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.

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

·       Cllr Smith declared a personal interest as the parent of a child who uses school transport and has an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). 

·       Cllr Mercer declared a personal interest as the Chair of the Orchard Hill College Academy Trust.

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.

29.1     No urgent matters were raised.

The Committee is asked to agree the minutes of the meeting held on 29 September 2021 (cream paper).

30.1     Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 29 September 2021 be approved as a correct record.

30.2     Committee members asked what progress had been made on children’s mental health and emotional wellbeing as there was concern that it fell between two scrutiny committees. The Chairman reported that a written briefing would come to all Members and there was hope for Member Development session.  The Chairman asked that any specific points to be included be raised with himself.  The briefing was welcomed, and Members suggested that information broken down across areas and details on who to contact when a situation arises would be useful.

The Committee is asked to note the responses to recommendations made at the 29 September 2021 meeting from the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People.

31.1     The Committee welcomed the response to the recommendations made by the Committee at the meeting on 29 September 2021 and the information they contained.

31.2     A Committee Member highlighted that midwifery services were leaving The Gattons in Burgess Hill and asked if that was an indicator of what was happening across other Children and Family Centres that were closing.  Cllr Russell responded that the County Council were not obliged to provide space for midwifery services but agreed to take the matter back to the Assets team to see if assistance could be given in signposting them to accommodation nearby.   

31.3     Committee Members recognised the importance of the procurement of a new IT system across Early Help, Social Care and Education.  Officers reported that the Contract would be awarded in January 2022 with work starting March/April time and taking about twelve months.  Action: The Children First Transformation Director agreed to provide a short written briefing to members on the procurement process and to update them regularly during the life of the project.

Report by the Director of Children Young People and Learning.

The report updates the Committee on the developments and progress made in the Children First programme since its last update in September 2021, with a focus on quality assurance.

32.1     The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Cllr Russell, introduced the item reporting that the paper outlined the quality assurance path the service had taken on the journey of improvement thus far. 

32.2     The Executive Director Children, Young People and Learning, Mrs Butler, reported that when she joined the County Council in 2020 audit had not been in the lifeblood of the service.  She was pleased with the progress made to date, recognising the service was on a continued journey of improvement.

32.3     The Assistant Director – Safeguarding Quality and Assurance, Ms Steele, reported that the quality assurance team had worked with operational services to introduce several changes to ensure audits were undertaken and the pace of that work had been significant.  The Quality Assurance Framework had been outgrown and work was in progress to produce another version for the future.

32.4     The improvements shown in the report reflected a high return rate of completed audits.  The quality of the audits had been improved which in turn had improved quality of practices.  It was important to have a timely response to actions resulting from audits and a relaunched practice standards document had been issued to social workers.

32.5     Members of the Committee asked questions and a summary of those questions and answers follows:

·       How does the quality assurance framework recognise increased pressures on managers undertaking audits?  Ms Steele reported that due to the reduction in the number of audits, in order to focus on quality and the number of managers involved, the audit rate was quite low, around one audit per manager per month.  Audit was now considered as business as usual rather than an additional pressure.

·       The Power BI dashboard would enable the service to track actions, identify patterns and trends for further research.  It would also highlight good practice.

·       The service was working with the Complaints Team to address better responses at Stage One of the complaints process.  It was hoped this work and that as the quality of practice improved a reduction would be seen in the number of complaints.  The service was also being encouraged to promote compliments received. 

·       Voice of the Child – Quarter two showed a drop in the number of children contributing to their review and this was of concern.  Ms Steele reported that a drive was in progress to improve this.  The recent restructure of the Independent Reviewing Officers and Child Protection Advisor teams included training to ensure the voice of child was captured at reviews and child protection cases.  The voice of the child and families would form part of the audit process from January 2022 to seek and use their views.

