Agenda and minutes

Venue: County Hall, Chichester

Contact: Natalie Jones-Punch on 033 022 25098  Email:  natalie.jones-punch@westsussex.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

23.

Declarations of Interests

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.

Minutes:

23.1   The following personal interests were declared:

 

·         Mr Baldwin declared a personal interest in item 5 (School Effectiveness Strategy 2018-2022) as a governor of Holbrook Primary School.

·         Mrs Bennett declared a personal interest in item 6 (Alterations to the IPEH Service) as she has worked with service users.

·         Mr Cloake declared a personal interest in item 6 (Alterations to the IPEH Service) as his wife is a social worker.

·         Mrs Dennis declared a personal interest in item 5 (School Effectiveness Strategy 2018-2022) as a governor of The Gattons Infant School, and item 6 (Alterations to the IPEH Service) as an appointed representative on the West Sussex Rural Mobile Youth Trust (Purple Bus).

·         Mr High declared a personal interest in item 5 (School Effectiveness Strategy 2018-22) as a member of his family has an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

·         Mr Lozzi declared a personal interest in item 5 (School Effectiveness Strategy 2018-2022) as a parent governor of Tanbridge House School and a Local Authority Governor at Horsham Nursey School.

·         Mrs Mullins declared a personal interest in item 6 (Alterations to the IPEH Service) as a representative on the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award County Committee.

24.

Minutes of the last meeting of the Committee pdf icon PDF 82 KB

The Committee is asked to agree the minutes of the meeting held on 12 September (cream paper).

Minutes:

24.1   Resolved – that the minutes of the last meeting held on 12 September 2018 be approved as a correct record and that they be signed by the Chairman.

25.

Forward Plan of Key Decisions pdf icon PDF 119 KB

Extract fromthe ForwardPlan dated 16 October 2018.

 

Anextract fromanyForwardPlan publishedbetween the date of despatchof the agenda and the date of the meetingwill be tabled at the meeting.

 

The Committee is asked to consider whetheritwishes to enquireinto any of the forthcoming decisions withinits portfolio.

Minutes:

25.1   The Committee considered a tabled paper which was a new version of the Forward Plan dated 26 October 2018 (copy appended to the signed minutes). This version of the Forward Plan was not included in the Committee papers as it had been published following the statutory despatch of the agenda.

 

25.2   Resolved – that the Forward Plan be noted.

26.

School Effectiveness Strategy 2018-2022 pdf icon PDF 107 KB

Report by the Executive Director Children, Adults, Families, Health and Education.

 

In June the Committee previewed the Draft School Effectiveness Strategy and requested that the final Strategy return to the Committee. The report updates the Committee on the progress made since June 2018, to develop and agree the new School Effectiveness Strategy 2018-2022. This includes the public consultation feedback and the refinements that have been made as a result.

 

The Committee is asked to acknowledge the pupil performance improvement at Key Stages 1 and 2 since 2016 and recent improvements in the quality of schools. The Committee is also asked to consider how it can actively support the Cabinet Member and officers in the strategy’s implementation. It is also recommended that yearly updates are provided to the full Committee.

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

26.1   The Committee considered a report by the Executive Director Children, Adults, Families, Health and Education. The report was introduced by Mark Jenner, Head of School Effectiveness, who took the Committee through a presentation which was in two parts (copy appended to the signed minutes). The first part outlined key headlines in terms of outcomes from inspections by Ofsted and pupil performance data. The Committee heard the following:

 

·         An average of 83.1% of schools in West Sussex were Ofsted rated good or outstanding in September 2018. An average of 84.4% of pupils were attending schools with an overall good or outstanding rating in September 2018.

·         The target for the service is to have 92% of schools as good or outstanding, and the same percentage of pupils in those schools by 2022. This would mean 6,500 children in better schools.

·         Good progress continues to be made in terms of narrowing the gap of attainment between West Sussex and national averages at Key Stages 1 and 2.

·         West Sussex children with EHCPs or a statement of Special Educational Needs were now achieving higher than the nationally expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics. This showed a vast improvement from 2017.

·         Although generally improvements were being seen in results, there was still some distance to go. The new School Effectiveness Strategy would continue to secure improved educational outcomes in West Sussex.

