Agenda and minutes

Children, Families, Lifelong Learning and Culture Select Committee - Thursday, 15 February 2024 10.00 am

Venue: Woodhatch Place, 11 Cockshot Hill, Reigate, RH2 8EF

Contact: Julie Armstrong, Scrutiny Officer 

Media

Items
No. Item

1/24

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS

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    Minutes:

    Apologies were received from Cllr Fiona White.

    Cllrs Rachael Lake and Bernie Muir attended remotely.

2/24

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETINGS: 6 DECEMBER 2023 pdf icon PDF 248 KB

    To agree the minutes of the previous meeting of the Children, Families, Lifelong Learning and Culture as a true and accurate record of proceedings.

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    Minutes:

    The minutes were agreed as a true and accurate record of the meeting.

3/24

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

    All Members present are required to declare, at this point in the meeting or as soon as possible thereafter:

          I.        Any disclosable pecuniary interests and / or

        II.        Other interests arising under the Code of Conduct in respect of any item(s) of business being considered at this meeting

     

    NOTES:

    ·         Members are reminded that they must not participate in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest

    ·         As well as an interest of the Member, this includes any interest, of which the Member is aware, that relates to the Member’s spouse or civil partner (or any person with whom the Member is living as a spouse or civil partner)

    ·         Members with a significant personal interest may participate in the discussion and vote on that matter unless that interest could be reasonably regarded as prejudicial.

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    Minutes:

    None received.

4/24

QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS pdf icon PDF 243 KB

    To receive any questions or petitions.

    Notes:

    1.    The deadline for Member’s questions is 12.00pm four working days before the meeting (19 June 2020).

     

    2.    The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting(18 June 2020)

     

    3.    The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received.

     

     

    The public retain their right to submit questions for written response, with such answers recorded in the minutes of the meeting; questioners may participate in meetings to ask a supplementary question. Petitioners may address the Committee on their petition for up to three minutes Guidance will be made available to any member of the public wishing to speak at a meeting.

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    Minutes:

    Key points made in the discussion:

    1. No public questions or petitions were received.

     

    1. There were two Member’s questions from Cllr Fiona Davidson, the first on the SEND capital programme and another on the commissioning of diagnostic and treatment services for Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Responses to these questions have been attached to these minutes.

     

    1. The following supplementary was asked in relation to the second question: How many children and young people were referred for Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder assessments in the past two years and how many developmental paediatricians and Mindworks personnel have had formal training on FASD in the past three years?

5/24

ACTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TRACKER AND FORWARD WORK PLAN pdf icon PDF 202 KB

6/24

ALTERNATIVE PROVISION pdf icon PDF 655 KB

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    Purpose: To assess how well Surrey’s Alternative Provision meets the needs of Children and Young People in the county, and how well it enables them to maximise their potential in both adolescence and adulthood.

     

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    Minutes:

    Witnesses

    Clare Curran, Cabinet Member for Children and Families, Lifelong Learning

    Julia Katherine, Director – Education and Lifelong Learning

    Carrie Traill, Service Manager – Educational Effectiveness (Head of Education)

    Dee Turvill – Alternative Provision & Participation Manager

    Sandra Morrison, Assistant Director Inclusion & Additional Needs SE

    Leanne Henderson, Participation Manager, Family Voice Surrey (FVS)

    Gen Dearman, CEO of Challengers

    Key points made in the discussion:

    1. Family Voice summarised the findings from their Alternative Provision (AP) survey conducted in September 2023, which highlighted some children were receiving very little or no AP after missing 15 days of school. The Alternative Provision & Participation Manager said such cases were neither typical nor the exception but complex. On occasion more than one independent provider was offered to build up a full-time package.

     

    1. The survey found inconsistencies in medical evidence required; Family Voice said this issue was not new, but there had been an escalation in emotional-based non-attendance since the pandemic. The Alternative Provision & Participation Manager informed the Committee that following a new medical policy in December 2023, a new medical panel aims to deliver consistency in the messaging to parents and the evidence requested which, while not a legal requirement, helps to ensure provision is appropriate.

     

    1. The Cabinet Member thanked Family Voice for their exemplary work and noted that as a result of a Local Ombudsman review, there had been a programme of improvement with the objective of a consistent and compliant approach to all children with alternative provision needs.

