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.

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

34.2     Cllr Mercer declared a personal interest as the chair of the Orchard Hill Academy Trust under agenda item 5.

34.3     Cllr Linehan declared a personal interest as a parent of a child with an EHCP under agenda item 5.

34.4     Cllr Smith declared a personal interest as the parent of a child with an EHCP under agenda item 5.

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.

35.1     The Chairman asked the Cabinet Member for Learning and Skills to update the Scrutiny Committee on how the County Council was reacting to planned industrial action by members of the National Education Union.

35.2     On behalf of the Cabinet Member, Mr Wagstaff, Assistant Director Education and Skills, advised the Committee that the Department for Education (DfE) had produced guidance for schools on how to manage the impact of the strike action with priority to be given to vulnerable children.  Union members did not have to inform the school in advance of any industrial action they planned to take but it was hoped they would do so to enable headteachers to plan.  There could be some impact on learning, but it was hoped that work could be set for home learning as it had been in the pandemic period.

The Committee is asked to agree the minutes of the meeting held on 16 November 2022 (cream paper).

36.1     Resolved – that the minutes of the meeting held on 16 November 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.

37.1     The Committee noted the responses to the recommendations provided from recent meetings.

37.2     The Chairman thanked Cllr Mercer for volunteering to be the scrutiny committee’s representative on the SEND Strategy Board and agreed to find out the details of the next meeting.

Report by Assistant Director of Education and Skills.

The Committee is asked to consider the proposed Education and Learning Strategy 2023-25 ahead of its endorsement by the Cabinet Member for Learning and Skills.

38.1     The Cabinet Member for Learning and Skills, Cllr N Jupp, introduced the report highlighting that this was an exciting piece of work which would impact on the future prospects of all children.  Cllr Jupp welcomed the recommendations made by the CYPSSC Task and Finish Group, which had looked at the draft strategy and made some recommendations.  During the last year the lack of Government definitive policy guidance meant that the strategy would be a dynamic on-line document which could be reviewed and updated in the light of any future changes and areas could come back to the Committee for comment and discussion as required.

38.2     Members of the Committee thanked officers for the work done and made comments and asked questions, a summary of those questions and answers follows.

38.3     It was recognised that the word ‘upon’ needed adding to the end of the sentence in paragraph 25 of the Strategy and that the strategies referred to in paragraph 26 of the Strategy (both on page 43 of the agenda pack) would be in the Children’s First Strategy Plan.

38.4     There was no mental health strategy, but the service did have action plans as well as a mental health team.  Additionally, all social workers received mental health training.  The inaugural meeting of a Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing Board, which had recently been set up across schools, and involving health partners, would take place in March 2023.

Theme 1

38.5     Aspirations on the performance of all young people were built into the plan but also via the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in the Council Plan.  The County Council’s performance was in line with statistical neighbours which Members were pleased to hear but did not feel was reflected in the report.

38.6     Workstream 2 - During the Covid pandemic some early years settings were open to Key Stages 1 and 2 pupils.  A number of independent early years settings had since either failed Ofsted inspections or ceased trading due to financial pressures.  A peer review of early years had been undertaken by the Local Government Association and the findings report was awaited.  The outcome of the review would help shape the early years strategy and the support of early years provision, recognising this as a priority area of focus.  The wording of the workstream would be expanded, including the addition of metrics and KPIs, to reflect this with more detail.  Action: The Assistant Director agreed to provide the figures of the number of early years settings in the county both before and after the pandemic. 

38.7     The workstream monitoring reports would be reviewed on a quarterly basis by the Education and Learning Strategy Partnership Board.  Action: The Assistant Director (Education and Skills) agreed to share quarterly monitoring reports with the Committee.

38.8     Workstream 3 – Work would be undertaken on ensuring smooth transitionswith some investment in early years staff to offer support, but also for transitions from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3 and from Key Stage 4  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

Report by Assistant Director of Education and Skills.

The Committee is asked to consider the proposed decision on a new approach and delivery model to Adult Community Education and the launch of a procurement for the delivery of adult learning from September 2023.

39.1     The Cabinet Member for Learning and Skills, Cllr N Jupp, introduced the pre-decision report highlighting that it was good timing following the previous contractor having recently ceased trading.

39.2     The Assistant Director Education and Skills informed the Committee that it had always been the intention to look at the next phase of commissioning for community learning and it made sense to look at alongside the Multiply Maths project for adults to make the best use of grants available.  The decision report for the Cabinet Member for Learning and Skills, Cllr Jupp, is the beginning of procurement process and the mission statement included Annex 1 was the key driver for what the service wanted for the future.

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

39.4     A member asked about information that had previously been requested on the number of people in West Sussex who could not read.  It was reported that it had been difficult to get accurate data as the most recent study was dated 2011, so work had taken place on the exit data of pupils at Key Stages 4 and 5.  It was felt it was relevant to collate this data anyway as it could feed into skills agenda and give the opportunity to control future provision to offer a curriculum.  A briefing would be shared with Committee members as soon as possible.

39.5     Members challenged how the County Council could increase participation in adult community education.  Officers reported it was hoped that the model proposed would give the ability to respond to specific localised areas of learning, to target communities that needed support and to be able to target curriculums to specific groups of learners.

39.6     To ensure all providers gave the same high-quality service there would be a rigorous procurement process which included a quality assurance framework.  Community learning would be subject to Ofsted inspections and the County Council’s quality assurance framework would enable the opportunity to support providers who did not meet the service standard.  There would be a contract provision that failing to meet the required standards could result in contracts being stopped and learners moved, along with their funding, to other providers.

39.7     Members asked if there would be sufficient providers in the market? Soft market testing in 2020 had shown there was a range of providers in the market.  At this stage there would be no engagement with employers as there was a desire to align learning for work with the skills agenda.

39.8     Members questioned the use of zero-hour contracts given the current challenging employment market and suggested that their use be minimalised.  Officers reported that these would be used as a way of building an inhouse team quickly, with flexibility and that many tutors welcomed that option of employment.

39.9     Members asked why in the breakdown of resources allocated some 20% were not accounted for.  Officers reported that if all the funding were allocated out to providers for training, then  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

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.

40.1     The Chairman agreed to review with the Business Planning Group and officers how the consultation into the review of primary aged pupil provision in Worthing could be reviewed by the Scrutiny Committee.

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.

41.1     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 1 March 2023 at 10.30am at County Hall, Chichester.  Probable agenda items include:

·       Performance and Resources Report – Q3

Any member wishing to place an item on the agenda for the meeting must notify the Director of Law and Assurance by 16 February 2023.

42.1     The next meeting would be held on 1 March 2023 at 10.30am.