Agenda and minutes

Venue: Brunswick Room - Guildhall, Bath. View directions

Contact: Mark Durnford  01225 394458

Items
No. Item

56.

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

57.

EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROCEDURE

The Chair will draw attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as set out under Note 6.

 

Minutes:

The Chair drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

58.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS

Minutes:

Councillor Peter Turner and Councillor Alison Millar had sent their apologies to the Panel. Councillor Mark Shelford and Councillor Rob Appleyard were their respective substitutes for the duration of the meeting.

 

David Williams, Diocese of Bath & Wells, Co-opted Panel Member had sent his apologies to the Panel.

 

Councillor Michael Evans, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services gave his apologies to the Panel.

59.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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.

Minutes:

There were none.

60.

TO ANNOUNCE ANY URGENT BUSINESS AGREED BY THE CHAIRMAN

Minutes:

There was none.

61.

ITEMS FROM THE PUBLIC OR COUNCILLORS - TO RECEIVE DEPUTATIONS, STATEMENTS, PETITIONS OR QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE BUSINESS OF THIS MEETING

At the time of publication no notifications had been received.

 

Minutes:

There were none.

62.

MINUTES - 12th January 2016 pdf icon PDF 97 KB

Minutes:

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

63.

Cabinet Member Update

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

 

Minutes:

Councillor Emma Dixon, Cabinet Assistant for Children's Services gave the Panel an update on behalf of Councillor Michael Evans, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services.

 

Budget: He was very pleased that no additional savings were made in the Children’s Services budget, despite the last minute extra savings which had to be found because of the government decision to calculate the support grant in a different way. He said that non-statutory services are always vulnerable when savings are required,  but the Cabinet agreed that the Council’s Children’s Services were beneficial and recognised the savings which had already been made in the last few years in shifting to interventions and services targeted on the families most in need. 

 

He added that on the subject of Early Years he was following the publications of the Early Intervention Foundation carefully. He explained that this is a body seeking to establish evidence for the effectiveness of the many and varied Early Years interventions, and that so far it is proving that targeted interventions are much more effective than universal offers. He said that this is in line with the changes the Council has made. He added that it was also pleasing to report that the reduction of universal services in our children’s centres has not resulted in any reduction in referrals to social services as was feared; in fact these have increased.

 

Schools Forum Budget: He explained that central government had protected schools’ funding so that the Direct Schools Grant has increased, but only in line with the increase in basic need on a per pupil basis. Therefore schools will suffer inflationary pressures as a result of the employer’s national insurance increase, the employer’s superannuation contribution increase to 16.4% of salary from 14.1%, and the anticipated 1% pay rise. He said that for B&NES schools this amounted to £2.472m for 2016-17, and that he was pleased to report that the Schools Forum have decided to use £2m of its reserve to distribute to schools to mitigate this pressure for the year, giving time for adjustments to be made.

 

School Admissions: He stated that admissions are one of the responsibilities that the local authority retains in relation to all state financed schools. The position with secondary school admissions is very good, with 94.5% of children achieving their first preference.

 

New Schools: The Regional Schools Commissioner accepted B&NES’ recommendation for Weston All Saints Primary School to be the sponsor of the new Ensleigh primary school. However, in the case of the Somerdale primary school, the Commissioner decided on a non-local sponsor, Educate Together. He said that this will potentially introduce a stimulating fresh model into the current primary school mix.

 

First Steps Moorlands Children’s Centre: He informed them that he had visited Moorlands Children’s Centre with Cllr Tim Warren, the Leader of the Council, and seen first-hand the problems which the building suffers from because of the effect of ground water. He said that there was no doubt that the building needs to be replaced, and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63.

64.

Primary and Secondary School Organisation Plan 2015 - 2019 pdf icon PDF 92 KB

The Primary and Secondary School Organisation Plan 2015 – 2019 outlines the current level of primary and secondary provision in the Authority, detailed projected pupil numbers over the next four years up to admissions in September 2019 based on births and resident population data and outline pupil numbers up to 2029 as a consequence of the future planned housing development in the Authority.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Liz Hardman asked if it was anticipated that the Council would continue to have a statutory duty to ensure there are sufficient school places in the area.

