Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors S R Dodds, Mrs S Ransome and Mrs L A Rollings.

An apology for absence was also received from Mr Paul Thompson, Church Representative.

The Chief Executive reported that having received notice under Regulation 13 of the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 19990, he had appointed Councillor N I Jackson as a replacement member on the Committee in place of Councillor S R Dodds for this meeting only.

Councillor Mrs J Brockway wished it to be noted that she was a non-pecuniary director of SoundLincs.

Mrs E Olivier-Townrow wished it be noted that she worked at Lincoln College.

RESOLVED

            That the minutes of the meeting held on 6 March 2015 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Debbie Barnes, Executive Director for Children's Services provided the Committee with an update of the NEET (Not in Education, Employment and Training) data as discussed under the performance item at the previous meeting.  A breakdown of the NEET and Not Known figures since December 2014 was provided for the Committee.

The data showed the overall level of NEET had been maintained over this period for the 16 – 18 year old age group, with a meaningful decrease in March 2015.  It was noted that the NEET level among the 16 and 17 year old groups was much lower than among the 18 year old group.  This later group (Year 14) was dependent upon support from other agencies to enable them to move from NEET as the local authority was focusing its face to face support on the younger age groups.  The 18 year old group would mainly look to Job Centre Plus and the National Careers Service for help.

It was reported that the increased level of NEET from Quarter 2 was due to the improved effectiveness of addressing the levels of Not Known by the Careers Service.  As the situations of more young people had been identified the levels of NEETS had increased (as had the participation levels) and many of those identified as NEET were also young people who were resistant to engagement.  As the level of Unknowns in September 2014 was 28.6% (due to the roll over process) this did not help to consider the impact in the reduction of Not Known between Quarter 2 and Quarter 3 but the August Not Known level was 8.9% which had now been reduced to the current level of 5.0%.

(To receive a report which invites the Committee to consider a report on the Music Service Options Review which is due to be considered by the Executive Councillor for Adult Care and Health Services, Children's Services on 5 May 2015)

Consideration was given to a report which invited the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee to consider a report on the Music Service Options Review which was due to be considered by the Executive Councillor for Adult Care and Health Services, Children's Services on 5 May 2015.

It was reported that Lincolnshire County Council had made the decision to withdraw its financial contribution to the Music Service post April 2016, and that there would be a 50% reduction (£200,000) in funding during 2015/16.  This was reflected in the budget approved by the full council on 20 February 2015.

In preparation for this the Music Service had been considering a set of options to ensure its sustainability for the longer term future, so that while the Council may not continue to provide music services there would still be a provider of music services within the county.  Members were advised that the preferred option was for Lincolnshire County Council to cease to operate a music service and supported Lincolnshire Music Service (LMS) to become a viable charitable entity.

This was a highly respected music service within the Council and delivered to 99% of schools in the county, providing a service to about 20,000 children.  It offered an opportunity for every child to take part in music.  The team was fully behind the option to externalise the service.

Members of the Committee were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report, and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         It was confirmed that this was not a statutory service;

·         Members would support the idea that this service should be supported, as the opportunities it provided for children were fantastic and it was a very inclusive service.  It was acknowledged that it was not a statutory service but it did contribute to some statutory needs although these statutory needs were the responsibilities of schools;

·         In terms of due diligence, there was a list of issues to address before the Portfolio Holder would be able to make an informed decision.  An independent legal advisor had been appointed to ensure these issues were dealt with properly and that the service and LCC could make an informed decision;

·         It was queried whether there would be a cost implication for schools if the service became reliant on being a trading company;

·         Business modelling and projections were being carried out for the moving forward of the Service.  This Service had always been well supported by the Council.  Seven years ago the authority provided £900,000 in funding, however from next year onwards, that would be reduced to zero.  However, trade had remained stable.  It was considered important that savings were made before it impacted on children through higher charging, and it was proposed to make those savings from management overheads in the first instance;

·         If there was a need to continue to make additional savings the Service would re-align its priorities.  It was not thought  ...  view the full minutes text for item 85.

(To receive a report which invites the Committee to consider a report on Future Delivery of Lincolnshire's School Improvement Services which is due to be considered by the Executive on 5 May 2015)

Consideration was given to a report which invited the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee to consider a report on the Future Delivery of Lincolnshire's School Improvement Service which was due to be considered by the Executive on 5 May 2015.

Members were advised that the report recommended that the future commissioning arrangements for school improvement was focused on a school-led system, to establish a Lincolnshire Learning Partnership, which would deliver a tiered approach to school improvement based on peer review, quality assurance and appropriate governance arrangements to drive the strategic vision for education in Lincolnshire. 

It was reported that the Council had statutory duties to fulfil in relation to promoting high standards in schools and among other providers so that children and young people achieve well and fulfil their potential as defined by section 13A of the Education Act 1996.  Members were advised that the County Council had entered into an agreement in 2002 with CfBT Education Trust (CfBT) to deliver the School Improvement Service for a period of 10 years, commencing on 1 September 2002.  In 2010, this agreement was extended to 31^st January 2017 in line with the conditions of the contract.  With effect from 1 April 2015, the contract value was £2.15m per year, reducing by £0.5m with effect from 1 April 2016.

