Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors T A Carter and J Tyrrell, and Mrs M R Machin (Parent Governor Representative) and Alex Sayer (Parent Governor Representative).

It was noted that the Chief Executive, having received notice under Regulation 13 of the Local Government (Committee and Political Groups) Regulations 1990, had appointed Councillor K J Clarke to replace Councillor Mrs J E Killey for this meeting only.

No declarations of interest were made at this stage of the proceedings.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 14 January 2022 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Chairman informed Committee Members that they should have received an invitation to a Corporate Parenting Workshop on Tuesday 5th April at 2pm and that their attendance was recommended.

The Chairman reported that he had attended the Big Conversation 22 event in Spalding on 16 February 2022, along with Councillors S P Roe and W H Gray, where they had the opportunity to meet with children in care and care leavers. The event was focussed on what children in care and care leavers wanted from their social workers and key workers to support them, and updates were also provided from V4C, the Children in Care Council, and Barnardo’s.

Members were informed that there would be a comfort break before Item 7.

The Assistant Director – Early Help  reported that Children’s Services was hosting a visit from Amanda Spielman, Ofsted Chief Inspector, that morning to see some of the great work being undertaken in Lincolnshire. It was further reported that Children’s Services had also received a virtual visit from the Care Quality Commission that week in relation to the 0 – 19 Service, who had been assured of the quality of the delivery of all the services and that the performance was still above national figures.

(To receive a report from Kevin Johnson, Programme Manager – Children’s Integrated Commissioning, which enables the Committee to consider and comment on a report seeking to establish a new single Section 75 commissioning arrangement for children and young people’s mental health services from September 2022 , which is being presented to the Executive for a decision on 05 April 2022)

(NOTE: Councillor C Mathews wished it to be noted that he was a Governor at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust)

Consideration was given to a report by the Programme Manager – Children’s Integrated Commissioning on the establishment of a new single Section 75 commissioning arrangement for children and young people’s mental health services from September 2022, which was being presented to the Executive for a decision on 05 April 2022. In addition to the report, the following was reported:

·       The recommendations had been supported by the Children’s Executive Departmental Leadership Team, Lincolnshire School’s Forum, the Council’s Commissioning and Commercial Board, the Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust, the Clinical Commissioning Group, and the Joint Commissioning Overview Group.

·       The recommendations sought to transform children and young people (CYP) mental health services, establish a new single Section 75 commissioning arrangement for children and young people’s mental health services from September 2022, and approve the Council’s investments in CYP mental health services.

·       The same amount of funding of £724,589 was committed to Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services to deliver the Council’s statutory duties.

·       Significant pressures upon the High Needs Block of the Designated Schools Grant meant that the Council needed to taper funds and increase investments in this area in order to maintain its statutory duties.

·       Other options for the transformation had been considered, but the recommended model demonstrated that it minimised waste from duplicated services and offered a more flexible approach that suited the particular circumstances of a rural county.

·       Work was underway to evaluate the long-term impacts of the pandemic on service use.

In response to questions raised by the Committee, the following points were confirmed:

• The current generation of children and young people were considered to have worse mental health outcomes compared to previous generations due to a variety of factors such as social media, pressures of modern life, and family lifestyles, along with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, the number of referrals to specialist mental health services for Lincolnshire children and young people were reducing but referrals were now on the increase. There would be a need to reassess how mental health services for children and young people were structured to respond more effectively to those changing needs and ensure if referrals continue to be higher that increased demand could be met.
• The Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) supported recommendations in principle at the Joint Commissioning Overview Group on 24 February 2022 to offset the phased diversion of £1m funding from Healthy Minds Lincolnshire back into the High Needs Block of the Designated Schools Grant with its own investment, so that there would be no overall reduction in funding. The CCG also supported recommendations for additional investment into Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
• In relation to staffing pressures from the increase in referrals, Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT), which was rated outstanding for its mental health services for children and young people, was developing plans for its own in-house workforce/training programme to bring  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

(To receive a report from Matt Spoors, Head of Service – Children’s Education, which updates the Committee on standards within the sector led system and the recovery response following the Covid-19 pandemic)

Consideration was given to a report by the Head of Service for School Standards on standards within the sector led system and the recovery response following the Covid-19 pandemic. The following was reported:

·       Scheduled Ofsted inspections in early years and childcare providers were cancelled at the start of the pandemic and routine inspections did not take place although regulatory work continued.

