Archived decisions

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73.

APOLOGIES

No apologies were received under this item.

ACTION

74.

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.

75.

MINUTES

The Minutes of the Committee held on 23 January 2008 were signed as a correct record subject to reference being made in the Work Programme to "Tackling Underachievement of Schools" which was referred to colloquially as "Time Taken to Turn the Tanker Round".

Matters arising thereon:

Minute No.63 - Non County Placements and Independent Fostering Provider Placements - The Chairman reminded the Director of Children's Services that the Committee were mindful that the policy guidance on placing children in care with fosterers or adopters who smoke would be updated in due course and asked that the Committee be advised of timescales and be consulted as appropriate.

Pam Robinson/

Kate Hart (Children's Services Dept.)

76.

CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman informed Members that this would be the last meeting attended by the Clerk to the Committee, Karen Widdowson as she had been appointed on secondment to the Property, Business and Regulatory Department as Democratic Services Manager. Members thanked Karen for her support to the Committee and wished her well in her new position.

77.

DEPUTATIONS

There were no deputations made under this item.

78.

PROGRESS REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SERVICES FOR YOUNG

PEOPLE ACROSS HAMPSHIRE

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's

Services (Item 6 in the Minute Book) to be submitted to the

Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) on 23

January 2008 concerning progress with the implementation of the 13

recommendations approved on 11 October 2007 about services for

young people in Hampshire.

The Director of Children's Services was pleased to report that good

progress had been made with the recommendations and in particular

highlighted progress on staffing transfers, the discussions with

partners and the targeting of resources to ensure it was available for

the young people who needed it the most. Accommodation

utilisation issues were also touched upon and Members asked that

they be kept up to date with any developments.

It was also reported that discussions were on going with the

Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) on the

Connexions Grants allocation for 2008/09 to 2010/11.

The Committee endorsed the recommendations to the Executive

Lead Member for Children's Services (Education).

Alison Alexander (Children's Services Dept.)

79.

CHILDREN'S SERVICES REVENUE BUDGET - 2008/09, 2009/10 AND 2010/11

The Committee considered the joint report of the County Treasurer and Director of Children's Services (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on the Children's Services Revenue Budget - 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11.

The following summarises the Committee's main comments on the budget comprising a combination of Schools', Non Schools' and former Children's Social Services budgets. It was highlighted that the Schools Forum considered the Schools Budget and made recommendations to the Executive Member:

· Home to School Transport - noted continuing pressure on the budget and asked that the Environment Dept. be thanked for the improvements in managing service delivery and costs

· Rights, Respects and Responsibilities Programme - continued funding considered important

· Schools Budget -welcomed range of measures to challenge excessive balances with schools

· Stubbington and Minstead Study Centres - noted the planned removal of funding from the LEA Budget.

· English as an additional language - noted growth proposal and the fact that the Schools Forum had allocated £600,000 following an assessment of need. The Committee requested that suitable monitoring of outcomes be undertaken.

· Schools Budget - pleased to note increase in funding to schools for deprived pupils and Children Looked After

· Terminology - "Unallocated Budget" to be re-phrased accordingly

· Children's Centre Programme - pleased that this was on track and that the 60 planned in the first two phases should all be complete in 2008

· Wessex Youth Offending Team (YOT) - noted outcomes of recent inspection and proposal to increase investment to meet one of the key recommendations relating to "increasing front line resources"

· Children in Care - noted budget pressure and welcomed real improvements in managing service delivery and costs

· Independent Fostering Providers - noted cashable efficiency improvement and welcomed invest to save proposal for in house foster care service

· Staffing Levels - noted planned workforce levels and committee requested further information about type of posts.

· Connexions - concerns expressed about the extent to which costs will be met from DCSF transitional support grant

· New Grants - Care Matters/Child Death Review Processes/Local Involvement Networks (LiNKS) - Members asked for more detail when available

· Ministry of Justice consultation re implications of Public Law for Children in Care cases- noted with concern the potential significant impact in the Revenue Support Grant (RSG) settlement

· Social Care Workforce -welcomed further investment to increase the number of social workers and therefore the service to vulnerable children and their families in Hampshire

· Area Based Grant - noted this has been introduced to replace the Local Area Agreement grant and would not be ring fenced

The Committee endorsed the recommendations to the Executive

Lead Member for Children's Services (Education).