 

The School Organisation Manager replied that there is no indication at present that this will be changed.

 

Councillor Liz Hardman asked what information does the Council have about proposals for Free Schools.

 

The School Organisation Manager replied that we know that one has been proposed – Norton Hill Primary School. She added that the site proposed is south of our border, but would provide places for B&NES children.

 

Councillor Liz Hardman asked if it would be funded via CIL or Section 106 agreement.

 

The School Organisation Manager replied that it would be funded by central government.

 

The Chair asked does the Council have sufficient evidence and capacity to commission new academies to be built.

 

The School Organisation Manager replied that we forecast pupil numbers expected to be generated from new housing and due to population growth and determine if new school places are required. If so, these could be delivered via expansions to existing schools or by building new schools. She added that if a new school is required this could be built by the developer in some cases and in others by the Council.

 

Councillor Karen Warrington asked are the Councils spatial strategies sufficiently well documented, clear, appropriate and linked to the School Organisational Plan (SOP).

 

The School Organisation Manager replied that Planning Policy consult with us to establish the requirement for school infrastructure as a consequence of new housing development and this is referenced in their documents. She said that we also consult with Planning Policy when drafting the SOP. She added that the Infrastructure Delivery Programme which is a part of the Core Strategy is linked to the SOP and will refer to the same school infrastructure projects and the SOP is referred to in the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Regulation 123 List.

 

Councillor Mark Shelford asked if school playing fields are protected and does the development of new sites include the provision of playing fields.

 

The School Organisation Manager replied that school sport pitches were protected and that the Council was a consultee of Sport England. She added that new school sites do include plans for recreational and sports space provision.

 

Councillor Liz Hardman commented that where there are areas of expansion, but schools are at full capacity and without room to expand, some pupils in those areas may need to attend schools that are further away and travelling will incur additional costs to parents. She asked, in that event, what action will be taken to reduce the financial inequality burden placed upon some parents, but not others.

 

The School Organisation Manager replied that support for home to school transport costs exists if the distance is above the statutory level and if certain other criteria apply. She added that the current plans are designed to provide sufficient places in the areas they are needed and therefore do  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

65.

Education Results 2015 pdf icon PDF 187 KB

This report provides an analysis and summary of the performance of key groups of pupils in Bath and North East Somerset in 2015 in the Early Years and Foundation Stage (EYFS), Key Stages 1, Key Stage 2, Key Stage 4 and Post 16.

Minutes:

The Chair commented that a good set of results had been achieved but that she had concerns over the results for disadvantaged children. She asked what aspects of deprivation most influence educational attainment and how are relevant Council services or partners currently working together to address inequality.

 

The Head of Education Improvement replied that there are 7 components of the Indices of Multiple Deprivation - Income, Employment, Education, Health, Crime, Housing and Environment. She added that within these areas there are sub-factors, such as the ‘income deprivation affecting children index’ (IDACI – published at the school level in RAISE online for schools and OfSTED). She said that previous research had established a link between this and the educational performance of children although such a relationship is affected by the interaction of a large range of other factors that are not all measured through the indices detailed above. However, this is an imperfect measure, and for ease of administration the proxy indicator of deprivation that is used to allocate funding is whether a child has been in receipt of free school meals in the last six years.

 

She stated that the ‘Disadvantaged’ group had now been widened to include these pupils as well as children in care and those who have been adopted from care.

 

She said that they work with officers within Health, Social Care, the Virtual School and other agencies to address this matter.

 

Councillor Liz Hardman asked for further information on how they hoped to achieve their identified priorities.

 

The Head of Education Improvement replied that schools with the biggest gaps prior to Year 2 and Year 6 are targeted and would receive three visits across the academic year. She added that all Academies had been written to asking for their predictions and what work they plan to do.

