Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced the Panel to the members of the public that were present.

The Chair drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

David Williams, a Co-opted Member of the Panel who represents the Church of England Diocese had sent his apologies to the Panel.

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 or a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

Susan Charles, Chair, Warm Water Inclusive Swimming & Exercise (WWISE) Network addressed the Panel. A copy of the statement can be found on the Panel’s Minute Book and is also available online as an attachment to these minutes. A brief summary is set out below.

B&NES Council is currently in discussion with a number of large leisure organisations with a view to awarding a contract to run the B&NES Leisure facilities for the next 30 years, a contract which will include rebuilding the Keynsham Leisure Centre as well as remodelling or redeveloping Bath and other B&NES leisure facilities. This is a golden opportunity to ensure that warm water pools with fully accessible changing facilities that truly meet the needs of disabled children & young people are included in these development plans.

Currently there is extremely limited provision for children & young people who need fully accessible warm water pools to go swimming. With such pools in local leisure centres, disabled children who have learnt to swim in special schools or at specialised swimming lessons would be able to go swimming regularly with family & friends in an inclusive recreational environment, which would help them to remain fit & active and maintain a healthy body weight.

We are looking for your support to ensure that any contract for new & redeveloped leisure facilities includes:

·  Warm water pools with water at 32°C which are accessible for them and suitable for their needs both now & when they are older (ie deep enough & large enough for them to be able to swim).

·  Furthermore that they will have changing facilities with hoists & changing beds so they are suitable for everyone whatever their level of disability and finally that

·  They will be available for them to use on a regular basis and at an affordable price

Only then will they be able to participate in exercise and swimming on an equal basis to their able-bodied peers.

Alexander Jones- Grech, Bath Swim Therapy addressed the Panel. A copy of the statement can be found on the Panel’s Minute Book and is also available online as an attachment to these minutes. A brief summary is set out below.

My name is Alexander, I am 10 Years old.  I was born with a painful form of dwarfism that affects my bones and joints.  Most of the time, I have to move around in my wheelchair.

I wanted to learn to swim with my friends at our local pool but the water was too cold and made my legs really hurt.

I started to go to the Get Wet Set swimming lessons in the hydrotherapy pool at Three Ways School, the water was nice and warm and made my joints less achy, it took a long time but I also learnt to swim really well.

I can use the learner pool at Longwell Green, Bristol but I’m 10 now and usually it’s filled with babies and much younger children. In a couple of years I won’t even be able to swim  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

The Panel confirmed the minutes of the previous meeting as a true record and they were duly signed by the Chair.

The Panel will receive a presentation relating to this item.

The Strategic Planning Officer, Children's Services introduced this item to the Panel. She explained that around 100 children took part in the event and that both Parliaments were asked to discuss the issue of Narrowing The Gap.

She introduced pupils from Newbridge, Bathwick St Mary’s, Bathford, Marksbury, Longvernal and Chandag who were representing the Primary School Parliament. They performed their winning presentation Every Day Matters to the Panel.

The presentation incorporated helpful influences and hindrances into a role play, first of all showing all the things that went wrong on Jessica’s Day from having a bad night’s sleep, to parents arguing, having no breakfast, being told off by mother, getting bullied at school, teachers criticising her, going home in the rain, doing two hours of chores and going to bed worrying about school and home. 

The pupils then inverted the day into a good one where Jessica wakes up from a good night’s sleep, has a healthy breakfast with a happy family; she is greeted by friends at school and praised by teachers.  On her way home the sun shines and she is invited to play a game of football where she scores a goal.  After the match, Jessica went home to a loving family where she is encouraged to talk about her day and supported to do her homework.

The Strategic Planning Officer, Children's Services thanked the pupils and said that the presentation showed how everyone has a part to play in making a young person’s day go well.

She explained that the Young People’s Parliament were asked to debate Poverty, Ethnicity, Gender and State and Private Education.  These formed the themes for four separate workshops which the students ran in collaboration with an adult leader. 

Young people worked across different schools and youth groups to debate their chosen theme and to produce a presentation for the whole parliament to listen to, ask questions and finally to vote on.

