Agenda and minutes

To agree the procedures for the operation of hybrid meetings.

RESOLVED

THAT the guidance be noted.

To Note: All

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Fulbrook and Councillor Ali gave apologies for having to leave the meeting early. 

Councillor Hai, Cabinet Member for Young People, Equalities and Cohesion had sent apologies for absence.

No declarations were made.

Broadcast of the meeting

The Chair to announce the following: ‘In addition to the rights by law that the public and press have to record this meeting, I would like to remind everyone that this meeting is being broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and can be viewed on our website for twelve months after the meeting. After that time, webcasts are archived and can be made available upon request.

If you have asked to address the meeting, you are deemed to be consenting to having your contributions recorded and broadcast, including video when switched on, and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.’

Any other announcements

The Chair announced the following,

 ‘In addition to the rights by law that the public and press have to record this meeting, I would like to remind everyone that this meeting is being broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and can be viewed on our website for twelve months after the meeting. After that time, webcasts are archived and can be made available upon request.

If you have asked to address the meeting, you are deemed to be consenting to having your contributions recorded and broadcast, including video when switched on, and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.’

To Note: All

There were no deputations.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 1 September 2021.

Item 11, Children, Schools and Families Scrutiny Committee Work Programme, page 21-

The action points should include – “That the findings of the Healthy Streets Scrutiny Panel, that relate to the health of children, should be included in the work programme for this scrutiny committee”.

To Note: All

RESOLVED

THAT the subject to the above change, the minutes of the meeting held on 1^st September 2021 be approved as a correct record.

To Note: All

There was no urgent business.   

Report of the Cabinet Member for Best Start for Children and Families

The report accompanies the draft Camden Education Strategy to 2030, titled Building Back Stronger. The work is being led by a Strategy Board co-chaired by Councillor Angela Mason CBE, the Cabinet Member for Best Start for Children and Families, and Professor Christine Gilbert CBE, Independent Chair of Camden Learning. The Board is supported by a Stakeholder Group which includes headteachers, governors and the representatives from the two dioceses.

A draft of the Building Back Stronger strategy is attached at Appendix A ahead of a formal, six-week public consultation in the autumn. A final version of the strategy, which takes account of the consultation results, is due to be considered by Cabinet on 19 January 2022.

Consideration was given to a Cabinet report of the Member for Best Start for Children and Families that accompanied the draft Camden Education Strategy to 2030, titled Building Back Stronger. The work had been led by a Strategy Board co-chaired by Councillor Angela Mason CBE, the Cabinet Member for Best Start for Children and Families, and Professor Christine Gilbert CBE, Independent Chair of Camden Learning. The Board was supported by a stakeholder group that included headteachers, governors and representatives from the two dioceses.

A draft of the Building Back Stronger strategy had been provided ahead of the formal, six-week public consultation that would take place in the autumn. A final version of the strategy, which would take into account the consultation results, would be considered by the Cabinet in January 2022.

The report was introduced by Councillor Angela Mason and Professor Christine Gilbert and included a detailed background to the range of issues, inequalities, and challenges faced by pupils and the financial crisis in schools that had  been brought into sharp focus by the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools had stayed open in the face of enormous challenges for pupils that included limited access to digital equipment, internet access and overcrowding. Schools were facing a huge recovery task that could not be ignored.            

Building Back Stronger proposed an alternative and cutting-edge approach to education in Camden in 2030. 

It would be a local education system based on four key principles:

·       A stronger place-based system

·       An ambitious inclusive system

·       A collaborative and federating system 

·       Think, test and learn

The report, strategy and vision for education in Camden was welcomed by the committee and the following points were raised and discussed during consideration of the report:

·       That it was more of a vision than a report 

·       An accountability framework for areas of responsibility would be helpful in assessing the implementation of the strategy. More detail was needed on preparing young people for the world of work, including apprenticeships. And how were looked after children being prioritised and supported?

·       What further work had taken place on school exclusion levels in Camden?

·       Was enough being done to develop links between schools and universities in the borough?

·       For children and young people to achieve we need to support parents as early as possible. We need to hear from parents about their experiences. How were the Somali Youth Development Resource Centre (SYDRC) and other organisations involved in developing the strategy? 

