Panel RESOLVED to note that the Annual Report 2012/2013 will be published on 1^st April 2013.

The report details further progress with the implementation of the Council’s Children’s Service Improvement Plan following the Ofsted Inspection of Safeguarding and Looked After Children’s Services undertaken in January 2012.  The full Improvement Plan and a progress report in respect of its early implementation was considered by the Panel on 9th July 2012, and this further progress report requested.

The Divisional Director for Safeguarding, Social Care and Family Services introduced this report to the Panel. He informed them that the report showed how progress with the implementation of the Council’s Children’s Service Improvement Plan was progressing following the Ofsted Inspection of the Safeguarding and Looked After Children’s Services undertaken in January 2012.  He added that the full Improvement Plan and a progress report in respect of its early implementation were considered by the Panel on 9th July 2012, where this further progress report requested.

He highlighted some of the progress points to the Panel.

·  Required improvements have been effected in respect of notifications of care and protection plans: feedback to referrers: timeliness of Looked After Children (LAC) Reviews: involvement of health professionals and progress of health plans for LAC Reviews: and evidence that these improvements are being sustained.

·  Required improvements effected in respect of core assessments following Section 47 investigations: reports to child protection conferences and LAC Reviews.  Emerging evidence that these improvements are being sustained – to be evaluated over a longer period.

·  Robust arrangements in place (and being enhanced through the redesign of the Children’s Social Care Service) for professional supervision: further training provided (and on-going): reflective supervision more prevalent.  Further work required to evidence how this is impacting upon practice and outcomes.

The Panel RESOLVED to:

i)  Note the report, the actions taken to respond to recommendations for areas for improvement, and the progress reported thus far.

ii)  Note the arrangements proposed for reviewing and reporting progress to the Local Safeguarding Children Board; the Corporate Parenting Group: the In-Care Council; and the Health and Wellbeing Board.

iii)  Note that the Children’s Service and Health Agencies will be presenting a combined report to the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board on 5th March 2013 detailing and evidencing progress one year on from the Inspection.

The Panel will receive a verbal update on this item.

The Divisional Director for Learning and Inclusion gave a presentation to the Panel regarding this item. A full copy is available on the Panel’s Minute Book, a summary is set out below.

He explained that rather than using the term Complex Families or Troubled Families, the term Connecting Families was the term the service have chosen to use. Paula Bromley would be the operational lead. Sally Churchyard (11-19 outcomes manager) would, as part of her duties, take over leading on the Youth Service.

He stated that the Troubled Families Unit within the Department of Communities and Local Government gave funding in three directions.

·  European Social Fund - Contract for getting people on pathway to employment

·  Prospects - Contract for 16-18 NEET Young People with no GCSEs at > C (30 to 50 Young People)

·  Local Councils - Bath & NES Connecting Families Initiative

Purpose of Connecting Families

To turn around the lives of the families who are:

·  Not in work

·  Not sending their children to school regularly

·  Causing anti-social behaviour

·  Engaging significant resources as a result of:

o  Domestic Violence

o  Mental ill health

o  Children in care or on the edge of care

How we work with our families?

·  Dedicated One Family Support Worker

·  Practical hands on support

·  Whole Family Approach

·  Agreed Action Plan

Degrees of the Family Intervention Service

Intensive: intensive work, low caseloads, building on the practice in FIPs.

Light: less intensive work, caseloads of about 15 families.

Super light: usually a worker with another day job and set of responsibilities, but some dedicated time to work with the family.

Measures of Success

·  Family members in work

·  Children and young people in the families regularly attending school

·  Reductions in youth crime and anti-social behaviour caused by the children and young people within these families

·  Reduction in domestic abuse within these families

·  Reduction in the numbers of children admitted to care / staying in care

Councillor Liz Hardman commented that the staff involved in this work would be key and asked what training would be provided.

The Divisional Director for Learning and Inclusion replied that two experienced members of staff from the Family Intervention Project would work within the team and that views would be gathered and resources sought for further training.

