Agenda and minutes

There was no declaration of members' interest made at this stage of the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Reverend S Evans (Church Representative) and Dr E van der Zee (Parent Governor Representative).

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 8 September 2017, be confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record, subject to two typographical errors on page 5 being amended (second bullet point, start of the fifth sentence, addition of an 's' to the word Officer and removal of the word 'to' from the sixth sentence).

The Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services advised the Committee of an article on the Young Inspectors, which had featured in the October's edition of 'Children & Young People Now'.  It was agreed that a copy of the article would be circulated to all members of the Committee after the meeting.

The Committee was also advised that the 0-19 Health Service, comprising of Health Visitors and Schools Nurses had joined the council on the 1 October 2017; and the staff were settling in well. 

It was also reported that the Sector-Led service had managed to secure £0.5m to invest in supporting schools to help with their teaching of English and Writing.  It was hoped that the sector would be able to do the same with Maths, to help those schools that required assistance.

(To receive a presentation from Martin Smith, Children's Service Manager – School Standards, which will provide the Committee with an explanation of the sector-led model for school improvement; and also provide an update on the progress made with implementation of the model)

The Committee received a presentation from Martin Smith, Children's Services Manager School Standards, which provided the Committee with an explanation of the sector-led model for school improvement; and also provided an update on the progress made in implementing the model.

The presentation made reference to the background behind the Sector-Led approach in Lincolnshire.  It was highlighted that the local authority was now one of a range of partners who together were supporting school improvement. The partners included teaching schools, the Lincolnshire Learning Partnership (LLP), the Diocese of Lincoln, school clusters, Multi-Academy Trusts; and individual schools and academies.

It was noted that the picture nationally was that local authorities who were coping best were finding new ways of maintaining dialogue with schools; thinking about functions that brought in key partners at middle tier level; developing governance mechanisms and processes that covered their whole area; and understanding the new role of the local authority to achieve local connectivity.

The Committee was advised of the composition and role of the Local Authority (LA) and the Lincolnshire Learning Partnership.  Reference was also made to the commitment of the Lincolnshire Learning Partnership Board to ensure that no school was more important than an individual child's needs; and to the commitment expected from schools in contributing to support each other to improve and share knowledge to ensure that no school failed.  The Committee was advised that currently 340 schools had signed up to being part of the LLP; and further information was provided to the positive impact of the LLP to date.

A short video was provided to the Committee concerning the work of the Teaching Schools Alliance; and the Mobilise Choice System.

In conclusion, the Committee was advised that for 2017/18; further clarity would be developed around the function of the LLP Board, and its governance and role within the emerging system to ensure that relationships were explored further between the Lincolnshire Teaching School Together, the Lincolnshire Learning Partnership and the Council to ensure transparency of roles moving forward.

Following a question raised by a member in relation to the role of the Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC) with regard to private schools, the Committee was advised that the RSC had no role in private schools but had a role with state funded schools.  The Committee was advised further that the role of the RSC was to act on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education and act as a middle tier between academies and free schools.  Some of the RSCs responsibilities included: taking action where academies and free schools were underperforming; deciding on applications from local authority maintained schools to convert to academy status; and improving underperforming maintained schools by providing them with support from an Academy sponsor.  It was also highlighted that the RSC had no direct relationship with Ofsted.

During discussion, the Committee raised the following points:-

·         One member felt that it was important to ensure that the service was equipped to meet changing demands.  Officers reassured that this had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

(To receive an update from Councillor D Brailsford, Chairman of the Corporate Parenting Sub-Group)

The Committee received a verbal update from Councillor D Brailsford, Chairman of the Corporate Parenting Sub-Group, which provided an update on the work undertaken by the Sub-Group since the previous meeting on 6 July 2017.

Appendix A to the report provided the Committee with a copy of the draft minutes from the last meeting of the Sub-Group held on 21 September 2017 for information.

The Committee was advised that at the meeting on 21 September 2017, the Sub-Group had received further training on a number of areas, which included:-

·         Residential Services in Lincolnshire – This item provided the Sub-Group with an overview of residential provision for Looked After Children in Lincolnshire;

·         Role of Visiting Members – The Sub-Group had received an overview of the role of elected members in children's safeguarding including the Lead Member and the Visiting Members who conducted visits to the seven residential homes;

·         Independent Visiting Service – The Sub-Group had received an overview  of the children's homes regulations; and the Regulation 44 reports which were completed following visits to children's homes by the Independent Visiting Service; and

·         Barnardo's Leaving Care Service – This item had provided the Sub-Group with a summary of the Leaving Care Service in Lincolnshire, which was provided by Barnardo's.

The Committee was advised that the next meeting of the Corporate Parenting Sub-Group was due to meet on 7 December 2017, when it would be receiving in-depth training on Legal Services care proceedings; and private fostering.  The Sub-Group would also be considering the revised Looked After Children Placement Sufficient Strategy.