·       It was good to see that the wellbeing of children would be part of an education  

·       A 100 page strategy was too dense and inaccessible as a consultation document    

In response to the discussion the scrutiny was told that:

·       A considerable amount of work had taken place to produce the draft strategy for consultation. Following the public consultation in the autumn the strategy would be developed into detailed plan that would be monitored to assess progress  

·       This was a radical vision for a changed education system but the aims of the strategy were achievable  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Report of Executive Director, Supporting People  

Recent school place reports have identified significant changes and a high level of volatility in demography at a national and local level. Over the last 5 years there has been a significant reduction in demand for pupil places within Camden. Forecasts for this year have been drawn up at a time of unprecedented change and challenge for families in Camden. Specifically, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have fundamentally altered people’s lives, the impacts of which are significantly reducing the level of demand for places anticipated within the current forecasts. These factors create a significant degree of uncertainty, and a less stable environment in which to plan ahead. The GLA modelling aims to account for these as best as they can but rely on assumptions of future trends that can only be accurately assessed over time.

We consider that it is too early to be definitive about the medium-term impact on school rolls of the new forecast figures given the hugely disruptive impact of Covid. We will need to consider carefully current admission numbers and next year’s school roll projections before we can come to any firm conclusions beyond the difficult action the Council has already taken in removing available school places. The impact on pupil rolls of the recent arrival in Camden of significant numbers of children and young people, including asylum seekers and Afghan nationals, is also not yet known.

The new data however shows a continued fall in overall birth rates within London and Camden alongside sustained reductions in families moving into Camden over the last 18 months. Together these are supressing future indications of pupil demand. This issue is not specific to Camden with similar or more acute falls being forecast for Brent, Islington and Westminster.

Consideration was given to a report of the Executive Director Supporting People that identified significant changes and a high level of volatility in demography at a national and local level.

Over the last 5 years there had been a significant reduction in the demand for pupil places within Camden. Forecasts for this year had been drawn up at a time of unprecedented change and challenge for families in Camden. Specifically, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic had fundamentally altered people’s lives, the impacts of which were significantly reducing the level of demand for places anticipated within the current forecasts. These factors had created a significant degree of uncertainty, and a less stable environment in which to plan ahead. The Greater London Authority population modelling aimed to account for these as best as they can but relied on assumptions of future trends that could only be accurately assessed over time.

In addition to the report the committee received a presentation summarising the following 

·       The  current context for place planning

·       Camden: Births and Fertility 

·       Camden School Roll projections (Primary)

·       Camden School Roll projections (Secondary)

·       Conclusions

It was considered too soon to be definitive about the medium-term impact on school rolls of the new forecast figures, given the hugely disruptive impact of Covid. We will need to consider carefully current admission numbers and next year’s school roll projections before we can come to any firm conclusions beyond the difficult action the Council had already taken in removing available school places. The impact on pupil rolls of the recent arrival in Camden of significant numbers of children and young people, including asylum seekers and Afghan nationals, was not yet known.

The following points were raised and discussed during consideration of the report:

·       That 38% of Camden’s school age children were attending private schools. It was not a reflection on Camden schools, the changing population of Camden meant that those who could afford to live in Camden were increasingly people who sent their children to private schools. Was smaller class sizes a reason for the preference for private schools?   

·       The inclusion of Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in school place planning was welcomed. But why were the numbers of children with Education Health Care Plans considerably higher at primary schools than at secondary  schools?

·       Were the planning and housing developments considered in school place planning?      

The following information was provided in response to points raised by the committee:

·       There had been consistent local campaigns to publicise the good and outstanding schools in the borough. There would be further work on this as part of the Education Strategy, clearly setting out what a good education in Camden looks like. Camden Schools were committed to a broad curriculum offer and class size was based on a funding formula to ensure that schools were financially sustainable  

·       The SEND strategy was being reviewed and the report would be considered by this committee before it went to Cabinet

·       All housing developments were taken into account in school  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Report of the Executive Director, Supporting People 

The report sets out the work programme for the municipal year 2021/22 for the committee’s consideration. The committee will continue to be provided with an updated report on their future work programme at each meeting, for their consideration.

Consideration was given to a report of the Executive Director Supporting People.

It was noted that findings of the Healthy Streets Scrutiny Panel, that related to the health of children, would be included in the work programme.

To Note : All

The Children, Schools and Families Scrutiny Committee is

asked to note that the next meeting will take at place at 6.30pm on

Monday 1 November 2021 and to also note the following schedule of meeting dates.

·       Tuesday 14 December 2021

·       Tuesday 18 January 2022

·       Tuesday 1 March 2022 

It was noted that the next meeting would take place at 6.30pm on

Monday 1 November 2021 and the following schedule of meeting dates was also noted -

·       Tuesday 14 December 2021

·       Tuesday 18 January 2022

·       Tuesday 1 March 2022 

To Note: All

There was no urgent business.