Agenda and minutes

To approve the record of the meeting held on 19 January 2012.

The record of the meeting held on 19 January 2012 was agreed and signed by the Chairman as correct. 

To receive apologies for absence. 

Apologies of absence were received from Councillors Baker and Craven, Shirley Griffiths (LINk representative) and Alex Tear (Church of England diocese 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 explained that he had accepted an urgent item on the changes in overnight short breaks/closure of Preston Skreens as the committee needed to decide whether or not it is substantial.  (NHS bodies have a duty to consult the relevant overview and scrutiny committee (OSC) on any proposal for a substantial development or variation of a health service and in deciding whether a proposal is considered to be substantial, health OSCs must have information such as patient numbers, patterns of usage, transport implications).

He explained that the Kent Health OSC also needed to decide on this and if both committees agree it is substantial a joint Kent and Medway Health OSC will be required.  He added that it was also considered that the proposed closure of Preston Skreens may be an issue which either or both committees may wish to make representations on more immediately.

(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 on any reference to the NHS as her stepdaughter worked for the NHS.  Councillor Cooper also declared a personal interest in any reference to Saxon Way Primary School as she was a Community Governor at the school and would shortly become a Local Authority Governor.

Councillor Gilry declared a personal interest in item 12 as she occasionally worked for Medway NHS Foundation Trust at Medway Maritime Hospital.

This report updates Members on the development of the health visitor service in Medway in line with the national policy requirements. The development is commissioned by the joint commissioning team and delivered by Medway Community Health Care.

The Head of Children's Services (Medway Community Healthcare - MCH)introduced the report which provided the committee with an update on current developments in the health visiting service.  She informed the committee that there was an error under the financial implications section of the report, which should have detailed the current budget as £3 million, instead of £1.9 million.  She also informed the committee of the following: -

·        There was a need to increase the number of health visitors by 4200 nationally by 2015;

·        There would be an increase in the number of health visitors in Medway (equivalent of 27.4 full time posts), enabling all families to access the service;

·        The service would continue to work closely with Sure Start Children Centres and GPs.

The committee then asked a number of questions, which included: -

·        Requesting a glossary of acronyms to be included in future paperwork;

·        How recruitment and retention of staff would be achieved;

·        Where funding was coming from to implement the expansion of the service.

In response officers explained that in the case of MCH, the trajectory of staffing levels had been based on the number of students that could be trained and it was envisaged that there would be a surplus of health visitors by 2015.  It was also acknowledged that there would potentially be a high number of newly qualified and less experienced staff and so there would be investment in support and monitoring options for staff to mitigate this.  MCH are also looking at developing a premium for staff to encourage recruitment and retention, but this was yet to be agreed.  Additionally officers explained that the Strategic Health Authority was funding the training costs of students.

Decision:

The committee thanked the Head of Children’s Services from Medway Community Healthcare and noted the report.

This report provides the committee with information about changes to overnight short breaks for children with severe and complex disabilities and the closure of Preston Skreens, a respite facility used by Medway children.

Discussion:

The Chairman, on behalf of the committee, expressed disappointment that the item, particularly in relation to the closure of Preston Skreens, had been added to the agenda late and drew the committee’s attention to the protocol attached at Annex 2 to the report which set out the agreed arrangements for NHS bodies to work with Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

The Assistant Director, Commissioning and Strategy explained that she was a jointly funded post with the Council and NHS Kent and Medway. She stated that the Preston Skreens building was in a poor state of repair and very old and that the commissioner, NHS Kent and Medway, had given a commitment to continue funding respite care but that to continue using Preston Skreens was unviable. The proposal to close Preston Skreens was in this context.  She added that currently, Preston Skreens and Aut Even facilities both struggled to accommodate a demand of weekend and holiday period respite and so this would be addressed in the re-commissioned service proposals.

Members of the committee then made comments and asked questions, which included: -

·        Why consultation with the committee was so late;

·        Preston Skreens was a much loved service that supported families with the highest level of need;

·        Clarification whether the Care Quality Commission had picked up the poor state of the building in recent inspections;

·        What could be done to bring the Preston Skreens building up to standard;

The Director of Governance and Risk from Medway NHS Foundation Trust confirmed that the Trust had not itself added the urgent item to the agenda and had not consulted with the committee in relation to the decision to close Preston Skreens as it had not considered it to be a substantial variation within the terms of paragraph 10 of the protocol (attached at Annex 2 to the report).  She added that the Trust had made a commitment to work with partners to work on the new service proposals and to keep Preston Skreens open until alternative provision became available.

Furthermore the Director of Governance and Risk explained that although the building quality had previously met the minimum standards required it would not do for much longer and the cost associated with improving the building would not be viable for the service.  In addition, because of its location, she explained the difficulties in getting staff to the site, particularly because of its long distance from Medway Maritime Hospital, the Trust’s base.

