Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the CHILDREN'S SERVICES POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE of the HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester on 23 May, 2006.

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

81 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.

Declarations of interest were made in relation to Minute No. 86 below.

82 MINUTES

The Minutes of the Children's Services Policy Review Committee held on 14 March 2006 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Matters arising thereon:-

Minute No. 74 - Positive Out-of-School Activities for Children aged 8-13 Years

Interested Members were asked to put forward their names at the close of the meeting.

Minute No. 77 - Actions resulting from the inspection of the Hampshire Adoption Agency by the Commission for Social Care Inspections in November 2005

It was noted that a progress report would be submitted to a future briefing day.

83 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman warmly welcomed Pam Robinson, the newly appointed Deputy Director for Children and Families, Councillor Mrs C.Bailey who had replaced Councillor L.Dunsdon on the Committee and introduced Councillor Mrs Anna McNair-Scott as the Vice-Chairman elect following the appointment of Councillor Mrs P. A. West as the new Chairman of the Council. It was also reported that there was a parent governor vacancy on the Committee following the resignation of D. Chapman who had served on the committee since December 2004. The Committee placed on record its appreciation of his contribution to the Committee. The Chairman also reported on the passing of Norman Hearson in April 2006. He was a former Chairman of the Education and Employment Liaison Council for Hampshire in the 1980s and a Co-opted Member on the Education Committee for a number of years. He was also Director of IBM and did a lot of work associated with the educational development of young people. As a mark of respect the Committee stood for a minute's silence.

The Chairman invited the Executive Member for Children's Services to report that the Care Action Team/Care Leavers Service had received a 'Wavemakers ' national award for their project 'Passport to Success'. This innovative project developed by young people and supported by Members, highlighted how corporate parents can enhance the life chance opportunities for children leaving care. Most of the recommendations had been implemented very successfully, including better access to university, more job opportunities and driving lessons. The scheme was developed by young people and supported by the Executive Member for Children Services. The Chairman also reported upon various conferences and events she had attended since the last meeting.

The Director of Children's Services also read out a statement on the progress of the restructuring of the Children's Services Department which remained on course for implementation in April 2007 (A copy of the statement is appended to these minutes). The Chairman also reminded members about the visits to schools in north and east Andover on 19 June 2006 and about the "follow up" session with Co-Optees on 7 June 2006.

84 DEPUTATIONS

No deputations had been notified under Standing Order 21.

85 REPORT OF THE CHILDREN'S SPECIAL NEEDS TASK AND FINISH GROUP - SPECIAL NEEDS STATUTORY ASSESSMENT PROCESS

The Committee considered the report of the first Task and Finish Group (Item 6 in the Minute Book) which was set up to look at the Statutory Assessment Process and in particular analyse the reasons for Special Educational Needs (SEN) appeals in the academic year 2004-05.

Councillor Mrs Anna McNair Scott, who chaired the Task and Finish Group addressed the Committee and summarised its findings. She informed the Committee that approximately 460 statutory assessments are carried out each year. In the academic year of 2004-2005, 103 appeals were made of which 25 went to Tribunal, 18 of these were upheld. An internal audit by the County Treasurer's Department was in process and the findings had so far confirmed that internal control systems were in place, but because of database problems some areas had yet to be reported on.

The Task and Finish Group established that the SEN service were taking active steps to reduce the incidence of appeals by working more closely with parents. It had also established that there was a significant cost associated with appeals and tribunals along with a high cost of out-of- county placements. Noting in particular that parents often employed barristers to represent them at Tribunals, whereas the County Council only did so in a minority of cases. It was further noted that the SEN service monitored the resource provision in both special and mainstream schools and that there was an advisory review group for each main category of SEN.


Councillor Mrs Anna McNair Scott also highlighted the benefits of the Portage Service which delivered specialist intervention and support for families of pre-school children with special needs and the Parent Partnership Service which provided advice and information for parents and carers of children with SEN.

The Committee welcomed the report and endorsed the approach taken by the Task and Finish Group. Members expressed concern that where an appeal was upheld at Tribunal, the long term costs could be extremely high and in particular commented that the law, as it stood, where parents were only allowed two months to register an appeal, resulted in a relatively high number of appeals being later withdrawn.

In conclusion the SEN service was actively seeking to reduce appeals within existing structures and by new initiatives, in particular it had been established that the Parent Partnership Service was cost effective. However, the Task and Finish Group had identified that data management systems could be improved to aid the effective management and delivery of the service.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the Children's Services PRC adopts and puts forward the following

recommendations to the Lead Member for Children's Services:-

¬ That the Lead Member for Children's Services be asked to agree in principle

to the potential benefits of expanding the preventative work of the Parent Partnership Service (including the Inclusive Partnership Agreement pilot), and consider extending it where possible within existing resources.


¬ That the data management systems and use of management information across the Children's Services in this area be improved.


(b) That the PRC continue to monitor progress on outcomes from the Task and Finish Group, initially through a briefing in October 2006.

86 CONSULTATIONS ON THE CONTINUATION OF FREE TRANSPORT TO DENOMINATIONAL SCHOOLS

Mr. D. Mayer declared a prejudicial interest in the following item as a recipient family of free transport to a denominational school and left the meeting during consideration of the item.

Mrs. Rita Jenkins declared a personal interest in the following item as Governor of a Catholic school and remained in the meeting room during discussion.

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 7 in the Minute Book) setting out the results of the consultations on the continuation of free transport to denominational schools agreed by the Executive Member for Education at his Decision Day on 19 January 2006.

