To agree
the minutes as a true record of the meeting.
Minutes:
The minutes were agreed as a true and correct
record.
26/14
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
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To receive any declarations of
disclosable pecuniary interests from
Members in respect of any item to be considered at the
meeting.
Notes:
·In line with the Relevant Authorities
(Disclosable Pecuniary Interests)
Regulations 2012, declarations may relate to the interest of the
member, or the member’s spouse or civil partner, or a person
with whom the member is living as husband or wife, or a person with
whom the member is living as if they were civil partners and the
member is aware they have the interest.
·Members need only disclose interests not
currently listed on the Register of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.
·Members must notify the Monitoring
Officer of any interests disclosed at the meeting so they may be
added to the Register.
·Members are reminded that they must not
participate in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest.
Minutes:
No Members declared any pecuniary
interests. However, it was requested
that the following points were noted:
·
Robert Evans advised that he currently is a teacher at a special
needs school, however, it did not come under the Council’s
jurisdiction.
·
Liz Bowes declared a non-pecuniary interest as she is currently
employed by Tribal who are contracted to carry out Ofsted inspections.
27/14
QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS
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To receive any questions or petitions.
Notes:
1. The deadline for Member’s questions is
12.00pm four working days before the meeting (8 May
2014).
2. The deadline for public questions is seven days
before the meeting (7 May 2014).
3. The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the
meeting, and no petitions have been received.
The Committee made a series of
recommendations to Cabinet concerning Home to School Transport at
its meeting on 27 March 2014. The Cabinet provided a response at
its meeting on 22 April 2014. A copy of this response is
attached.
Minutes:
The Committee had made a series of
recommendations to Cabinet concerning Home to School Transport at
its meeting on 27 March 2014.
The Cabinet provided a response at its meeting
on 22 April 2014. Members noted the
response.
This report is to provide the Select Committee
with a report on aspects of the work of the Early Years and
Childcare Service.
Minutes:
Declarations of
interest:
Liz Bowes declared a non-pecuniary
interest as she is currently employed by Tribal who are contracted
to carry out Ofsted inspections.
Witnesses:
Caroline Budden, Deputy Director
– Children’s, Schools & Families
Phil Osborne, Early Years &
Childcare Service Manager
PJ Wilkinson, Assistant Director for
Schools & Learning
Mary Angell, Cabinet Member for
Children & Families
Linda Kemeny, Cabinet Member for
Schools & Learning
Key points raised
during the discussion:
The Early Years & Childcare
Service Manager briefly introduced his report to
Committee. He emphasised the importance
of high quality services for children under the age of 5 in
improving outcomes in later life.
Overall, the outcomes for children in Surrey were good, however,
there continued to be a need to provide focussed support for those
with special educational needs or from disadvantaged
backgrounds.
An update was provided on the
Government’s recent announcement that it intends to extend
Pupil Premium to children in early year’s education; however,
there were currently no clear dates or information about what age
group this would cover.
The Early Years & Childcare
Service Manager advised that a recent Ofsted Annual Report on the
early year sector had raised concerns about the quality of
provision in areas of disadvantage. In
Surrey, 86% early years childcare settings in disadvantaged areas
were rated ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’.
During the discussion, Members
queried whether staff turnover was a problem. The Early Years & Childcare Service Manager
advised that generally there was sufficient staffing to manage and
fulfil roles within the sector. He was
more concerned about increasing qualification levels within the
sector and had a Recruitment & Retention Team in place to
manage this within settings.
Members queried whether schools had
the budget available to provide additional 15 hour per week places
for 2 year olds whose parental income was equivalent to the
eligibility for free school meals. The
Early Years & Childcare Service Manager informed the Committee
that schools were provided with a proportion of budget to support
the funding of nursery staff which should support a qualified
teacher leading a nursery.
The Committee queried whether there
were outreach teams in place to ensure that those children in
disadvantaged areas, not attending a Children’s Centre, were
able to have a good start in life. The
Early Years & Childcare Service Manager advised that his
service had agreed with Babcock 4S to offer additional support to
those schools with maintained nurseries, as data showed that
outcomes were often poorer in the maintained sector. As there had been a small amount of take up on the
offer, a follow up letter would be sent to the head teachers of the
60+ maintained nurseries in Surrey.
The Early Years & Childcare
Service Manager went on to explain that promoting registration with
Children’s Centres was difficult as there was no immediate
transfer of birth information from the health service. However, arrangements had been made with Job
Centre Plus to exchange information with families on benefits or
workless families and Children’s Services with regards to
Early Help, with children’s centres. There were Outreach workers ...
view the full minutes text for item 29/14
Mary Angell, Cabinet Member for
Children & Families
Clare Curran, Cabinet Associate for
Children, Schools & Families
Linda Kemeny, Cabinet Member for
Schools & Learning
Key points raised
during the discussion:
The Cabinet Member for Children
& Families provided the Committee with an overview of her key
priorities for 2014/15. As the lead
statutory Member for Children’s Services there were a number
of priorities that were non-negotiable.
A summary of her priorities is listed below:
Safeguarding including against child
exploitation, serious case reviews and the integration between the
Safeguarding Board and schools – the Cabinet Member
recommended that the Committee continue to scrutinise safeguarding
arrangements in 2014/15.
Multiple Agency Safeguarding Hub
– now live and very successful, however there was a need to
streamline and consider how it would be resourced.
Corporate Parenting including
integration with of Health colleagues’ work and
monitoring outcomes
Attainment and school attendance for
Looked After Children
Safe and suitable accommodation,
including services for care leavers
Employment and education for care
leavers
Restorative approaches to youth
justice
Fostering services (the Stay Put
Policy)
Early Help, Children’s Health
and complex needs – coordinated approach with the Health
& Wellbeing Board and Health Scrutiny Committee
Fostering/Adoption services –
adoption breakdowns are increasing and therefore it would be
important to compare to the previous years
Staff recruitment and retention
– supporting and retaining social workers and the social work
academy.
Budget - £56m savings in the
last 5 years with a need to find another £24m in the next 4
years.
The Cabinet Member for Schools &
Learning introduced her key priorities to the Committee and
explained she had been visiting education settings and would
continue to do so. A summary of her
priorities is listed below:
Tracking pupils – how schools
are tracking pupils and how pupil premium is being
used.
School place delivery in
September
New primary school plans
School improvement – every
school should be rated ‘good’ by 2017. It was noted that 90% of secondary schools were
already rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by
Ofsted.
How Surrey provides special needs
services including personalised budgets, education health and care
plans and provision, particularly for children on the autistic
spectrum.
Apprenticeships remained a priority
along with reducing the number of NEETs (Not in Education,
Employment or Training), Early Help and youth justice.
The Cabinet Associate for Children,
Schools & Families outlined her key priorities, explaining that
she shared the priorities of her Cabinet Member colleagues, as well
as having lead responsibility for Post-16 services for young
people, the Family Support Programme and the Council’s
relationship with the Districts and Boroughs. A summary of her priorities is listed below:
Re-commissioning Services for Young
People
Increasing the number of
apprenticeships
Looked After young people
Reducing homelessness of young
people
Working with partners of the County
Council to increase employability of young people
Surrey Family Support Programme
– now working in every district and borough in the county to
help families with complex and multiple needs, ...
view the full minutes text for item 30/14
31/14
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
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The
next meeting of the Committee will be held at 10am on10 July
2014.
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