Members of the Committee were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained in the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         Extremely positive feedback had been received from one of the Head Teachers that sat on the task and design group;

·         It was queried whether there were any schools which had chosen not to opt in to this.  Members were advised there were some schools who were not opting in and that many of these were part of a trust which already carried out peer reviews.  However, officers were having meetings with the trusts to discuss this;

·         There was a need for classroom teachers to be engaged with as well as head teachers;

·         In response to a query, members were advised that teaching schools were a category of schools which were rated as outstanding which had a headteacher who was a qualified National Leader of Education (NLE) and had been successful in a Teaching School application to support other schools;

·         There were training models that schools could buy into, and there would still be an option to buy in training for governors under a new contract – this would be explored through any new contract which would be put in place following the CfBT contract;

·         It was expected that maintained schools would be part of this, but academies would be able to opt out;

·         There were a number of budgets that supported school improvement for maintained schools;

·         The model would be kept under review, with proposed annual reviews;

·         The model had been built up by headteachers;

·         There had been firm support from CfBT to work  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86.

(To receive a report which gives an overview of the work of Children's Centres in Lincolnshire highlighting the impact that has been achieved on delivering improved outcomes for children and their families as well as identifying the areas for development to ensure that children and families receive the best service possible)

Consideration was given to a report which provided an overview of the work of Children's Centres in Lincolnshire highlighting the impact that had been achieved on delivering improved outcomes for children and their families as well as identifying the areas for development to ensure that children and families received the best service possible.

Officers thanked those elected members who had visited children's centres during the year.

Members were guided through the report, and some of the points highlighted included the following:

·         2013/14 had been a good year for Children's Centres with a substantial increase in engagement with families and three Ofsted inspections – all of which achieved 'Good' in all areas;

·         Strengths highlighted by Ofsted included family support, including assessment, monitoring and supervision; information sharing agreements and effective partnerships; and safeguarding policies and procedures;

·         Areas for improvement which were highlighted by Ofsted included the need for more emphasis on children's educational development and learning at home and the need to ensure the continuous quality assurance of early years groups;

·         Membership for the Children's Centre groups across the county was high with all groups having an average of 80% of the families in the reach area being registered with the Children's Centre;

·         Attendance at a children's centre, or one to one work in the home, with children who were on a plan had doubled in the last year.  The county average in March 2014 was 70% and continuing to rise;

·         Each children's centre group had an Advisory Board which was made up of partner agencies, parents and community groups.  Teams were working with the parent forums to build confidence amongst the parents to empower them to make their views heard.  Parents were also being supported to take on the role of Chair where possible as Advisory Boards should not be chaired by a member of staff as this would break statutory guidance;

·         A wide range of partner agencies worked with or from the children's centres, as this ensured a joined up service was delivered to children and families and strengthened communication between services.  Health visitors, midwives and community partners worked out of many centres, and requests for hot-desking was steadily increasing as the benefits of joint working became more apparent;

·         Next steps for the children's centres included improving the processes that were used to track the impact of services on children; building on the successful track record in engaging volunteers, particularly parents if young children to support their employability prospects and to build capacity in children's centres; and to continue with the Quality Improvement programme by implementing Peer Reviews, Mock Inspections and Mystery Visits.

Members of the Committee were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report, and some of the points raised during discussion included the following;

·         It was commented that it was a very good and very interesting report, and members were pleased to see the Grow Project mentioned, which was funded by West Lindsey District Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87.

(To receive a report which provides the Committee with an update on the work of the Corporate Parenting Panel)

The Committee received an update on the work of the Corporate Parenting Panel.  As previously reported, the Panel was due to consider the Annual Health report for Looked After Children and an update on the Care Quality Commission review of health services for Looked After Children at its meeting in December, but these were deferred as the officer from the South West Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) was off sick.

However, the Panel did consider an update on these two Health reports at its 12 March meeting where the Panel was reassured that the issues raised in the CQC inspection had now been addressed.  Additional financial and human resources had been allocated for safeguarding by the Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Groups, and the Blue Books for Looked After Children were now being distributed as part of the social worker pack.  The Panel would be receiving the action plan drafted in response to the recommendations in the Health Annual Report for Looked After Children at its next meeting on 11 June 2015.

In addition to the two updates, the Panel considered the action plan for the recommendations in the Ofsted Inspection report.  One of the recommendations was around reducing offending rates of care leavers and the Panel queried whether any work had been done to look at why those care leavers ended up in custody.  As a result, Janice Spencer, Assistant Director – Children's Safeguarding, and Barnardo's had agreed to do a piece of work on this post-April 2015 and identify any lessons that could be learned.

The next meeting of the Corporate Parenting Panel would be held on 11 June 2015, where the Panel would consider a six monthly update on the Corporate Parenting Strategy, the Health Annual Report action plan, and an update on recent case law in relation to adoption.

