Agenda item

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

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 he was working to see if the Council could facilitate and perhaps even help with the process, which will require temporary facilities to be available for six months or more.

Ofsted: An inspection of B&NES’ children’s services is expected quite soon, although of course the exact date is not known.

Schools Performance: He wished to say that results were generally good by national standards, with some highlights, for instance reading in key stage 1 is in the top 5% in the country.  He said that early years and foundation stage had improved pleasingly from below national average to above, but girls’ primary mathematics is weak, and two deputy heads from Peasedown are researching the use of Shanghai and Singapore models to tackle this, using the Teaching School (Fosseway). He added that the gap between FSM pupils and others is generally down, so there is movement in the right direction, but the performance of the ablest pupils continues to disappoint, with B&NES at the bottom of the South West tables. He called for better A level performance and more A* GCSEs need to be targeted.

The Chair said that she welcomed the protection given to the Children’s Services budget and the Schools Forum decision to use a substantial amount of its reserves this year. She asked what will need to be done in relation to future years.

The Strategic Director for People & Communities replied that this pressure will remain locally and nationally and schools will need to look at options relating to restructuring, the curriculum they deliver and options regarding collaboration. He added that most schools have reasonable balances and that the Local Authority cannot fund a deficit in the Dedicated Schools Grant.

Councillor Liz Hardman commented that in her view the prospect of all schools becoming academies was dreadful. She asked if this occurs will Local Authority still require a Schools Admission Forum / Policy.

The Strategic Director for People & Communities replied that he had not yet fully observed the White Paper, but that academies are allowed to act as their own admission authority.

The Chair asked if the Panel could be of use in terms of discussions with other Local Authorities in relation to amalgamation of services.

The Strategic Director for People & Communities replied that collaborative work does already take place, but it would be useful for the Panel to be involved to some degree on future plans.

Councillor Sally Davis suggested that the Chair meets with the Cabinet Member and the Strategic Director for People & Communities on a regular basis to see where the Panel can be of assistance.

The Chair agreed and said she would take steps to arrange such a meeting.