Venue: Committee Room 2 - Town Hall. View directions
Contact: Lorraine Hunter-Brown 01708 432436 Email: lorraine.hunterbrown@havering.gov.uk
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF SUBSTITUTE MEMBERS (if any) - receive.
Minutes: Apologies for absence were noted.
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DECLARATION OF INTERESTS Members are invited to declare any interests in any of the items on the agenda at this point of the meeting. Members may still declare an interest in an item at any time prior to the consideration of the matter.
Minutes: None declared.
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CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS The Chairman will announce details of the arrangements in case of fire or other events that might require the meeting room or building’s evacuation.
Minutes: The Chairman announced details of the arrangements in case of fire or other events that might require the meeting room or building’s evacuation.
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To approve the report for 2012/2013. (Attached)
Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee received a presentation of the report by Carol Hayden, Business & Performance Manager in Children’s Young People’s Services.
The Committee were referred to Appendix 1 containing the summary report on the position regarding service complaints handled in relation to the Children and Young People’s Services during the period 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013. In addition, it also showed the compliments received. Complaints about Children and Young People’s Services are reported separately because they are handled under specific regulations that individually define the statutory process into 3 formal stages (Stage 1, 2 and 3). Havering introduced an informal Pre Stage 1 process in 2005 to support a better complaints practice and avoid complaints escalating to statutory processes.
Some of the key messages within the report during 2012/13 were:
matters raised by MP’s and Councillors.
initial concerns, with 5 escalating to the formal stage 1 process.
individual corporate processes.
been a consistent approach with complaints made by the Children’s Advocacy Service.
had increased in 2012/13 by 1.
3 complaint will roll over into 2013/14.
good work Children and Young People’s Services have carried out.
The outcomes from these complaints were: 2 referred back as a premature complaint and investigated locally as a statutory Stage 1 complaint. 1 outside LGO jurisdiction, 1 informal enquiry, 1 complaint was investigated by the LGO with local settlement.
people.
of staff and disputed decision.
Currently Havering Council has a corporate complaints model that captures non-social care complaints, principally education, children services activity. These complaints systems are statutory and have separate defined and differing regulated processes.
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REVIEW OF COMPLAINTS ANNUAL REPORT FOR LEARNING AND ACHIEVEMENT PDF 158 KB To approve the report for 2012/2013. (Attached)
Additional documents:
Minutes: The Committee were referred to Appendix 1 containing the summary report on the position regarding service complaints handled in relation to Learning and Achievement for the period 1 April 2012 - 31 March 2013. The Committee were asked to note that the report excluded Social Care & Learning, Pupil Services - School Admissions & Exclusions Appeals,which are a statutory requirement and are dealt with by Committee Administration within Legal & Democratic Services.
In 2012/13 there were 8 complaints, compared to the previous year 2011/12 the number was 20 and 1 of these complaints were against Commissioning (Schools). The reasons related to quality of service, challenge of Council decision, dispute decision, Council being unreasonable and policy issue. The number of enquiries received from MPs and Councillors amounted to 50, 17 of which related to school appeals decisions.
The Committee noted the report and voiced their concerns on both of the reports format which they found confusing. Officers advised that the report presentation would be improved in 2014.
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LOCAL AUTHORITY SCHOOL EVALUATION FORM AND TRAINING FOR OFSTED INSPECTIONS Power point Presentation by Mary Pattinson. (To follow) Minutes: Members participated in a practical training exercise relating to the Self Evaluation Form for OFSTED Inspections. Members were given 9 possible aspects that Inspectors may investigate and were asked to provide their suggestions for an Evidence Base – i.e. what meetings the Inspectors may want to attend, documents they might wish to see, people they may want to talk to and questions they might ask. Members were split into discussion groups of two or three. The results from the discussions would be collated and evaluated by officers within the Children and Learning department and would form part of a briefing to be circulated at a later date. The Committee found the exercise very informative and requested that the paperwork for the training exercise be circulated to members.
Officers advised the Committee noted that an action plan would be in place by January 2014 to address areas for development. A final draft form of the SEF would be sent to all education providers in the New Year and that members observations from the training exercise would be collated and considered prior to circulation and that a briefing document would be make available on each of the points in each task. The Committee requested sight of the final document at the March 2014 meeting.
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FUTURE AGENDAS Committee Members are invited to indicate to the Chairman, items within this Committee's terms of reference they would like to see discussed at a future meeting.
Note: it is not considered appropriate for issues relating to individuals to be discussed under this provision.
Minutes: The Vice-Chairman proposed that future reports/briefings are noted only due to the large volume of information and data requested by the Committee.
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URGENT BUSINESS To consider any other item in respect of which the Chairman is of the opinion, by reason of special circumstances which shall be specified in the minutes, that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency. Minutes: No urgent business was raised.
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