·       Ofsted carried out ‘interim visits’ to early years and childcare providers from 28 September to 21 December 2020.

·       Ofsted resumed their routine inspections in April 2021.

·       Early Years and Childcare team re-focussed their support for early years and childcare providers based on recovery following the easing of pandemic public health measures. The team also provided a universal offer of support for all early years providers.

·       Throughout the pandemic the county’s 48 children’s centres had been maintained and prioritised antenatal visits. Children’s Centres were now operating at pre-pandemic levels.

·       Statutory testing of pupils had been paused throughout the pandemic, and data pertaining to test scores was that which had been previously cited – reflecting 2019 performance.

·       Ofsted had judged 84.1% of Lincolnshire Schools to be good or better , as of December 2021 – an increase from the 83.9% which was published in the report, as at November 2021. Statistical neighbours had dropped in this period to 83.9%.

·       Boston Borough and the City of Lincoln were the lowest performing districts in Lincolnshire; North Kesteven and South Kesteven were the pest performing; and the most improved districts were South Holland and East Lindsey.

·       The Teaching School Hub, in Lincoln, replaced the seven Teaching Schools across the county.

·       The Lincolnshire Learning Partnership Board was responsible for driving sector led improvements in Lincolnshire’s schools.

·       Lincolnshire had been identified as an education investment area by the Government’s Levelling-Up White Paper.

·       The Education White Paper was due to be published soon, which may allow local authorities to establish their own education trusts.

In response to questions raised by the Committee, the following points were confirmed:

·       Support was in place to help parents access English as an additional language for children in early years settings. The contract was currently being reviewed and a report detailing its commissioning was due to come before the Committee later in the year.

·       The Council was focused on SEND capacity to meet needs early and allocate resources effectively. SEND performance was higher than the national average but work was underway to meet capacity and resourcing issues. A report on the High Needs Transformation Programme had been brought to the Committee previously and was due to come before the Committee later in the year.

·       A report detailing an analysis of educational attainment for the different categories of SEND in different school settings could be brought to the Committee at a future meeting.

·       Schools’ curriculum and pathways were being reviewed to help close the gap between male and female performance in school, which included a review of apprenticeship provision and vocational education.

·       A report on education investment areas was scheduled for the July  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65.

(To receive a report from Jo Kavanagh, Assistant Director – Early Help, which updates the committee on the Service Level Performance against the Corporate Performance Framework for Quarter 3)

The Committee reconvened at 11:40am.

Consideration was given to a report by the Assistant Director – Early Help on the Service Level Performance for Quarter 3. It was reported that the following measures did not meet their target:

·       Number of Children in Care (PI23) – however, the Council still performed strongly compared to the national average and many children were under 1 year of age.

·       Number of 16-17 year old Children in Care participating in Learning (PI45) – however, work was underway to raise aspirations and foster support for these young people.

In response to questions raised by the Committee, the following points were confirmed:

·       Children placed in care in Lincolnshire from authorities outside the county and unaccompanied children seeking asylum did not count towards the figures for Lincolnshire children in care but were represented in other services such as numbers in education.

·       There were no significant disparities between districts across the county in terms of children in care based on location.

·       The figures represented high numbers of children in care below the age of one, which showed that very young children were being kept safe. These young children often went on to be legally adopted and appropriately came out of the care system.

·       Nationally, the numbers of children in care had increased significantly. School attendance was a concern, especially during the public health restrictions of the pandemic.

·       The Council was focusing on raising the aspirations of children and young people in care, which included accommodation and transport support, and training and employment guidance.

·       Support was in place for unaccompanied children seeking asylum including for those from Afghanistan and Ukraine; however, the full needs and impacts of Ukrainian children was not known at this stage.