The Aiming High for Disabled Children Commissioning Manager, Medway Council, explained that all agencies were working closely with users of the service to plan new proposals and a commitment had been given that all Medway families using the current provision would be able to access at least the same level of provision when the service is re-commissioned and confirmed that all of the 30 Medway children currently using Preston Skreens would be able to be accommodated at new provision being developed within Medway.

In relation to questions relating to a joint Health Overview and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 877.

To hold the Portfolio Holder for Children Social Care and the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Services to account for performance of services within their portfolios. 

Discussion:

The Portfolio Holder for Children’s Social Care gave an update to the committee on performance against his portfolio, including recent statistics, which he tabled at the meeting.  Issues discussed included: -

·        The increases in referrals, children subject to Child Protection Plans (CPP) and the number of looked after children (LAC)

·        The outcome of the Ofsted and Care Quality Commission announced inspection;

·        Educational achievements for LAC at Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 were above the national average;

·        Adoption – judged good at its last inspection in August 2011;

·        There had been a small rise in the number of foster carers and in the number of foster carers trained to foster care plus level;

·        Short breaks provided for children with disabilities;

·        The Old Vicarage Children’s Home had been judged as outstanding at its last Ofsted inspection in May 2011 and had been reported as making good progress in a monitoring visit by Ofsted in December 2011;

·        Aut Even had been judged as good in its last Ofsted Inspection and had been reported as making good progress at Ofsted’s interim visit in February 2012.

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

·        What has caused the increase in referrals,

·        What interventions was the Council using to support parents and prevent higher dependence on social services;

·        How the Portfolio Holder carried out his monitoring of the service;

·        How Medway were performing in relation to mixed race adoption, in light of recent articles in the national press;

·        More partnership working between schools and organisations could be useful when resources are stretched;

·        The stretch in resources can create a temptation to take children off of CPPs but this can result in re-engagement of the family into social care services if done too quickly;

The Portfolio Holder explained that tragic cases such as Baby P and Victoria Climbie had raised the profile of social care issues.  The increase was starting to plateau and it was hoped this would continue but there were no guarantees this would happen.  He also listed a number of intervention services which prevented some families from requiring higher dependency on social care services, such as; outreach teams, CAST team and the Pyramid team, which worked to support families where children are at higher risk of becoming into care.

In terms of monitoring, the Portfolio Holder explained that he received monthly statistic reports and met with the Assistant Director for Children’s Social Care weekly.  He also carried out audits with the Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services and the Director for Children and Adult Services.  He assured Members that one of the areas monitored was re-engagement of families with the service.

One Member suggested that professionals were trained in social care issues and so identification of possible problems were more likely to be made in her view.  She also felt that people’s expectations of good, safe care had been raised. 

Members also asked for the following statistics, which the Portfolio Holder undertook to provide to the committee outside of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 878.

This report outlines the outcomes of the consultation period on the Council’s proposals to expand the lower age range and enlarge the premises at Wainscott Primary School, by way of statutory prescribed alterations.

Discussion:

The School Organisation and Student Services Manager introduced the report and summarised the consultation responses for the committee.  He also referred to the revised consultation meeting procedures, which were detailed at Appendix 8 of the report and explained that the presence of a representative from the Cabinet should have been included in the document.

A Member commented on the parking difficulties that had been experienced when attending the consultation meeting and was therefore concerned about this being a problem with an increased published admission number and suggested that officers work with the Regeneration, Community and Culture directorate to resolve the issues as soon as possible in order to accommodate more traffic and parking.

Decision:

The committee recommended the Cabinet: -

(a)               to approve the proposals to expand the lower age range and enlarge the premises at Wainscott Primary School, by way of statutory prescribed alterations;

(b)              to approve the revised public consultation meeting procedures set out at Appendix 8 to the report, subject to the attendance of a Cabinet Member being included.

This report and its appendices provide further detail on the arrangements to be put in place for the effective delivery of the new Medway Test arrangements to be put in place for September 2012.

Discussion:

The Head of School Organisation and Student Services introduced the report to the committee, which detailed the arrangements to be put in place for the effective delivery of the new selection testing arrangements.

Officers then answered various questions from Members, which included: -

·        Will there be less test centres now that less children will be using them to sit the test and will they be further for children to travel;

·        Clarification of the source of the additional funding being provided;

·        Clarification of who can be independent invigilators and how people can apply;

·        Percentage of schools opting in and out or testing in own school;

·        Reasons some schools were choosing to opt out;

·        Would schools need to inform the local authority every year if they were opting in or out.

In response officers confirmed they envisaged needing 3-4 test centres which would typically be used by out of area children, however locations would be sought as close as possible to the location of the schools that had opted out of testing in school.  Furthermore, officer confirmed that funding would be provided from the Children and Adult Services directorate’s budget.

In terms of invigilators, officers explained that a number of them would be school staff who have agreed to cross invigilate with another school.  However, a personal specification would be developed to ensure invigilators meet a minimum standard.  Equally some invigilators at the test centres will continue to be Medway Council staff.