 

She stated that advisers have funded and promoted Achievement for All in both primary and secondary schools, and this is beginning to have a positive impact in narrowing the gaps.  She added that a number of headteachers and a member of the School Improvement and Achievement Service are training as Achievement for All coaches to make this more accessible to reduce costs.

 

Councillor Liz Hardman said that she was worried that Academies were failing disadvantaged pupils.

 

The Head of Education Improvement replied that Secondary Academies do engage well on the whole with the Council and that the Council’s role remains to champion on behalf of all children. She added that the Council would contact Ofsted or the Regional Schools Commissioner if required.

 

Andrew Tarrant commented that it was quite a scary time for school leaders as they were being guided in a direction (i.e. academisation) with no choice in the matter. He added that he had always appreciated the work of the Local Authority.

 

Councillor Matt Cochrane asked how are disadvantaged children supported to continue in further and higher education.

 

The Head of Education Improvement replied that this information is not currently available. The destinations data for pupils who  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65.

66.

Virtual School Annual Report pdf icon PDF 64 KB

This report provides information and analysis on the work of the Bath and North East Somerset Virtual School for Children in Care for the last academic year.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair asked if looked-after children are disproportionately represented at BCA.

 

The Director for Children & Young People, Strategy & Commissioning replied that there are four B&NES looked after children on roll at BCA – one came into care in January and another two weeks ago.  The other two have been in care and at BCA for over two years.  He said that the Virtual School is aware of the concerns around BCA and have taken the following steps to support these young people:

 

  • Assessed whether each young person in care should move to a better performing school – this includes taking the young person’s views into account.  In each case we have decided that they should stay at BCA with support from the Virtual School.  Moving schools means moving young people away from friends, siblings and supportive teachers at times of other big changes in their lives, and young people in Years 10 and 11 (three of the four young people) will have their GCSE studies disrupted if they move.  Research published by Oxford University last November shows that young people in care who change school in Years 10 or 11 score over five GCSE grades less than those who did not.
  • Provided additional Pupil Premium Plus for extra one to one tuition and teaching assistant support where needed
  • Monitored attendance, progress and planning with extra diligence.  The two looked after children who have been in care and at BCA for over two years have 100% attendance and are making good progress in their learning. 
  • Welcomed BCA onto our Attachment Aware Schools training programme this year

 

He added that in the experience of Virtual School staff, there is good pastoral and special needs support for pupils at BCA and on balance we believe that these looked after children are more likely to achieve better educational outcomes and stay in stable foster placements by staying at BCA with support.

 

Councillor Liz Hardman commented that she was concerned that 34% of the 35 care leavers aged 16-18 in 2014-15 were not in education, employment or training by the end of the academic year. She asked if these young people were tracked in anyway and what attempts are made to get them back on board.

 

The Director for Children & Young People, Strategy & Commissioning replied that attempts are made to keep in contact with those young people.

 

Councillor Liz Hardman asked for the Panel to receive a follow up report at a future meeting to identify the current status. She also asked what plans do the Virtual School have to raise the educational attainment of BME children in care.

 

The Director for Children & Young People, Strategy & Commissioning replied that it depends on individual cases of course but additional support provided for BME looked after children include:

 

·  Mentoring e.g. in one school one Year 8 looked after child is being mentored by a sixth former who is BME

·  B&NES Black Families Support Group Voice Minority Supplementary School

·  Additional teaching assistant support

·  Moving schools where  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.

67.

Child Sexual Exploitation pdf icon PDF 105 KB

This report is an update on service developments in relation to Child Sexual Exploitation and “Missing” Young People.

Minutes:

The Chair asked what is the extent and profile of CSE in our local area.

