Archived decisions

p F. Allgood

p C. Bailey

p D. Blampied

p Mrs E.M. Byrom

p B.D. Dash

p P. Edgar

p K. Evans

p Mrs J.K. Frankum

p K. Gill

a G.M. Hockley

p R.J. Kimber

p Mrs P.G. Peskett

p S.H. Read

a J.K. West

p P.A. West

p S. Wheale

ACTION

85

APOLOGIES

Apologies were received from Councillors G.M. Hockley, J.K. West and Mr. T. Blackshaw

86

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 save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with paragraph 12 of the Code.

Mrs. S. Dace declared a personal interest on Minute 90 being a Member of the Winchester and District Young Carers Project.

87

MINUTES

The Minutes of the Committee held on 23 January 2008 were signed as a correct record.

Matter arising thereon:

Minute 78 - New Service Delivery Model for Services for Young People Across Hampshire

The Director of Children's Services gave a verbal update. This included the main issues and dealt with several concerns. It was noted that a further report would be included as an agenda item for the next meeting.

Felicity Roe

(Children's Services Department)

88

CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman introduced Sally Dace, a parent governor from a special school, who had been elected to fill one of the statutory co-opted vacancies on the Committee. It was reported that this left a statutory co-opted vacancy for the Secondary School sector which was in the process of being filled. John Dawson and Stuart Juniper as Committee Consultees were also welcomed to this meeting.

89

DEPUTATIONS

These were no deputations made under this item.

90

JOINT AREA REVIEW 2007 - PROGRESS

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 6 in the Minute Book) summarising the progress towards the implementation of the Joint Area Review (JAR) action plan, including actions to improve identification and support for young carers and commissioning developments in phase 2 of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Trust. The report also contained information about the forthcoming Annual Performance Assessment 2008 and the priorities contained in the new Local Area Agreement 2008/09.

There followed a detailed discussion on the report. The following highlights the main comments resulting in actions required by officers:

· JAR Action Plan was to address the six recommendations and 16 important weaknesses identified in the JAR report - The Committee felt that they should as Members be aware of the weaknesses identified and asked to be circulated information about this. They noted that all aspects of the JAR Action Plan were being monitored by the Children's Services Management Team.

Felicity Roe (Children's Services Department)

· Local Area Agreement (LAA) from 2008/09 - The Committee noted that the new three year LAA had been agreed and, that amongst other things, the Children's Services Department would be negotiating with GOSE targets for improvements against selected national targets. In response to a Member's comments, the relevant officer made a note of and undertook to revisit the existing wording being queried in the report but made clear that it had to be consistent with the national indicator set.

Felicity Roe

(Children's Services Department)

· Access to Mainstream Leisure Facilities for young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The Committee noted that on-going collaborative work with District Councils was already taking place and included areas being covered by the Child Sub-Groups. It was noted that the suggested mapping of District Council policies relating to disabled access to leisure facilities could also be a model for checking on the availability of leisure facilities for Young Carers. It was therefore agreed to include this matter as part of a proposed future report to the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) on a `Strategy For Young Carers'.

Pam Robinson (Children's Services Department)

· Recruitment of Social Workers - Members noted that the recruitment of Social Workers varied across the County and that it was intended to bring a report on this item to a future meeting of the Committee.

Pam Robinson (Children's Services Department)

RESOLVED:

That the Committee note:

(a) the progress made towards the implementation of the JAR action plan.

(b) arrangements for the forthcoming Annual Performance Assessment 2008

(c) the priorities proposed in the new Local Area Agreement 2008/09

91

CHILDREN IN CARE

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 7 in the Minute Book) about the development of a new commissioning strategy for children in care. The report referred in particular to activity and trends in relation to Children in Care, including some national comparator data; progress concerning an intensive support service in South and North East Hampshire and to in-house foster carers, including foster care allowances, recruitment and retention.

After a full discussion, the Committee agreed to the following action:

That, as it was not part of this report, the Director of Children's Services be asked to report on Kinship Care to a future meeting of the Committee.

Pam Robinson

(Children's Services Department)

92

14-19 DIPLOMAS IN HAMPSHIRE

The Committee received the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 8 in the Minute Book) giving an update on the introduction of 14-19 Diplomas in Hampshire - a topic identified by Members for ongoing scrutiny during 2008.

Following detailed consideration of this item, the Committee agreed the following actions:

(a) That, as a way of keeping local Members informed, arrangements be made for each of the Hampshire Action Teams to be briefed on the present position.

(b) That the Committee continue to be kept informed of developments by way of regular updates on this item.

Melanie Saunders (Children's Services Department)

93

UPDATE ON PROGRESS WITH SCRUTINY OF RESPITE

The Committee received a verbal report by the Scrutiny Officer updating Members on the outcomes of the Conference on Short Breaks held on 10 March 2008. A written note about the Conference would be circulated to Members in the near future and include those actions required by the stakeholder groups.

Emma Gordon (Chief Executive's Department)

94

REVIEW OF SCHOOL EXCLUSIONS

The Committee considered the final draft report by the Scrutiny Officer (Item 10 in the Minute Book) on a review of Hampshire's approach to identifying, promoting and supporting strategies to tackle factors leading to and arising from school exclusions. Councillor Anna McNair Scott, Chairman of the Exclusions Scrutiny Review Group introduced the report and summarised some of the key areas which had been highlighted to the Group over the course of the review. The Committee noted that so as not to delay things, the report, would be considered for accuracy by the Director of Children's Services after this meeting prior to its final publication.

Members welcomed the report and endorsed its findings. They paid tribute to the Chairman of the Scrutiny Review Group and to the Scrutiny Officer for the way in which the detailed information had been presented.

During a full discussion and a wide exchange of views, the Committee supported a Member's proposal to include an additional recommendation within the report for further work on truancy in schools across the County and its possible link with crime and exclusion. The Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) felt that this matter might best be considered by the new Education Advisory Panel and this was noted . The Executive Lead Member further reported that it was his intention to respond formally to this Committee on the recommendations of the Scrutiny Review Group once the report had been finalised.

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

95

CHILD WELL-BEING IN RICH COUNTRIES

The Committee were reminded of the recommendations of an earlier Cabinet meeting 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.

The Chairman of the Committee reported that Members may prefer to focus their work on a particular topic and highlighted `material well-being', `health and safety', `education well-being' and `relationship between family and friends'. Of these topics, it was felt `material well-being' might be of particular interest to Members.

In discussion, there was a general reluctance by the Committee to undertake any new scrutiny work if this was to be in place of one of the other important topics previously identified as part of their 2008/09 work programme. They concluded not to support the inclusion of a new topic relating to Child well-being as part of their existing 2008/09 work programme. The Committee asked that this be communicated as appropriate.

Emma Gordon (Chief Executive's Department)

96

ANNUAL WORK PROGRAMME

Members received the list of topics identified by the Committee for scrutiny in their 2008/09 work programme.

Emma Gordon (Chief Executive's Department)