Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the CHILDREN'S SERVICES POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE of the HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester on 12 July, 2005.

Item 3

Also present Councillor John West, Chairman of the County Council; Councillor Felicity Hindson, MBE, Executive Member for Children's Services and Councillor D.A. Kirk, Executive Member for Education.

1 APOLOGIES

Apologies for absence were received from K. Chapman; K. Gill; Mrs. M. Humber and D. Walker.

2 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should, normally at the time of the debate, declare their interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed. Councillor R. Kimber declared a personal interest under Minute 10 Budget Monitoring (Appendix 1) - Casual association with Rushmoor Youth Service.

3 MINUTES

The Minutes of the Education Policy Review Committee held on 15 March 2005 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

4 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman congratulated John Wilkinson former Assistant County Education Officer for Lifelong Learning on being made an Order of the British Empire. Councillor Mrs A.M. McNair Scott reported on future developments which were being proposed in relation to Member involvement in aspects of Special Educational Needs. The Committee noted that they would learn more about this in due course. Finally, the Chairman and a number of individual Members paid warm tributes to Andrew Seber, CBE who was to retire as County Education Officer at the end of July. Special mention was made of his most valuable contributions not only to the education service in Hampshire, but also to his work on the national scene. The Committee thanked him for this and wished him well for the future.

5 DEPUTATIONS

No deputations had been notified under Standing Order 21.

6 PRIMARY EDUCATION PROVISION TO SERVE THE WHITELY AREA - OUTCOME OF CONSULTATION

The Committee considered the report of the County Education Officer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) on the outcome of a consultation on the future of primary school provision in the Whiteley area of Fareham.

During a full discussion Members focused in particular on whether primary school places for additional Whiteley pupils should be provided within the Whiteley development itself or alternatively at schools with spare capacity in the Western Wards of Fareham. They felt that of the four separate options proposed in the consultation and as detailed in the report, Option 1 offered the most appropriate way forward and was also favoured by the local residents. This proposed a new one form entry (210 places) primary school within Whiteley with the potential, if site constraints permit, for expansion at a later date if required. Also, Members felt it was important to highlight the need to investigate surplus primary school places in the Western Wards. Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED:

(i) That Cabinet be advised to take an in principle decision to provide a new one form entry (210 places) primary school in Whiteley, with potential for future expansion if site constraints permit, subject to further reports on availability of a suitable site and an appropriate funding strategy.


(ii) That the Cabinet be advised of the proposal that officers investigate the situation regarding surplus primary school places in the Western Wards of Fareham.

7 ANNUAL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF CHILDREN'S SERVICES

The Committee received and noted the report of the County Education Officer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) about the Annual Performance Assessment of the County Council's services for children. Members welcomed Hampshire's self assessment results for 2005, particularly the outstanding rating given for education. They recognised the challenges ahead as a result of the Children Act 2004 and looked forward to the emerging priorities for children and young people, as listed in the report, being addressed together with the help of partners, in the first Children and Young Peoples Plan.

RESOLVED:

That the conclusions of the self-assessment exercise of the Annual Performance Assessment be noted.

8 FINAL ACCOUNTS 2004/05 - EDUCATION SERVICE

The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer and County Education Officer (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on the education service final accounts for 2004/05. In discussion the officers answered a number of individual points and gave further details about some of the underspends including those on Early Years and on Special Educational Needs.

RESOLVED:

(i) That the final accounts for 2004/05 be recommended for approval to the Executive Member for Education.


(ii) That the Executive Member for Education take to Cabinet the £402,000 of the underspendings in 2004/05 and that they be carried forward and be added to the 2005/06 budget as set out in paragraph 1.10 of the report.

9 FINAL ACCOUNTS 2004/05 - SOCIAL SERVICES

The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer and Director of Social Services (Item 9 in the Minute Book) on the Social Services final accounts for 2004/05. In discussion it was clarified that the £186,000 underspend on Assessment and Care Management/Social Work was as a result of ongoing difficulty in recruiting appropriately qualified social work and care management staff across all divisions of the service.

RESOLVED:

(i) That the final accounts for 2004/05 be recommended for approval by the Executive Member for Children's Services.


(ii) That £0.532m of the overspending in 2004/05 be carried forward and offset against the contingency of £1.3m contained within the 2005/06 budget.

10 BUDGET MONITORING 2005/06 - EDUCATION SERVICE

The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer and County Education Officer (Item 10 in the Minute Book) on the first budget monitoring report in relation to the education service for the financial year 2005/06.

RESOLVED:

(i) That the approach to filling the budget `gap' be recommended for approval to the Executive Member for Education.


(ii) That the business case for the additional growth money for the Youth Service be passed to the Executive Member for Education for submission to Cabinet for approval.


