Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the CHILDREN'S SERVICES POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE of the HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester on 14 March, 2006.

Also present were Councillor Felicity Hindson, MBE, Executive Lead Member for Children's Services and David Kirk, Executive Member for Education.

66 APOLOGIES

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors M.F. Cartwright and Mrs J. K. Frankum and co-opted members T. Coupland, D. Chapman and D.Walker

67 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.

68 MINUTES

The Minutes of the Children's Services Policy Review Committee held on 17 January 2006 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

69 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman introduced Karen Widdowson as the new Committee Administrator replacing Kelvin Ridout who had clerked the meeting for the previous year. Kelvin was thanked for his support over the past year and his efficient and polite manner. The Chairman was also pleased to report that Mayhill Junior School's website had scooped the top prize in the Best School Website Category at this years Hantsweb Awards Ceremony. The Chairman also reminded Members to view the informative DVD's available for loan from Democratic Services. The Chairman also reported that that the Adult Learning Inspectorate had completed a week long inspection of the County Council's provision for adult and community learning. It was anticipated that the full report would be published early April 2006, but the Chairman was pleased to announce that the overall service was found to be satisfactory. It was noted that the inspection outcomes report would be submitted to a future meeting. Finally the Chairman advised the Co-opted members that the County Council was reviewing many aspects of its democratic structures and processes, including the scrutiny function, in terms of streamlining them and making them more effective. The Chairman was mindful that Co-optees had not had the opportunity to be part of all the ongoing discussions and therefore she considered that it was timely to organise a briefing/workshop session about the proposed changes. The Committee Administrator would be in touch shortly with possible dates.

70 DEPUTATIONS

No deputations had been notified under Standing Order 21.

71 BUDGET MONITORING 2005/06 - CHILDREN'S SERVICES DEPARTMENT

The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer and Director of Children's Services (Item 6 in the Minute Book) detailing the year end budget monitoring report for 2005/06.

The report updated Members on the projected end of year spends for 2005/06 as compared to the revised budget for Children's Services. The cash limit for the service for 2005/06 was £782.975m (split £652.99m for Schools Budget, £64.944m for LEA Budget and £65.035m for Children's Social Care Budget). It was noted that although a projected overspend against the cash limit of £285,000 was projected at this stage, experience over the previous three years suggested that by the end of the financial year after applying all contingencies, the service would balance within the cash limits.

RESOLVED:

That the budget monitoring report and identification of budget variations be noted.

72 CHANGES TO SCHOOL FUNDING FORMULA

The Committee considered the report of Director of Children's Services (Item 7 in the Minute Book) detailing variations to the school funding formula, which had been agreed by the schools Forum and, where time permitted, were subject to consultation with all schools.

Members were advised that the new system of school funding with the Dedicated Schools Grant and multi year budgets required changes to the school funding formula. There was also local development in respect of pupils from service families and funding of special educational needs in primary and secondary schools. It was reported that the Government initiative and funding for personalised learning required new formula factors to distribute it appropriately.

RESOLVED:

That the Executive Member for Education be advised that the Committee supports the following school funding formula variations:


· The transitional mechanism for planned growing schools as the single pupil count takes effect.

· The annual update of the data on which allocations are based.

· The recognition of pupils from service families.

· The modifications to SEN funding, including the transitional mechanism.

· The use of attainment based factors in the formula.

73 DETERMINATION OF SCHOOL ADMISSION ARRANGEMENTS 2007/08

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 8 in the Minute Book) detailing the consultations held with governing bodies and neighbouring local authorities in relation to proposed admission arrangements for community and voluntary controlled mainstream schools for 2007/08.

It was reported that some changes were proposed to the admissions policies for community and voluntary controlled schools. Minor revisions would also be made to the schemes for primary and secondary co-ordinated admissions. It was noted that all recommendations were supported by the Hampshire Admissions Forum. The report also made reference to the possible implications of the recently published Education and Inspections Bill, based on the White Paper issued in October 2005.

In respect of paragraph 4.1 of the report, the Committee were advised that the County admissions team sent 14,276 letters to parents offering a place in a secondary school for their child and that 95% of pupils were allocated their parents' first preference. In addition, in respect of paragraph 10.1 of the report, it was noted that the cost of printing and posting 34,501 offer letters in January and March 2006 was £12,538, which was included in the department's budget proposals for 2005/06.

There was considerable discussion on the consultation arrangements for the 2007/08 admissions and the balance between the effective management of school places and the successful expression of parental choice. Arising from this discussion, the Committee put forward a proposal to set up a cross party Task and Finish Group to consider the proposed admission arrangements for community and voluntary controlled mainstream schools for 2008/09. It was noted that this would be put forward in the scrutiny work programme.