The Committee discussed in detail the proposals to adopt a new denominational transport policy for new applicants from the start of the academic year 2007 - 08. The proposed policy was based upon the introduction of charges which would take into account the number of eligible children in a family travelling to a denominational school and the level of family income.


Whilst the Committee had some reservations about charging parents, it was mindful that the County Council must take into account the cost of providing transport and its own resources when deciding whether to end free denominational transport. Furthermore, the Committee was aware of questions being asked about whether the continuation of this support for denominational choice of school, despite its legal and historical background, was fair or justified when choice of schools based on other factors was not assisted with support for transport.



The report indicated that over a six year period from 2007/08 the support for denominational transport was estimated to reduce from £565,000 to £315,000 at constant prices if charges of £1 per day were introduced for all pupils other than those receiving free school meals. This would include £5,000 extra as an estimated administrative cost of this approach. It was noted that the impact on the budget would depend upon the level of change and extent of enhanced remission from charges. Precise calculations would be made once the implications of the modifications were understood.

RESOLVED:

That the Executive Member for Education be advised to adopt a new denominational transport policy for new applicants from the start of the academic year 2007-08 based upon the introduction of charges but taking into account the number of eligible children in a family travelling to a denominational school and the level of family income.

87 COUNTY POLICY AND ACTION PLAN FOR THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN LOOKED AFTER

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 8 in the Minute Book) detailing the proposed county policy on the education of children looked after, together with the action plan detailing what the County Council which addressed the statutory requirements under Section 52 of the Children Act 2004. The actions within it would enable the County Council to narrow the gap in achievement for children looked after and ensure that they received the care and support to achieve outcomes comparable to their peers.

The Committee welcomed the policy and action plan on improving educational outcomes for children looked after and suggested several minor textual/word changes to the action plan. It was also suggested that a copy of the report, policy and updated action plan be circulated to the Governors Forum and Schools Forum for information.

RESOLVED:

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

(a) To agree the policy and action plan on improving educational outcomes for children looked after; with the action plan to incorporate several minor textual alterations.


(b) That a copy of the report, policy and updated action plan be circulated to the Governors Forum and Schools Forum.


(c) That six monthly updates on progress against the key data set be received until scrutiny procedures for monitoring the outcomes for Children Looked After are established.

88 RESIDENTIAL CONTRACTING FOR THE PROVISION OF INDEPENDENT SECTOR PLACEMENTS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 9 in the Minute Book) detailing the process for the purchase of independent sector residential placements for children and young people. The report also provided information relating to the joint working being undertaken by 38 local authorities in the east, south east and east Midlands to share information and resources to maximise placement safety, stability and cost.

The report highlighted that the regional work to share resources to monitor providers and undertake fee negotiations would result in cost savings to the County Council through the reduction in resources required to carry out this work. The improved knowledge of providers would also result in improved placement selection, potentially leading to greater placement stability and therefore reduced cost.

RESOLVED:

That progress be noted and an update report be submitted in July 2006.

89 RACE EQUALITY DEVELOPMENT IN SCHOOLS - ANNUAL REPORT

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 10 in the Minute Book) providing an overview of the work of Children's Services in relation to its statutory duty to promote race equality in schools, including the annual data on racial incidents in schools.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the work of schools and teachers be commended.


(b) That schools not making a return for 2005 be contacted to remind them of their obligations.


(c) Data from the pupil attitude survey be monitored each year in schools to be reminded of the support available in the county for supporting further investigation into their response.


(d) A report based on the 2005 data be sent to all schools and made available electronically.

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

The Committee received the report of the Chief Executive (Item 11 in the Minute Book) on the Committee Forward Plan for 2006.

Appendix A

Summary of statement read out by John Coughlan about restructuring of the Children's Services Department

The progress of the restructuring of the Children's Services Department remains on course for implementation in April 2007. A wide ranging consultation about the core principles and broad outline of the structure has taken place with staff, partners and key stakeholders and concluded in March.

During April the remaining members of the new DMT took up post - Pam Robinson as Deputy Director for Children and Families and Felicity Roe as Assistant Director for Performance and Resources, joined John Clarke and myself. Pam's arrival is especially relevant as arguably some of the most challenging aspects of the restructuring are in her division.

Detailed work is now taking place to resolve a number of questions around affordability, safety, access to services and fitness for purpose. County Treasurers are assisting in this work. We remain confident that we will be able to hold to a timetable which will include a briefing to senior managers in early July immediately followed by formal consultation with the Trades Unions. That consultation will concern not just the design but also the personnel processes which will be adopted. A principle of minimum disruption will apply.

We will commence appointing to the new management roles through the autumn on a tier by tier basis. Internal appointments will be prioritised and we remain confident that the majority of the senior roles will be filled internally.

Whereas the structure will be operational from next April it is not realistic to expect that all of the accommodation solutions we are seeking, especially to assist joint working, will be in place by then. That will be a continuous process and will need to fit with the wider corporate accommodation solutions.

Although there is much work still to do, especially on points of detail around certain specialist services, the overarching framework for the structure remains as proposed in January. That is:

- three areas each led by an Area Director from each of Education and Inclusion

& Children & Families parts of the Directorate;

- localised services configured around district/borough council boundaries;

- early intervention teams consisting of a range of integrated services ;

- linked to defined clusters of schools;

- leadership for children's centres and extended schools resting within the

Education and Inclusion part of the Directorate.

Finally, it must be stressed that no structure is perfect and that the Change for Children Programme is much more than an exercise in organisational design. There must be an emphasis throughout on ensuring that the services need to work together and with partners to improve outcomes for children and those outcomes must remain at the fore throughout these changes.