Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, County Offices, Newland, Lincoln LN1 1YL. View directions

Contact: Tom Crofts  Democratic Services Officer

Media

Items
No. Item

69.

Apologies for Absence / Replacement Members

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Megan Machin (Parent Governor Representative), Marc Jones (Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner) and Jo Kavanagh (Assistant Director – Early Help).

 

It was reported that, under Regulation 13 of the Local Government Committee and Political Groups) Regulation 1990, Councillor Parker was replacing Councillor Killey for this meeting only.

70.

Declarations of Members' Interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

71.

Minutes of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 4 March 2022 pdf icon PDF 560 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 4 March 2022 be confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

72.

Announcements by the Chairman, Executive Councillor for Children's Services, Community Safety and Procurement and Chief Officers

Minutes:

The Chairman announced that at the Government had now published the SEND Green Paper and the Education White Paper and that an overview of the SEND Green Paper had been added to the work programme for the next meeting of the Committee to advise Members of its consultation process. An overview of the Education White Paper had also been added to the work programme for the meeting on 22 July 2022.

 

Councillor Mrs Bradwell announced that the Council’s Ofsted inspection report had been published and was to be distributed to Members. It was reported that the report was very positive and commended all officers involved in sustaining services throughout the pandemic.

 

Heather Sandy commended all officers involved in the Ofsted inspection.

73.

Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Partnership - Annual Report pdf icon PDF 402 KB

(To receive a report from Chris Cook, Chair of Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (LSCP) and Stacey Waller, LSCP Manager, which enables the Committee to review and comment on the work and function of the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (LSCP) and seek assurance of activity by the Partnership to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in Lincolnshire)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report and presentation from Chris Cook (Independent Chair - Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Partnership) and Stacey Waller (LSCP Business Manager). In reference to the report, the following matters were covered in the presentation:

 

·   An analysis of child exploitation, including digital exploitation. The Committee was also informed that a piece of research and data collection work was underway to gain a better understanding of the issue.

·   The LSCP  had secured a successful partnership with the Child Sexual Abuse Centre of Expertise. Work was ongoing to develop a pathway of support so that practitioners, social workers, police officers and teachers know where to go and how to access the best support for children and young people within the county. The project was expected to launch in September 2022 and the Committee was to be made aware of developments.

·   A  programme to give children aged 10 to 11 the opportunity to become Junior Online Safety Officers (JOSOs) had been rolled out across participating schools, whereby children take on the role of helping their peers stay safe online. 72 children in Lincolnshire were currently JOSOs.

·   New courses had been developed this year, including:

o   Recognising and Supporting Parents in Parental Conflict

o   Sexual Behaviours Traffic Light e-Learning and toolkit

o   Children that Experience Domestic Abuse

o   Responding to Child Exploitation and Missing Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic

o   DASH

o   MARAC & MOP Training

o   Control, Coercive Behaviour and Stalking in an intimate relationship

o   Disguised compliance (updated to include new learning

·   The Neglect Strategy had been updated to standardise nomenclature and help practitioners more easily identify neglect.

·   Campaigns during the reporting period had covered:

o   Self Harm Awareness

o   Safer Sleep for Infants

o   National Child Safety Week

o   Private Fostering

o   Child Exploitation

o   Safer Internet Day (in collaboration with Lincolnshire Police)

o   Online Safety (annual campaign delivered across the Christmas period)

o   Racist, Bullying and Hate Crime

o   Domestic Abuse

·   A Q (quad) Collaboration Group was formed to align activities in training, audit and policy, analytical resource, reviews and engagement.

 

Philip Clark, Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, and Fenella Chambers from NHS Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group, were in attendance to represent the Police and Health on behalf of the Partnership and were allowed to participate for this item.

 

During the discussion on the report and presentation the following comments were received:

 

·   The prevention of illicit drug use was principally the responsibility of the police and social care interventions.

·   JOSOs should be celebrated and recognised to promote the benefits of understanding online safety and responsibility.

·   The wider rollout of the JOSOs programme relied upon school engagement. Some schools had not engaged with the programme as resources had been tight throughout the pandemic.  Only 66% of schools had responded to confirm compliance with safeguarding responsibilities. 

·   It was a statutory obligation to report data pertaining to the deaths of children and highlight any deaths that were flagged as concerning. The current data gave assurance that that there was no shortfall of service.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 73.

74.

