Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence had been received by Councillors Matt Cooper, Julian Fulbrook, Shiva Tiwari, Nanouche Umeadi and Co-opted Members Aya Elgool, Sarah Jafri and Samir Quarshi.

There were no declarations.

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

Broadcast of the meeting

The Chair made the following announcement: “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.”

Thank you to the Youth MPs

The Camden Youth MP’s term sitting on the Committee had ended and the next election would be held in April 2024. On behalf of the Committee, the Chair gave thanks for their valuable contributions over the last two years and wished them good luck in their next steps.

Annual Work Programme Planning Meeting

The Committee’s annual work programme planning meeting would take place on 20 May. More information about the session would be circulated to Committee Members in due course.

Requests to speak at the Committee on a matter within its terms of reference must be made in writing to the clerk named on the front of this agenda by 5pm two working days before the meeting.

There were no deputations.

There was no urgent business.

Report of the Cabinet Adviser on Opening Up Access to Sport for Young People.

This report contains the findings and recommendations of Councillor Camron Aref-Adib in his role as Cabinet Adviser on Youth Mission.

Consideration was given to the report of the Cabinet Adviser on Opening Up Access to Sport for Young People.

Councillor Camron Aref-Adib, Cabinet Adviser on Opening Up Access to Sport for Young People, outlined the report which contained his research findings and policy recommendations. The report covered the following areas:  Camden’s current sport offer; analysis of the data comparing demographics and other local authorities; identified barriers to sports for different groups; and the recommendations from the Cabinet Advisor.

The Chair thanked the Cabinet Advisor for the report and invited questions and comments from the Committee. The following was discussed:

·       A Member stated that it would be helpful to make decisions in this area using more granular data, such as looking at the trends of children dropping out of activities between primary and secondary school and differences between ethnic groups. In response, the Cabinet Advisor stated that from his research the granular data looking at ethnicity of 147 pupils was a too small sample size to make conclusions. The Health Related Behaviour Questionnaire would be interesting to study any gradual drop-off of activities between years 6 to 7.

·       A Member stated that the shortage of space to play sports in the borough had been a long-term challenge. The Member noted that it would be good if multi-use game areas (MUGAs) were made more attractive to use, because they were often uninviting tarmacked areas.

·       A Co-opted Member noted the report moved between referencing categories of physical activity and sports in their analysis and recommendations, and there were few references to exercise in general. They noted that those categories were distinct and that sports compared to exercise tended to be male dominated and had ethnic disparities of participation. In response, the Cabinet Advisor stated that in his research and the data from Sports England focussed on sports. He agreed there was an important distinction and noted that five out of the recommendations were focussed on sport and were concretely achievable goals.

·       A Co-opted Member stated the findings and recommendations identified inequality, however there was not a specific directive to encourage more girls to be involved in sports. In the Co-opted Member’s view, MUGAs were areas where boys tended to spend time, not usually girls, and it was often particular types of boys who liked to play football in these spaces. In the report there was little focus on playgrounds for children which would increase accessibility for younger children. The Co-opted Member asked if there were any recommendations that could be made which focussed on girls, the participation of non-white girls, and were more inclusive of SEND children. The Co-opted Member noted that the resources needed to increase SEND child participation was higher, and asked if there were any ideas on how the Council could respond to that challenge. In response, the Cabinet Advisor stated there was more work to be done around MUGAs being male-dominated spaces, but noted that in reality for many children playing on estates from low-income families, MUGAs were an  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

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

In February 2023, a scrutiny panel report which investigated the impact of Covid-19 on the language development of Early Years and Key Stage 1 children in Camden was presented to the CSF Scrutiny Committee. The scrutiny panel was made up of elected members and co-opted members from the CSF Scrutiny Committee. The report requested that the Cabinet Member for Best Start for Children and Families prepare a response to the recommendations from the investigation and to report back to the committee.

The findings of this enquiry revealed that the Covid-19 pandemic had led to a language delay in Early Years in Camden, which could have ramifications for later academic attainment and is likely to disproportionately impact disadvantaged children. This report contains the Cabinet Member for Best Start for Children and Families’ response to these recommendations.

