Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor M A Whittington and Added Member Mrs P J Barnett.

Mr S C Rudman wished it be noted that with regard to Agenda Item 5 – Outcomes from the Pupil Exclusions Working Group, he had previously taught at St Peter and St Paul, which was mentioned in the report, for a period of 20 years and also had previously been in the position of school governor for 10 years.

Councillor S R Parkin wished it be noted that regard to Agenda Item 5 – Outcomes from the Pupil Exclusions Working Group, her children currently attend Louth Academy, which was mentioned in the report.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee held on 20 July 2018 be approved.

The Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services was pleased to report that young people in Lincolnshire had performed well in their GCSE and A Level examinations.  The Committee commended the hard work of the young people and schools in achieving such high results, particularly the good results under the new GCSE system.

(To receive a report from Mary Meredith, Children's Service Manager – Inclusion, which provides the Committee with the opportunity to consier the outcomes from the Pupil Exclusions Working Group)

A report by Mary Meredith (Children's Services Manager – Inclusion) was considered, which presented the Pupil Exclusions Working Group's recommendations.

The Committee was reminded that the Inclusive Lincolnshire Strategy had been reviewed by the Pupil Exclusions Working Group, which had been established at the Committee's meeting on 9 March 2018.  The Working Group had consisted of Councillors A P Maughan (Chairman); M D Boles; R J Kendrick; S R Parkin; and R Wootten and had met three times between May to July 2018.

The Executive Director of Children's Services, along with the Children's Services Manager – Inclusion and the Chief Officer for Education presented the report to the Committee.

The Chairman of the Working Group took the opportunity to the Councillors and officers who were involved.  The Chairman also advised that the Working Group's recommendations were detailed on pages 16 and 17 of the Committee's report.

Members were provided with an opportunity to ask questions, where the following points were noted: -

·       The Committee was advised that in Lincolnshire, the rate of permanent exclusion of Looked after Children was at zero.  Page 23 of the report included a graph which detailed Lincolnshire's exclusion rate for Looked after Children compared to its statistical neighbours.  A Councillor commented that if zero exclusions could be avoided with this vulnerable cohort, then this could be rolled out across other areas;

·       It was advised that when schools had embraced the Inclusive Lincolnshire Strategy within schools, the rate of permanent exclusions had reduced.  In schools, where the rate of permanent exclusion was high, the schools were in very challenging circumstances.  However engagement in the Inclusive Lincolnshire Strategy was improving;

·       Further to this above, it was queried whether it would be appropriate for the local member of each school to engage with the head teacher to try and encourage engagement with the Strategy.  The Committee and supporting officers did not support this suggestion, as it could undermine the work of the County Council on the relationship with those academies.  Instead, Councillors were encouraged to liaise with the Children's Services Manager – Inclusion should they have any specific concerns regarding a school;

·       The importance of stability in education at key stage 4 was highlighted and supported by the Committee;

·       The Committee commended the report and the work of the working group;

·       The Committee was advised that there was a Caring to Learn project, which was aimed at improving learning for Looked after Children.  Foster Carers were advised of the project, as part of the Foster Carer Induction and encouraged to express an interest in being an education champion;

·       Concerns were raised over the amount of pressure that teachers were under as part of their role.  Furthermore, it was advised that outside of London, Lincolnshire had the highest rate of teachers leaving the role.  Work was being undertaken to address this issue and as part of this, the County Council was engaging with the Bishop Grosseteste University;

·       It was clarified that the exclusions of pupils from the SEND cohort,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

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

Consideration was given to a report by Katrina Cope (Senior Democratic Services Officer), which enabled the Committee to have an overview of the activities of the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Boards Scrutiny Sub-Group, in particular the Sub-Group's consideration of child safeguarding matters.

Councillor S R Parkin (Chairman of the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Boards Scrutiny Sub-Group) presented the update to the Committee.  It was advised that the last meeting of the Sub-Group was held on 9 July 2018 and the draft minutes were attached at Appendix A to the report. 

