Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

There were no apologies for absence.

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.

There were no substitutes.

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.

Councillor Moore declared an interest Agenda Item 6 Children and Young People’s Partnership Plan 2021-24 as a Trustee of Canford Heath Infant and Middle School Teacher Trust as its clear they have input quite a lot into it.

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Meeting held on 26 January 2021.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 26 January 2021, having been previously circulated, be signed by the Chair and confirmed as a correct record.

There were no comments on the Action Sheet.

To receive any public questions, statements or petitions submitted in accordance with the Constitution, which is available to view at the following link:

https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeID=151&Info=1&bcr=1

The deadline for the submission of a public question is 4 clear working days before the meeting.

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

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

There were no public issues received.

The draft BCP Children and Young People’s Plan has been developed by the BCP Children and Young People’s Partnership Board, the successor body to the previous Learning Partnership Board. The difference is to focus on all issues for children, not just education and to a lesser extent, children’s social care.

Having a plan in place is a requirement placed on BCP by the Local Government Reorganisation process so in that sense it is a plan required by Government of us.

The draft Plan sets out the proposed strategic priorities for partnership action to improve outcomes for BCP’s children and young people and to help them achieve their potential. It is consistent with existing BCP policy about improving child outcomes

Central to this is that the Council plays its part in the Partnership to help BCP’s children and young people to be “fulfilled, happy, included, and resilient”.

This report provides a copy of the draft plan at Appendix 1 to the report.

The draft Plan has been subject to public consultation during the month of January 2021.

This Plan, when finalised, will be championed by the multi-agency BCP Children and Young People’s Partnership Board. An action plan will be an integral part of the final document. This will be monitored through the Board.

The Independent Chair of the Children and Young People’s Partnership Board (C&YPPB) 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.

The draft BCP Children and Young People’s Plan had been developed by the BCP C&YPPB, the successor body to the previous Learning Partnership Board. The difference was to focus on all issues for children, not just education and to a lesser extent, children’s social care.

Having a plan in place was a requirement placed on BCP by the Local Government Reorganisation process so in that sense it is a plan required by Government of us.

The draft Plan sets out the proposed strategic priorities for partnership action to improve outcomes for BCP’s children and young people and to help them achieve their potential. It was consistent with existing BCP policy about improving child outcomes

Central to this was that the Council played its part in the Partnership to help BCP’s children and young people to be “fulfilled, happy, included, and resilient”.

A copy of the draft plan could be found at Appendix 1 to the report.

The draft Plan had been subject to public consultation during the month of January 2021.

This Plan, when finalised, would be championed by the multi-agency BCP C&YPPB. An action plan would be an integral part of the final document. This would be monitored through the Board.

The Committee discussed the Report and comments were made, including:

• The Committee was generally very positive about the Plan, the content, format, its accessibility, and ambition were all really welcomed
• A Member of the Youth Parliament (MYP) advised that they had considered the Plan and felt it was very accessible to young people however, felt that some of the actions highlighted under the four priorities could be better positioned under other priorities.  The Chair of the C&YPPB requested a meeting with the MYPs to go through the Plan in more detail to gain their insight further. Action. (This meeting is taking place on 2^nd March)
• In response to a query about whether consideration had been given to a longer term plan, say ten year, the Chair of the C&YPPB highlighted that it was felt a three year plan was appropriate at this time and especially in relation to Children and Young People where the context for their lives can change so fast.
• In response to a query about where the four priorities had come from and in particular whether they were relevant from a child or young person’s perspective, the Chair of the C&YPPB advised that they had  consulted with as many children as they could given the current pandemic and capacity issues and those were the four words that had been decided to be most appropriate based on the feedback.
• A Committee Member referred to the different summaries and in particular the reference that ‘it would be targeted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 138.

To receive a verbal update from the Portfolio Holder with responsibility for Covid and the Interim Corporate Director, Children’s Services with a Committee report being brought to the next Committee.

The Interim Corporate Director, Children Services advised that this was a verbal update and informed the Committee of information, including:

• Schools would be returning on 8 March and Children’s Services was working with the Headteachers to manage the return of all schools across the BCP. 
• The challenges were highlighted including the logistics of testing the secondary school pupils. 
• The Interim Corporate Director advised that she would circulate some information received from the DfE to the Committee for its information. Action.
• It was highlighted that the clinically extremely vulnerable groups were still be requested to shield and the impact of this on teachers and staff was still being considered.
• The Committee was advised that the Governments position on exams was yet to be announced. 

The Portfolio Holder with responsibility for Covid Resilience, Schools and Skills addressed the Committee and provided a verbal update which included the following information:

• The Committee was advised of findings released by Ofsted in November 2020 on the Impact of Covid on Children and Young People when considering social care settings, early years, and schools
• It was noted that with the planned return to school, children would again become more visible to BCP and Children’s Services, ensuring evaluations of the impacts locally could be undertaken however, there was no reason to suggest that it would not echo the national findings of Ofsted
• The Portfolio Holder referred to some research which had been undertaken regarding maternal mental health during the pandemic and the need to ensure mothers of young children were sighted and supported, if required.
• The mental health of children and young people was highlighted and it was advised that those who already experienced emotional health wellbeing may have suffered more, an acknowledgment of reduced physical activity, and the possible impact of long Covid on parents and carers.
• One positive was the outcome of an Office for National Statistics Survey which showed that the Covid impact on mental health of 16 to 19 year olds was less than other adult age groups
• The Committee was also advised of need to ensure support for children and young people was included within the economic recovery local plan
• The Portfolio Holder summed up the impact Covid had had on SEND children whose routine and wider support structure from families, services and practitioners had been impacted and it was advised that if those relationships had been strong prior to lockdown, then the support had continued where possible but if not, then the opposite could have occurred.

The Committee discussed the verbal update and in response to a query about the proposed catch up opportunities over the summer holidays, the Committee was advised that this was only one of many discussions being undertaken in Government.  The Committee was reassured that any measures taken within BCP would be led by what the children needed and that a plan and clear vision to support the children and parents moving forward was being formed.

The Chair thanked the Interim Directors, Children’s Services and the Portfolio  ...  view the full minutes text for item 139.

-         BCP Children's Services Complaints and Representations Annual Report 2019-2020

To consider the Committee’s Forward Plan.

The Chair explained to the Committee the reasons why the item on the Bournemouth Learning Centre – Capital Investment to expand SEND provision for Longspee Special School had been removed from the agenda for this meeting and that it would come back once it was ready to be considered by the Committee and Cabinet.

The Committee was advised that an Information only report would be circulated via email on the BCP Children’s Services Complaints and Representations Annual Report 2019-2020.

To note the dates of future Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committees as follows:

·        23 March 2021

·        8 June 2021

·        27 July 2021

·        21 September 2021

·        23 November 2021

·        25 January 2022

·        22 March 2022

All meetings will commence at 6pm and venues to be confirmed.

The dates of future meetings were noted.