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.

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

14.2     Cllr Smith declared a personal interest as the parent of a child who has an EHCP, who has accessed the Educational Psychology Service (EPS) service under agenda item nos 6 and 7.

14.3     Cllr Cornell declared a personal interest as a governor at Manor Green College in Crawley, under agenda item no 6.

14.4     Cllr Mercer declared a personal interest as the chair of the Orchard Hill College Academy Trust which has a special school in West Sussex, under agenda item nos 6 and 7.

14.5     Cllr Cherry declared a personal interest as the grandparent of a pupil attending Windmills Junior School, Hassocks, under agenda item no 7.

14.6     Cllr Dabell declared a personal interest as his daughter is the Head teacher at a primary school in East Grinstead, under agenda item no 7.

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.

15.1     No urgent matters were raised.

The Committee is asked to agree the minutes of the meeting held on 12 June 2024 (cream paper).

16.1     Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 12 June 2024 be approved as a correct record and that they be signed by the Chairman.

The Committee is asked to note the responses to recommendations made at recent meetings.

17.1     Resolved – That the Committee notes the responses to the recommendations provided from recent meetings.

17.2     A member raised a concern that several committee members had expressed uneasiness, that when part of a recommendation does not fall into the remit of this portfolio it is passed on and marked as Complete for this Committee. Members asked that there be sign off by the Business Planning Group.

Report by Interim Director of Children, Young People and Learning.

The Committee is asked to assess the outcomes of the public consultation on proposals to make Millais Secondary School, Horsham, a co-educational provision and provide comments to the Cabinet Member ahead of a decision being made on the next steps.

18.1     The Cabinet Member for Children and Young people, Learning and Skills, Cllr Russell, introduced the report highlighting that in recent years there had been a decline in the number of girls applying for places at Millais Secondary School. The proposal aimed to increase the capacity of school places for boys in the Horsham area as the latest admissions round had seen Millais School at around 45% capacity with other schools in the area oversubscribed.  Action needed to be taken to ensure the long-term feasibility of Millais School.  Several options had been considered but had all proved less feasible than converting Millais School from all-girls school to a co-educational secondary school.

18.2     Cllr Mercer, local member for Horsham East, gave a statement also on behalf of Cllr Milne, local member for Horsham Riverside, highlighting that the parental preference had impacted many state-funded schools, with parental preferences made for many differing criteria.  The earlier change of Forest School from a boy’s school to a co-educational secondary school had led to difficulties for boys finding school places and had led to some schools having to increase their Published Admission Number (PAN) to accommodate them.  The Government targets for housing in the Horsham area would only make demand for school places grow.  Millais School is running for the 2023-24 academic year at half capacity, this would lead to budgetary reductions, difficulties in retaining staff, leading to a narrowing of subject choice and a reduction in the educational standard.  Whilst the Governing Body sets the direction for the school the County Council has a responsibility to ensure there are sufficient high standard school places available within a reasonable travelling distance.

18.3     The Chairman read out comments from Cllr Nigel Dennis, local member for Horsham Hurst, who reported highlighting the potential impact on Millais of converting Forest School to a co-educational school.  Cllr N Dennis felt the current situation put boys at a disadvantage and supported a resolution to ensure there are sufficient places for boys and girls in the Horsham area. 

18.4     Cllr Baldwin, local member for Holbrook, highlighted that of the three primary schools in his area a very low number of pupils went on to Millais School for their secondary education.  He reported he had received no representations from his community on the consultation proposal.  He did not feel the current Millais School position was sustainable and that the proposal was a realistic solution.

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

18.6     The current situation gives gender inequality with 300 more secondary school places available to girls across the Horsham area.  The proposals will give a greater balance for parents applying for school places.  The County Council has a statutory duty to provide places for all children and to meet the needs of local children.  Despite whatever has caused the decline in applications to Millais School it is giving inequality to boys who are often having to go through a stressful appeals process  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

Report by Interim Director for Children, Young People and Learning.

The Committee is asked to assess the role of the Educational Psychology services in the delivery of the SEND Improvement Plan.

19.1     The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Learning and Skills, Cllr Russell, introduced the report which provided a comprehensive insight into the role of the Educational Psychology Service (EPS), and particularly their part in the delivery of the SEND Improvement Plan since September 2024.  The trajectory of travel had been positive but with a continuing challenge of increased demand versus decreased capacity which had contributed to the difficulties experienced with respect of meeting the statutory timeframes laid down in the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) process.  However, improvements had been seen with an 87% increase in the number of assessments between January and July 2024 compared to the previous year and 20% of assessments completed in 12 weeks since January 2024.

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

19.3     The Committee sought clarification on how the prioritisation of processing EHCPs works in practice to ensure that there is equity for all children. Officers confirmed that the process of prioritisation is common practice amongst local authorities experiencing a delay in processing.  An Equalities Impact Assessment had helped develop four priorities.  Officers explained the priorities and the process of prioritisation, and agreed to provide a clear written summary to Committee members so that they could share with residents, families, and schools.   