 

26.2   The second part of the presentation outlined the key aims and objectives for organisation and improvement in the new School Effectiveness Strategy. A summary of key points included the following:

 

·         The learning experiences of children remain at the heart of the strategy.

·         For school organisation, the aim by 2022 is to have a strong model of sustainable education for all types of school and key stages. For improvement, there would be an effective process to challenge and support all schools to increase quality and standards of education.

·         The aspiration for the Strategy is to be in the top quartile of local authorities nationally for the quality and provision of learning across all age groups and abilities by 2022.

·         The new School Effectiveness Strategy would see all schools visited by link advisers at varying frequencies depending on their Ofsted category rating. This would mean ongoing work with outstanding schools to maintain those standards.

·         A new inspection regime from Ofsted would increase the range of leadership responsibilities for all schools. This had the potential to be particularly challenging for smaller schools, as they would need to provide more but with less funding.

·         With their agreement, opportunities to federate smaller schools would be considered in order to strengthen expertise, governance and specialisms.

·         In order to establish fewer dips in attainment, the strategy encourages the transition to an all-through primary school model where opportunities present themselves.

 

26.3   In discussion after the presentation, the following points were considered by members and answered by the Head of School Effectiveness.

 

·         Members were keen to understand who would facilitate the formation of federations. The Head of School Effectiveness explained  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

27.

Alterations to the Integrated Prevention and Earliest Help (IPEH) Service pdf icon PDF 76 KB

Report by the Executive Director Children, Adults, Families, Health and Education.

 

Following a reduction in government funding for the ‘Think Family’ initiative in 2019/20, IPEH must adapt its service to manage this decline in funds. The report sets out how the service proposes to manage this reduction of £560,000, and proposes that a targeted family support service is developed to support the most vulnerable and disadvantaged families in West Sussex.

 

The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People will be asked to approve proposals to maintain the services delivered using the national Troubled Families Initiative grant in 2019/20, beginning with those set out in the report.

 

The Committee is asked to review and comment upon the approach to reshaping IPEH to manage the reduction in resources in 2019/20.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

27.1   The Committee considered a report by the Executive Director Children, Adults, Families, Health and Education, and the Director of Children and Family Services. The report was introduced by Hayley Connor, Head of Integrated Prevention and Earliest Help (IPEH), who told the Committee:

 

·         Following a reduction in government funding for the Troubled Families Initiative (TFI), IPEH must adapt its service to manage this loss of funds in order to maintain its successful Think Family programme, which supports families and has prevented children being taken into local authority care.

·         Savings of £560,000 were required in 2019/20, and the service has had to think carefully about IPEH’s spending and delivery. £560,000 represented 3.8% of the net IPEH budget.

·         3 services were proposed for alteration in order to realise the saving of £560,000 as follows:

Ø  Operating authority for the Duke of Edinburgh’s (D of E) Award Scheme

Ø  Administration and delivery of National Citizen Service (NCS) in Chichester and Arun

Ø  Mobile Offer – Purple Bus

·         Vacancies within the service would also be managed by reassigning existing staff to operate in a more flexible way, as opposed to recruiting to fill these roles.

·         It was necessary that the service act now to ensure the protection of essential elements of the IPEH service. The grant will reduce from 2019.  

 

27.2   The Committee discussed the following key points, and questions were answered by the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, the Head of IPEH, Jo Millward, Service Leader for IPEH and Mark Frankland, Principal Manager Operations Safeguarding and Child Protection.

 

·         Members were very concerned about the implications for children going forward and noted the positive difference that these initiatives made to their lives. The Cabinet Member and Head of IPEH explained that provision for the continuation of these services outside of the local authority was being explored. The plan to relinquish the Duke of Edinburgh Award licence would not impact any young person currently enrolled on the scheme. Members also heard that WSCC would not be unique in no longer co-ordinating or administering the service, and many other LAs had relinquished the licence in the same way. For the NCS, officers advised that the regional contract provider had indicated a willingness to deliver the service from January 2019.

·         Members questioned whether this was a short-term solution to what might be the beginning of many further cuts to come, and if so, what degradation of service would be next. The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People explained that the service could deal only with the current circumstances, however every effort would be made to continue to maintain key areas of support.

·         Members considered the risk that IPEH might drop from being a pioneering service to offering just average targeted and universal services. The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People advised that financial challenges meant services would be inevitably be in transient positions, and as with other portfolios, service propositions have to be reviewed in order to operate within their funding parameters.

