Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Bobbie Dove and Simon Welch.

To receive information on any changes in the membership of the Committee.

Note – When a member of a Committee is unable to attend a meeting of a Committee or Sub-Committee, the relevant Political Group Leader (or their nominated representative) may, by notice to the Monitoring Officer (or their nominated representative) prior to the meeting, appoint a substitute member from within the same Political Group. The contact details on the front of this agenda should be used for notifications.

Cllr Karen Rampton substituted for Cllr Bobbie Dove.

To elect the Chair of Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2024/25 Municipal year.

Councillor Simon Bull took the Chair for this item.

The following nomination was received:

• Councillor Sharon Carr-Brown – proposed by Councillor Peter Cooper and seconded by Councillor Emily Harman.
• Councillor Philip Broadhead – proposed by Councillor Karen Rampton and seconded by Councillor Philip Broadhead. 

The nominees explained their reasons for wanting to take on this role and their ability to fulfil it.

A secret ballot was held.

RESOLVED that Councillor Sharon Carr-Brown be elected as Chair of the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2024/25 municipal year.

To elect the Vice Chair of the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2024/25 Municipal year.

The newly elected Chair of Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee presided over the election of Vice-Chair.  Councillor Simon Bull was proposed and seconded for Vice-Chair and there were no other nominations.

RESOLVED that Councillor Simon Bull be elected as Vice-Chair of the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2024/25 municipal year.

Councillors are requested to declare any interests on items included in this agenda. Please refer to the workflow on the preceding page for guidance.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

Cllr Simon Bull declared an interest in relation to agenda item 8 as a family member was in receipt of an EHCP.

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Meeting held on 3 and 23 January and 19 March 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held on 3 and 23 January and 19 March 2024 were confirmed as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

The Committee acknowledged the previous Members of Youth Parliament and thanked them for their hard work during their term, and welcomed the new Members of Youth Parliament onto the Committee.

To consider any outstanding actions.

RESOLVED that the Committee note the Action Sheet and agreed for the items highlighted in the Action Sheet to be removed.

To receive any public questions, statements or petitions submitted in accordance with the Constitution. Further information on the requirements for submitting these is available to view at the following link:-

https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/documents/s2305/Public%20Items%20-%20Meeting%20Procedure%20Rules.pdf 

The deadline for the submission of public questions is 3 clear working days before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a statement is midday the working day before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a petition is 10 working days before the meeting.

The following questions were heard at Committee with responses provided at the meeting by the Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People:

The following questions have been received from Mr Sofianos:

Q1
The SEND Improvement Plan refers to a strategy to improve inclusion in schools. This is good news and, hopefully, will be tracked by this Committee.  Inclusion is the tide that lifts all boats and can improve school cultures and child wellbeing as well as educational outcomes. These are also, now, government objectives.

Key to this is support staff – particularly teaching assistants.  Yet anecdotally, many local schools appear to be reducing teaching assistant roles, or losing TAs to better-paid, lower-stress jobs: in supermarkets, or cafes. Knowledge and experience are being lost.

Inclusion is more than just providing more mainstream places to SEND children. It needs, among many other things, resources.

Teaching assistants are a crucial but dwindling part of the school workforce.  How does the Council plan to protect and support their roles, and those of other key support staff?

Answer from the Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People:

I totally agree with you that recruiting and retaining the right people to work as classroom assistants is an issue. For many years I worked with classroom assistants and fully understand the difference that they can make to the education of children and young people and the skills that thy need. The line in your question about loosing Classroom assistants to higher paid jobs is almost identical to what I said to this committee previously. 

We have been working with schools, over the last few months, using several co-production events to understand how the Teaching Assistance workforce can be supported, what the LA can do and how we can work in partnership with schools. This review will work alongside the new Government’s direction in this space around TA support. This will continue to be a development area for the BCP Education system during the Autumn term.

One final point, we can all help by championing the role of TAs and encouraging people to consider this as a career.

Q2
At March’s Committee meeting, I asked whether Council would publish monthly performance data for SEND services.  I was told: “there is an established SEND Scorecard… this can be shared.”

May’s Cabinet meeting shared incomplete data for March, but no more.  I asked whether Council would publish datasets for April and May, and share them here – including crucial data on refusals.  I was told: “getting the data out… is really important” – and “[we] will commit to getting that data available”.

Yet those datasets haven’t been shared here.  Nor has the refusals data.

I was also told this data “is available through the parent carers forum”.  Yet it hasn’t released updates to full membership.

If Council agrees that “getting the data out… is really important”, can it please explain, fully and clearly, exactly when and where it will publish monthly performance updates – including refusals data?

Answer from the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

This report provides an overview of the work to date within the Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) system, through the newly developed SEND Improvement plan.  It provides a narrative to the improvement work to date within the BCP Council SEND service, the wider SEND system and points towards the significant progress that has been made over the last 6 months. It is recognised though, that much more needs to be done and that a continued effort is needed across the partnership to address the further areas of improvement.

Alongside the operational and strategic improvement work within the SEND system the report also provides information and a short narrative on the progress of the Safety Valve programme and resultant next steps. Discussions are still ongoing with the Department for Education (DfE) and Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and as such a revised Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) plan has not yet commenced.