Sarah Pook (County Treasurers Dept.)

[AT THIS POINT IN PROCEEDINGS THE CHAIRMAN

LEFT THE MEETING]

[COUNCILLOR MRS ANNA MCNAIR SCOTT IN THE

CHAIR]

80.

A CORPORATE PLEDGE FOR CHILDREN IN CARE

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's

Services (Item 8 in the Minute Book) to be submitted to the

Executive Member for Children and Families on 23 January 2008

concerning the final "Pledge" for Children in Hampshire's Care.

Following detailed discussion the Committee requested the Executive Member to amend the Pledge in two respects (contained in paragraphs 5.1.1 and 5.3.1 of the report) and to clarify three other matters in relation to the explanatory notes accompanying the Pledge.

Accordingly the Committee advised the Executive Member to approve the following:

a) That the Executive Member for Children and Families agree that the guidance notes which accompany the Pledge clarify that :

(i) the Pledge applies equally to children in care in custody

(ii) that the School Admissions Code requires that children in care be given highest priority in admission authorities' over-subscription criteria; and

(iii) that children in care will always have access to a professional.

b) That the pledges contained in paragraphs 5.1.1 and 5.3.1 in the report be modified to include the words "as far as possible".

Rachel Walker/Gill Horrobin (Children's Services Dept.)

81.

SCRUTINY REVIEW OF EDUCATION PROVISION FOR

DEAF AND HEARING IMPAIRED CHILDREN -

OUTCOMES OF THE REVIEW

To Committee considered the report of the Chairman (Item 9 in the

Minute Book) detailing the outcomes of this review. The

Committee noted and welcomed the final decisions taken by the

Executive (Lead) Member for Education.

82.

UPDATE ON PROGRESS WITH SCRUTINY OF RESPITE

To Committee were advised that the conference would be held on

10 March between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. at Winchester Guildhall and

the keynote speaker would be Steve Broach, Campaign Manager,

Every Disabled Child Matters. The Committee noted the indicative

stakeholder list (Item 10 in the Minute Book).

83.

HART AND RUSHMOOR HAMPSHIRE ACTION TEAM

(HAT) SUBMISSION TO THE SELECT COMMITTEE -

RECRUITMENT AND PAYMENT OF FOSTER CARERS IN

HAMPSHIRE

On 28 November 2007 the Committee received a submission from the Hart and Rushmoor HAT regarding the recruitment and payment of foster carers in Hampshire (Item 11 in the Minute Book).

The HAT recommended that the Committee undertake a detailed investigation into the recruitment and payment of foster carers in Hampshire as part of its Work Programme for 2008. The report of the Chairman of the Select Committee outlined the activity undertaken by the Select Committee on this topic along with the proposed next steps.

Following detailed consideration, the Committee agreed the following

actions:

a) That the Committee use the Hart and Rushmoor HAT submission to inform ongoing scrutiny of this topic in 2008.

b) That the Hart and Rushmoor HAT be thanked for its detailed investigation of this topic.

Emma Gordon (Chief Executive's Dept.)

84.

ANNUAL WORK PROGRAMME

The Committee considered the annual work programme for the Committee (Item 12 in the Minute Book) and the recommendations made by Cabinet on 26 November 2007 concerning "Child well-being in rich countries - implications for Hampshire" where it was resolved that a commission be established under the auspices of the Children and Young People Select Committee to investigate further the findings of the UNICEF report, its relevance to Hampshire's children and the County Council's leadership role.

Following detailed discussion, topic no. 5 was amended to read

"Tackling Underachievement of Schools" and it was agreed that the

Deputy Director for Children's Services (Education) be invited to

present to Committee information about the "Child Well Being"

agenda and how it links to the "Children's Plan". This would then

inform the work programme.

John Clarke (Children's Services Dept.) and Emma Gordon (Chief Executive's Dept.)