Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from the following people:-

·           Councillor Senior

·           Mr Peter Flack (Teaching Unions representative)

·           Ms Rabiha Hannan (Faith Representative – Muslim)

·           Ms Carolyn Lewis (Church of England Diocese representative)

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

Councillor Dr Moore declared an Other Disclosable Interest in the general business of the meeting, as her company was teaching two Looked After Children.

Councillor Malik declared an Other Disclosable Interest in the general business of the meeting, as he was the Chief Executive of a youth and community association.  This association received no funding from the Council, but offered services used by the Council.

Councillor Cole declared an Other Disclosable Interest in the general business of the meeting, in that he taught at De Montfort University.  He also declared an Other Disclosable Interest in the general business of the meeting, as his wife worked as a teacher.  He further declared an Other Disclosable Interest in the general business of the meeting, in that he was the Chair of a school governing body.

Councillor Aldred declared an Other Disclosable Interest in the general business of the meeting, in that she was a volunteer at the Thurncourt Road Youth and Community Centre and helped with youth groups there.

Although not a member of the Commission, as a regular participant Councillor Russell declared an Other Disclosable Interest in the general business of the meeting, in that she was the Chair of Governors at King Richard Infant School.

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, these interests were not considered so significant that they were likely to prejudice the respective Councillors’ judgement of the public interest.  They were not, therefore, required to withdraw from the meeting.

The minutes of the meeting of the Children, Young People and Schools Scrutiny Commission held on 24 February 2015 are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

AGREED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Children, Young People and Schools Scrutiny Commission held on 24 February 2015 be confirmed as a correct record.

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

The Monitoring Officer reported that no petitions had been received.

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

The Monitoring Officer reported that no questions, representations or statements of case had been received.

Members are asked to note the Terms of Reference for the Children, Young People and Schools Scrutiny Commission, (attached).

NOTED:

The Terms of Reference for the Children, Young People and Schools Scrutiny Commission.

Members are asked to note the membership of the Commission for 2015/16:-

Councillor Dr Moore (Chair)

Councillor Cole (Vice-Chair)

Councillor Aldred

Councillor Chohan

Councillor Grant

Councillor Gugnani

Councillor Malik

Councillor Senior

NOTED:

The membership of the Children, Young People and Schools Scrutiny Commission for the 2015/16 municipal year.

Members are asked to note the meeting dates of the Commission for the 2015/16 municipal year:-

Thursday 9 July 2015

Thursday 3 September 2015

Thursday 15 October 2015

Thursday 3 December 2015

Tuesday 28 January 2016

Thursday 24 March 2016

NOTED:

That the correct dates of meetings for the Children, Young People and Schools Scrutiny Commission for the 2015/16 municipal year are as follows:

Wednesday 22 July 2015

Tuesday 15 September 2015

Tuesday 10 November 2015

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Tuesday 23 February 2016

Tuesday 12 April 2016

The Strategic Director Education and Children’s Services will provide an overview of the Council’s Education and Children services.

The Strategic Director Children’s Services gave an overview of the Council’s Education and Children’s services, drawing particular attention to the following points:-

·           This was a complex area, with a lot of its work written in statute.  This included the Strategic Director’s and Lead Member’s roles;

·           Performance was very important, with the services’ main focus being on their impact on children, young people and families.  Training on this could be provided if required;

·           Continuous improvement was a theme running through all services.  This was a wider focus than just the recent inspection report by the Office for Standards in Education(Ofsted), (see minute 11, “Lessons Learned from the Recent Ofsted Inspection of Services for Children in Need of Help and Protection, Children Looked After and Care Leavers and Review of the Effectiveness of the Local Safeguarding Children Board”, below);

·           Adult skills were part of the portfolio of the Assistant City Mayor with responsibility for Jobs and Skills and were scrutinised by the Economic Development, Transport and Tourism Scrutiny Commission;

·           The city had high performing secondary schools, but less consistent primary schools.  The Council was working with the education community to improve standards;

·           Reforms to Special Educational Needs and Disability services had introduced multi-agency care plans, in line with national practice.  These were now being implemented;

·           School place planning was a very significant area of work;

·           Multi-agency working on services for young people and families was critical, especially in the improvement journey being made following the recent Ofsted inspection;

·           The vacant post of Director of Commissioning and Performance was being reviewed, to consider the best way of developing this area; and

·           Key issues for all of the services were the focus on improvement and maintaining a clear vision of what was required to have outstanding services, working with other partners and ensuring that everything that was done made a difference.

Councillor Russell, Assistant City Mayor with responsibility for Children, Young People and Schools addressed the Commission at the invitation of the Chair, explaining that some interim directors had been appointed, as the posts were considered to be too important to leave vacant while recruitment was undertaken.  The Council was aiming to appoint staff of calibre as high as that of the interim directors.  The vacant senior posts would be advertised in September 2015.  Other posts currently were going through the recruitment process.

In respect of the Director of Learning, Quality and Performance, the normal processes to appoint a director had been followed, but the candidates who had applied did not have the right qualities for the service and so were not interviewed.  Job descriptions and salary levels currently were being compared to neighbouring authorities, which was why recruitment had been delayed until September.

It was recognised that there currently were challenges with the services at the Council, but this appealed to some people and did not appear to have deterred candidates to date.  However, a lot of officers nationally were choosing to take jobs on an interim basis. 

