Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received and noted. The Chairman welcomed Councillors Phil Martin and Roger Westwood as substitutes for Councillors John Glanville and Joshua Chapman respectively.

None declared.

The Chairman announced details of the arrangements in case of fire or other events that might require the meeting room or building’s evacuation.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held o 4 March 2014 and authorise the Chairman to sign them.

The Committee considered and agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 4 March 2014 and authorised the Chairman to sign them.

The Committee considered and agreed the minutes of the special meeting held on 24 June 2014 and authorised the Chairman to sign them.

To note the membership of the Committee.

The membership of the Committee was noted and the Chairman advised that she would be attending a meeting to discuss future Co-optee membership.

To agree the Children and Learning Overview & Scrutiny Committee work plan for 2014/2015.

The Committee discussed the draft work plan for the coming year. It was considered vital that the Committee were kept informed of the legislative changes contained in the Children and Families Bill (SEN) and the item is discussed at a future meeting. The Chairman requested that the Local Authority SEN website link is circulated to all Committee members. Stage 3 Primary/Secondary reviews would require further monitoring by the Committee and it was agreed that this would be an agenda item for the September 2014 meeting.

         The Committee agreed that the following items would be included in the work plan for 2014/2015.

         Self Evaluation Form

School Performance (To look at a good performing school)

LSCB Annual Report (Available October 2014)

School Attendance

Primary/Secondary Reviews

Annual Review of Corporate Parenting Panel

Pupil Premium

Ofsted Inspection

Probation and Youth Offending

Adult Learning/Higher Education

SEN

Early Years

Personal Budgets

Recruitment and Retention

Traded Services

         It was agreed that the reports pack would be a regular agenda item with 1 side A4 briefings on the following:

         LSCB Minutes

Corporate Parenting Panel

Fostering Panel

Adoption Panel

MASH

Children’s Health

Governor’s Panel

Probation & Youth Offending

Budgets/pressures

Early Years committees

Notification of schools in special measures

NEETS – Training and Employment aspects

         The Committee agreed the work plan for 2014/2015 and to alternate agendas of future meetings between Children’s Services and Learning and Achievement.

         The Chairman confirmed that all Committee members would be forwarded Ofsted school inspection reports for their information.

To note that the above Cabinet Report from the Council’s Continuous Improvement Model is due for review subject to agreement by the Committee.

The Committee noted the Cabinet Report from the Council’s Continuous Improvement Model on the Future Shape of Education Services. It was agreed to await the new report which would include any legislative and budgetary changes.

To note that the above Cabinet Report from the Council’s Continuous Improvement Model is due for review subject to agreement by the Committee.

The Committee reviewed the Cabinet Report from the Council’s Continuous Improvement Model on Children’s Centres. It was agreed that officers provide the Committee with more specific information on Health Visitors in relation to “Prevention and Intervention” due to the transfer of commissioning Health Visitors and School Nurses to the Local Authority.

To receive a progress report from Kathy Bundred.

The Committee noted the RAG rated Ofsted Action Plan for Children and Young People’s Services tabled at the meeting. The first Ofsted inspection took place in April 2013 although a different Ofsted framework was now in operation, however,  the Committee wished to note progress and to ensure Ofsted recommendations had been implemented.

It was noted that there were no Red ratings, however, 53% recommendations remained Amber and 47% were rated Green. Officers advised that the Amber ratings were due to either time target slippage or fluctuating performances. The Committee requested an update on the Amber rated actions and were advised as follows:

Consideration giving to child or young person’s ethnicity

Following the inspection finding by Ofsted that there was insufficient analysis of the impact of ethnicity, officers advised that the situation was improving however it was sometimes difficult to obtain all the relevant information particularly when Children’s Services were only involved with families for a short time. The Committee were further advised that data quality was improving and that data quality reports and case audits would in future highlight any omissions.

Ensure the timely completion and review of assessments

The inspectors had found that the time taken to complete assessments remained below that of statistical neighbours. Officers advised that management processes had been tightened up so as to ensure that assessments were completed before transfer or closure.  Performance against this indicator was 51% for 2013/14 and had peaked to 82% in May 2014. Management prioritisation would continue to ensure good progress was made to achieve the target of 90% timeliness.

Ensure chronologies are clear, recorded and fit for purpose

Officers advised that this action would be rated green by the end of July.

Common Assessment Framework (CAF)

Inspectors found that the embedding of CAF remained an area for development and that progress had been slow.  Officers advised this was a consistency issue and that it had been raised at the Local Children’s Safeguarding Board. Havering had replaced CAF with the Early Help Assessment (EHA) and extensive training had also been undertaken with key agencies in the use of the new assessment. An increasing proportion of contacts to children’s social care now resulted in the completion of an EHA.  The Committee were advised that the action would be rated Green by December 2014.

Performance Management Data Analysis

Ofsted had found that the arrangements to collate and analyse performance management data were not sufficiently robust.  The Committee were advised that the framework, performance indicators and other measures had been refined in line with Ofsted requirements and that pod-level performance reporting had commenced.  Officers were confident that the action would be rated Green rated very soon. 

Performance Management Framework

Ofsted commented on the absence of a comprehensive management framework that facilitated understanding and robust challenge of the quality of child protection arrangements. Officers advised the Committee that it was not the level of performance but how it was managed and that a new framework had been developed. The new framework would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

If available.

Officers advised that unfortunately no report was yet available for this agenda item. It was therefore agreed that a briefing note (A4 one side) be presented at the next meeting that would provide a summary of the challenges and successes and that a full report be provided annually.

If available.

The Committee agreed to defer this item to the September meeting.

To receive a briefing from Kathy Bundred.

The Committee received a verbal update from the Head of Children’s Services who advised that a report had recently been presented to the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board.  Havering remained the top performing borough in London with 435 families registered on the project.  Progress was being made with Troubled Families doing well on employment.  A good relationship had been established with the DWPS which had made a difference. 

To receive a report from Kathy Bundred.

It was noted that this item had been discussed under item 8.

To receive a briefing.

Officers advised that the plan was in the process of being presented to the Children’s Trust. The Committee were advised that the Trust is a statutory body in partnership with the Local Authority in championing the vision, commitments and principles for children and young people in Havering.

       The Chairman requested that officers provide the Committee with a brief report on the plan at a future meeting.

If available.

It was noted that the SEN Transport report was not available for the meeting. 

The member for Special Schools advised the Committee of an email received from a parent who had complained that the regular transport staff had been replaced with temporary staff. The temporary staff were unfamiliar with the routes and that this was causing delays in journey times and that they had no knowledge in how to operate the special equipment, for example, tail lifts etc. The parent also complained that there had been no request for feedback on the quality of the service for some considerable time.

It was agreed that in response, the officers would email all Committee members and advise what action was being taken.

The Chairman requested that the Committee member forward the email to the Clerk for forwarding to the relevant officer.

The Committee agreed that a report on how the service was being monitored should be presented at the meeting in September. The Committee also agreed that a parent survey should be carried out as soon as possible.

The Chairman advised the Committee that the Havering Youth Parliament would present to the Committee at the next meeting. It was therefore agreed that the next Committee meeting on 10 September 2014 would take place in the Council Chamber so as to accommodate all the attendees.

Committee members were reminded that they could forward their suggestions for future agenda items to the Chairman or the Committee Clerk. 

No urgent matters were raised.