Additionally, officers explained they would be meeting with Headteachers to discuss and understand reasons for opting out of the testing in own school scheme.  Equally, the local authority would next year look to invite schools to opt in on a more permanent basis with the option for schools to opt out if and when they wished.

Decision:

The committee noted the report.

This report requires Members to consider the final report of the Committee’s in-depth review of improving performance at Key Stage 2 in Medway and agree the findings and recommendations of the Task Group set up to carry out the review. 

Discussion:

The Chairman, on behalf of the Task Group, introduced the report to the committee and recommended the committee to approve the report and forward it to the Cabinet for consideration.  Additionally, the Director of Children and Adults welcomed the report, particularly the support it gave, grounded in evidence, on the benefits of schools forming small, strategic school improvement partnership groups, rather than bigger network groups, for effective peer support and challenge.

Members then commented and asked questions relating to the review document, which included: -

·        Concern that one of the recommendations suggested some governor training courses should be set as compulsory, when governors are volunteers;

·        That the report lacked enough detail on the relationships between Governors, Headteachers and senior leadership teams;

·        That it was very difficult to recruit good teachers, because of Medway’s close proximity to London;

·        The need to make things easier for Governors to do their job properly was stated – holding training in school for example;

·        The view that the focus on selection testing in Medway causes a dip in Medway’s Key Stage 2 results;

·        It was suggested that schools should embed Governor training as part of the school’s professional development programme;

·        IT needed to be upgraded and used more effectively to help improve results;

·        Suggestion that overview and scrutiny could play a greater role in helping to interact with schools and share good practice with them;

·        A need to understand academies governance arrangements;

·        Clarification of the report being shared with all schools.

Members of the Task Group answered the questions, including: -

·        Various references to the importance of the relationship with Governors, Headteachers and the leadership team in the report were highlighted to the committee;

·        Recognition that Governors are volunteers but that they also need to be equipped and skilled to do the job that they volunteer to do effectively and emphasised that the Task Group were recommending only some essential training be made compulsory for all Governors to attend;

The Director of Children and Adults confirmed to the committee that the weblink to the report had been emailed to all primary and junior schools in Medway and via meetings with some schools she had held with the Assistant Director for Inclusion and Improvement, she reported that some schools had already fed back on how they had found the report helpful.  She added that some governor training was being delivered in school and ways of making training more accessible were being explored.  In relation to improving IT she explained that Governing Bodies and schools must be skilled in effective commissioning of IT software and equipment to keep it up to date, use it effectively and suggested that partnership working can be helpful in terms of efficiently resourcing IT.

Decision: 

The committee agreed to recommend the following to the Cabinet: -

(a)               In partnership with Medway Governors Association, a minimum requirement for Governor training should be agreed so that some courses are compulsory for Governors to attend, either as part of their induction and ongoing development  ...  view the full minutes text for item 881.

This report sets out quarter 3 (1 October – 31 December 2011) performance against the Council Plan objectives for 2011/12.  Members are asked to review content and consider progress.   

Discussion:

The Director of Children and Adult Services introduced the report to the committee, summarising the highlights on the performance in quarter 3.  She then answered Members’ questions, which included: -

·        Clarification of what the triage programme was;

·        Work to prevent exclusions and concern that this is having a detrimental affect to other learners and their results;

·        Concern that the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs) had risen;

·        That a report be brought to the committee from the Medway Youth Trust.

In response the Director explained that the triage programme was for agencies to work together around a family, rather than the family being sent to various agencies individually and undertook to provide a briefing note on this programme.

In response to managing exclusions, the Director explained that these issues were predominantly in secondary schools.  There were a number of reasons why children and young people behaved badly in school and it was important to understand the reasons and try to find a way to support the child or young person and manage behaviour, but not when this was at the detriment to other learners.

In response to the question relating to NEETs the Director explained that although the number had risen in Medway, it was still the best performing local authority in the South East on this performance indicator.  However, the Council and Medway Youth Trust were working hard to reduce the figure back down with businesses and education providers.  The Director undertook to provide a briefing note on comparative figures relating to NEETs with South East and nationally.

Decision: 

The Committee noted the report and requested briefing notes on the triage programme and information on young people not in education, employment or training, as detailed in the discussion section above.

This report sets out the proposed work programme previously agreed by the Committee for 2011/12. 

Discussion:

The Democratic Services Officer introduced the report and explained that an update on the closure of Preston Skreens/changes to overnight short breaks would be added to the next meeting, and a report from the Medway Youth Trusts would also be added to the work programme.

The committee also requested a briefing note to update the committee on the SEN pathfinder and a report to the committee on academies and governance arrangements.

Decision:

The committee noted the work programme and agreed the following additions:-

·      An update report on the changes to overnight short breaks;

·      A report from the Medway Youth Trust

·      A report on academies and governance arrangements.