Agenda and minutes

Children, Schools and Families Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday, 23rd October, 2018 6.30 pm

Venue: Committee Room 1, Crowndale Centre, 218 Eversholt Street, London, NW1 1BD. View directions

Contact: Donna Alexander-Morrison  Email: donna.alexander-morrison@camden.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

Minutes:

Councillor Oliver Lewis (Chair) welcomed everyone to the meeting.

 

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillors Nasim Ali, Julian Fulbrook. Anna Wright and from Co-opted member Imogen Sharpe.    

 

Councillors Alison Kelly and Nazma Rahman were attending as substitutes.

 

To Note: All

2.

DECLARATIONS BY MEMBERS OF PECUNIARY AND NON-PECUNIARY INTERESTS IN RESPECT OF ITEMS ON THIS AGENDA

Minutes:

There were no declarations made.

3.

Announcements

Minutes:

Webcasting

 

The Chair announced that the meeting was being broadcast live to the internet and would be capable of repeated viewing. Those seated in the room were deemed to be consenting to being filmed.  

 

Councillor Mason, Cabinet Member for Best Start in Life commented that, it would have been preferable for this meeting to not have been scheduled during the school half term holidays because it had prevented people from attending the meeting. This comment was welcomed by the Chair and members of the committee who asked that this be considered when scheduling future meetings of this scrutiny committee.  

4.

Deputations

Minutes:

There were no deputations.

5.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 91 KB

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 3rd September 2018.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the minutes of the last meeting and it was

 

RESOLVED

 

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on Monday 3rd September 2018 be approved as a correct record.  

 

To Note: All

6.

Notification of any items of business that the Chair decides to take as urgent

Minutes:

There was no urgent business.

7.

Joint Annual report of the Cabinet Members for Best Start in Life and Young People and Cohesion pdf icon PDF 361 KB

Joint report of the Cabinet Members for Best Start in Life & Young People and Cohesion   

 

The Cabinet Member for Best Start in Life and Young People and Cohesion will provide the Committee with their annual report for discussion.

 

 

 

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the first annual joint report by the Cabinet Member for Best Start in Life and the Cabinet Member Young People and Cohesion. As well as members of the Children, Schools and Families Scrutiny Committee all members of the Council had been invited to attend the meeting. 

 

For the first part of this item Councillor Angela Mason, Cabinet Member for Best Start in Life spoke to her portfolio report that had been structured around the six strategic objectives of the Council’s Resilient Families Programme. The report looked at the successes, challenges and the strong sense of care and determination for Camden’s young people to do well that underpinned all the services and partnerships supporting young people and their families.   

 

Councillor Mason made the following responses to questions that covered all areas of her report:

 

·         Camden Learning in partnership with schools had a key role in closing the attainment gap for Camden’s disadvantaged children. There were a number of factors affecting attainment and there was a process for determining which interventions worked best for each school. The attainment gap in Camden was less than the London and national averages but there was still more to be done on education and training pathways to employment. Camden Learning was looking at how schools could be part of a network of provision to improve this offer to pupils 

 

·         The high degree of poverty amongst the working poor in Camden was ranked as the 10th highest nationally. There were a number of measures in place that had been outlined in Councillor Mason’s report. The changes to the housing allocations policy to address some of the overcrowded accommodation issues for children and their families was explained. All councillors had seen cases of overcrowding amongst their constituents, there wasn’t enough housing/suitable accommodation in the borough to meet the demand. It was difficult for the Council to build new homes under present government regulations

 

·         There were measures in place to help vulnerable students and those who had been excluded from schools. Including early intervention and prevention work. There had been a decrease in the number of permanent exclusions in the borough

 

·         Looked after children placed outside the borough were usually within a 20 mile radius of Camden. Placements were made as close to the borough as possible unless there was a safeguarding reason for a child or young person to be placed further away. All looked after children were part of the Camden virtual school, receiving support to reach their full potential while in education and training 

 

·         There was an increasing number of older children entering the care service and a service pathway more suited to meeting their needs had been developed 

 

·         There was more joined up work needed on the accommodation process for those at risk of domestic violence. Recognising needs earlier and resolving them sooner was key to this work    

 

·         There had been some challenges in getting some mothers into employability projects because there were conditionality tests that made it difficult for them  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

Annual health update on children, young people and families pdf icon PDF 625 KB

Report of the Executive Director, Supporting People 

 

The report summarises health outcomes for children and young people in Camden and outlines work being undertaken to improve or maintain these by the Council, CCG and other local partners. It draws on the most recent Child Health Profile (June 2018), setting out areas of strength and areas for development and reflects our work to deliver Our Camden Plan and Camden 2025’s vision that people lead healthy, independent lives. 

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Due to the time taken to consider agenda item 7 above, this report was taken as read and noted by the committee. It was also noted that there would be an update on children’s health at the meeting in March 2019. 