·       The Assistant Director – Corporate Parenting told the group about work with the Corporate Parenting Panel (CPP) which now involved young people.  The Children in Care Council (CiCC) now has a Chair, Vice-Chair and six ambassadors.  The CiCC Chair co-chairs the CPP with Cllr Russell.  Young people are involved in the setting the agenda for CPP meetings.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

A report by the Director of Finance and Support Services, setting out the finance and performance position as at the end of September 2021.

The Committee are asked to examine the end of September 2021 (Quarter 2) quarterly performance and resources report which sets out the Council’s corporate performance, finance, savings delivery and business performance for the services within the remit of this Committee.

33.1     The Committee examined the Performance and Resources report (PRR), which set out the Council’s corporate performance, finance and savings delivery and business performance for the services within the remit of this Committee from July to end of September 2021.

Children and Young People

33.2     The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Cllr Russell, introduced the item reporting that the financial position was improved from quarter one. There were still some costly external placement fees to work on and there had been an increase in interest in foster service applications. 

33.3     Members of the Committee asked questions and a summary of those questions and answers follows:

·       Rereferrals – The table on page 43 showed an increase in rereferrals to Children’s Social Care within 12 months compared to the quarter one report.  It was advised that this had been caused by a reporting error which had been addressed.  The correct rate was slightly above average at 23%, which was in line with other local authorities and the English average. 

·       Contacts – A piece of work had been undertaken on contact enquiries which had showed re-contact rates were very low.

·       Stability of children looked after placements – The Assistant Director – Corporate Parenting reported that this was at the forefront for the service now.  The County Council has two outstanding rated homes specialising in higher complexity or need, and a third reopening shortly.  The service had seen some external placements returning to in-county provision.  Work was ongoing with providers and also looking into whether appropriate foster placements could be used.

·       Staffing vacancies – There was no financial target to have less staff and it was intended that the staffing budget would be fully spent.  The Covid pandemic had been a challenge in trying to achieve a full complement of permanent staff.  This had meant agency staff had still been employed, however some had transferred from agencies into permanent positions.  Additionally, internal training meant the County Council were growing our own professionals.  Action: The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People agreed to give members a briefing report on “growing our own” work.

Learning and Skills

33.4     The Cabinet Member for Learning and Skills, Cllr Nigel Jupp, introduced the item for Learning and Skills and highlighted that the quarter two from July to September had very little time when the schools were fully functioning due to the school holidays.

33.5     Members of the Committee asked questions and a summary of those questions and answers follows:

·       Transport of Children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) – Parents of children with EHCPs are made aware of the parental mileage rate offer and encouraged to transport their children to special schools and claim the mileage.  The numbers doing so have doubled since 2020.  Committee members were reassured that parents were also made aware of the scheme through social care teams and the EHCP process. 

·       Dedicated Schools Grant – The County Council is planning to manage the risk in part by increasing the number  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

The Committee is asked to agree its draft work programme (Appendix A), which reflects the outcome of the discussions at the Committee’s Business Planning Group meeting held on 17 November 2021.

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

34.1     The Committee agreed the draft work programme prepared by the Business Planning Group. 

34.2     The Committee were updated that the Terms of Reference for the Task and Finish Group for Needs Assessments and EHCPs – Process, Practice and Delivery, were almost finalised and that they would be shared with the Business Planning Group, who would also look at dates/timings.

34.3     A Committee Member asked if the Christmas Holiday Activity Fund providers were in place and asked if Members could be made aware of the providers and activities in their area. Action: The Director of Education and Skills confirmed the providers were in place agreed circulate a list to Members.  He also informed the meeting that funding had also been found to offer a similar week in the February half term holiday.

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.

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

The next meeting of the Committee will be held on 12 January 2022 at 10.30 am at County Hall, Chichester.  Probable agenda items include:

·       Children First Improvement Update

·       Attainment Gap in West Sussex

Any member wishing to place an item on the agenda for the meeting must notify the Director of Law and Assurance by 20 December 2021.

36.1     The next meeting would be held on 12 January 2022 at 10.30am.