Agenda and minutes

To approve the record of the meeting held on 7 June 2011.

The record of the meeting held on 7 June 2011 was signed by the Chairman as correct subject to the declaration of interest by Councillor Cooper being amended on the third line to read, “part of which was ‘Friends of Hillyfields’ as a voting representative, of which Councillor Cooper was a member”. 

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Clarke, Jim Grogan (Roman Catholic Church representative), Lauraine McManus (Teacher representative), Richard Odle (Medway Youth Parliament representative), Alex Tear (Church of England representative) and Sam Tutt (Medway Youth Parliament representative). 

The Chairman will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he/she has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report. 

The Chairman informed the Committee he had been approached about adding an urgent item to the agenda concerning the statistics used to close and expand school provision, however he felt it would be better to discuss the issue at the next meeting. 

(a)                Personal interests under the Medway Code of Conduct.

A Councillor who declares a personal interest in a matter, including the nature of the interest, may stay, speak, and vote on the matter.

(b)               Prejudicial interests under the Medway Code of Conduct.

A Councillor who declares a personal and prejudicial interest in a matter, including the nature of the interest, must withdraw from the room and take no part in the debate or vote on the matter.

Councillors who have declared a personal and prejudicial interest may make representations, answer questions and give evidence before leaving the room but only if members of the public are allowed to attend for the same purpose.

If an interest is not declared at the outset of the meeting, it should be disclosed as soon as the interest becomes apparent.

(c)            Whipping – the Council’s constitution also requires any Member of the Committee who is subject to a party whip (ie agreeing to vote in line with the majority view of a private party group meeting) to declare the existence of the whip

Councillor Cooper declared a personal interest in agenda item 8 (End of year performance 2010/11) as it referred to Canterbury Christ Church University and her granddaughter was a university student.

Councillor Cooper also declared a personal interest in any reference to Saxon Way Primary School, of which she was a community governor.

Councillor Gilry declared a personal interest in any reference to Medway Maritime Hospital as she occasionally worked there.

Councillor Tolhurst declared a personal interest in item 6 (Children and Young People’s Plan) as she was involved with the ABC Project which received some funding from the Council and some of its objectives were aligned with the plan.

This report sets out the proposed work programme previously agreed by the Committee for 2010/11. It asks if Members wish to add anything to the work programme and considers possible topics for in-depth scrutiny.

Discussion:

The Democratic Services Officer introduced the report and informed the committee that there had been a request for a Member’s Item on the statistics used to close and expand school provision, which would be added to the agenda for the September meeting.

The chairman drew the committee’s attention to the topic chosen for in-depth scrutiny, ‘effective challenge to address under performance’, which was detailed at appendix 2 to the report. Political groups were requested to nominate representatives for the task group, in order for work on the topic to commence as soon as Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee advise on the priority lists.

A Member also requested that the date of the next meeting, scheduled for 27 September 2011, be changed as it clashed with the Labour Group Party Conference.  Officers undertook to consult diaries and try to find an alternative date.

Decision: 

(1)       The committee agreed that reports on the Child Development Centre, the School Organisation Plan and the Member Item on statistics used to close and expand school provision, be added to the agenda for its next meeting, and the Medway Safeguarding Children Board report to its December meeting.

(2)       The committee agreed that the topic for in-depth scrutiny, ‘effective challenge to address under performance’ be forwarded to the Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 20 September 2011for consideration alongside other proposals from all the overview and scrutiny committees.

(3)       The committee agreed that officers explore an alternative date for the next meeting of the committee.

To consider and scrutinise the draft Children and Young People’s Plan.   The draft plan is to follow.

Discussion:

The Assistant Director, Commissioning and Strategy introduced the report and the draft plan to the committee.  Officers than answered questions which included: -

·        the average stay for families in temporary accommodation,

·        a break down of youth crime and where offenders are coming from,

·        an opportunity to meet the Young Commissioners and Young Inspectors,

·        actions being taken to support Abbey Court Special School,

·        the number of children with special educational needs (SEN) that are being sent out of Medway provision and at what cost,

·        ensuring schools teach children about healthy eating from when they first start school, as well as educating parents,

·        how the effectiveness of the plan will be measured,

·        the use of the River Medway and the Outdoor Education Centre at The Strand which were not currently being used to their full potential by Medway’s children and young people,

·        ensuring that when views from the public are invited they are listened to,

·        the need for careful future planning for housing provision to ensure children and young people are living in suitable accommodation,

·        what consultation had and will be carried out to invite views on the plan,

·        how the Council is working with the community and voluntary sector to deliver services and opportunities for children and young people,

·        addressing behavioural issues, which it was felt needed to be included in the plan, as it was a growing concern for some schools in Medway,

·        action being taken to reduce numbers of children and young people self harming and to reduce waiting times for access to the child and adolescent mental health service.

In response, officers undertook to report back to the committee on numbers and statistics that were requested. Officers also undertook to discuss with the Young Commissioners the opportunity of meeting the Members of the committee.

