Agenda and minutes

To agree the procedures for the operation of hybrid meetings.

This item was not considered because the meeting was held informally and took place remotely.  

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillors Nasim Ali, Alison Kelly, Shiva Tiwari and from Co-opted Member, Reverend Guy Pope.

No declarations were received

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 that  -

 ‘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 informal 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.’

There were no deputations made.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 12^th October 2021.  

The minutes of the meeting held on 12^th October 2021 were noted and would be agreed at the next formal meeting of the committee.   

There was no urgent business.

Report of Cabinet Member for Best Start for Children and Families and the Cabinet Member for Promoting Neighbourhoods and Communities

The Cabinet Member for Best Start for Children and Families (and the Cabinet Member for Promoting Neighbourhoods and Communities) will provide the Committee with their annual report for discussion. This year’s report focuses on the impact of the pandemic and the response to it.

Consideration was given to the annual report of Councillor Angela Mason,  Cabinet Member for Best Start for Children and Families. The report included Early Years, which sat within Councillor Anna Wright’s Cabinet Member for Promoting Neighbourhoods and Communities' portfolio.

The focus of the report was the impact of the COVID -19 Pandemic and the response to it and covered the period from March 2020 until December 2021.

A long period of great strain on the council’s own services, our partnerships, and crucially, upon all children and young people and their families. The report looked at the impact of the pandemic – the strengths and challenges it had revealed, the responses that had been put in place and the wider changes to work towards. We are not at the point where the pandemic can be  discussed in the past tense and looking ahead, it may be that very prolonged periods of uncertainty and restraint would themselves cause lasting damage.

The detailed report from the Cabinet Members and the work of the Council in response to the impact of the COVID -19 Pandemic was welcomed by the committee. The following points were discussed during consideration of the report  

·       The programme of education catch up and increasing the capacity for additional tutoring. Was the catch-up funding making a difference?   

·       Had the digital divide continued to be an issue? 

·       The safeguarding of children and ensuring that they were kept safe during lockdown

·       There was a lot of focus on the move from primary to secondary school. Were there measures in place for the transition from secondary school to adulthood for those who might need support?

·       There was still more work to on white working-class engagement and school attendance

·       Looked after children and support to them at 16+, every child should have a clear pathway after secondary school and the chance of opportunities

·       What consideration had been given to the ongoing consequences of the impact of lockdown on the mental health and resilience of our young people? How were we using the Arts to help with therapies and confidence building?

·       Had the physical health and fitness of young people been monitored during the pandemic and how had their health and fitness been impacted by COVID 19?

·       That the lack of outdoor open space for play in the brough should be addressed in the annual health report to this scrutiny committee in March 

·       Special Education Needs and Disabilities, what changes to provision? 

·       What is planned for the resource space at Carlton following the merger of Carlton and Rhyl Schools      

·       What work was taking place with fathers to ensure their continued involvement in parenting?

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

·       During lockdown every effort had been made by social workers and teachers to continue their safeguarding responsibilities, schools were particularly attuned to this 

·       Our young people will require a range of support to address how lockdown had impacted on their lives, examples of this will include mentoring, peer to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Young People, Equalities and Cohesion.  

The Cabinet Member will provide the Committee with their annual report for discussion

Consideration was given to the annual report of Councillor Abdul Hai, Cabinet Member for Young People, Equalities and Cohesion. The report provided a summary of a year like no other and how the COVID-19 pandemic, that had led to the first lockdown in March 2020, had revealed great inequalities between Camden’s, young people, and families.

The committee was told that in addition to the Pandemic, Camden’s communities had faced significant challenges, through Brexit, the housing crisis in London, continued central government cuts and significantly increased pressure on public sector partners’ services. These issues had affected many of the key areas within Councillor Hai’s Cabinet Portfolio, including youth safety; youth unemployment; racism and disproportionality; hate crime and extremism and community cohesion. His annual report provided a reflection on the past year, the work that needed to be done in tackling structural inequalities and other key priorities for the next year.

The following comments and points were raised during consideration of the report  

·       How were families, with young people who spent time outside the home because it was over crowded and then at risk from anti-social behaviour    being supported?

·       Could the work taking place in Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) be decentralised or take place in mainstream schools? If accessed earlier could help to avoid exclusions? 

·       Diversification and development of the 16+ education and training offer

·       How to better support apprenticeship programmes in Camden and guidance to students on applications to Russell Group universities and Oxbridge  

·       Consider the way in which the Council reaches young people and use social media more creatively to engage with them on their terms

·       Have disability audits been carried out in schools to ensure that the needs of all students are being met? Have disabled students been able to access Camden apprenticeships?

