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.

12.1     In accordance with the County Council’s code of conduct the following interests were made:

·       Cllr Linehan declared a personal interest as a family member of his has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

·       Cllr Smith declared a personal interest as the parent of a child with an EHCP and special educational needs.

·       Cllr Lord declared a personal interest as the parent of three pupils at schools in West Sussex.

·       Under agenda item 3, Cllr Sparkes declared an interest as a member of the Worthing Quality and Stakeholder Board at Worthing College.

Report by Assistant Director (Education and Skills).

The Committee is asked to consider the current progress in the development of the Strategy and provide comment on the key priorities and themes that have been identified, ahead of the draft Strategy being developed.

13.1     The Assistant Director (Education and Skills), Mr Wagstaff, introduced the report, outlining that the County Council had a School Effectiveness Strategy running from 2018 to 2022 and a SEND and Inclusion Strategy running to 2024, but had never had an early years or post-16 strategy.  Following the reshaping of the Children, Young People and Learning Directorate, the ending of the pandemic and new Government initiatives and policy directions, it was felt to be the right time to pull everything together, to have a fresh look and give a new shape to where we are heading over the next few years.

13.2     The report outlined the key challenges faced by the County Council and presented the output from the engagement process.

13.3     It was planned that, following scrutiny, further work would be done to develop a draft strategy – including workstreams, plans, timelines, key performance indicators and costs against each theme/workstream.  It was expected that this work would be completed by the end of October 2022, with the detail returning to scrutiny, prior to seeking County Council approval to implement the Strategy by January 2023.

13.4     Members of the Committee asked questions and a summary of those questions and answers are as follows.

13.5     In reference to pages 4 to 7 of the report, clarification was sought in relation to the figures regarding the metric used to measure attainment between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students and how this is arrived at. It was explained that this refers to the national measure used to determine whether children are disadvantaged or not. The figures in question relate to performance in comparison to national standards and the difference between non-disadvantaged and disadvantaged children.  Action: For Mr Wagstaff to inform Cllr Burgess of the current number of West Sussex school children classed as disadvantaged.

13.6     It was asked what proportion of stakeholders in each group contributed to the consultation. The following points were highlighted:

• Out of 600 responses submitted online - 73% of respondents were parents;
• Engagement was carried out with headteachers through primary, secondary and special school headteacher briefings across the county (including headteachers of academies);
• Engagement with Chichester College Group – the County Council’s further education providers;
• Engagement with district and borough officers through online adult learning programme ‘Multiply’;
• Feedback from the West Sussex Governors’ Association;
• Discussion with 34 Multi Academy Trust CEOs across the county; and
• Online engagement with 50 councillors.

13.7     Members requested to see a breakdown of those individuals consulted as part of the early engagement as concern was raised by some Members who stated they had been advised their local schools had not been involved.  Mr Wagstaff said the draft Strategy would be shared with interested stakeholders for comment before the County Council agrees the next steps.  Action: For Mr Wagstaff to provide the details on consultation respondees as requested and should include how schools and others had been invited to participate, and to liaise with Cllr Cherry to arrange for himself to join a meeting with Burgess  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

Report by the 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.

Children and Young People

14.1     The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Cllr Russell, introduced the item and was pleased to report that the overall trajectory of improvement in the service was heading in the right direction.  The service still faced some stiff challenges but was at a crucial juncture in the journey.  Performance wise, she felt reassured that the robust Quality Assurance process would drive forward the best outcomes.  Performance was moving in the right direction with small fluctuations quarter on quarter.  Performance Measures 1, 2 and 7 were approaching their targets and Performance Measures 8 and 9 were showing an improving picture with a way still to go.

14.2     Budgets showed a small underspend, largely due to difficulties in recruiting to positions in social work, early help and the residential service. This reflected the national and regional landscape. 

14.3     One of the biggest pressures was on placement where, although numbers had actually reduced, the greater demand for higher need placements had pushed up costs.  The Cabinet Member reassured the Committee that measures were in place to ensure the right children were in care and receiving the right sort of care through the established Entry to Care Panel and the High-Cost Placement Panel, both of which were chaired by an Assistant Director.

14.4     Members of the Committee asked questions and a summary of those questions and answers follows.

14.5     Performance Measure 8 – percentage of care-leavers aged 19-21 who are Employment, Education or Training – This was an improving picture compared to 2018-19 data.  Work with district and borough councils was still developing and consideration had been given to involving County Council members who were also elected representatives at a district or borough to help relationships grow.  Many Committee members expressed interest in helping.  Investment in the care leaver service had resulted in recruitment of Personal Assistants and managers to push this work forward.  The Voice and Participation team had created two full-time apprenticeship roles specifically for care leavers and appointments had been made.  The relaunched local offer for all care leavers had been highlighted by the Care Leaders Organisation as the most extensive offer nationally that they were aware of.

14.6     Performance Measure 9 – percentage of Child Protection Plans that resulted in ‘step-down’ within 12 months – Officers were asked why this had risen so rapidly and reassurance was sought that there was no potential perverse incentive to get children removed from Child Protection Plans.  Officers informed the Committee that they were alert to perverse incentive and that these figures were closely monitored through the Quality Assurance framework, conference and reviewing officers and managers to ensure the thresholds were correct and that children were stepping across at the right time.  They reported that the number of children coming back into a Child Protection Plan within a 12-month period was very low at 4% for the last 12-month period.  It was also reported that the service measured children who came back onto a plan at any  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

The next meeting of the Committee will be held on 29 September 2022 at 10.30 am at County Hall, Chichester.  Probable agenda items include:

·       Performance and Resources Report – Quarter 1 - 2022-23

Any member wishing to place an item on the agenda for the meeting must notify the Director of Law and Assurance by 16 September 2022.

15.1     The next meeting would be held on 28 September 2022 at 10.30am.