 

RESOLVED

 

THAT the report be noted

 

To Note: All

9.

Funding Update and schools funding Consultation 2019/2020 pdf icon PDF 686 KB

Report of the Executive Director, Supporting People 

 

The report updates on the national funding position following the release in July 2018 of the latest ESFA guidance on schools funding for 2019/20. It provides estimates of the possible impact on resources in 2019/20. It then sets out a consultation document seeking the views of schools and other interested parties about any changes to the school funding arrangements for 2019/20.

 

The report covers the latest government announcements concerning funding made in September 2017 and outlines the key updates following ministerial announcement on schools funding made on 24th July 2018. Reference is made to the new proposals on early years funding and 30 hours of free childcare for working parents of three and four year olds which were introduced in September 2017.

 

The report explains that the schools national funding formula was introduced in April 2018/19 but following a series of government announcements In July 2017 and 2018 the option to maintain local funding formulas for the distribution of schools and high needs block grants has been extended to 2020/21 making 2021/22 the earliest year for the complete implementation of the national funding formula.

 

The report also indicates the current budget pressures and the position regarding the drawdown from DSG reserves for the Early Intervention Pathfinder and hubs project. It also outlines the current proposals and impact of the recent Teachers pay award for September 2018 (section 1.9).

 

The consultation section of the report outlines the current and any proposed changes to the local funding formula (primary and secondary schools) used for the distribution of the schools DSG block. The recommendation made at Schools Forum on 18th September 2018 was to maintain the current local formula to consolidate previous changes and to enable a focus on managing the real terms funding reductions to school budgets caused by freezes to per pupil funding in recent years. The report also explains the timetable leading up to a decision on the funding formula by the authority, which is required prior to the end of October in order to comply with a requirement to inform the government of any changes by 30th November.

 

Minutes:

Due to the time taken to consider agenda item 7 above, this report was taken as read and noted. It was also noted that schools funding would be considered by the committee at the meeting in March 2019. 

 

RESOLVED

 

THAT the report be noted

 

To Note: All

 

 

 

 

 

10.

Children's Services' Complaints Annual Scrutiny Report 2017/2018 pdf icon PDF 354 KB

Report of the Executive Director, Supporting People 

This report provides information about complaints made to the Children’s Services (Supporting People Directorate) in London Borough of Camden during the twelve months between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018. It is a statutory requirement to produce an annual report which is published on the Council’s website.

 

 

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report of the Executive Director Supporting People that provided information about complaints made to the Children’s Services (Supporting People Directorate) in London Borough of Camden during the twelve months between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018. 

 

In response to a question from a committee member the meeting was told that  learning from the complaint process included a focus on the individual circumstances of each complaint. There was also an assessment of whether there were emerging themes in the type of complaints being made and if there was training or development opportunities to address the issues that had been raised. This assessment of complaints was included in a quarterly report to the management team as part of an auditing process. 

 

RESOLVED

 

THAT the report be noted.

 

To Note: All

 

 

 

 

11.

children, Schools and Families Quarter 1 2018/19 Performance report pdf icon PDF 215 KB

Report of the Executive Director, Supporting People 

 

The report provides a summary of performance in relation to children and young people for the period 1 April 2018 to 30 June 2018 (Q1 2018/19).

 

The report includes the Executive Director’s judgments of performance and a summary of the key performance measures.

 

The performance information set out in the report and dataset are linked to the delivery of the Camden plan and provide a strategic overview of performance across services in relation to children and young people.

 

 

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report of Executive Director Supporting People that provided a summary of performance in relation to children and young people for the period 1 April 2018 to 30 June 2018, Quarter 1. 

The report included the Executive Director’s judgments of performance and a summary of the key performance measures.

 

RESOLVED

 

THAT the report be noted. 

 

To Note: All

12.

Children, Schools and Families Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 73 KB

Report of the Executive Director, Supporting People 

 

This report sets out the work programme for the municipal year 2018/19 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.

 

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report that set out the work programme for the municipal year 2018/19. 

 

It was noted that a report on music and the arts was listed on the work programme but not allocated to a meeting date as yet.  

 

RESOLVED

 

THAT the work programme report be noted

 

To Note: All

13.

Date of next meeting and future meeting dates

To note that the next meeting of the Children, Schools and Families Scrutiny Committee will take place on Thursday 6 December 2018 and to note the following schedule of meeting dates:

 

Monday 18 February 2019

Thursday 28 March 2019

 

 

All these meetings will take place at 6.30pm at the Crowndale Centre, 218 Eversholt Street, London NW1 1BD.

 

 

Minutes:

It was noted that the next meeting of the Children, Schools and Families Scrutiny Committee would take place on Thursday 6 December 2018 and the following meeting dates were also noted:

 

Monday 18 February 2019

Thursday 28 March 2019

 

To Note: All

 

14.

Any Other Business the Chair decides to consider as urgent

Minutes:

There was no such business.