 

The Divisional Director for Safeguarding & Social Care replied in July 2015 B&NES agreed to support and contribute funds to a regional CSE project hosted by Avon and Somerset Police and with support from the Barnardo’s Against Sexual Exploitation (BASE) project. He explained that part of the remit of the project was to develop a regional “Problem Profile” of key adults of concern, geographical hot-spots and to be able to link the relationships, activity and locations across the region. He stated that the lead for the project wrote to each of the Council’s involved in early February requesting details of adults and locations that had been identified as being of concern. He said that it was increasingly clear that those adults who are identified as posing a risk of CSE operate across the whole of the South West region and in the case of B&NES, the majority of concerns for our young people relate to their links with the Bristol area. He added that the majority of adults we have identified that live in the B&NES area also have links with adults and locations in other council areas. He informed the Panel that the Avon CSE Project plans to have the first version of the Regional Problem profile available to agencies in May.

 

The Chair asked where the CSE and Missing referrals were coming from.

 

The Divisional Director for Safeguarding & Social Care replied that our referrals for CSE concerns continue to come from a variety of sources and that the total number of CSE referrals in February was 6. He said that the sources of these referrals broke down as follows; 2 from schools, 1 from a voluntary organisation (Mentoring Plus), 1 from Barnardo’s and 2 from the Police. He added that this was broadly in line with the pattern from previous months.  He stated that with regard to referrals for Missing, the majority of notifications came from either the Police if the young person was not previously known, or otherwise the young people that go missing tend to already be known to Social Care as open cases either as Children in Need or children who are ‘Looked After”.

 

Councillor Mark Shelford asked if the Willow Project were able to offer support regarding sexting.

 

The Divisional Director for Safeguarding & Social Care replied that it would more likely be the LSCB that would provide support on that matter.

 

The Strategic Director for People & Communities added that PSHE work within schools would address relationships and the effects of cyber bullying.

 

The Divisional Director for Safeguarding & Social Care commented that at the LSCB Stakeholder Day a drama depicting sexting and grooming had been shown and that five schools had subsequently asked to see it.

 

Councillor Karen Warrington asked if he felt the Council were doing enough to safeguard its children.

 

The Divisional Director for Safeguarding & Social Care replied that he was as confident as he could  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67.

68.

Youth Justice Plan pdf icon PDF 548 KB

The current Plan was adopted as part of the Council’s Policy and Budget Framework on 16 July 2015 and has subsequently been approved by the national Youth Justice Board.

Minutes:

The Chair commented that she was concerned that the report didn’t cover the risks presented to the agreed local plans by proposed in-year cuts to the funding for youth offending teams in England and Wales. She said that the LGA has warned that the number of children in custody risks increasing if plans to reduce in-year funding for Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) by an additional £9 million go ahead. She stated that YOTs have already had to find efficiency savings, through staffing and support costs, to cope with 40 per cent less money to run services in recent years. She asked how much scope was there for further efficiencies.

 

The 11-19 Prevention Service Manager replied that the in-year cuts have already been implemented, having been confirmed in November. They were managed without any reduction in staffing but, several development initiatives were halted, as indicated in the progress report on the annual work plan. She was concerned over the prospect of further reductions as the Youth Offending Service is funded by a number of statutory partners, some of whom are reviewing their contributions.  The National Probation Service will be reducing its contribution to Youth Offending Services from April. We have been advised that the level of Ministry of Justice (YJB) funding for the year ahead will not be confirmed until mid-April.

 

The Divisional Director for Safeguarding & Social Care added that information relating to any merger of services or reconfiguration of the Youth Offending Team could be brought back to the Panel.

 

Councillor Liz Hardman asked if the financial contribution from the Council to the Youth Offending Team remained the same.

 

The Strategic Director for People & Communities replied that the contribution was as expected and reported within the current round of budget proposals.

 

Councillor Liz Hardman commented that it was good to see that there were currently no young people from Bath and North East Somerset serving custodial sentences and that no such sentences had been passed for 2 ½ years.

