Agenda item

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

Councillor Paul May, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services addressed the Panel and highlighted the points below from his update report.

Safety Valve Update

As previously advised, the Local Authorities' re-submission into the Government's Safety Valve programme has been on hold while the new government assesses a way forward for Safety Valve local authorities.

We don't yet know what the new Government's policy position will be in this area, but we have been asked to update our plan, tweak it, and resubmit it by the 1st of October. We have now done this, and we await instructions on the next steps.

Culverhay

The project is progressing to deliver the 120 place Special Free School and 55 place Alternative Provision School on the Culverhay site. The Council has committed to deliver a cleared site to the Department of Education and this will include moving the current Alternative Provision at Rush Hill. We have identified Dartmouth Avenue as a suitable site, a project manager has been appointed and architects are about to be appointed.

The next meeting between the Dept of Education Programme Managers for the Free Schools project is due on the 10th of October when we should have an update around the recruitment of their Technical Advisor for the project and progress of their feasibility study.

Charlton House

The deadline for submissions for potential providers to run the school will be the 14th of December and the successful provider should be appointed in February ’25.

A project manager has been appointed, a design team will be appointed week commencing the 14th of October, a public consultation is planned for the end of November to allow local residents and stakeholders view the plans, and the aim is to submit a full planning application by the end of March 2025. The current projected opening time is September 2026, but if possible, we will open sooner.

Ofsted Annual Conversation

Ofsted have confirmed that they will retain an annual conversation around social care. A Local Authority Self- Assessment will continue to be required.

Ofsted have also advised that they will move to termly conversations with the Local Authority with regards to education.

Corporate Parents

The recent meeting had good member attendance, thank you. Venue and style of the room to be reviewed. He invited Councillor Wright to share her proposal regarding making an application to the National Trust to apply for one of the Sycamore Gap tree saplings from Hadrian’s Wall for Alice Park.

Councillor Wright explained that as part of the Trees of Hope initiative 49 saplings from the Sycamore Gap will be gifted to communities around the country and felt that the Council should apply for one to be planted in Alice Park to establish a physical place that shows that our Looked After Children are cared for and part of our community.

Councillor May said that he and officers fully support the proposal and asked the Panel to add their support to the application.

The Chair agreed that it was a welcome proposal and asked that young people be consulted so that they are aware and supportive of it.

Councillor May replied that he was due to meet with representatives from Off The Record and would raise the proposal with them.

DFE Update

The DfE have announced match funding for Capital Development, to include residential homes. B&NES colleague and ICAS colleague attended a briefing session with DfE. Children's Services will be developing a residential homes option and have agreement to secure external specialist expertise input to progress.

Schools Streets

One pilot has been agreed and they have sought expressions of interest from other schools.

Youth Justice Inspection

The Youth Justice Service has had an HMIP (His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation) Inspection announced. The Inspection will focus on the work of the Youth Justice Service and the wider multi-agency partnership work to prevent offending and to support children in the justice system.

The work towards the inspection began at the start of last week and will last for 5 weeks. 4 Inspectors will be onsite, at the Civic Centre Keynsham, for one week, starting at midday on Monday 21st October until approximately 1pm on Friday 25th October.

I will be pleased to provide feedback post the inspection.

Children with Complex Needs

The review of children with the most complex packages of support, both in the community and in care is still underway, across the 3 Local Authorities (B&NES, Swindon and Wiltshire) and the ICB. I will provide a further update when it is completed.

Councillor Liz Hardman stated that she was concerned that the Council were having to provide a third submission to the DfE regarding Safety Valve and asked if it was known what the requirements were for a successful submission.

Councillor May replied that he meets with officers to discuss this matter every two weeks and said that he believes that the Council has a good working relationship with the DfE.

The Director of Education & Safeguarding added that the third submission was just a slight tweak to the second submission and provided an update on projects and capital plans.

Councillor May said that it was not a performance issue and that clarity was being sought on the policy from the new Government. He added that a presentation from the DfE’s South West Research Assistant could be shared with the Panel.

Kevin Burnett asked how the effectiveness of the SEND and AP advice service would be assessed.

Councillor May replied that an assessment on the service would take place in six months’ time. He added that he had been made aware of initial positive feedback from SENCOs.

The Chair commented that she would like a further update on Safety Valve at the December Panel meeting alongside any preparatory budget discussions.

The Director of Education & Safeguarding replied that he has noted the request.

Councillor Joanna Wright asked how the Panel could engage more with local Multi Academy Trusts (MATs).

The Director of Education & Safeguarding replied that a Regional DfE Director for the South West had previously attended a Panel meeting and that it might be difficult to progress such a request as MATs are not accountable to the Council.

Councillor Paul Crossley commented that the swimming pool at the Culverhay Leisure Centre is still seen as an asset for many residents in the south-west of Bath. He asked if during discussions regarding the site whether the subject of bringing the pool back into operation had been raised.

Councillor May replied that the pool has been part of the ongoing discussions. He added that the site is in the hands of the Corporate Property Team and that he was seeking a further report to come to the Cabinet on the matter.

The Chair asked if temporarily moving the current Alternative Provision from Culverhay to Dartmouth Avenue would have an impact on staff and their ability to park given the new Residents Parking Zone that is now in effect.