·       Fluctuations in data tolerance levels were normal, as they reflected key dates throughout the year such as the start of the academic term, which impacted the data for those in care within education.

RESOLVED:

Committee reviewed the report and was satisfied with the performance of the measures that were either above or below the target range.

(To receive a report form Mark Rainey, Commissioning Manager – Commercial, which enables the Committee to review and comment on progress made regarding the Sustainable Modes of Travel to School Strategy 2020-2023 against the action plan)

Consideration was given to a report by the Commissioning Manager – Commercial on the progress made regarding the Sustainable Modes of Travel to School Strategy 2020-2023. The following was reported:

·       It was a statutory duty of the Council to produce a Sustainable Modes of Travel to School Strategy (SMOTS).

·       The Council’s current strategy was adopted in July 2020.

·       Action 1, the creation of a Sustainable Travel Group to set standards for travel to school, was on target and was meeting quarterly with the attendance of the Executive Portfolio Holder.

·       Action 2, the development of a programme of Links to School routes, was delayed and ongoing due to two focused projects having been identified at Toynton All Saints School and between Reepham and Cherry Willingham.

·       Action 3, engagement with schools to develop travel plans, was delayed and improving due to the impacts of the pandemic on school resources.

·       Action 4, the continuation of the Independent Travel Trainer and Max Respect programmes, was delayed and improving due to face-to-face services being interrupted by pandemic public health measures.

·       Action 5, the reappraisal of unsuitable routes, was ongoing whilst further funding was being sought.

·       Action 6, working in partnership with LRSP to deliver safe travel to school, was delayed and improving due to recruitment difficulties.

·       Pre-pandemic levels of the Strategy’s delivery were resuming.

·       The Strategy was to move to the Place directorate within the Council’s organisation.

In response to questions raised by the Committee, the following points were confirmed:

·       It was possible to develop school safety zones around schools that presented a congestion issue at peak times in partnership with the Road Safety team.

·       Commissioned school transport was viewed to be sustainable for areas far away from schools.

·       The service was awaiting capital budgets for active travel before planning future projects.

·       It was crucial to ensure engagement with parents and carers to create sustainable transport schemes to reduce the level of car use. 

·       The Post 16 Transport policy requested a £570 contribution per annum for those that were eligible. Council expenditure on post 16 transport was £2 million net with £1 million raised from contributions.

·       Enforcement of school safety zones was led by the Highways team; however, many schemes were advisory and unenforceable, those that were mandatory had to be enforced by the police. Further information would be sought from Highways.

·       The impacts of the recent changes to the Highway Code had not been captured in the Council’s strategies, which had been finalised before the changes had been made. However, the changes would be picked up in future strategies and policies.

·       School crossing patrol sites were prescribed based upon assessments. Assessments were based on safety outcomes and finding the most economically viable solution. However, there were difficulties recruiting for these posts.

·       Transport for children in care was sometimes organised by social care in the short-trem. The most economical method was always sought, seats were sometimes left free to ensure special arrangements for care needs. Inefficient transport arrangements often became apparent at the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67.

(To receive a report from Tracy Johnson, Senior Scrutiny Officer, which enables the Committee to consider and comment on the contents of its work programme to ensure that its scrutiny activity is focused where it can be of greatest benefit)

The Committee considered a report from the Senior Scrutiny Officer, which invited members to consider and comment on the content of its work programme, to ensure that scrutiny activity was focused where it could be of greatest benefit.

Members were informed that the following pre-decision scrutiny items had been removed from the agenda for 22 April as, following legal advice, these were to be chief officer decisions:

·   Review of Open Select List procurement arrangements for children's independent placements and recommendations from September 2022

·   Review of Closed Ordered List commissioning and procurement arrangements for Supported accommodation for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) and former-UASC care leavers from October 2022

Members were also informed that the Children in Care and Care Leavers Strategy report had been deferred from the meeting on 17 June 2022 to 9 September 2022 to allow for further engagement with stakeholders before coming to the Executive for decision in October.

RESOLVED

That the work programme presented be agreed subject to the inclusion of the amendments/suggestion mentioned above.