19.4     The Cabinet Member and leadership team were committed to increasing the capacity of EPS.  In the short term this had been by using external agency Educational Psychologists (EPs).  For the longer term, a business case was being prepared for the Leadership Team to consider on how to increase the substantive team.  Resource was being put into recruiting and retaining EPs within the service, considering areas such as making the role more diverse by increasing involvement in preventative work, currently 80% of an EPs time is spent on assessments.  It was acknowledged that even if the EPs were at full complement, it would still not be sufficient capacity to meet the high levels of demand being experienced.  There is a national shortfall of qualified EPs being experienced by most local authorities, partly because it takes a minimum of 8 years to train, and there are few training placements across England and Wales.

19.5     Members sought confirmation that if parents or schools paid privately for an educational psychology assessment it would not give those children an advantage in having their assessment reviewed sooner.  Officers reported that if an assessment was conducted by a qualified EP and it provided the information required then the local authority had to consider that information.  The local authority has a legal obligation to consider what is best for the child and if information is available to make that decision they would want to do so.  The service continued to review the situation wanting the arrangements to be the best for the child concerned and could be held liable if they did not do that. A member expressed discomfort with this approach and asked that officers  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

Report by Director of Finance and Support Services, setting out the finance and performance position as at the end of June 2024.

The Committee is asked to examine the County Council’s corporate performance, finance, savings, delivery and business performance for the services within the remit of this Committee for the period April-June 2024.

20.1     The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Learning and Skills, Cllr Russell, introduced the report which she felt was a positive report due to the fully embedded framework which provided a bedrock to evidence improvement.

20.2     Cllr Russell additionally reported that the re-inspection of the children’s home Teasel Close had taken place and the outcome would be shared in due course.  The Ofsted focussed visit on the Care Leavers service would be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.  The report contained positive comments and praised staff and the leadership team for delivery of substantial improvements to services for care leavers which enabled them to flourish. Cllr Russell suggested there might be areas that the Committee may wish to scrutinise and monitor in the future.

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

20.4     KPI 8 – Young people aged 19-21 who were looked after aged 16 who were in higher education – This new KPI has been introduced following challenge from the Scrutiny Committee and the Care Leavers Advisory Board.  It is in line with statistical neighbours in the south-east for care leavers in higher education and university.  There has been a welcome increase over the last 18-months in the numbers of care leavers going to university but it is hoped there will be further progress over the next year.

20.5     KPI 9 – Percentage of children becoming subject to a Child Protection Plan for a second or subsequent time – This KPI has a lag of up to 2 years, but good progress has been made.  A comparator with neighbours and national levels will be considered for the next update to KPIs in 2025. 

20.6     KPI 21 – Percentage of young people attaining grade 4 or above for Maths and English GCSE by age of 16-years-old – The 2024 GCSE result data received from the DfE is still provisional. Once the final data is received the target be reviewed.  The figures are still impacted by the changes implemented during the covid pandemic period.

20.7     KPI 27 – Percentage achieving expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined at end of Key Stage 2 – The targets are historic and officers are looking at them and assessing with a view to realigning.  Schools volunteered to participate in the Write Way Forward writing project and schools were included where it was felt that they would benefit most from participation.  The project is being extended into a second year with more schools invited to join.  Best practice would be shared across all schools.

20.8     KPI 30b – Percentage of 16-17-year-olds whose activity is not known – This measure can occur when young people leave school with one plan but they end up taking a different path.  It has not been assumed that unknowns are in placements and resource is being put into identifying young people and ensuring they are in education or employment.

20.9     KPI 56 – Percentage of EHCPs  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

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.

21.1     There have been no requests for call-in to the Scrutiny Committee within its constitutional remit since the date of the last meeting.

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.

22.1     The Committee agreed the revised Work Programme.

22.2     It was acknowledged that a Task and Finish Group would be reviewing the response from health partners to the recent Local Area SEND inspection, but it was considered that it would be beneficial for the Committee, residents, children and schools to receive a report on services like the Child and Adolescents Mental Health Service (CAHMS), waiting times for mental health and neuro diverse reviews, etc, recognising that this fell within the remit of the Health and Adults Social Care Scrutiny Committee.  The Chairman asked the Business Planning Group to review at their meeting on 4 October 2024.

The next meeting of the Committee will be held on 20 November 2024 at 10.30 am at County Hall, Chichester.  Probable agenda items include:

·       Performance and Resources Report – Q2 2024-25

·       SEND Improvement Plan - Sufficiency of SEND Places

·       Adult Learning

·       Scrutiny of any Budgetary Implications

Any member wishing to place an item on the agenda for the meeting must notify the Director of Law and Assurance by Friday 8 November.

23.1     The next meeting of the Committee will be held on 20 November 2024 at 10.30am.