     

    1. The CEO of Challengers spoke about the charity, which provides play for excluded children with disabilities and is funded mainly by the Local Authority directly but sometimes by schools. She shared that 12 of the 22 children they have supported over the last year have now reintegrated into education. She explained that children were with them for an average of 6.5 months and the longer they had been out of education before being supported by Challengers, the longer it took to get them back into education. The charity has a waiting list. Asked if it had been impacted by changes in short breaks funding, the CEO replied that it had affected parents’ resilience and the behaviour and confidence of young people who received less play provision.

     

    1. A Member asked if there were protocols that included clear criteria for what was expected from alternative provision providers, at the point of commissioning and in terms of quality of delivery. The Member also asked what assurance checks were conducted, especially on unregistered providers. The Service Manager for Educational Effectiveness responded that 58% of young people in AP attended either a short stay school or AP academy, both of which have a service level agreement with the Council and are monitored by Inclusion Officers on a half-termly basis. She added that 100 per cent of these are Ofsted rated Good or Outstanding. The independent sector has termly monitoring visits. Checks had increased under a new dynamic purchasing system. Each individual child has a plan monitored by their SEND  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6/24

7/24

FOSTER CARER SUFFICIENCY pdf icon PDF 429 KB

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    Purpose:To understand whether Surrey County Council’s current strategy to recruit and retain foster carers will be successful in improving the sufficiency of homes for Looked After Children. 

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Witnesses

    Clare Curran, Cabinet Member for Children and Families, Lifelong Learning

    Tina Benjamin, Director – Corporate Parenting

    Matt Ansell, Director – Family Resilience & Safeguarding

    Jo Rabbitte, Assistant Director – Children’s Resources

    Sam Morris, Secretary to Surrey County Fostering Association (SCFA)

    Key points made in the discussion:

    1. The Director of Corporate Parenting shared that eight households had been approved as foster carers since the submission of the report, with more to go through the assessment process. If all were successful, there would be a further 26 general foster carers and 43 kinship foster carers in Surrey by the end of the financial year.

     

    1. The Secretary to Surrey County Fostering Association (SCFA) noted that they had been working closely with the Service to make a foster carer charter to help foster carers feel valued and regarded as working in partnership with the Service. The Secretary shared a feeling widely held among foster carers that not all social workers understood what foster carers were managing on a daily basis, in addition to their birth families and jobs, and would like new social workers to undergo training in order to foster realistic expectations. They should be treated like colleagues, especially with respect to booking meetings. Foster carers were expected to conduct transport for the children’s contact hours with their birth families, something that had continued after the pandemic, adding more pressure. She said as the people who often know the children best, foster carers would like to be more involved in the decision-making process. The Secretary also shared that carers would like to have paid respite and enjoy rights afforded to normal full-time employees such as paid leave. They would also like to see greater support from mental health services for foster children.

     

    1. A Member asked the Council what they specifically could do to encourage Surrey foster carers to stay in their roles. The Assistant Director for Children’s Resources said that they could be invited to the retention and recruitment board for foster carers, which would give them a platform to voice concerns.

     

    1. The Secretary to the SCFA noted that fostering was seen as a middle-class role by some people in Surrey and the narrative had to change to debunk that myth and advertise the financial benefits of fostering. Word of mouth was the most important factor to improve recruitment. It was her view that the support given to foster carers by Surrey County Council was better than Independent Fostering Agencies and that this should be promoted.

     

    1. The Director for Corporate Parenting explained there had been an overview of competitors’ benefits in 2023. Fees and allowances were raised significantly for the first time since 2019 and there was a built-in annual inflation-linked increase. Paid leave had not been considered but could be investigated and costed. The Cabinet Member for Children and Families, Lifelong Learning said she could take that under consideration but that the interests of children and young people were the upmost priority.

     

    1. The Chair asked how the Service could improve how children’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7/24

8/24

CHILDREN'S HOMES - OFSTED REPORTS PUBLISHED SINCE THE LAST MEETING OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE pdf icon PDF 125 KB

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    Purpose of report: The Select Committee will receive Ofsted reports on Surrey County Council-run Children’s Homes in its agenda, as part of a communications plan agreed in June 2022.

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Witnesses

    Clare Curran, Cabinet Member for Children and Families, Lifelong Learning

    Tina Benjamin, Director – Corporate Parenting

    Key points made in the discussion:

    1. The Chair praised officers for the continued Good rating in the latest Ofsted report.

9/24

PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW pdf icon PDF 115 KB

10/24

DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING 17 APRIL 2024

    The next public meeting of the committee will be held on 17 April 2024.  

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    Minutes:

    The Committee noted its next public meeting would be held on Wednesday 17 April 2024.