RESOLVED:

That the Executive Member for Education be advised that the Committee supports the following recommendations in relation to admission arrangements for 2007;


(a) That the County Council adopt:


· The revised admission policies for community and voluntary controlled schools, including published admission numbers for community and voluntary controlled schools, set out in annexes A and B

· The schemes for coordinating primary and secondary admissions, set out in Annexes, C D and E

· The published admission numbers for community and voluntary controlled schools set out in annexes F and G

· The schools specific criteria listed in Annex H

(b) That further to (a) above, the proposal for a cross party Task and Finish Group to consider the proposed admission arrangements for community and voluntary controlled mainstream schools for 2008/09 be put forward as an item in the scrutiny work programme. The following nominations were put forward:

Councillors:

F. Allgood

D. Blampied

K. Gill

R. Kimber

Mrs S. Wheale

Co-opted Members:

C. Connor

S. W. Juniper

Rev D.M. Turner

(c) That the Director of Children's Services, on behalf of the County Council, and having regard to any advice from the Admissions Forum, be empowered to:


· Authorise the publication of local notices in those instances where there is agreement with Governors of community voluntary controlled schools thus a lower Published Admission Number (PAN) should be published

· Lodge an objection to the Schools Adjudicator in respect of any aspect of an admission authority schools or neighbouring Local Education Authority admission arrangements which appear to be at variance with legal requirements for Code of Practice advice, taking into account factors at the school, the possible effect on admissions to other schools and the outcome of further consultations


(d) That an informal information dissemination exercise be carried out with schools and diocesan authorities during the summer term 2006 to explain the possible implications of moving to an equal preference allocation system for 2008 admissions at the earliest.

74 POSITIVE OUT-OF-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN AGED 8 - 13 YEARS

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 9 in the Minute Book) detailing the out of school provision that was in place for 8 - 13 year olds in Hampshire.

In considering the report, Committee welcomed the establishment of a cross party working group with officers to clarify the role of the County Council, including the Children's Services department in relation to improving participation of children aged 8-13 years in out-of -school activities. It was noted that this would be added to the Committee forward plan.

It was also suggested that this item become a standard agenda item on the Standing Conference for Children and Young People.


RESOLVED:


(a) That guidance be commissioned from Children's Services officers to ensure that safe child protection policy and practice is in place for all out of school activities in Hampshire.


(b) That the Human Resources Department develop a corporate policy to encourage the County Council workforce to volunteer to support out of school activities for children aged 8 - 13 years.


(c) That a joint commissioning approach be developed for out of school activities for 8 - 13 year old children within the new proposed arrangements for management and governance of Children's Services.

75 CHILDREN'S CENTRES STRATEGY

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 10 in the Minute Book) updating Members on the strategy for developing Children's Centres and the feedback from the consultation process.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted and that six monthly updates on progress on the strategy for developing children's centres from March 2006 to March 2008 be received.

76 KINSHIP CARE

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 11 in the Minute Book) detailing progress to January 2006 on the Kinship Care Project in Hampshire, from its inception in November 2002.

RESOLVED:

That further progress reports on Kinship Care be submitted to future meetings for information.

77 ACTIONS RESULTING FROM THE INSPECTION OF THE HAMPSHIRE ADOPTION AGENCY BY THE COMMISSION FOR SOCIAL CARE INSPECTIONS IN NOVEMBER 2005

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 12 in the Minute Book) outlining the actions taken as a result of recommendations arising from the inspection of the County Council Adoption Agency by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) in November 2005.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

78 ACTIONS RESULTING FROM THE INSPECTION OF THE HAMPSHIRE FOSTERING SERVICE BY THE COMMISSION FOR SOCIAL CARE INSPECTIONS IN DECEMBER 2005

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 13 in the Minute Book) outlining the actions taken as a result of recommendations arising from the inspection of County Council Fostering Service by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) in December 2005.

In considering the report, the Committee asked that congratulations be passed onto the Fostering Service for the successful inspection.



RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

79 FEES AND ALLOWANCES IN RESPECT OF CHILDREN SUPPORTED IN ADOPTION, RESIDENCE AND SPECIAL GUARDIANSHIP ARRANGEMENTS, KINSHIP PLACEMENTS, FOSTER CARE AND FAMILY LINKS FOR 2006/07

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 14 in the Minute Book) outlining proposals for increasing the County Council's fees and allowances payable in respect of children who cannot be cared for by their parents and who need to be cared for away from home, and in respect of children who can be supported to remain at home, with regular respite care provided by others.

RESOLVED:

That the Lead Executive Member for Children's Services be advised:

That the Committee supports the following proposals:

(a) To increase Adoption Allowances by 2.5% as of 1 April 2006 (reference paragraph 2 in the report)


(b) To increase Residence Allowance by 2.5% as of 1 April 2006 (reference paragraph 3 in the report)


(c) To introduce an allowance scheme to support special guardianship orders (reference paragraph 4)


(e) To increase Kinship Care Allowances by 2.5% as of 1 April 2006 (reference paragraph 5 in the report)


(f) To increase Family Link Allowances by 2.5% as of 1 April 2006 (reference paragraph 6 in the report)


(g) To increase Foster Carers Skill Fees by 2.5% as of 1 April 2006 (reference paragraph 7 in the report)


(h) To increase Fostering Allowances by 2.5% as of 1 April 2006, plus additional miscellaneous expenses for foster carers (reference paragraph 8.8, 8.9 and 8.10 in the report)

80 CHILDREN'S SERVICES POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE - FORWARD PLAN 2006

The Committee received the report of the Chief Executive (Item 15 in the Minute Book) on the Committee Forward Plan for 2006.