Agenda and minutes

Members and officers must declare any pecuniary or personalinterest in any business on the agenda. They should also make declarations at any stage such an interest becomes apparent during the meeting. Consideration should be given to leaving the meeting if the nature of the interest warrants it.  If in doubt please contact Democratic Services before the meeting.

25.1     In accordance with the County Council’s code of conduct the following declarations were made:

25.2     Cllr Burgess declared a personal interest as a councillor at Crawley Borough Council under agenda item 6.

25.3     Cllr Cherry declared a personal interest as the chair of governors at the Burgess Hill Academy under agenda item 6.

25.4     Cllr Mercer declared a personal interest as the chair of the Orchard Hill Academy Trust under agenda item 6.

Items not on the agenda which the Chairman of the meeting is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency by reason of special circumstances, including cases where the Committee needs to be informed of budgetary or performance issues affecting matters within its terms of reference, which have emerged since the publication of the agenda.

26.1     No urgent matters were raised.

The Committee is to consider the progress made on the improvement journey over the last three years, the outcome of the recent Ofsted Monitoring Visit and the preparedness for the full Ofsted Inspection expected in the coming months.  

27.1     The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Cllr Russell, introduced the report by reflecting on the journey Children’s Services had been through since 2019 and that it was a timely point to reflect on the progress made to date, with a full Ofsted inspection due between now and spring 2023.  The report outlined all key areas of progress and work undertaken and outlined changes and transformation and the impact of those changes.

27.2     The Committee received a statement from Mr Coughlan, the independent chair of the Improvement Board and previously the Commissioner for Children’s Services in West Sussex.  Mr Coughlan reminded the Committee that the County Council had found itself rated as inadequate following a long period of fragility in Children’s Services.  The first ever rescindment of a trust order by the DfE was a credit to the people involved in improving the service, particularly as it was during the early pandemic period.  The cost-of-living crisis compacting after 10 years of austerity and a national recruitment crisis were national issues providing additional challenge to the improvement journey, but Mr Coughlan felt that the County Council had coped admirably. 

27.3     Mr Coughlan felt confident around the work being done by the Improvement Board.  He felt the chain of command and accountability in the County Council was stronger now, particularly through the Chief Executive and Director of Children, Young People and Learning and the management team, and this gave him confidence.  He noted that the service was now awaiting a full inspection at any point within the next four months and that would be a critical milestone for the service.

27.4     Mr Coughlan reported that Ofsted inspections were primarily focussed on cases and case outcomes.  Through support with Hampshire County Council as practice partner, a stronger model of self-audit and self-evaluation had been developed in West Sussex.

27.5     For the future Mr Coughlan reported there have been challenges with the pace and consistency of high-quality practice in what is a relatively large county.  Driving at that consistency is now a core management priority.  He also noted the reduction in funding from the Department for Education (DfE) for the new practice model, recruitment of social workers and other suitably qualified staff.  The senior management team needed to be supported as they prepared for the full inspection, the Committee needed to carry on the much-improved tone of scrutiny going forward by getting the balance of support and challenge right. 

27.6     Members of the Committee asked questions of Mr Coughlan and officers and a summary of those questions and answers follows.

27.7     The effectiveness of the Scrutiny Committee today is light years away from the position in 2019.  Areas of interactions with members, the Leader and cabinet members is much better.  Work of the Improvement Board and Corporate Parenting Panel is collaborative and transparent.  The Scrutiny Committee could help officers more by challenging volatility in figures in quality assurance rather than scrutinising case outcomes.  It takes a long time to turn a children’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

The Committee is asked to agree the minutes of the meeting held on 28 September 2022 (cream paper).

28.1     Resolved – that the minutes of the meeting held on 28 September 2022 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Committee is asked to note the responses to recommendations made at previous meetings of the committee.

29.1     The Committee noted the responses to the recommendations made at the meeting on 28 September 2022.

29.2     Members were asked to let the Chairman know if they would like to put their name forward to sit on the SEND Strategy Board.