Commissioning Arrangements for the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme pdf icon PDF 388 KB

(To receive a report from Sara Gregory, Commissioning Manager – Children’s Strategic Commissioning, which enables the Committee to review and comment on the Commissioning Arrangements for the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme, which is being presented to the Executive for a decision on 4 May 2022)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by Sara Gregory, Programme Manager – Children’s Integrated Commissioning, on Commissioning Arrangements for the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme, which was being presented to the Executive for a decision on 4 May 2022. In addition to the report, the following was reported:

 

·   The Council had received a £2.6 million grant from central government to use for activities and meals for children throughout school holidays.

·   The programme had received a lot of positive feedback.

·   The County Council had relied upon other organisations to deliver the programme including charities and district councils.

·   The programme was to be extended to secondary school aged children.

·   The programme had also proved to help educate children on good nutrition.

·   It was ensured that the procurement of services to deliver the programme was fair and competitive but maintained a strict criterion on quality.

 

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

 

·   The HAF programme had to be delivered in line with strict guidance from the Department for Education which meant it had to be focused on children entitled to benefits related free school meals. The Council would not be able to prioritise a provider for a grant because they offered to provide sessions for all children due to the strict guidance and the eligibility criteria. However, it was recognised that for some providers who offer chargeable services, this might restrict their ability to become involved in the HAF programme and the Council was keen to ensure a wide range of providers were taking part. As a result, these providers were being approached to highlight how they could still deliver their sessions but offer a number of free places to children who would be eligible for the HAF programme.

·   By holding the HAF sessions in schools, the overheads would be less than some of the private venues, which was an important consideration when there was a limit on the level of funding for each place in order to make the programme viable. In addition, schools were considered a good venue as a lot of families like to go to their local school as it was a familiar environment. When sessions for the Christmas and Easter programmes had been hosted at a school, trips had been arranged to take children for days out to different places to enrich their experiences.

·   The grant funding given to the Council was based on the number of eligible children entitled to free school meals and would be available to those children who attended a school in Lincolnshire.

·   The Council was required to collect monitoring information and provide this back to the Department for Education. In addition, the Council had its own monitoring process which was established through the pilot programme and was being refined and expanded as the number of providers increased. Spot checks were being undertaken of providers to check the quality of the food and activities being undertaken, check the safeguarding policies and procedures in place, and that food  ...  view the full minutes text for item 74.

75.

Proposal to Expand Capacity at The Fourfields Church of England School, Sutterton (Final Decision) pdf icon PDF 385 KB

(To receive a report from Matthew Clayton, Admissions and Education Provision Manager, which enables the Committee to review and comment on the Proposal to Expand Capacity at The Fourfields Church of England School, Sutterton (Final Decision), which is being presented to the Executive Councillor for Children's Services, Community Safety and Procurement for a decision on 29 April 2022)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by Matthew Clayton, Admissions and Education Provision Manager, on the proposal to expand capacity at Fourfields Church of England School, Sutterton, which was being presented to the Executive Councillor for Children's Services, Community Safety and Procurement for a decision on 29 April 2022. In addition to the report, focus was drawn to the need for additional classroom space, as currently a class of 30 could not be accommodated and it was necessary to mix year groups.

 

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

 

·   When planning the design of schools, consideration was given to trying to future proof the school as much as possible for further increases in pupil numbers. It can be anticipated where there might be a need to expand a school further in the future. Future proofing schools was limited by the size of the site and access, so there might come a point in the future where another school was required, but at this stage future proofing was planned as best as possible based on what was currently known.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.That the Committee support the recommendation to the Executive Councillor as set out in the report.

2.That the Committee’s comments be passed on to the Executive Councillor in relation to this item.

76.

Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee Work Programme pdf icon PDF 468 KB

(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)

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report from Tracy Johnson, 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 noted the work programme and asked that a report on the effectiveness of the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme be added.

 

RESOLVED:

 

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

77.

Welton Developer Contributions

(To receive an exempt report from Matthew Clayton, Admissions and Education Provision Manager, which enables the Committee to review and comment on Welton Developer Contributions, which is being presented to the Executive Councillor for Children's Services, Community Safety and Procurement for a decision between 25 April and 03 May 2022)

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report which summarised developer contributions for a capital project in Welton.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.That the Committee support the recommendation to the Executive Councillor as set out in the report.

2.That Committee’s comments be passed on to the Executive Councillor in relation to this item.

 

 
 
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