In response to the question relating to Abbey Court Special School the Director of Children and Adult Services highlighted the strengths of this school and the special school sector in Medway generally and explained that there were some space challenges at both school sites.  Additionally, this was in the context of a rising trend of a range of special educational needs.  Therefore opportunities were being considered to ensure effective and cost effective local provision to match their needs.  She added it was important not to overload one provision.

In response to measuring the impact of the plan, the Assistant Director, Commissioning and Strategy explained that the implementation plan, attached to the report, was being developed which would identify outcomes and targets to measure the effectiveness of the plan and the actions identified.

In response to consultation, officers stated that views on the plan had been and would continue to be sought on its development to a final document and added that the plan was based on multi-agency data to ensure it was evidence based.

In response to the involvement of the community and voluntary sector the Assistant Director, Commissioning and Strategy, confirmed that third sector organisations were becoming increasingly appreciated as providers and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 183.

To consider and scrutinise the draft Youth Justice Plan. 

Discussion:

The Youth Offending Team (YOT) Manager introduced the report and the draft Youth Justice Plan to the committee.  He informed Members of the high level of performance that had been achieved by the team against the relevant performance indicators and that the team was in the process of a reorganisation to realign resources for better value for money and effectiveness.

Members then commented and asked officers a number of questions, which included: -

·        the creative outreach approaches by the team were welcomed,

·        the possibility of learning from the good practices of the team in other services within the Council,

·        concerns regarding the gap in support for care leavers,

·        how the team were working to reduce numbers of children on remand,

·        concerns about funding by results and the impact on not reaching the required targets for this,

·        how the team record the ethnic origin of young offenders

·        how success and impact of the team is measured,

·        possibilities of outsourcing some of the service,

·        engagement with young people and the possibility of setting up PACT meetings (police and communities together) for young people.

In response to the concern about the gap in support for care leavers, the YOT Manager informed the committee of a recent spot check that had been carried out on cases, which demonstrated that 35% of clients were looked after children (LAC) or had been in the past, and this figure had doubled in 12 months.  He added that LAC were disproportionately represented among young offenders and more support was therefore being put in for those leaving custody to ensure they receive support in applying for the necessary benefits, education, training or employment and that they move into suitable accommodation.  In addition, YOT staff work closely with social care on preventative measures.

In response to the query relating to reducing children on remand, the YOT Manager explained that it was important for the magistrates to have confidence in the alternative package offered by the YOT to support and help the young offender so these needed to be strong and robust.

In response to the payment by results concern officers explained that the details around this were not finalised, however, if any relevant targets were not reached and funding of any amount was not received this would cause pressure to the team, therefore reaching such targets would be a priority.

In response to how the team measures success the YOT Manager confirmed that this was simply by seeing a reduction of the number of children and young people entering and re-entering custody.

In response to the question relating to outsourcing officers explained that parts of the service such as bail and remand management and the management of reparation were options, however it was clarified that the accountability role would also stay with them as commissioner, if outsourcing did occur.

In response to the comments about engagement officers explained that young people were included in the recruitment process of some staff, which had been successful.  A Member explained to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 184.

To consider and scrutinise the end of year performance report. 

Discussion:

The Director of Children and Adult Services introduced the report to the committee, highlighting areas where performance was on target and areas where further work and progress was needed.

The committee then asked the Director and the Performance Manager various questions, which included: -

·        floor targets and median progress measures for schools,

·        the difficulty that rising floor targets will have on Medway as an authority with selective schools and the possibility of Medway being judged against an overall number of students achieving the floor target, rather than individual schools,

·        a breakdown of the timescales for children social care assessments where the deadline has been missed,

·        that areas of outstanding natural beauty in Medway should be used more by Medway’s children and young people, such as Northward Hill on the peninsula and barriers such as travel costs should be addressed,

·        concern that the increase in pressure to reach targets in schools will be detrimental to schools with strong community ethos that should be valued and protected, especially due to its role in supporting emotional wellbeing.

Officers then responded to the questions and explained that a collective Medway effort was needed in helping to persuade and explain to the Secretary of State why rating the achievement of Medway’s students on the collective school performance and individual schools on the progress they enable students to make, is a fairer approach to floor targets.

In response to using open space to its full potential, the Director confirmed that she was not aware of the barriers in visiting such places but suggested that schools, youth groups and centres may need to become more aware of such places and what they can offer.

In response to the query relating to schools’ community ethos becoming under possible threat with a larger focus on reaching targets, the Director explained that the majority of schools had measures in place to support students’ emotional wellbeing as a necessary pre-requisite for successful learning.  Some recent local Ofsted reports had highlighted good practice, as well as where the support can fall down.  It was suggested that the reports could form part of the background research for the in-depth review on ‘effective challenge to address under performance’.

Decision:

The committee noted the report and requested briefing notes on the following issues: -

·        child protection - the Munro review and how long timescales were for assessments that missed the required deadlines,

·        progress on achieving fair assessment of students’ achievements in relation to floor targets to take account of the selective arrangements in Medway,

·        good practice in behavioural for learning management in schools.