She introduced young people from the Youth Forum, Chew Valley and Wellsway to present the winning theme which was Gender.

The young people spoke of how gender stereotyping can be detrimental to both girls’ and boys’ sense of self and limit their educational and career choices.

Gender stereotyping leads to girls being seen as weak, soft and emotional while boys are seen as physically strong and mentally tough; girls like to shop and boys like to play sport.  Women who are leaders are often labelled as bossy, men as authoritative. In terms of careers, males go for jobs in engineering, mechanics and science, while females opt for caring roles, cooking, cleaning and teaching.  90% of engineers are male, 65% of nurses are female.  In school, there is still a gender gap in subject performance.  Boys do better at Maths than girls. There are three boys to every girl in top Maths sets.

There is a gender pay differential in the UK of 20% while in the rest of Europe it is 5%.

The young people then took part  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

The Panel will receive a presentation on this item from the Project Manager for Service Improvement.

The Project Manager, Service Improvement gave a presentation to the Panel on this item. A copy of it is available on the Panel’s Minute Book and online as an attachment to these minutes. A summary is set out below.

SEND Reform National Update

·  Final code of practice issued on 10^th June 2014

·  Draft transitional arrangements guidance issued on 10^th June – statements transfer to EHC plans over 3.5 years

·  Implementation grant & ‘new burdens’ grants to March 2016

·  Implement from not for 1^st Sept – Sept 2014 is a milestone or a beginning, not the end of implementation of the whole reform

Engagement

·  Multi-channel communication in place with a wide range of stakeholders

·  Parents involved in all workstreams

·  Work underway to engage young people

·  Briefings for parents in education settings summer and autumn 2014

SEND Support

·  Estimate 8000+ YP 0-25 with level of SEND

·  Work underway with schools/SENCOs and FE sector on SEND support in each phase

·  Independent support – B&NES Parent Partnership Service won ‘evidence & build’ bid to shape IS nationally

EHC Planning

·  700 – 800 YP with high needs SEN – currently statements of SEN – will be EHC plans

·  Model for delivery, EHC Plan template out for consultation (May 2014)

·  SEND lead practitioner role established (from August 2014)

·  New way of working takes more time – additional posts being recruited

Next Phase of Work

·  EHCP process goes live 1^st Sept – continue to refine

·  Transitional arrangements – draft transfer plan shortly – 700-800 transfer reviews over 3.5 years to April 2018

·  Establish partnership to keep local offer under review, work towards full co-production with parents & young people over 3-5 years

·  Develop personal budget offer over 2-3 years

·  Build whole system approach to SEND support

Challenges

·  Capacity – resourcing – currently to March 2016 – what then?

·  Ownership of SEND support – establishing whole system/school/setting approach with all partners

·  Personalisation – culture change – person centred thinking, outcome focus, holistic/integrated working

·  Ambition/aspiration – expectations often too low

·  Achieving true co-production with parents, young people

Councillor Liz Hardman asked if SEND was moving away from a school based setting.

The Project Manager, Service Improvement replied that Education, Health & Care Plans would now run until a young person was 25 years old. He said that the plan would not be solely focussed on education and would seek to prepare them for adulthood.

Councillor Liz Hardman asked how much control parents would have over the plan.

The Project Manager, Service Improvement replied that the plan would seek to empower both young people and their parents.

Councillor Nicholas Coombes asked if any outcomes could be learned from the pilot programme.

The Project Manager, Service Improvement replied that the main outcome from the work of the Pathfinder Authorities was to have created the templates for the Education, Health & Care Plans. He added that the local pilot had shown that parents welcome the more personal element of the process. He said that parents in the main had a realistic approach  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

The Cabinet report relating to this item will be circulated to the Panel and attached to this agenda online once it has been published. Hard copies will be available at the meeting.

This agenda item had been deferred by the Cabinet until September and therefore the Panel were not able to debate it. The Cabinet Member for Early Years, Children & Youth, Councillor Dine Romero said that she would explain the reason for deferral in her Cabinet Member Update.