During a short discussion, members of the Committee raised the following issues:-

·         One member enquired whether visiting members could have a breakdown of the children as some of the children's issues were very complex.  The Committee noted that this information had been made available previously to visiting members.  Officers agreed to raise the matter with the Assistant Director Children's, Safeguarding;

·         One member advised that page 39 had made reference to the Showmen's Guild of Great Britain, rather than the Showmen's Guild, (East Midlands); and 

·         The timescales for leaving care – Officers advised the Committee that the local authority had responsibility for young people in care up to the age of 21 (25 years old if they were in education or training).  It was noted that the Government was currently consulting on extending this support to the age of 25 years.  It was highlighted that there were some care leavers who were able to live independently, but were unable to find suitable accommodation in some parts of the county in multi-occupancy homes.  It was agreed that this needed to be discussed with district councils.  It was highlighted further that new legislation might place additional statutory duties on district councils and Officers agreed to share the consultation with district councils.

One member advised that dual hatted members could also assist in this matter by speaking to their respective district councils asking them to exempt care leavers from council tax.

RESOLVED

That the work of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

(To receive a report from Andrew Hancy, County Manager Business Support, which provides feedback on the consultation document during the consultation period)

Consideration was given to a report from Andrew Hancy, County Manager Business Support, which provided feedback on the public consultation which proposed alternative options on the future provision of Enhanced Resource Provision (ERP) units supporting children with significant hearing impairments across Lincolnshire.

It was reported that in June 2017 a review of the Enhanced Resource Provision (ERP) units had taken place to ensure that children with a hearing impairment were being provided with the highest quality support in schools, and that they were receiving support when they needed it, from a school as close to their home as possible.  The Committee noted that the review had evidenced that the number of children accessing support through an ERP had reduced significantly over recent years; and that the units were currently underutilised.  It was highlighted that the review had concluded that many parents and carers preferred to have their children attending local schools as they had confidence that the needs of their children were being met.  Further feedback indicated that parents and carers preferred not to have their child travelling excessive distances to a dedicated ERP unit; and that they preferred their child going to a local school with family members and their friends.

The Committee noted that as well as the ERP units, the council employed a Lincolnshire Sensory Education Support Team (SEST), which was staffed by specialist qualified teachers who provided learning support to children with sensory impairments.  It was noted that SEST currently supported 545 children across Lincolnshire with a sensory impairment from birth to school leaving age.  It was noted further that 98% of these children were supported within their local mainstream schools with outreach support being provided from SEST. 

It was reported that depending on the level of the child's need they were likely to have an Education, Health and Care Plan in place, which provided any additional support or resources required to meet their needs within a mainstream school setting or specialist setting.

The Committee was advised that at present there were four schools (two primary and two secondary) across Lincolnshire who had a ERP unit providing targeted support to nine children with significant hearing impairments.  It was highlighted that specialist teaching at the units was provided by SEST. The Committee noted that those children who were educated in schools with an ERP, the majority of their time was spent being supported in main stream classes with their peer group.  Then dependent of the level of support required the children would then spend time in the ERP unit receiving targeted teaching and being supported by Teaching/Learning Assistants.

In conclusion, as a result of the feedback received a number of alternative models for service provision had emerged, the four options were summarised at the bottom of page 18, with further details of each of the options being shown in the consultation document at Appendix A 'Proposed Changes to Enhanced Resource Provision Units Supporting Children with Hearing Impairments, Have your Say'. The Committee noted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

(To receive an update from Councillor S R Dodds, Chairman of the  Lincolnshire Safeguarding Boards Scrutiny Sub-Group)

The Committee received a short update from Councillor S R Dodds, Chairman of the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Boards Scrutiny Sub-Group concerning in particular the Sub-Group's consideration of child safeguarding matters.

Appendix A to the report provided the Committee with a copy of the draft minutes from the last meeting of the Sub-Group held on 26 September for Committee's information.

The Committee was advised that the Sub-Group had received training on the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Board (LSCB), which had highlighted the multi-agency membership of the Board, its role and key functions.  It was highlighted that the national and local objectives for the period 2016-2018 included four local objectives around sexual exploitation, emotional wellbeing, healthy relationships; and reducing risk taking behaviours.

It was reported that the next meeting of the Sub-Group would be held on 15 January 2018. 

RESOLVED

That the work of the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Boards Scrutiny Sub-Group be supported and that the draft minutes from the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Boards Scrutiny Sub-Group held on 26 September 2017 be received.

(To receive a report from Tracy Johnson, Senior Scrutiny Officer, which enables the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee to consider its work programme for the coming year)

The Committee gave consideration to a report from Tracy Johnson, Senior Scrutiny Officer, which enabled the Committee to consider and comment on the content of its work programme as detailed at Appendix A.

Simon Evans, Health Scrutiny Officer presented the report and advised that there was nothing further to add, other than the potential item suggested earlier in the agenda relating an item on the protocol with the Regional Schools Commissioner.

RESOLVED

That the work programme as detailed at Appendix A to the report presented be received, subject to the addition of an item relating to a protocol with the Regional Schools Commissioner being added to a future agenda.