Agenda and minutes

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.

Julie Lamb declared an interest in Item 5 as her son was attending Corbets Tey School.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 26 January 2012 and authorise the Chairman to sign them.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 26 January 2012 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Committee received a report from the 14-19 Manager on the areas of service and support being provided for post-16 education learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities (LLDD) and the two pilot programmes delivered in 2011/12.

The Committee noted that the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 (ASCL) placed new duties on Local Authorities, namely the duty to secure enough suitable education and training to meet the reasonable needs of 16-19 years olds as well as for those aged 19-25 who were subject to a learning difficulty assessment.

Since the Act was passed in November 2009, Havering Local Authority commissioned a review of Post 16 SEN Education in early 2010. The review highlighted the need to develop additional provision due to the changing demand for specialist provision. There were more children with profound and complex disabilities as a result of improved medical support and care.

Currently there were three special schools providing provision up to the age of sixteen. Ravensbourne was the only special school with Post 16 provision and provides provision for severe and profound learning difficulties (SLD/PLD).  The current accommodation was not entirely fit for purpose, and it was hoped that by developing a proposal further both the educational needs and accommodation needs to support these learners could be achieved.

In the absence of significant capital or revenue funding, any local development would have to tap into external funding sourced through the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA). Currently there were three main routes for funding learners aged 16 to 25 with LDD:

• The SEN block grant, which Local Authorities receive to discharge their statutory duties towards those with SEN in special schools (Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) funded).
• Additional Learning Support (ALS) funding allocated to colleges and independent providers for learners aged 16 to 25 in local provision.
• Provision funded for individual learners with LDD aged 16 to 25 as part of the specialist placement budget, which included provision at independent specialist providers where their needs could not be met locally. This budget was managed by the YPLA.

Whilst these funding streams would pass to Local Authority control in 2013-14, this did not help with the immediate pressure of securing Post-16 provision.

The Young People and Adult Learning Strategy Manager had worked with the Havering College of Further and Higher Education and Havering Sixth Form College to establish pilot schemes from September 2011 in which students were on the roll of the colleges and so able to access participation funding and Additional Learner Support funding through the YPLA, but receive their education through provision at Corbets Tey and Hall Mead respectively. The provision at Corbets Tey is for those students from Corbets Tey, Dycorts and similar schools who might otherwise have gone to or remained at out of borough day special schools’ sixth forms and that at Hall Mead is for higher functioning students, who may have some problems engaging in an unsupported fashion at the Sixth Form College without a supported transition.           

The Committee considered progress with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

The Committee received a report from the Strategic Lead, Performance and Policy from Social Care and Learning, regarding the Children and Young People’s Plan 2011-14 (CYPP). Specifically, the report was updating the Committee on the progress made against the six priorities as determined by the Children’s Trust.

The Committee noted that the six priorities of the CYPP and the work being undertaken under each priority, detailed as follows:

1.      Ensuring children and young people are protected from abuse and neglect

This first area worked to ensure that the safety and wellbeing of children and young people was embedded in multi-agency working. This would mean intervening early and at the right time as well as involving families in service design and delivery. Key activity included:

·        Strengthened multi-agency working practices: the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) was due to go live in 2012 with partners located in the same office to allow for better information sharing. A ‘triage’ service was in operation in the Duty and Assessment Team and a new referral form had been introduced in order to reduce unnecessary referrals and speed up the process.

·        Improved Participation of Families.

·        Professionals using the right tools and procedures for the specific needs of the child: the high standards imposed by the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) were being implemented across the sector, with working being led by the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB).

2.      Increase breastfeeding rates

The Committee was informed that evidence suggested that breastfeeding had many health benefits for children, including reducing child obesity. Havering had one of the highest rates of obesity and one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in London. To address the gap, significant work had been done to improve the reliability of breastfeeding data. Work underway included:

·        Increasing awareness of breastfeeding to all cultures and age groups: this work included breastfeeding awareness sessions in schools and an extensive marketing campaign.

·        Supporting mothers to feel confident to breastfeed in public.

·        Improving access to breastfeeding support services.

3.      Reduce child poverty

Members noted that nearly one in five children in Havering lived in poverty (this was defined as belonging to a family receiving 60% less that the median income). This number was lower than other London boroughs; the rate was higher than Havering’s statistical neighbours. Current activity included:

·        Developing a network of integrated services for families, focusing on the Foundation Years.

·        Reducing barriers to employment

·        Improving financial wellbeing

·        Addressing health inequalities

4.      Reducing teenage conceptions and termination rates

Teenage conception rates had been increasing, contrary to a national and London-wide downward trend.  Latest data showed that the local rate was now falling and at a faster rate than for London and England, demonstrating the impact of local efforts, which included:

·        Access to Contraceptive and Sexual Health (CASH) services: including a Condom Card scheme (C-Card) and a sexual health information booklet.

·        Targeted work with vulnerable groups.

·        Workforce development.

5.      Support complex families

The Committee was informed that there had been a lot of recent media attention on the Government’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.