Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the CHILDREN'S SERVICES POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE of the HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester on 11 October, 2005.

Item 3

Also present Councillor Felicity Hindson, MBE, Executive Lead Member for Children's Services.

20 APOLOGIES

Apologies for absence were received from F.G. Allgood and R. Jenkins.

21 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.

There were no declarations of interest made by members under this item.

22 MINUTES

The Minutes of the Children's Services Policy Review Committee held on 12 July 2005 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

23 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman welcomed John Coughlan, Director of Children's Services, to his first meeting of the Committee. She congratulated John Clarke on being appointed as the new Deputy Director of Children's Services and thanked Anne Bailey in the Children's Services Department for producing a glossary for Members of commonly used terms related to pupils with autistic spectrum disorders.

The Chairman went on to announce that a Committee visit to the Burnham Copse Infant and Junior Schools at Tadley was being planned for the afternoon of 30 November 2005, prior to the outcome of consultations on the review of school places at the two schools being considered by Members at their next meeting on 13 December 2005. It was noted that the County Council's HC3S Catering Service had been congratulated by the Hyperactive Children's Support Group (HACSG) for banning 64 "E" additives from Hampshire school menus. The HACSG had presented HC3S with an award for this achievement.

The Chairman was pleased to report that pupil numbers on roll at the Ampfield C.E Primary School were continuing to rise since the threat of closure had been lifted. The current total being 42 pupils, compared to 24 in September 2004, an increase of 75%. The Chairman further reported that the Executive Member for Education was required at his next decision day meeting to fill a member vacancy on the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Educational Trust For The Blind. Any interested member of the Committee was asked to contact the Executive Member. The Chairman made reference to a letter inviting co-opted and other members to join the audience at one or more of the Hampshire Music Service ensembles, performances during 2005/06. Also, she invited them to attend the final Schools Prom rehearsal at the Anvil Theatre in Basingstoke on the afternoon of 6 November 2005, prior to the appearance by 650 young Hampshire musicians, including Members of the County Youth and Children's Choirs, Area Choirs and School Choirs at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 9 November 2005.

Finally, the Chairman apologised on behalf of the Director of Children's Services, for the missing pages to the School Organisation Plan (Item 9 on the agenda) and confirmed that a correct version would be circulated later in the meeting.

24 DEPUTATIONS

No deputations had been notified under Standing Order 21.

25 PRESENTATION ON WRITER IN RESIDENCE PARTNERSHIP

David Bond, Education Officer at Hampshire Record Office and Julie Biddecombe, Curator of Westbury Manor Museum, gave a presentation to the Committee on the "Writer in Residence Partnership Project". A similar presentation had been made to the Recreation and Heritage Committee on 15 September 2005.

Members noted details about the pilot project which involved the use of museum and archive collections to develop children's literacy and creative writing at Key Stages 1 and 2. With funding from the Arts Council and the South East Museum and Library and Archive Council, a local children's author had been employed to research the collections and to hold a series of workshops in primary schools in the Fareham area.

The Committee congratulated the officers involved and thanked them for their interesting presentation.

26 EDUCATION IN HAMPSHIRE IN THE PRIMARY YEARS

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 7 in the Minute Book) about the document entitled "Education in Hampshire in the Primary Years".

Members commended the document and raised various issues within the text which were clarified by the relevant officer involved. The Committee fully supported further consultation on the paper, prior to a final document being produced at a later date for distribution at all primary schools across Hampshire.

RESOLVED:

That the Executive Member for Education be advised to approve further consultation with schools and other agencies on the document entitled "Education in Hampshire in the Primary Years" before the paper is considered by Cabinet.

27 REVISED METHOD OF FUNDING PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS FOR PUPILS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 8 in the Minute Book) about a revised method of distributing special educational needs (SEN) funding to mainstream primary and secondary schools.

Members supported the move to a system that would relieve schools of a significant workload and free up time for staff to concentrate on identifying, assessing and meeting children's needs. It was noted that the results of the consultation on the new funding formula indicated a strong preference of 80% in favour as opposed to retention of the existing SEN audit system which had been introduced in Hampshire back in 1994.