The Cabinet Member will update the Panel on any relevant issues. Panel members may ask questions.

The Cabinet Member for Early Years, Children & Youth, Councillor Dine Romero addressed the Panel. She informed them that she was proud to have taken part in Bookstart Week in June and attended a West of England Schools Sports event.

She informed the Panel that the BBC had recently unveiled Ten Pieces, a new initiative to take classical music into primary schools and inspire a new generation of children to get creative. She added schools could sign up to take part in the project with a range of online resources and UK-wide events.

She made them aware that the expansion plans for Weston All Saints Primary School had been approved at a recent meeting of the Development Control Committee.

She said she had attended the local Apprenticeship Awards and was proud to announce that winner was working for B&NES.

She informed the Panel that the Council had been recognised as one of the top five authorities for their work on Connecting Families by the Government.

She explained that the public consultation on Children’s Centres had just finished and a lot of responses had been received. She informed the Panel that the Council has received a formal ‘Right to Provide’ expression of interest from Children’s Centre staff, seeking to establish a staff mutual to deliver the Council-run Children’s Centre Services. She added that the request must formally be considered and responded to. If the Council decided to support such a development, following due consideration this would affect the timing of some of the proposed changes to the new model of delivery.

Councillor Michael Evans asked who submitted the Right to Provide.

The Deputy Director for Children & Young People, Strategy and Commissioning replied that it had been submitted by the managers of the Children’s Centres.

Councillor Liz Hardman commented that she felt that the Panel should be involved prior to the Cabinet meeting in September and called for an extra meeting to be held. She asked if staff would retain their rights and conditions, such as Pensions if they were to work for a Social Enterprise.

The Deputy Director for Children & Young People, Strategy and Commissioning replied that their rights and conditions would be protected for three years.

Councillor Loraine Morgan-Brinkhurst expressed her concern as to whether the managers were fully aware of what they were proposing to take on.

Councillor Dine Romero replied that a judgement will need to be given on the viability of the request.

Councillor Loraine Morgan-Brinkhurst asked how many staff were to be involved in this process.

Councillor Dine Romero replied that they were still awaiting that level of detail.

The Chair proposed that the Panel hold an extra meeting on Monday 8^th September at 4.30pm prior to the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday 10^th September.

All Panel members that were present supported this proposal and asked the Democratic Services Officer to make the necessary arrangements.

The Chair thanked the Cabinet Member for her update on behalf of the Panel.

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

The Deputy Director for Children & Young People, Strategy and Commissioning delivered a briefing to the Panel in the absence of the People and Communities Strategic Director.

Collaboration across Primary Schools

He explained that he had been leading on a piece of work with colleagues to develop a new form of primary school collaboration which helps to build a ‘self-improving’ school support system. He added that the Local Authority has been working with all schools to look at how such a system could work with a view to beginning this new way of working from September 2014.

Secondary Attendance & Behaviour

He said that an extremely helpful meeting was held with Secondary Schools on earlier today to consider these matters and a number of joint actions have been agreed to improve our collective response to those children and young people at risk of exclusion and disengagement. He added that a further meeting would take place in early October to take stock on progress.

Youth Justice Plan

He informed the Panel that this statutory plan would be presented to Cabinet on 16^th July. He added that the Local Authority Youth Offending Team continues to perform very strongly despite constrained resources. He suggested that progress on the Plan could be reported to the Panel in November 2014.

The Chair thanked him for the update on behalf of the Panel.

This report presents the latest workplan for the Panel.

The Chair introduced this item to the Panel, she asked if anyone had any items they wished to add to the workplan.

Councillor Nicholas Coombes asked if the report on the ‘Role of the Local Authority alongside Academies, Free Schools and Studio Schools’ could be added to the agenda for the Panel’s proposed extra meeting on 8^th September.

Councillor Michael Evans suggested a future item for the workplan, he asked for a report on Achieving Excellence within School. He said that he really wanted to hear more positive outcomes from schools.

The Chair replied that she would discuss these suggestions with officers.