 

The 11-19 Prevention Service Manager replied that there is a strong Custody Review Panel in place to review all uses of detention for young people and that the work with this multi-agency group and the quality of report-writing in the Youth Offending Service has been particularly significant, as a number of cases could have  resulted in a custodial sentence. She added that the local custodial rate is currently zero, one of only a handful of Services in England and Wales with this level of performance. However, the Service is not complacent about this and is working with a small cohort of concerning young people.

 

The Chair commented she was pleased to see the number of first time entrants into the youth justice system was falling steadily, but disappointed to find out it might only be due to a different approach to the reporting of the possession of cannabis and therefore may not reflect any real reduction in criminal activity. She asked if it was possible to measure what progress had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

69.

People and Communities Strategic Director's Briefing

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

Minutes:

The Strategic Director for People & Communities addressed the Panel. He said from what he had seen of the new White Paper there was good content within it relating to teaching and standards, but that this had been overshadowed by the announcement relating to academies. He proposed that at a future meeting the Panel receives and discusses a summary report on this matter.

 

Councillor Liz Hardman asked which education services are the Council continuing to provide to schools and how are these services being funded.

 

The Strategic Director for People & Communities provided the Panel with the following list:

 

Admissions (Local Authority)

Home to School Transport (Local Authority)

Schools Planning and Sufficiency (Local Authority)

Early Years Planning and Sufficiency (Dedicated Schools Grant / Local Authority)

Schools Improvement and Achievement (Local Authority)

Foundation Stage (Local Authority / Dedicated Schools Grant)

Integrated Working (Local Authority)

Educational Psychology (Local Authority)

Special Educational Needs and Disability (Dedicated Schools Grant / Local Authority)

Virtual School (Local Authority / Dedicated Schools Grant)

Hospital Education and Reintegration Service (Dedicated Schools Grant)

Children Missing Education Service (Education Welfare / Local Authority)

Music Service (Local Authority / Department for Education Grant)

 

The Chair asked how these services relate to the priorities for children and young people in the area, in particular disadvantaged students.

 

The Strategic Director for People & Communities replied that the services are a mix of those that are universal i.e. to enable all children to access education (Admissions) and targeted i.e. to enable specific support due to a specific need, situation or condition (Virtual School, EPS, CMES, etc).

 

The Chair asked how the Council is ensuring that it will still be able to deliver its statutory duties in the current climate of austerity.

 

The Strategic Director for People & Communities replied that no reductions to statutory services in education were contained within the MTSRP for 2016-20.

 

The Chair asked how the Council is ensuring that safeguarding remains the top priority.

 

The Strategic Director for People & Communities replied that school representatives are on the LSCB, there are regular Child Protection Fora for schools, the LSCB oversees Section 11 Audits of all schools regarding compliance, the duty data shows that schools remain in the top two referrers into Children’s Social Care and that there is a focus on Integrated Working and “Step Up / Step Down”.

 

The Chair asked does the Council have an agreement with academies regarding access to information.

 

The Strategic Director for People & Communities replied that Council has an Information Sharing Protocol with all academies. He added that it was currently being revised to enable better sharing across schools of achievement data.

 

The Chair asked which education services has the Council stopped providing to schools.

 

The Strategic Director for People & Communities replied that services of Specialist Teaching, Preventative Educational Psychology and the majority of school improvement and curriculum development services were no longer provided by the Council.

 

The Chair asked how outcomes for young people will be affected if external service providers cannot fill the gap.

 

The Strategic  ...  view the full minutes text for item 69.

70.

Panel Workplan pdf icon PDF 110 KB

This report presents the latest workplan for the Panel. Any suggestions for further items or amendments to the current programme will be logged and scheduled in consultation with the Panel’s Chair and supporting officers.

 

Minutes:

The Chair announced that a proposed joint meeting with the Heath & Wellbeing Select Committee regarding Children’s Health would not now take place and that the reports requested would now be divided and presented separately to each meeting appropriately. She added that it was anticipated that this would be in July 2016.

 

She requested that the earlier proposed White Paper report be brought to the May 2016 Panel meeting.