The Chairman of the Sub-Group advised that at the meeting on 9 July 2018, the Sub-Group had considered items relating to its terms of reference and options for the future working of the Sub-Group.  It was stressed that the Sub-Group did not duplicate the work of the two Safeguarding Boards and it was the Sub-Group's role to scrutinise the work of both Boards. 

The membership of the Sub-Group was discussed, and it was highlighted that the vacancy for a foster carer representative had recently been filled.  It was also advised that having sought legal advice, the vacancy for the parent governor representative would need to be filled by one of the two parent governor representatives on the County Council, although one of these positions was currently vacant.

RESOLVED

That the draft minutes of the meeting of the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Boards Scrutiny Sub-Group held on 9 July 2018, be endorsed.

(To receive a report from Sally Savage, Chief Commissioning Officer – Children's Services, which provides key performance information for Quarter 1 20119 relevant to the work of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee)

(NOTE: Appendix D to this report contains exempt information under Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12 A of the Local Government Act 1972, and discussion of this information could result in the exclusion of the press and public)

Consideration was given to a report by Sally Savage (Chief Commissioning Officer), which provided key performance information for Quarter 1 2018/19 that was relevant to the work of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee.

Debbie Barnes OBE (Executive Director of Children's Services) presented the report to the Committee and in doing so, highlighted that all of the eight measures had achieved their targets for Quarter 1, details of which could be found at Appendix A to the report.  

It was advised that the overall compliments received in Q1 had increased by approximately 24% with 42 compliments having been received, compared to 34 last quarter.  The customer satisfaction information was detailed at Appendix B to the report.

A summary of the most recent mainstream Ofsted Inspections by school type was detailed at Appendix C to the report. The Committee received an update on those schools that were currently judged to be Inadequate and/or under and Interim Executive Board, page 71 refers.  Representatives of the County Council had met with the Diocese regarding the issues surrounding the church schools.  It was suggested that an update be provided at a future meeting.

The Committee was advised that Appendix D to the report contained exempt information and if the Committee wished to discuss details pertaining to Appendix D, a vote would need to be taken to move into exempt session.

At this point in the meeting, it was moved, second and:

RESOLVED

That in accordance with Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for consideration of Appendix D to the report on the grounds that if they were present there could be a disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.

The Chairman invited members of the Committee to ask questions in relation to Appendix D of the report and officers responded to questions raised.

At this point in the meeting, it was moved, second and:

RESOLVED

That the remaining of the meeting be considered in open session.

The Committee was provided with an opportunity to ask questions, where the following points were noted: -

·         Juvenile first time offenders – It was clarified that the number of young people entering the criminal justice for the first time was mostly controlled by external influences, such as Police policies, meaning that it was the decision of the Police whether to caution / charge the young person or take them through the restorative system.  It was suggested that this wording be made clearer for future reports;

·         Juvenile re-offending – It was advised that this measure did not include restorative solutions, as this only included those young people who had committed a proven offence.  It was also advised that this was a national indicator and something that the County Council was required to report upon;

·         It was advised that crime data by postal code area could be viewed at www.police.uk  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

(To receive a report from Tracy Johnson, Senior Scrutiny Officer, which provides the Committee with an opportunity to consider and comment on its work programme for the coming months)

Consideration was given to a report by Simon Evans (Health Scrutiny Officer), which enabled the Committee to consider and comment on the content of its work programme for the coming months.

The Committee commended the hard work of the pupils, and including schools, in achieving their GCSE and A Level results.

It was suggested that the items on Sector Led School – Improvement Model – Progress Report and Lincolnshire Learning Partnership Strategic Plan and Impact Evaluation scheduled for 19 October 2018 be merged into a single item.

RESOLVED

That the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee Work Programme be approved, subject to inclusion of any amendments made at the meeting.