The Scrutiny Panel’s inquiry and praise for the service was gratefully received. Most recommendations are agreed upon. Several recommendations advocate for key members to communicate to national government about identified areas for improvement and/or additional funding. In light of this, Cllr Boyland, Cabinet Member for Best Start for Children and Families, is actively engaging in ongoing discussions with Cllr Georgia Gould, Leader of the Council, on how best to take these recommendations forward.

Consideration was given to the report of the Cabinet Member for Best Start for Children and Families.

Debbie Adams, Head of Early Years, summarised the Cabinet Member’s responses to the recommendations from the scrutiny panel which investigated the impact of Covid-19 on the language development of Early Years and Key Stage 1 children in Camden. The Cabinet Member had sent apologies for this meeting but would be setting up a session for interested Members to discuss the response report.

The Chair stated that informal responses to the scrutiny panel report had also been recently received from Helen Hayes MP (Shadow Minister for Children and Early Years)

and from David Johnston OBE MP (Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing), on behalf of Gillian Keegan MP (Secretary of State for Education). The responses had been circulated to Committee Members.

The Chair thanked the Cabinet Member for the report and invited questions and comments from the Committee. The following was discussed:

·       In relation to the response to the scrutiny panel’s recommendation 1, a Co-opted Member asked how schools were chosen to participate and if only maintained schools were included. It was confirmed that the nine schools invited to be involved in the project were carefully selected from across a range of deprivation levels. Due to the success and benefits to schools, schools had been encouraging other schools to get involved in Phase 2 of the screening tool work, including PVI (Private, Voluntary and Independent) nurseries.

·       In relation to the response to the scrutiny panel’s recommendation 3, it was confirmed that the Council did not support the recommendation precisely, however the important role for volunteers was recognised in the form of Parent Champions who represented the community. In response to a question, it was confirmed that Paren Champions were DPS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checked, received special training, and were supported and supervised in a formal scheme.

·       In relation to the response to the scrutiny panel’s recommendation 6, a Co-opted Member asked how the ‘Best Start or Baby’ scheme performance would be evaluated and who was accessing the service. In response, it was confirmed that Best Start for Baby was universally offered to children in Camden. The Council was able to access child health records and identify children who had not accessed any services. Through the Family Hub Outreach Strategy, there was a small team of officers who contacted families to check in on the wellbeing of a child. Before the statutory school age there were children who were not visible to services and this scheme would reach those families. In evaluating the impact, the benefits they were trying to achieve through the scheme were lifelong outcomes. In this age group it was difficult to prove cause and effect from schemes like this, but in their work they were trying to develop secure attachments for children which would hopefully prevent issues later down the line, therefore a longitudinal study would be needed to determine the impact.

·       A Member noted that the answers to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Report of the Cabinet Adviser for Child Hunger and Expanding Free School Meals.

The Cabinet Adviser on Child Hunger and Expanding Free School Meals here provides the Committee with their report, including recommendations, for discussion.

Consideration was given to the report of the Cabinet Adviser on Child Hunger and Expanding Free School Meals.

Councillor Sharon Hardwick, Cabinet Adviser on Child Hunger and Expanding Free School Meals, outlined the report which contained her research findings and policy recommendations on how Camden Council could better serve Camden secondary school pupils and families through the wider uptake of free school meals (FSM). The report covered the following areas: FSM eligibility; the workshop with schools; Camden’s Test and Learn pilot scheme; visit to a Camden secondary school to speak to school and food provider staff; barriers to FSM uptake; and the recommendations from the Cabinet Advisor. The Cabinet Advsor also spoke about her own experiences of FSM.

The Chair thanked the Cabinet Advisor for the report and invited questions and comments from the Committee. The following was discussed:

·       In relation to the Cabinet Advisor’s recommendation 5, FSM allowance top-up, a Co-opted Member asked what would be the likelihood of the proposals being accepted in the context of the MTFS. In response, it was confirmed there was short term funding available for some of the projects and if they were to extend further they would implement test and learn schemes to evaluate the impact and whether to make the case for longer-term funding.

·       In relation to the Cabinet Advisor’s recommendation 7, a Member asked how the FSM criteria could be expanded to raise levels of eligibility within Camden. In response, it was confirmed that the criteria scheme was nationally set but Camden could look into a route to supplement the offer and explore lobbying. The Cabinet Advisor noted that a key task was to ensure those who were eligible were taking up the offer.