(iii) That the budget monitoring 2005/06 report and an early identification of cost pressures be noted.

11 EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY PERFORMANCE REPORT

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Human Resources (Item 11 in the Minute Book) about equality and diversity. This followed a recommendation by Cabinet that all Policy Review Committees should receive a presentation on this item.

Mohammed Mossadaqu, Race Policy Adviser, gave a power-point presentation on the annual performance report. A copy of the presentation was circulated to Members at the meeting. It appears as Item 11(a) in the Minute Book. Following a question and answer session Mr. Mossadaqu was thanked for his interesting and informative presentation.

RESOLVED:

(i) That the Members of the Committee are fully aware of their role to support the implementation of the Equality Plan and Race Scheme.


(ii) That the Members understand their role in monitoring the requirement for reports to show the outcome of Race and Equality impact assessment.

12 SEXUAL HEALTH AND EDUCATION OF SERVICE USERS

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Social Services (Item 12 in the Minute Book) on the proposed Department procedure on sexual health and education service users. In discussion Members supported the proposed procedure which had been developed to provide a framework of good practice for staff to work within. It had been prepared after consultation with service users, staff and managers and had been agreed by the Council's legal advisers and was in line with Government advice on this matter.

RESOLVED:

That this Policy Review Committee advises the Executive Member for Children's Services:-

(i) To approve the procedure on Sexual health and education of service users to cover social care practitioners across all sectors of the current Department.


(ii) To approve the development within the next 18 months of separate procedures for the new Children's Services Department and Adult Social Care Department.

13 CARE LEAVERS' PASSPORT TO SUCCESS

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Social Services (Item 13 in the Minute Book) about developing, within the available resources, the support offered to care leavers in their transition to independence. Members commended the work being done in this area. They paid tribute to Mark Houston the author of the report who had been in care himself for his leading role on this initiative. It was agreed that the Committee should receive a future report on the progress of young people supported by the care leavers' scheme.

RESOLVED:

That this Policy Review Committee advises the Executive Member for Children's Services to agree that the County Council shall:

14 FAMILY MENTORING SERVICES

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Social Services (Item 14 in the Minute Book) on developments regarding Family Mentoring Services. Members congratulated those involved in this most worthwhile initiative and welcomed its introduction in Hampshire on a phased basis. They looked forward to working with voluntary organisations in the running of such programmes and also to other opportunities for partnership working in the future.

RESOLVED:

That the development of the Family Mentoring Service be noted and that a progress report be presented to the Committee in the Autumn.

15 ANNUAL REPORT AND STATEMENT OF PURPOSE OF THE HAMPSHIRE FOSTERING SERVICE

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Social Services (Item 15 in the Minute Book) on key issues relating to the performance and development of the Hampshire Fostering Service. Members noted that the Statement of Purpose was a key document which all fostering agencies were required to produce and written in a way intended to be accessible to all foster carers, families of children in foster care and children looked after in foster care.

RESOLVED:

That this Policy Review Committee advise that the Executive Member for Children's Services notes the conclusions of the Annual Inspection, the Action Plan and the progress made in fostering Services overall in Hampshire and confirms approval of the Statement of Purpose.

16 ANNUAL REPORT AND STATEMENT OF PURPOSE OF THE HAMPSHIRE ADOPTION SERVICE

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Social Services (Item 16 in the Minute Book) about the level of service demands and Adoption activity between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2005.

RESOLVED:

That this Policy Review Committee advise that the Executive Member for Children's Services notes the contents of the Annual Report and confirms approval of the Statement of Purpose of the Hampshire Adoption Service.

17 FAMILY GROUP CONFERENCES : FUNCTION AND MANAGEMENT

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Social Services (Item 17 in the Minute Book) setting out plans for phased changes to the Management of Family Group Conferences in Hampshire.

RESOLVED:

(i) That members of this Policy Review Committee note the proposed changes to the function and management of Family Group Conferences.


(ii) That the Executive Member for Children's Services be advised to approve


(a) the revised purpose and aims (targeting) of the Service;


(b) the new management arrangements for the Family Group Conference service;


(c) the phased implementation of the new arrangements;


(iii) That a further report be submitted to this Committee and the Executive Member for Children's Services after the completion of the first phase in April 2006.

18 MONITORING COMPLAINTS AND COMPLIMENTS 2004/05

The Committee received and noted the report of the County Education Officer (Item 18 in the Minute Book) on the monitoring of complaints and compliments of services delivered by the Education Department in 2004/05.

19 QUESTIONS TO THE EXECUTIVE MEMBERS FOR CHILDREN'S SERVICES AND FOR EDUCATION

No questions had been notified on this item.

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