The Interim Director of Education and Skills presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

This report provided an overview of the work to date within the Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) system, through the newly developed SEND Improvement plan. It provided a narrative to the improvement work to date within the BCP Council SEND service, the wider SEND system and points towards the significant progress that had been made over the last 6 months. It is recognised though, that much more needs to be done and that a continued effort is needed across the partnership to address the further areas of improvement.

Alongside the operational and strategic improvement work within the SEND system, the report also provided information and a short narrative on the progress of the Safety Valve programme and resultant next steps. Discussions were still ongoing with the Department for Education (DfE) and Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and as such a revised Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) plan had not yet commenced.

The report also outlined the serious implications of the current funding position for SEND services, for the Council.

The Committee discussed the report including:

• In response to a query raised, regarding SEND services working to Safety Valve objectives, the Committee was advised that there were no further conversations between BCP and the DFE regarding Safety Valve. The management of the designated school grants had to continue, and the service was still working to that plan. Children’s Services officers would welcome an opportunity to speak with the local MP to discuss BCP as well as the national challenges that the service faces. 
• In response to a query raised regarding the two-tier system for new and old cases, the Committee was informed that there were 232 children awaiting assessment due to a backlog. This had resulted in new cases being processed much faster than the backlogged cases. However, the issue had been resolved, and all cases will now be decided within six weeks.
• The Committee was advised that work was being done to increase the support and investment in parent carer groups to encourage greater community-based discussion linking groups across BCP.  Locality events were being organised to share the plans of Children’s Services and to ensure residents had an opportunity to contribute and develop ideas.
• In response to a query raised regarding parent complaints, the Committee was advised that complaints are considered and responded to weekly, taking into account the status of any highlighted issues. Children’s Services prioritises addressing all issues as part of the SEND improvement plan and the new structure.
• The Committee was advised that the link to the SEND scorecard would be shared in these Minutes in the Minute Book, a link to which would follow:  SEND Improvement Board key performance indicator (bcpcouncil.gov.uk).
• In response to a query raised regarding Dingley’s Promise, the Committee was advised that Dingley’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

This report it to advise the Committee on the outcomes of the Child Exploitation Working Group and to request its support for the Recommendations highlighted.

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

Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 7 June 2022 received an update on Child Exploitation and following consideration of the information received resolved to commission a Child Exploitation Working Group to consider all areas of child exploitation to include county lines and knife crime. This report provides the findings of the working group.

The Committee discussed the report including:

• The Committee highlighted the importance of addressing knife crime as a priority and the importance of the work done in the working group to continue.
• The Committee discussed the importance of experienced youth workers in tackling child exploitation and highlighted the ongoing complexities around that.
• The Committee discussed the possibility of creating a new working group that includes young people and that would give young people an opportunity to have a voice in this matter. Additionally, the Committee proposed training sessions for councillors, led by youth representatives to share their insights.
• The Committee highlighted and discussed the importance of community engagement to help combat this issue.

RESOLVED that the Committee:

(a) Note the findings of the Working Group

(b) Continue to monitor this important issue regularly with a view to considering a further working group on this item.

RESOLVED that the Committee RECOMMEND to Cabinet:

(c) That partnership working be promoted to ensure increased communication around the issues highlighted with parents, schools, children and youth services.

(d) That earlier age appropriate education be implemented within schools across BCP regarding the risks associated with exploitation, drugs and the dangers of carrying weapons.

Voting: Unanimous

The following reports have been circulated to the Committee for information with no presentation or discussion planned:

-       Virtual School Headteachers Annual Report 2022/23

-       Education Improvement Report

To advise the Committee of the previously circulated reports prior to consideration by Cabinet on 17 July 2024:

-       Children's Safeguarding Partnership Review

-       Youth Justice Plan 2024/2025

The following items were circulated for information only with no presentation or discussion planned:

• Virtual School Headteacher Annual Report 22/23
• Education Improvement Report
• Children's Safeguarding Partnership Review
• Youth Justice Plan 2024/2025

The Chair advised the Committee that should they have any comments or queries regarding those reports, then please email them to the Chair for action.

A Committee member raised a query about the virtual school and reporting frequency. It was listed as an annual report in the workplan. The councillor suggested that this should report back more frequently.

To receive a verbal update from the Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People.

The Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People provided a verbal update which included:

• The Portfolio Holder chaired the Corporate Parenting Board and discussed plans to make it more accessible to young people.
• Attended a meeting with Parent Carers Together
• Participated in an informational meeting on upcoming inspections.
• Attended the South West Lead Members network meeting to address concerns regarding Safety Valve and the high needs block deficit.
• Acknowledged the Parkfield School closure and extended gratitude to BCP officers and assisting schools for their support.
• Participated in the Early Help Partnership launch event, which was well-attended with over 100 participants. Early Help Partnership – Our Dorset

The Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee is asked to consider and identify work priorities for its next meeting pending a wider review of its forward plan at a future meeting. 

The Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Committee was asked to consider and identify work priorities for publication in a Forward Plan.

A Committee Member highlighted the requests made during the meeting for potential scrutiny topics and the Committee was advised of the process for them to be progressed.

It was agreed that the following items would be brought to future meetings and considered in the future work programming session:

• The local, regional and national work of Members of Youth Parliament and their activities.
• Information on the cost of agency workers
• Inclusion strategy
• Review of alternative provision

The Committee considered the scrutiny request from Cllr O Brown on the Family Hubs across BCP and agreed that this be added to the Children’s Service Overview and Scrutiny Committee forward plan.