29.3     The Chairman agreed to seek further updates on the recommendations around advice and support for schools and SEND families and work to identify children’s needs early.

Report by Director of Finance and Support Services.

The Committee is asked to examine the Council’s corporate performance, finance, savings delivery and business performance for the services within the remit of this Committee for the period July to September 2022.

30.1     The Committee looked at the Performance and Resources Report – Quarter 2 – July-September 2022.

Children and Young People

30.2     The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Cllr Russell, introduced the report highlighting that the key performance indicators (KPIs) were looking positive but that there remained significant budget pressures.

30.3     Members of the committee asked questions and a summary of those questions and answers follows.

30.4     Measure 1 - Percentage of re-referrals within 12 months – The Head of the Integrated Front Door (IFD) and Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) regularly checks the data and had not to date seen anything to suggest the rating was not appropriate.  Practice partners had also carried out quality assurance activities and had not found any concerns.  It was suggested that a briefing on the changes to the Supporting Families Criteria could be given to the Committee.

30.5     Measure 2 – Percentage of Early Help Plans closed with outcomes met – The 74% target was ambitious, it compared well with the national benchmark but was higher than pre-pandemic.  The drop was partly due to the effect of the pandemic on seeing families rather than staffing pressures, although there was continued difficulty in recruiting alternatively qualified staff in areas such as early help

30.6     Measure 7 – Stability of children looked after placements – The 10% target was out of the total number of children cared for.  The national average is 10% and the County Council was currently exceeding that at 10.1%.

30.7     Measure 8 – Percentage of care-leavers aged 17-21 who are in Employment, Education or Training – The amber RAG rating on the 64.0% target would be on a parr with national benchmarking and exceeding statistical neighbours.  The County Council, as well as supporting various activities, had also ring-fenced two apprenticeship roles in the Voice and Participation team for care leavers. 

30.8     External residential placements – The service acknowledge that there are too many children in external residential placements.  The County Council had approximately 5% more than statistical neighbours, and work had taken place to publish a Placement Sufficiency Strategy and a placement recovery plan – this could be shared with the Committee.  It was acknowledged nationally that there were insufficient residential placements available.

30.9     Children with disability home care and transport costs – Reassurance was given that where there were health-related elements monies would be sought from health organisations which could influence the potential overspend.  Whilst this was happening children were still receiving the support they needed from County Council finances but there was a Disabilities Recovery Plan in place to help deal with pressures on the budget.

30.10  Fostering Allowances Inflationary Pressure – Officers were working with stakeholder groups of foster carers and were confident that, following the recent review of fees and allowances, and the addition to the inflationary uplift, foster carers would be fairly paid for their responsibilities and be supported.

30.11  Cllr Russell thanked the Scrutiny Committee for their questions and comments and said that the leadership  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

The Committee is asked to agree its draft work programme (Appendix A) in accordance with the scrutiny checklist attached (Appendix B) and highlight any further possible items for future scrutiny.

The Committee is also asked to review the Forward Plan entries relevant to its remit (Appendix C) and consider whether it wishes to enquire about any of the forthcoming decisions within its portfolio.

31.1     Resolved – That the Committee agreed the draft work programme prepared by the Business Planning Group following their meeting on 20 October 2022.

There have been no requests for call-in to the Scrutiny Committee within its constitutional remit since the date of the last meeting.  The Director of Law and Assurance will report any requests since the publication of the agenda papers.

32.1     There had been no request for call-in to the Scrutiny Committee within its constitutional remit since the date of the last meeting.

The next meeting of the Committee will be held on 18 January 2023 at 10.30 am at County Hall, Chichester.  Probable agenda items include:

·       Education and Learning Strategy 2022-2025

·       Young Carers

Any member wishing to place an item on the agenda for the meeting must notify the Director of Law and Assurance by 6 January 2023.

33.1     The next meeting would be held on 18 January 2023 at 10.30am.