·         Members  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

28.

Provision of accommodation for Care Leavers pdf icon PDF 79 KB

Report by the Executive Director Children, Adults, Families, Health and Education – to follow.

 

The report explains plans to explore options for the County Council to acquire or invest in property for specialist accommodation for adolescents who would otherwise require external provision. The aims of the proposal, the potential benefits and the principles which will inform its development will be presented for comment and questions from the Committee.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

28.1   The Committee considered a report by the Executive Director Children, Adults, Families, Health and Education. The report was introduced by Catherine Galvin, Programme Director Transformation and Infrastructure, and Stuart Gibbons, Strategic Market Development Manager. The Committee heard the following:

 

·         WSCC has a responsibility to provide support for children and young people expected to cease, or who have ceased to be looked after.

·         As part of the Children’s Commissioning Strategy 2018-2021, a proposal had been developed to provide accommodation to support these Children Looked After (CLA) to move towards independence in adult life.

·         The Leaving Care Service currently supports around 600 young people. Of that number, approximately 150 are in some form of supported accommodation supplied by external providers.

·         The proposal aims to purchase around 20 supported and training accommodation units for these young people to take their final steps from local authority care towards independent living. If approved, a business case would be developed in collaboration with external partners, which would consider a range of types of accommodation and locations.

·         Giving young people a history of maintaining a tenancy in one of these units would make them more attractive to the private rented sector. The current private rental market is extremely competitive, with a shortage of self-contained flats.

·         As well as effectively supporting West Sussex care leavers, this proposal would also realise savings for the service. The current cost for an externally provided bed space could be anywhere from £500 to £1000 per week. Providing in-house accommodation for these young people would cost WSCC approximately between £250 and £350 per week.

 

28.2   Members thanked the Strategic Market Development Manager and the Programme Director Transformation and Infrastructure for a very positive and informative account of the proposal. The following points were considered in discussion:

 

·         Members queried whether 20 of these units would be enough. Officers advised that as part of the Commissioning Strategy, this would be a trial which offered quite targeted support. It would likely be uncovered as part of the trial and business case if more than 20 were required. The emphasis on these units would be to educate the young people to work, manage their health and budget, and would be relatively short term. It was anticipated they would house approximately 40 to 60 young people per year, on 4 to 6 month stays.

·         Members were interested to know if these units of accommodation would be available for foster care leavers, and those with special needs or disabilities. Officers advised that they would be available to all types of young people leaving the care system, and that no demographic would be excluded. This would also include young parents. The Programme Director for Transformation and Infrastructure advised work was also currently ongoing with Lifelong Services colleagues. 

·         Members asked if the overall aim for West Sussex was to own all accommodation for these types of young people. The Strategic Market Development Manager advised WSCC needed and wanted to provide the best for our care leavers, and if this initial  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

29.

Business Planning Group Report pdf icon PDF 48 KB

The report informs the Committee of the Business Planning Group meeting held on 12 September 2018, setting out the key issues discussed.

 

The Committee is asked to endorse the contents of this report, and particularly the Committee’s Work Programme revised to reflect the Business Planning Group’s discussions (attached at Appendix A).

 

The Education and Skills Annual Report will be the subject of a one meeting Task & Finish Group in the New Year. Four members of the committee are asked to volunteer to take part.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

29.1   The Committee considered a report from the Business Planning Group. The report was introduced by Rachel Allan, Senior Adviser Democratic Services.

 

29.2   The Education and Skills Annual Report Task and Finish Group would take place in early 2019; the membership would comprise Mr High, Ms Lord, Mrs Mullins and Mrs Dennis.

 

29.3   Resolved that the Committee endorses the contents of the Business Planning Group Report, with the addition of an item in January on Demand and Capacity in Children’s Social Care, and an update on the proposals for the creation of additional Special Support Centres (SSCs).

30.

Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Committee will be held on 10 January 2018 at 10.30 am at County Hall, Chichester. 

 

Any member wishing to place an item on the agenda for the meeting must notify the Director of Law and Assurance by 28th December 2018.

 

Minutes:

30.1   The Committee noted that the next scheduled meeting will be held on 10 January 2019 at 10.30am at County Hall, Chichester.