Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Riyait and Willmott. 

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

Members were asked to declare any interests they may have had in the business to be discussed.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting of the Children, Young People, and Education Scrutiny Commission held on 6 December 2022 are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

AGREED:

1.    That the minutes of the meeting of the Children, Young People and Education Scrutiny Commission held on 6 December 2022 be confirmed as a correct record.

The Monitoring Officer to report on the receipt of any petitions.

The Monitoring Officer reported that none had been received.

The Monitoring Officer to report on any questions, representations, or statements of case received.

The Monitoring Officer reported that none had been received.

The Director of Finance submits the following reports setting out the City Mayor’s proposed Draft Revenue Budget 2023/24 and Draft Capital Budget 2023/24. The Commission is recommended to consider and comment on the Children, Young People and Education element of the budgets. The Commission’s comments will be forwarded to the Overview Select Committee as part of its consideration of the reports before they are presented at the Council meeting on 22 February 2023

The Director of Finance submitted a report setting out the City Mayor’s proposed budget for 2023/24. The Commission was recommended to consider and comment on the Children, Young People and Education element of the report. The Commission’s comments would be forwarded to the Overview Select Committee as part of its consideration of the report before presentation to the meeting of Council on 22 February 2023.

The Head of Finance presented the item, the Draft Revenue Budget was presented first, it was noted that:

·         The financial position of the Council remained very severe. The budget for 2023/24 could be balanced with reserves, however without making extra savings reserves would run out in 24/25.

·         Savings were being made throughout the financial year with appropriate consultation and this would continue.

·         There was no additional money from the Government to account for the high level of inflation which was impacting energy prices, staff pay and the waste contract. Departments generally would have to work within previous budgets and absorb inflationary costs.

·         It was anticipated that funding for local government would be cut in the future as part of further austerity from 2025.

·         Additional funding had been made available for Adult Social Care, however this was recycled funding from delayed reforms. The additional money would not cover the increase in ASC costs.

·         With respect to the Children, Young People, and Education element of the budget, an increase of £3m had been put in for CLA placement costs.

·         The number of EHCP referrals continued to grow substantially, this impacted the Dedicated Schools Grant and the General Fund which covered SEND Transport costs.

·         SEND Transport costs had risen substantially due to the rise in demand and the inflationary impacts of fuel prices. A growth of £1.5m had been put in for SEND Transport.

·         There would be a 5% increase in Council Tax.

·         The allocation for the High Needs Block had been increased however it only addressed the previous year’s overspend and would not be sufficient for 2023/24. There was a cumulative deficit of around £3.6m and this was likely to rise to £10m by the end of March 2023. DfE had extended legislation to allow the deficits to be ring fenced from Council reserves and carried forward until March 2026.

·         The most effective way of reducing the cost burden of SEND placements would be by reducing the demand for the EHCP.

·         DfE had stated that their SEND Improvement Plan would work to address the demand for EHCPs.

·         A formal Management Recovery Plan to mitigate the deficit was being produced in cooperation with DfE. This would need to go through the Scrutiny process.

·         DfE had mentioned informally that the council appeared to have either already taken or were in the process of implementing the measures that the DfE would recommend in order to make savings.

·         The costs of Taxi contracts for SEND Transport had risen dramatically. Therefore, increasing the use of the Personal Transport Budget was a high priority. Families were now offered the personal budget first and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.

The Director of Public Health submits a report by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities into the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children and young people in the East Midlands.

Commission Members are asked to note the contents of the report and consider it’s implications for Children’s and Education Services in Leicester.

The Director of Public Health submitted a report by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities into the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children and young people in the East Midlands.

It was noted that no Public Health Officer was present so Officers would not be able to answer detailed questions.

It was noted that reports on performance data of exam results for pupils would be brought to a future meeting of the Commission, however early indications were that younger children were impacted by Covid measures more than older children. Schools were reporting an impact on social and emotional health.

In response to Members’ questions, it was noted that:

·         There were several different ways of measuring poverty, the Council typically used a poverty index from Loughborough University. Absolute poverty data did not take housing costs into account.

·         Significant work was going on in Public Health to address the issue if children’s access to dental healthcare.

·         Work was ongoing to try to understand the impact of Covid on children’s mental health.

·         There had been no specific studies into the impact of Covid on inequalities. It was expected that studies on the wider impact of Covid would be ongoing for decades. Schools were too busy dealing with the current crisis to be able to study the causes in depth.

AGREED:

That the Commission requests that Public Health Officers attend a relevant Scrutiny Commission to discuss the report.

The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education will present a verbal update on the consultation for the proposed expansion of Children’s Homes in the city.

The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education presented a verbal update on the ongoing informal engagement on the expansion of the in-house Children’s Residential Home provision.

It was noted that conversations were ongoing with the neighbours of the properties proposed to be used as Children’s Homes alongside NHS partners. The homes were family home sized and normally only housed 5 children or fewer, so the impact on the local area was minimal. The buildings being used were already owned by the Council and would be converted for the new use.

AGRRED:

That the Commission requests a report on the outcome of the consultation and the wider picture of Children’s Residential Homes.

The Commission’s Work Programme is attached for information and comment.

Members of the Commission were invited to consider content of the work programme and were invited to make suggestions for additions as appropriate to be brought to future meetings.

The Principal Education Officer provided a short update noting that in 2019 a report was carried out into the underachievement of Black Caribbean and White working-class children in secondary schools. A task group was set up as a result of the report, one of the work strands of this group was around racial literacy training in collaboration with the Stephen Lawrence Centre. The racial literacy training had recently had its launch event and training would soon start with online sessions.

In response to a Member question it was noted that the task group was also focusing on creating a equality mark which was based on a national model but would be specialised towards Leicester.

There being no other business, the meeting closed at 7.14pm.