·       In relation to the Cabinet Advisor’s recommendation 5, a Member asked if barriers to accessing food changed between key stages, for example older children not wanting to spend their lunchbreaks in the school canteen. In response, the Cabinet Advisor stated that canteens were not always welcoming spaces, sometimes crowded and noisy areas, and they were not big enough to fit a large proportion of the school during a break time. The Cabinet Advisor had discussed with the Cabinet Member for Best Start for Children and Families that canteens should be made more fit for purpose and be more attractive areas. To make those improvements, co-creation with young people would be necessary. Officers noted the following points to consider on the subject: the issue of long canteen queues at lunchtime; the autonomy of young people was a key consideration when making decisions; the issues in eligibility of FSM and then whether the young people who do take up the offer ate their food; and the importance of how nutritious the food was on offer.

·       A Member noted that there were many children attending Camden schools who did not live in Camden, and vice versa of Camden children attending out of borough schools, which would create potential challenges in providing a universal offer to Camden children if the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Report of the Chair of the SEND Provision Panel.

The purpose of the report is to update members of the Children, Schools and Families (CSF) Scrutiny committee regarding the progress so far of the SEND Provision Scrutiny Panel. It summarises the key findings from interviews up to December and outlines the next steps being followed up through interviews, workshop, and meetings this spring up to April.

Consideration was given to the report of the Chair of the SEND Provision Scrutiny Panel.

Councillor Sylvia McNamara, Chair of the Panel, introduced and summarised the report which gave an update of the progress of the Panel’s work, including: the analytical framework, findings from interviews, and the next steps of the Panel. It was noted that having spoken to a number of parents, it was clear their experiences were a painful and distressing subject and the Panel were listening and motivated to move things forward. The Panel would be soon forming positive local recommendations aimed at areas within the Council’s control.

The Chair thanked Councillor Sylvia McNamara for the update report and invited questions and comments from the Committee. The following was discussed:

·       The Panel had recently hosted three meetings with parents of SEND children, where 13-15 parents attended each session, however that was still a tiny proportion of the number of parents of SEND children in the borough. They were looking to send a questionnaire to all parents with children who had an EHCP or ENG in the borough because it was essential every parent should be contacted.

·       Looking at parent journeys, the Panel was working to understand the barriers and carefully think what solutions could be devised, such as empathy training.

·       During interviews, many parents had expressed how good the MOSAIC (Making Our Services All Integrated in Camden) service was. However, the service was now at breaking point having absorbed a 300% increase in demand since 2018, which meant now a significant amount of their resources were used on assessments.

·       Following discussions at the Committee the previous year, it was confirmed that there were now more girls on waiting lists and being diagnosed with SEND – where before the concern was there was a hidden population of SEND girls undetected and not receiving support. There were many reasons early intervention was not happening with girls in a way that girls needed, which was distressing for families.

·       The Director of Education Commissioning and Inclusion stated that colleagues welcomed the report and the Panel’s work would support work in ensuring a coherent SEND strategy and an implementation plan which had a depth of research from families, schools and children and young people. Some of the feedback from the Panel resonated with the self-evaluation work taking place, thinking on how to address waiting times and how to continually improve the quality of the work.

RESOLVED –

THAT the Committee note the report.

Report of the Executive Director Children and Learning.

This report provides an outline of the 2023/24 work programme (Appendix 1) and provides an update on actions requested at previous meetings (Appendix 2). This report also provides an outline of the 2024/25 provisional work programme (Appendix 3).

Consideration was given to the report of the Executive Director for Children and Learning.

RESOLVED –

THAT the Committee

1)    note the Committee’s Work Programme for 2023-24;

2)    note the Committee’s Action Tracker; and

3)    consider and note the Committee’s Provisional Work Programme for 2024-2025 and propose any amendments. 

The Children, Schools and Families Scrutiny Committee is asked to note the provisional future meeting dates for the 2024-25 municipal year:

·       6.30pm, Tuesday 16 July 2024

·       6.30pm, Tuesday 8 October 2024

·       6.30pm, Monday 11 November 2024

·       6.30pm, Tuesday 10 December 2024

·       6.30pm, Tuesday 14 January 2025

·       6.30pm, Monday 24 February 2025

The provision meetings dates for the 2024-25 municipal year, as listed in the agenda, were noted.

There was no urgent business.