Agenda and draft minutes

An apology for absence was received from Lisa Scarrott, (Medway Parent and Carer Forum).

To approve the record of the meeting held on 3 October 2024.

The record of the meeting held on 3 October 2024 was agreed and signed by the Chairperson as correct.

The Chairperson 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. 

There were none.

Members are invited to disclose any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Significant Interests in accordance with the Member Code of Conduct. Guidance on this is set out in agenda item 4.

Disclosable pecuniary interests

There were none.

Other significant interests (OSIs)

There were none.

Other interests

There were none.

At the 2 March 2023 meeting it was proposed and agreed that as a result of work undertaken in partnership with the Local Government Association the Committee adopt a hybrid model moving forward.

This would be based on the assumption that meetings will last no more than three hours, with two hours focused on the theme and the remaining time on general matters that need to be reviewed by the Committee as existing ongoing business. 

Following consultation with the Director of People and Deputy Chief Executive it was agreed that this meeting would be Finance Themed with reports on the Draft Capital and Revenue Budget 2025/26, Capital Budget Monitoring and Revenue Monitoring Round 2 2024/25. The Council Plan Performance Monitoring Report and Strategic Risk Summary – Quarters 1 and 2 2024/25 will also be taken alongside the themed items.

Discussion:

Members received a presentation on finance and considered the reports under this theme.

Members then raised several questions and comments:

The medium term financial position was a challenge as financial pressures continued to grow and this would be challenging for Medway, the review being undertaken by Central Government was welcomed.

Government financial support for Local Authorities - in response to a question on whether the Government announcement on financial support would ease the pressures of the anticipated overspend, the Committee was informed that the Government, in announcing the budget were clear that they recognised that local authorities had been underfunded and were keen to address issues with pressures. Additionally, changes would be made to distribution of funding, details of which were yet to emerge.

In the policy statement, it was made clear that distribution of funding would be based on need, with increased funding directed to Local Authorities that had higher areas of deprivation or who were less able to raise income through local taxation. It was currently difficult to estimate what the announcement meant for Medway who were amongst the 20 lowest funded local authorities per resident in England. The caveat for consideration by officers in terms of increased funding was whether additional costs may materialise.

Overspend - it was asked what the likelihood of overspend would be for the coming year given that Medway continued to experience increased migration, which would increase budgetary pressures on the Council. It was explained that budgetary predictions were made with the best information available at the time and it was difficult to predict in totality what would happen each year.

The report alluded to the considerable savings to be made from SEND transport and it was asked what knock on effects had been considered. The Committee was advised that Medway had to date been generous with its transport policy, providing significantly more than neighbouring authorities and more than required statutorily. Legislation had changed to reflect that children with an ECHP did not have to be provided with transport if they were not attending their nearest suitable school.

It was further commented that it was vital to ensure that all implications of non-provision of transport be looked into and not just the savings that could be made. Members were reminded that decisions for children on EHCPs were made based on need. A banding system was in operation and each child received the same amount of funding regardless of whether in mainstream or SEND specialist provision. There was an increased drive for inclusiveness as part of the national as well as Medway’s agenda, for provision for all children in mainstream schools.

Travel training - members of the Committee commented that more was needed to be done to support independence of SEND children, including provision of travel training to support transition to adulthood. Officers said that there was a transport group in place exploring options and the Council would also be working with Medway Parents and Carers Forum, who currently provided travel training. Further  ...  view the full minutes text for item 472.

This report sets out the Draft Capital and Revenue Budgets for 2025/26. In accordance with the Constitution, Cabinet is required to develop ‘initial budget proposals’ approximately three months before finalising the budget and setting Council Tax levels at the end of February 2025. The Draft Budget is based on the principles set out in the Medium Term Financial Outlook 2024-2029 (MTFO) considered by the Cabinet on 27 August 2024.

Discussion of this Item can be found at minute number 472.

Decision:

a)    The Committee noted that Cabinet has instructed officers to continue to work with Portfolio Holders in formulating robust proposals to reduce the budget deficit for 2025/26 and to continue to liaise with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to secure support through the Exceptional Financial Support scheme.

b)    The Committee noted that their comments on the proposals outlined in the Draft Capital and Revenue Budgets 2025/26 in so far as they relate to the services within the remit of this Committee are fed back to the Business Support and Digital Overview and Scrutiny Committee in January 2025.

This report presents the results of the second round of the Council’s capital budget monitoring process for 2024/25.

Discussion of this Item can be found at minute number 472.

Decision:

a)    The Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee noted the results of the second round of capital budget monitoring for 2024/25.

b)    The Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee noted that the Chief Executive will use the revised delegation limits in the Constitution to agree virements from unallocated Basic Needs Grant as follows:

i)    an additional budget of £25,000 to cover the cost of further works to the car park relating to the Hundred of Hoo 1 Form Entry Primary Expansion scheme,

ii)    £66,000 to complete works to the Hoo Academy 6th form facilities.

This report presents the results of the second round of the Council’s revenue budget monitoring process for 2024/25. The Council’s summary position is presented in section 4, with sections 5 and 6 providing the detail for the service areas within the remit of this Committee.

Discussion of this item can be found at minute number 472

Decision:

a)    The Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee noted the results of the second round of revenue budget monitoring for 2024/25.

b)    The Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee noted that Cabinet instructed the Corporate Management Team to implement urgent actions to bring expenditure back within the budget agreed by the Full Council.

The One Medway Council Plan (OMCP) 2024/28 sets out the Council’s priorities and the performance indicators used to monitor performance. This report and appendices summarise how we performed in Quarter 1 (Q1) & Quarter 2 (Q2) 2024/25 on the delivery of these priorities. This report also presents the Q1 & Q2 2024/25 review of strategic risks which fall under the remit of this Committee.