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

·       Changes had been made to the Council’s Housing Allocation Policy to help address the impact of overcrowding on families, as well as looking at solutions to help families

·       The 16+ vocational offer should be more valued and recognised. There were more options available and schools, Camden Learning and the Council were working to further develop the offer  

·       The lack of information about the wide range of available services was a challenge that need to be addressed. Camden was very interested in how to engage more effectively with young people and our communities. There was more work to do and community engagement would continue to be a focus going forward

·       All children and young people should be given the opportunity and support for education training and achievement.  The Council had recently launched a staff Disability Charter that included making working at Camden more inclusive. Also Disability History Month was currently being celebrated as part of Camden’s ongoing support of the achievements and aspirations of disabled staff and residents. The Disability Charter would be shared with the committee

·       There were a range of buildings on the school estate, and all were Disability Discrimination Act  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Report of the Executive Director Supporting People

This report informs scrutiny of the wealth of activity over the Summer of 2021 when Camden delivered a comprehensive “Summer in Camden” campaign bringing together council services, schools, business partners and voluntary sector organisations all dedicated to providing a broad, diverse and exciting offer to resume, reopen, reinvigorate and re-engage with our children and young people. The key elements of the campaign included:

• Expansion of the summer offer already well established in Camden, but with additional considerations as we recovered from the impact of Covid19

• A response to the ambitions of the Renewal Commission and its mission to support young people’s access to opportunities

• Addressing holiday hunger through the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programmes offer

• Support to children transferring from primary to secondary school with the opportunity to catchup on learning and prepare for the next academic year

• Delivery of the key message - Stay safe, have fun, make friends.

The report gives information on the nature of the activity, the range of opportunities and headline figures for the participation in the 659 programmes that were part of the Summer offer this year.

Consideration was given to a report of the Executive Director Supporting People that provided information on the range of activities that had taken place over the Summer of 2021, when “Summer in Camden” had been delivered. The key elements of the programme were detailed in the report, they had brought together Council services, schools, business partners and voluntary sector organisations to provide a broad, diverse and exciting offer to reinvigorate and re-engage with Camden children and young people.   

Over 3 thousand children had benefitted from the ambitious programme of activities that had taken place. At the core of the programme had been an accessible easy to book system, that had encouraged participation across the borough. Activities had included the Summer University, Summer School catchup options and orientation for Year 6 children transitioning to Year 7.  A great deal of positive feedback had been received from children, young people and parents about the events.       

The scrutiny committee welcomed the work that had taken place and 

RESOLVED

THAT that the report be noted.

To Note: All

Report of the Executive Director Supporting People, Executive Director Supporting Communities and Executive Director Corporate Services

This report provides an update on service performance in Quarter 2 2021/22 drawn from a broad range of measures from across each directorate and division in the organisation. Individual services have provided a narrative covering key performance challenges and areas of positive improvement.

Lifted up from the individual service data and narrative is an overarching narrative that seeks to identify key challenges and emerging issues over the next six months (i.e. looking ahead to Quarter 3 and Quarter 4) that could have negative impacts on service delivery and performance. This section is divided into three: the ongoing impacts of Covid-19, new emerging issues and organisational health issues i.e. cross-cutting challenges in which corporate services play a key role HR, communications, strategy, finance, legal etc.

This report also provides a brief overview of work to develop a new insight and accountability framework. This work is taking place in parallel to the refresh of Camden 2025, and there are a number of key connections.

Consideration as given to a report of the Executive Directors of Supporting People, Supporting Communities and Corporate Services that provided an update on service performance in Quarter 2 of 2021/22.

In response to a question about the formatting of the report and how trend lines were used - the committee was told that an additional column had been added to the charts to provide information on the trend line instances where there was something to report .

RESOLVED

THAT the report be noted.

To Note: All

Report of the Executive Director, Supporting People 

This 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 work programme for the two remaining meetings of the 2021/22 municipal year -

RESOLVED

THAT the following updates be applied to the to the work programme and action tracker -

January 2022

·       Education Strategy Cabinet report to be added to the work programme

March 2022

·       That the lack of outdoor space for children and its impact on health/obesity be included in the Annual Health Report  

Action Tracker 2021/22:

·       Provide data to committee members on the programmes to encourage, engage support the involvement of fathers in parenting

·       That the Disabilities Charter will be shared with the committee

The work programme for 2022/23 to include:

·       Special Education Needs and Disabilities Strategy

·       Apprenticeships in Camden - including the support provided to the  Council’s own apprentices and what improvements can be made. 

Action By: Executive Director Supporting People

The Children, Schools and Families Scrutiny Committee is

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

Tuesday 18 January 2022 and to also note the remaining meeting date for 2021/22:

·       Tuesday 1 March 2022 

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

Tuesday 18 January 2022 and that the last meeting on the work programme for 2021/2022 would take place on:   

·       Tuesday 1 March 2022 

To Note: All

There was no such business.