Councillor Liz Hardman commented that she disliked the payment by results scheme.

The Divisional Director for Learning and Inclusion replied that unfortunately the payment method cannot be avoided. He added that the intention was to keep the team small.

The People & Communities Strategic Director added that the Council has a small Looked After Children population and that it was a complex area to work within. He said that the intention was to simplify the interventions required over time.

Sanjeev Chaddha asked how long it would take to work with the 200 identified families.

The Connecting Families Operational Lead replied that it was anticipated to take around three years to work with all 200 families.

The Chairman on behalf of the Panel thanked them for the presentation.

This item gives the Panel an opportunity to ask questions to the Cabinet Member and for her to update them on any current issues.

The Cabinet Member for Early Years, Children & Youth, Councillor Dine Romero addressed the Panel.

She said that she would do all that she could to protect the Children’s Services budget in the upcoming discussions at Cabinet and Council.

She spoke of how she had the pleasure of attending a number of carol services over the festive period as well as the recent What’s For Tea Awards in Farrington Gurney.

She was also pleased to announce that she had been present at St Keyna Primary School when they had been discussing their new initiatives against bullying.

The Chairman on behalf of the Panel thanked her for her update.

The Panel will receive a verbal update on this item from the People and Communities Strategic Director.

The People & Communities Strategic Director addressed the Panel on the following matters.

Independent Reviewing Service: A thematic Inspection Survey took place on January 22^nd and 23^rd. Two Inspectors reviewed 10 cases, 6 of which were tracked in great detail. The Inspectors also met with Young People, Foster Carers, Birth Parents, staff groups and colleagues from other agencies. 

A report by Ofsted will be published in mid-May which summarises their findings based upon visits to ten local authorities including Bath and North East Somerset. Informally, the overall feedback was very positive.

Children’s Centre Cluster Trial Inspection: The inspection took place between 14^th – 17^th January and was focused upon the Somer Valley cluster of Children’s Centres.

He said that in reality this was an inspection of all early childhood services not simply Children’s Centres. The inspection was a positive experience for Early Years and Children’s Centre Staff and for Ofsted. The inspection will inform the final planning of how the service will inspect Children’s Centres from April 2013 onwards.

We need to build on our information sharing particularly with Health Services as often these services are working with key families, but that information is not effectively shared.

Sector Led Improvement – Peer Challenges:

i)  Bath & North East Somerset ‘Challenge’ of Swindon – Staff from B&NES have visited Swindon to agree the focus of the challenge. A range of information from Swindon has been analysed and will be used as the basis of the full day challenge visit on February 1^st.

ii)  Dorset ‘Challenge’ of Bath and North East Somerset – Colleagues from Dorset spent a full day with selected staff on 21^st January. The focus was on services to divert children and young people away from the care system. Feedback from the Dorset Director of Children’s Services is due on 30^th January. A number of pieces of work will be taken forward as the service looks to re-design due to budget reductions and the need to clarify our ‘early help’ services.

Staffing Changes:

A number of staffing changes are underway linked to the service re-structure and some personal decisions.

Liz Price retires on 31^st January as Head of Commissioning and Strategic Planning. In the new structure Liz will be replaced by Mary Kearney-knowles who will lead on Specialist Commissioning.

Maurice Lindsay retires on 31^st March as Divisional Director for Safeguarding, Social Care and Family Services. A recruitment campaign has been launched to find a permanent replacement and the service is also looking to recruit an Interim Divisional Director to cover the period between Maurice’s departure and the arrival of his successor.

Nigel Harrison retires on 31^st March as Inclusion Support Service Manager. In the new structure this post combines with that of Head of School Improvement and Achievement. From 1^st April until 31^st August Wendy Hiscock will temporarily hold this new combined post which is also now subject to recruitment.

Wendy Hiscock will then retire on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79.

This report presents the latest Policy Development & Scrutiny Workplan for the Panel.

The Panel on this occasion had no amendments to make to the printed workplan.