Discussion of this item can be found at minute number 472.

Decision:

a)    The Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered the Q1 and Q2 2024/25 progress of the performance indicators used to monitor progress of the Council’s priorities, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.

b)    The Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee noted the Strategic Risk Summary as set out in Appendix 2 to the report.

The purpose of this report is to present the Medway Safeguarding Children Partnership (MSCP) Annual Report 2023-24 to the Health and Wellbeing Board. The report provides an overview of the work carried out by the MSCP in the last year. It sets out the progress the partnership has made against key priorities and gives an overview of the learning and improvement role of the MSCP including case reviews that have been undertaken. It also includes a section on scrutiny and assurance, providing details of the independent scrutineer activity in the reporting year.

The report was presented at the Health and Wellbeing Board on 21 November 2024 and will be presented to the Community Safety Partnership in line with the Joint Working Protocol between the boards in Medway.

Discussion:

The Committee received a report which detailed the work undertaken by the MSCP in the last year and sets out the progress made by the partnership against key priorities.

Members then raised several questions and comments:

Members raised several questions in relation to Oasis Restore and the Democratic Services Officer undertook to collate the questions and ensure they are addressed in the report that is expected to be presented at the 9 January meeting on the secure school.

Safeguarding partnership - in response to a question on how the partnership worked effectively, noting some of the financial challenges of the Integrated Care Board (ICB), Members were informed that the partnership worked on the basis of openness and transparency. Conversations regarding pressures took place and there was also the independent scrutiny function in place.

Engagement - it was asked how effective engagement was between the partnership and the secure estate, in particular, since the recent change in management. The Committee learned that engagement worked well, there was an MSCP sub group in place for the secure estate and the plans regarding their monitoring had been developed and agreed.

The Director of People and Deputy Chief Executive added that there were regular meetings with Oasis and would be meeting with the founder in December. Additionally, she received notification of placement of all young persons.

Children of prisoners - in response to a comment as to whether there was any information regarding children of prisoners as this was an emerging vulnerable group, officers said that it was expected that all officers in contact with prisoners and families would make the appropriate referral to children’s social care if there were concerns or a need identified.

The work being undertaken under Priority 4, violence against women was welcomed, and it was asked if the body of work would include the practice of virginity testing and hymenoplasty in some cultural communities following a report in 2022 that Medway as well as some London Boroughs continued to be hotspots for these practices. The officer undertook to look into this and provide a briefing note to the Committee.

It was asked if there had been any changes in ensuring representation on the partnership by SEND Headteachers, additionally it was noted that there were no child death figures included in this annual report. The Committee was informed that there was primary, secondary and post 16 representation and there was also representation on a school by school basis in multiagency group work. There was a delay in production of this year’s child death data which was why it had not been included in the report.

Start for life - it was asked if it was anticipated that the Start for Life Programme would result in savings for children’s social care and what the thresholds of needs were in the service. Members were informed that it had been announced that another year of funding would be made available to support the programme. There were no savings made as the money  ...  view the full minutes text for item 473.

The Child-Friendly Medway Annual Report aims to showcase the highlights of events, activities and projects from the previous year. The report documents the teams progress and achievements throughout the year and how Child-Friendly Medway’s programming has evolved as a response to feedback from children and young people. The annual report also gives an opportunity to feature the feedback received from children and young people and what has been done to amplify their voices, and make Medway a better place to live, work, learn, visit and play.

Discussion:

The Committee received the annual report which highlighted the activities, events and projects from the previous year. Child Friendly Medway was launched in 2021, and their work continued to be led by the voice of young people in Medway.

Members then raised several questions and comments:

Following the successful launch of the initiative, the work of the team continued to grow from strength to strength. There was good cross party support for the work being undertaken and the progress made on such an important subject was commendable.

Aspirations - it was asked how further the aspirations of Child Friendly Medway could be embedded in the work of the whole Council and how other directorates could engage. The Committee learned that since the launch, the team continued to work across the whole Council as this was a community initiative that was focused on wider issues such as education, climate change, the environment. Feedback received from young people were disseminated to directorates and teams. There were many opportunities to work collaboratively as well as engage with various teams.

In response to a question on what the Council and partners could do to ensure that their vision matched the ambitions of Child Friendly Medway, the Committee was informed that this was a community wide initiative and in sharing feedback about what young people want, they would continue to explore opportunities to work with Council departments as well as continued engagement with external partners. Further reflection was needed on the next steps of the initiative.

Ambitions of young people - it was asked how to ensure that the ambitions of young people were not affected by internal processes, and the Committee was informed that the team played an important role in championing the importance of listening to young people and used their platform to explore what was important to them. The team would continue to engage at all times to ensure they remained focused on aspirations of young people.

The team’s priorities were centred on being accountable to young people. The first year of the programme was listening to young people and the second focused on development of core responses to their needs.

The team were working on an initiative called young citizens that was being rolled out across primary schools, years 3-6 across Medway. The initiative focused on celebrating the achievements of young people.

Preparation for adulthood - it was asked how young people were being prepared for adulthood and to be more resilient. It was commented that it was important to realise that small changes made big difference to the lives of young people. It was vital for adults to promote change in society by being advocates for the younger generation, listen to their needs, ideas and aspirations and not be afraid of change.

Decision:

The Committee noted the Child-Friendly Medway Annual Report 2023-2024.

Discussion:

Members considered a report regarding the Board’s work programme.

Decision:

The Committee noted the report and agreed the work programme as set out at Appendix 1 to the report, subject to accepting the proposed changes, outlined in italic text on Appendix 1.