The Director of Education & Safeguarding has confirmed, since the meeting, that there are enough parking spaces on site at Dartmouth Avenue for the staff who would be occupying the building.

The Chair asked if there was to be any community consultation regarding the Culverhay site and would there be any additional housing involved.

The Director of Education & Safeguarding replied that the DfE are aware the desire for leisure facilities to remain on the site and confirmed that the swimming pool has been discussed, but could not give a definitive answer at this stage regarding retention or its size.

He stated that the focus at the present time was on the clearing of the site. He added that he expected a public consultation to take place once the project reaches its design stage.

Kevin Burnett asked who decides on who the provider will be for the new school on the former Charlton House site.

The Director of Education & Safeguarding replied that it would be the DfE that decides who the provider will be.

Kevin Burnett said that it had been recorded previously that £6m from within the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) was to be used to fund the works involved for the new school on the former Charlton House site. He said that he thought that the DSG was ring fenced.

The Director of Education & Safeguarding replied that this sum would not have been from the DSG and would have been part of the initial funding from Safety Valve.

Councillor Hardman asked who had attended the consultation event held on 1^st October.

The Director of Education & Safeguarding replied that this had been a DfE arranged ‘Providers event’. He added that one prospective provider had attended and that two further had shown an indication since the event.

Councillor May stated that a public consultation would take place regarding this project and that he would inform the Panel when this was in place.

Councillor Onkar Saini asked how having termly conversations with Ofsted, relating to education, would affect the Council.

The Director of Education & Children’s Services replied that it would allow for more frequent conversations relating to our maintained schools and our safeguarding arrangements.

Councillor Lesley Mansell commented that she had felt embarrassed at the recent Corporate Parenting meeting as she could see how uncomfortable the young people present were in the setting for the meeting.

She added that she would like to see the role of the Corporate Parent become more defined and said there was a need for important discussions to be held with young people on the issues they value. She also suggested further equalities training be arranged for councillors.

Councillor Wright said that considering the actual number of councillors within B&NES she did not think the meeting was well attended and believed that many had never attended a Corporate Parenting meeting. She asked that this matter be discussed further by the Constitution Working Group as part of their current review and suggested a rule be put in place that a councillor should attend at least one meeting a year of the Corporate Parenting Group.

She stated that she felt that the meeting, in its current format, was not acceptable to the young people involved.

The Chair asked if officers involved in arranging the Corporate Parenting meetings could work on a better scenario for them.

Councillor May said that he agreed with the comments made and would be meeting with Off The Record to discuss a way forward. He added that the national lead for Corporate Parenting had been invited to attend their next meeting.

He added that the subject of Corporate Parenting was covered in their Councillor Induction Programme, but he was keen to learn from other areas as much as possible. He questioned whether attendance could be forced, but said that some degree of pressure should be applied, possibly from the Group Leaders.

Councillor Wright proposed a recommendation to the Panel. She asked that the Constitution Working Group discuss a form of words to include in the constitution that states that a councillor must attend at least one meeting a year of the Corporate Parenting Group.

The Chair explained that she has been advised that this type of rule would not be legally allowable within the constitution, but queried if an expectation could be set down in some form.

Councillor Ruth Malloy asked for the format of the meeting to be considered and whether it could be held in a more informal setting, such as one of the City’s museums and given a more social feeling.

The Chair said that she felt that the principle behind possible changes to the meeting format and encouraged participation had broad agreement. She added that the Panel has within its remit the ability to make recommendations to the Cabinet, but felt that what was being asked was not within their power.

Councillor Crossley seconded the recommendation from Councillor Wright.

Councillor Hardman said that the meeting should be attended by more councillors.

The Panel voted and RESOLVED to request that the Constitution Working Group consider if a form of words could be included in the constitution that states that a councillor must attend at least one meeting a year of the Corporate Parenting Group.

The Chair asked how the effectiveness of the Knife Crime Awareness Events would be measured.

The Director of Education & Children’s Services replied that these events are set to continue and that they have asked schools to share information regarding them. She added that the Police & Crime Commissioner has indicated that they will continue to fund work within this subject area. She said that additional funding had recently been referenced by the Government, but that they were awaiting further details.

Councillor May stated that five further events have been arranged and they would work closely with schools on promoting them. He asked if it was known when the Panel’s Task & Finish Group report would be ready.

The Chair replied that they had been waiting for information relating to any new Government proposals and the newly elected Police & Crime Commissioner. She added that she was due to attend a policy meeting later in the month and expected their report to be ready by Christmas.

Councillor Wright referred to School Streets and asked which school was to be involved in the pilot and which others had shown an interest.

Councillor May replied that he would supply an answer in writing in due course.

Councillor Wright asked how many press releases the Council had made regarding Black History Month as she was aware of none.

Councillor May said that he would discuss this with the Council’s Head of Corporate Office.

Councillor Saini asked what improvements could be identified from the upcoming inspection of the Youth Justice Service.

The Director of Education & Children’s Services replied that it had been a number of years since an inspection had been carried out and the team were busy in their preparations in advance of the visit. She said that the outcome of the inspection would be shared with the Panel.

The Chair thanked Councillor May for his update on behalf of the Panel.