Issue - meetings

RECOMMENDED that Council: -

(a)             Approves £4.462 million investment into Childrens Services Improvement and transformation.

(b)            The areas for investment to establish the structures and capacity needed to deliver transformation and improvement in children’s services being delegates authority to the Director of Children’s Services in consultation with the Chief Financial Officer with the allocation of funds and monitoring of impact and expenditure through the Children’s Transformation Board.

Note – resolutions (c), (d) and (e) were resolved matters by the Cabinet.

The Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People Councillor Richard Burton presented the report on the Children’s Services Building Stronger Foundations Programme and outlined the recommendations as set out on the agenda.

In proposing the recommendations the Portfolio Holder advised that the recommendations had been tweaked in order to make grammatical sense, and that this wasn’t an amendment to the recommendation but to ensure the recommendation was clear.

RESOLVED that Council: -

(a)             Approved £4.462 million investment into Childrens Services Improvement and transformation; and

(b)             The areas for investment to establish the structures and capacity needed to deliver transformation and improvement in children’s services being delegates authority to the Director of Children’s Services in consultation with the Chief Financial Officer with the allocation of funds and monitoring of impact and expenditure through the Children’s Transformation Board.

Voting: Nem.Con

Note – resolutions (c), (d) and (e) were resolved matters by the Cabinet.

Meeting adjourned 20:58

[Councillors H Allen, M Cox, A Filer and V Ricketts left the meeting]

Meeting reconvened 21:18

a.   This paper sets out:

         I.    The strategic context and case for change,

        II.    The outline approach to transformation in children’s services, and

b    Sets out the requested areas for the investment that is needed to establish the structures and capacity needed to deliver transformation in children’s services The recommendations of this report are requesting that Council commits to making a £4.462m allocation of extra revenue resources into the Children’s Services. This one-off investment will be in addition to the £14.6m ongoing investment included in the approved revenue budget for 2023/24, which excluded pay base changes, and the one-off investment of £1.7m in the Children’s Service improvement journey made during 2022/23. It also excludes the following additional one-off allocations approved since the budget for 2023/24 was set.

·       £189k        Children’s commissioning

Approved by Officer Decision Record by the Corporate Director for Wellbeing services funded via a specific Earmarked Reserve.

·       £784k        Special Educations Needs & Disability Service

Approved via CMB and an Officer Decision Record funded by a redirection principally Children’s Services Earmarked Reserves no longer needed for their original purpose.

RECOMMENDED that Council: -

(a)             Approves £4.462 million investment into Childrens Services improvement and transformation.

(b)            The areas for investment to establish the structures and capacity needed to deliver transformation and improvement in children’s services being delegates authority to the Director of Children’s Services in consultation with the Chief Financial Officer with the allocation of funds and monitoring of impact and expenditure through the Children’s Transformation Board.

RESOLVED that Cabinet: -

(c)             Noted the progress made with the initial phase of the Children’s Services Transformation Programme and the proposed areas of focus.

(d)            Received update reports on progress of the overall programme and the achievement of programme objectives and financial savings; and

(e)             Receives a full Business Case to support the deliverability of the transformation savings at the December 2023 meeting.

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holders: Children and Young People

                            Transformation and Resources

Reason

This investment will enable improved outcomes for children and young people in BCP, and the more effective and efficient services which are needed to secure a future Good Ofsted rating. In turn, this will contribute to the achievement of c. £7m in annual financial savings within the current MTFP cycle.

The Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'F' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

Cabinet was advised that the paper sets out:

(i)                          the strategic context and case for change; and

(ii)                        the outline approach to transformation in children’s services.

In relation to this Cabinet was informed that the paper also sets out the requested areas for the investment that is needed to establish the structures and capacity needed to deliver transformation in children’s services.

Cabinet was advised that the recommendations of the report were requesting that Council commits to making a £4.462m allocation of extra revenue resources into the Children’s Services, and that this one-off investment will be in addition to the £14.6m ongoing investment included in the approved revenue budget for 2023/24, which excluded pay base changes, and the one-off investment of £1.7m in the Children’s Service improvement journey made during 2022/23, and also excludes the following additional one-off allocations approved since the budget for 2023/24 was set.

• £189k Children’s commissioning – approved by Officer Decision Record by the Corporate Director for Wellbeing services funded via a specific earmarked reserve.
• £784k Special Educations Needs & Disability Service – approved via CMB and an Officer Decision Record funded by a redirection principally Children’s Services Earmarked Reserves no longer needed for their original purpose.

Cabinet members spoke in support of the report and emphasised the importance of scrutiny in the process and of receiving update reports on progress.

RECOMMENDED that Council: -

(a)              Approves £4.462 million investment into Childrens Services improvement and transformation.

(b)             The areas for investment to establish the structures and capacity needed to deliver transformation and improvement in children’s services being delegates authority to the Director of Children’s Services in consultation with the Chief Financial Officer with the allocation of funds and monitoring of impact and expenditure through the Children’s Transformation Board.

RESOLVED that Cabinet: -

(c)              Noted the progress made with the initial phase of the Children’s Services Transformation Programme and the proposed areas of focus.

(d)              Received update reports on progress of the overall programme and the achievement of programme objectives and financial savings; and

(e)              Receives a full Business Case to support the deliverability of the transformation savings at the December 2023 meeting.

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holders: Children and Young People

                            Transformation and Resources

Reason

This investment will enable improved outcomes for children and young people in BCP, and the more effective and efficient services which are needed to secure a future Good Ofsted rating. In turn, this will contribute to the achievement of c. £7m in annual financial savings within the current MTFP cycle.