RESOLVED:

That the Executive Member for Education be advised to approve the revised SEN funding formula for mainstream primary and secondary schools.

28 SCHOOL ORGANISATION PLAN (2005 REVISION)

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 9 in the Minute Book) on the 2005 Revision of the School Organisation Plan. An amended version of Appendix 2 of the Plan, incorporating the missing pages referred to under Chairman's Communications, was circulated at the meeting.

The Committee recognised that as well as being a position statement on policies guiding the provision of school places, the SOP was a valuable planning tool to respond to new housing developments and to the need to review surplus places. The Chairman reminded Members to retain their copies of the Plans for future reference and hoped that it would be retained when its future was considered in conjunction with the preparation of the Children and Young People's Plan.

During the ensuing discussion, a number of individual points were raised and clarified at the meeting. Also, it was reported that if a Member had any detailed questions, they should raise these with the appropriate officer after the meeting. The Chairman asked that any such questions, together with the answers given, should form a post meeting note to the Minutes.

RESOLVED:

That the Executive Member for Education be advised to approve the School Organisation Plan (2005 Revision), as amended following consultation with schools and other interested parties.

29 INVESTMENT IN THE FOSTERING SERVICE - PHASE TWO

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 10 in the Minute Book) about the development of the Hampshire Fostering Service Investment Plan.

RESOLVED:

(i) That the progress made in the initial developments of the Hampshire Fostering Investment Plan be noted.


(ii) That it be noted that decisions will need to be taken, once the context of the 2006/07 budget and full outcome of the pilots are known to determine to what extent to realign existing budgets in order to prioritise investment in the fostering service to the level of £1.310 million additional gross expenditure.


(iii) That the Executive Member for Children's Services be advised to support in principle the proposals for subsequent phased investment in the Fostering Services, as detailed in option two.

30 YOUNG CARERS' STRATEGY

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 11 in the Minute Book) on plans to introduce a strategy for young carers.

Members commended the report and action plan for the next three years and welcomed the opportunity it would present to raise awareness of the needs of young carers and the services currently provided in Hampshire.

RESOLVED:

That the aims of the strategy be supported and the developments be noted.

31 MUSIC MANIFESTO

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 12 in the Minute Book) on a proposal that the County Council becomes a signatory to the Music Manifesto and pledges to support its aims. Members fully supported the Manifesto and paid tribute to the Hampshire Music Service and its ensembles which performed at high profile events, such as the Annual Music for Youth School Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

RESOLVED:

(i) That the Executive Member for Education be advised to:


(a) endorse the aims of the Music Manifesto, on behalf of the County Council, by becoming a signatory to it.


(b) adopt the five aims of the Music Manifesto as overarching aims for the County Council's Music Service.


(c) pledge to support the aims of the Music Manifesto during the period 2005-08 through the following planned, new initiative of the Hampshire Music Service:


· Offering to 3000 children, annually, the chance to attend their first concert - a "Primary Prom" Concert, to introduce them to a range of exciting music ensembles, and different styles of music.


· Developing, piloting and sharing with all Hampshire maintained primary and special schools, wider opportunities modules, including ukulele, violin, recorder, keyboard, fife, samba, and guitar, to offer access to instrumental playing to more primary-aged children for the first time.


· Developing further the existing Hampshire music ensembles to provide regular, high quality playing and singing opportunities for a further 550 young musicians, an increase of 20% over current numbers.


(ii) That the Committee recommend to the Executive Member for Education that a further report on the roll-out of the wider opportunities programme to all Hampshire primary schools be made during the academic year 2006/07, to include a progress report on the pledges in (i) above.

32 FORWARD PLAN 2005/06

The Committee received the report of the Chief Executive (Item 13 in the Minute Book) on those items previously identified as part of the Committee's Forward Plan for 2005/06. The Chairman asked Members into write to the Chief Executive if they had any scrutiny items which they would wish included in the Forward Plan, together with their reasons for this.

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

No questions had been notified on this item.

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