A difficulty with employing a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The Strategic Director Children’s Services submits a report providing an overview of activity governed by Leicester City’s Corporate Parenting Forum over the last 12 months, (2014/15).  The Commission is recommended to consider the Report and pass any comments to the Executive for consideration when it received the Report.

Councillor Russell, Assistant City Mayor with responsibility for Children, Young People and Schools, introduced the Corporate Parenting Annual Report for 2014/15.

Councillor Russell explained that the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) had identified improvements for the Corporate Parenting Forum to make, such as making the best use of data to improve the lives of Looked After Children (LAC) and improving training.

There had been good engagement with the Forum by partners, such as the Children in Care Council, senior officers and representatives of foster carers.  However, although some Councillors had attended meetings of the Forum regularly, other Councillors’ attendance was inconsistent. 

It therefore was recommended that a standing group of members be established, who could receive additional training to help them fulfil the corporate parenting role.  It was hoped that the reconstituted group would meet monthly, from September 2015, with the first meeting including training for members of the Forum.  The Forum’s terms of reference would be reviewed as part of its reorganisation.

Representatives of the Children in Care Council had indicated that they would prefer the Corporate Parenting Forum to be a standing group, as this would reduce the need for them to keep repeating their experiences for new members.

The Interim Director Children, Young People and Families reminded the Commission that all Councillors had a corporate parenting responsibility.  This was summarised in the approach “as if this were my child”.  The Children in Care Council had identified the type of people they would like to be involved with.  This included things such as people who were passionate, trustworthy and would listen to them.

Priorities for the Corporate Parenting Forum included responding to the views of the Children In Care Council, undertaking the Council’s statutory responsibilities for corporate parenting and helping in the Council’s improvement journey following the recent Ofsted inspection, (minute 11, “Lessons Learned from the Recent Ofsted Inspection of Services for Children In Need of Help and Protection, Children Looked After and Care Leavers and Review of the Effectiveness of the Local Safeguarding Children Board”, referred).

It also was recommended that the Corporate Parenting Forum should take over the role and function of the Safeguarding Children Panel.  The Panel previously had met in private with a small number of Councillors as members, but best practice recommended that the matters discussed should be heard in public, under the umbrella of the Corporate Parenting Forum.

Members requested that meetings of the reconstituted Corporate Parenting Forum be held at a time convenient to most Members.  In reply, Councillor Russell noted that a meeting time of 5.30 pm was being recommended, so that Councillors and Children in Care Council representatives would be available to attend.

It was noted that an Executive Group of the Corporate Parenting Forum would be established, to drive forward the business priorities of the Forum.  A fixed number of members of this Group had not been set, to enable the membership to change to reflect current need.  For example, representatives from Clinical Commissioning Groups, University Hospitals  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To consider a proposal by the Chair that a Task Group is established to consider the lessons learned from the above report.

The Chair noted that it was important that the many positive elements of the recent report by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) on “Children in Need of Help and Protection, Children Looked After and Care Leavers and Review of the Effectiveness of the Local Safeguarding Children Board” were recognised. 

However, she also noted that it was important not to be complacent.  She therefore proposed that a Task Group be established to consider the historical context of the recent Ofsted inspection of services for Looked After Children, including examination of the Improvement Plan being used for the services’ improvement journey.  The Chair assured officers and Councillors that this review would be undertaken sensitively and responsibly.  Individuals would not be named in the report of the review.

A scoping document for the proposed review was tabled and is attached at the end of these minutes for information.

The Commission welcomed the suggested review, suggesting that it could make it easier for Members to understand what had happened, what needed to be done to rectify the situation and to ensure that the right actions were being taken.

Members noted that the previous Ofsted inspection before the 2015 one had been made in 2011.  However, Ofsted’s inspection framework had changed since then, so the findings of the 2011 inspection were not directly comparable to the findings of the 2015 inspection.

Councillor Russell, Assistant City Mayor with responsibility for Children, Young People and Schools, advised the Commission that:-

·           A full Action Plan was in place as a result of the recommendations made by Ofsted.  This had been approved by Ofsted and the Department for Education;

·           The Leicester City Children’s Improvement Board (LCCIB) was chaired by someone independent of the Council;

·           The LCCIB looked at each point made by Ofsted, considered what action was needed in response to these points, the timescale for this and how the services would look when they were classed as “good”; and

·           The Improvement Plan set out how the specific recommendations from Ofsted would be addressed.

The Strategic Director noted that Ofsted had recommended that training on the scrutiny of children’s services be provided for Members.  The scoping document for this review included an offer of this training.

The Chair advised the Commission that she had had discussions with the Chair of the LCCIB and wanted to ensure that there was no duplication of work being done.  Contact with the Chair of the LCCIB therefore would be maintained regarding the work being done by each.

The Chair suggested that scrutiny of the Improvement Plan would probably be an ongoing task for the Commission over the coming year and expressed confidence that the review would produce a good piece of work that would help Members prepare for this.

AGREED:

1)    That a Task Group be established to undertake a review of the historical context of the recent Ofsted inspection of services for Looked After Children;

2)    That the remit of the Task Group established under resolution 1) above be as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

A draft work programme for the Commission is attached.  The Commission is asked to consider this and make comments and/or amendments as it considers necessary.

The Commission received a draft work programme for the forthcoming municipal year.

The Chair advised the Commission that she would be reviewing this to ensure that appropriate items were included.

The meeting closed at 7.38 pm