Members were provided with an opportunity to ask questions in relation to the update provided and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         There were concerns around the numbers of care leavers that ended up in custody, and it was thought that there was more that needed to be done to prepare them for the next stage in life;

·         It was suggested that as schools provided work experience for all pupils, there was a need for positive discrimination for Looked After Children, and for them to be given priority when allocating placements;

·         The over representation of Looked After Children who were in custody was a national issue, not just a local one.  An independent review was being commissioned and the results would be reported back to the Corporate Parenting Panel;

·         It was queried whether children who had been adopted were still classed as Looked After.  Members were advised that once an adoption order had been confirmed by the court, the child was no longer Looked After.  However, there were rare situations where the adoption broke down and the child became Looked After again;

·         In situations where a local authority found it difficult to place a child, they  ...  view the full minutes text for item 88.

(To receive a report which provides the Committee with an opportunity to consider the proposed action plan for post 16 education and training, as requested by the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee at its meeting in October 2014)

Consideration was given to a report in relation to the Strategic Priorities for 16 – 19 (25) Education and Training for 2015/16.  It was reported that the strategic priorities for post 16 education and training for the academic year 2015/16 were approved by the Council Executive in November 2014 following the consideration and recommendation of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee (CYPSC) in October 2014.  The CYPSC requested that an action plan be put in place, and this was presented to the Committee for consideration.

Members were guided through the report and some of the points highlighted included the following:

·         To establish Lincolnshire County Council as an exemplar employer in terms of providing increasing numbers of opportunities for young people including: employment, work experience, apprenticeships, traineeships, and supported internships;

·         Explore the potential benefits to develop and implement higher and degree level apprenticeships to meet developing skills shortages and recruitment and retention issues for particular roles within the Council and its strategic partners including: registered social workers and qualified teachers and nurses;

·         To identify and use opportunities to influence key stakeholders and partners through established networks and membership of statutory and non-statutory bodies, including the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership (GLLEP) and its Employment and Skills Board (ESB), to secure commitment to increasing opportunities for young people and reducing youth unemployment;

·         Identify opportunities, for example, through the work with schools to develop sector led improvement, and through other links e.g. with governing bodies, to encourage schools and other providers to collaborate to ensure continuing viability of some of the smaller providers including sixth forms and to ensure a continued appropriate curriculum for all young people throughout the county.

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report, and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         It was clarified that a Level 3 qualification was equivalent to an A Level;

·         It was commented that someone could go through a Level 3 qualification fairly quickly, but it might not always equip that person for work outside of the organisation;

·         It would be beneficial to identify what skills employers were seeing, compared with the skills they needed;

·         There was a lot of work taking place nationally around apprenticeships, and new frameworks were being developed.  These new frameworks would be put in place alongside ongoing work with employers;

·         There was still a tendency for it to be mainly the larger employers that got involved in apprenticeship schemes as they had the capacity within the business to do so;

·         The strategic priorities had been presented to all groups and providers including schools, sixth forms and colleges;

·         A series of meetings were held with clusters of school sixth forms which were very well attended.  There was a need for organisations to work together in order to provide a co-ordinated offer.  There was an in principle agreement on this following discussions, along with a strategic commitment to talk to the governing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89.

(To receive a report which enables the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee to consider its own work programme for the coming year)

Consideration was given to a report that enabled the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee to consider its own work programme for the coming year.

Only one amendment to the work programme was noted, which was that the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Boards Scrutiny Sub-Group update had been removed from the 5 June 2015 agenda as the sub-group meeting on 29 April 2015 had been cancelled due to a lack of pressing business and the proximity of the elections.

Councillor Mrs Bradwell, Executive Councillor for Adult Care and Health Services, Children's Services was in attendance to ask the Committee to consider undertaking a review of Grammar School Transport.  This request was made as during the past year a group of parents in villages north of Grantham had campaigned for changes to the Home to School and College Transport Policy in respect of transport to the county's grammar schools.  The Executive Councillor requested that the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee review the grammar school entitlement policy and consider whether any changes could and/or should be made to meet the parents' requests, and what the implications of changing the policy would be on schools/cost/parents etc.

Members were provided with the opportunity to discuss this request, and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         This issue had previously been raised at a meeting of the Full Council;

·         The policy had not been reviewed for some time, so it would be useful to set up a task an d finish group;

·         It was queried whether a task and finish group should look purely at grammar school transport or if the scope should be widened?  It was suggested that school transport was an issue that would be better examined in small parts;

·         It was suggested whether any work which the task and finish group carried out could be reported back to the national conversation about challenges that faced rural counties;

·         It was agreed that a scoping document should be brought back to the June meeting of the Committee for approval.

RESOLVED

1.    That the content of the work programme be noted;

2.    That a scoping document for a task and finish group to review the Home to School and College Transport Policy in respect of transport to the County's grammar schools be brought back to the meeting of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee due to be held on 5 June 2015.