Venue: REMOTE MEETING
Contact: Benjamin Awkal, Scrutiny Officer
Note: Please note that due to the Covid-19 situation this meeting will take place remotely.
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS
To report any apologies for absence and substitutions. Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies were received from Simon Parr. .
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MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING: 28 JULY 2020
To agree the minutes of the previous meeting of the Children, Families, Lifelong Learning and Culture as a true and accurate record of proceedings. Additional documents: Minutes: The minutes were agreed as a true record of the meeting. |
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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. Additional documents: Minutes: Members of the Select Committee held personal interests in Item 5. Those interests were not considered to be prejudicial and thus did not prevent the Members from participating in the discussion of the report.
Declarations:
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QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS
To
receive any questions or petitions. Notes: 1. The deadline for Member’s questions is 12.00pm four working days before the meeting (Tuesday 15 September 2020).
2. The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting(Monday 14 September 2020)
3. The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all questions and petitions received will be responded to in writing and will be contained within the minutes of the meeting
Additional documents: Minutes: 1. A Member asked how many, and what proportion of, looked-after children and care leavers lived in unregulated accommodation and what steps were taken to safeguard such young people from criminal exploitation.
2. The Assistant Director – Children’s Resources responded that the provision of a sufficient number of suitable placements for looked-after children and care leavers was a statutory duty. It was acceptable to place young people above the age of sixteen in unregulated accommodation when they needed support to achieve independence. If an accommodation provider was also providing care, then that setting would be regarded as an unregistered children’s home. It was the responsibility of the council to quality assure supported accommodation provision; a provider must submit a statement of purpose and a location risk assessment that details issues such as the risk of criminality. The Quality Assurance Team had oversight of all semi-independent providers and the council’s dynamic purchasing system invited providers to submit applications to the system, which are the subject to a quality assurance process. A child with care needs can only be placed in unregulated provision with the agreement of the Director – Social Care and with additional layers of quality assurance and supervision arrangements in place. The shortage of placements, particularly for children with the most complex needs, was a national issue.
3. The Member asked whether the council carried out regular visits to these settings. The Assistant Director stated that children’s’ social workers visited looked-after children at least every six weeks and more frequently visited those in unregulated or unregistered provision. An Independent Reviewing Officer had oversight of care plans and carried out regular statutory reviews for looked-after children in regulated placements. The role of regulator is fulfilled by the council for unregulated or unregistered accommodation settings. In the case of unregulated or unregistered accommodation, the council is subject to its own internal quality assurance assessments, i.e. due diligence and unannounced visits.
Action: i. For the Assistant Director – Children’s Resources to provide the proportion of looked-after children and care leavers living in independent accommodation and the steps taken to safeguard young people from criminal exploitation. |
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SCHOOL GOVERNOR SUPPORT
Purpose of the report:
To provide an overview of the work undertaken by Surrey County Council and partners to support governors and governing bodies in Surrey maintained nurseries and schools and academies. Additional documents: Minutes: Witnesses: Julie Iles, Cabinet Member for All-Age Learning
Liz Mills, Director – Education, Learning and Culture Jane Winterbone, Assistant Director – Education James Durrant, School Governor at Oakwood School Doris Neville-Davies, Member of the Executive Committee of the Surrey Governance Association and School Governor at Cleves School, Weybridge
Key points raised during the discussion: 1. A Member asked what the main challenges faced by school governors were and what support was in place to enable governors to overcome these challenges. The Cabinet Member responded that the role of school governor was a demanding position that placed many responsibilities and a significant workload on the volunteers undertaking the role: including the requirement to keep up to date with legislative changes, the variety of skills required of governing bodies, and holding schools to account regarding the discharge of their duties owed to looked-after children and children with additional needs. The Cabinet Member highlighted that governors freely volunteer their time in the best interests of their school communities. A school governor commented that there was a wide range of places from which school governors could access information and support, and that, before reading the report, she had been unaware that support from Cognus was available, and asked how governors were made aware of such support. The Director assured members that the Service was constantly trying to improve the accessibility of information and support available to governors.
2. A Member queried whether academy schools received the same level of support as local authority funded schools. The Director explained that the council’s statutory duties were different for non-maintained schools, and that the council had a responsibility to appoint local authority governors to community schools. The council, however, went beyond its statutory responsibilities by endeavouring to provide accessible governance information and support to schools of all types, as part of a holistic approach to maintaining strength in Surrey’s entire school system.
3. A Member who was a governor of an independent school commented that he had never received governance information from the council in that role. The Assistant Director explained that all independent schools received a weekly information bulleting from the Schools Relationships Team, but it was then the responsibility of the schools to disseminate that information. The Assistant Director offered to add the Member to the bulletin’s circulation list. A member of the Surrey Governance Association (SGA) asked if it would be possible for such information to disseminated directly to representatives of governing bodies, as the council maintained a database of governors.
4. A Vice-Chairman asked whether governors would like to receive support in any additional areas. The Cabinet Member explained that webinars provided throughout the COVID-19 pandemic had been a positive additional resource and were well attended by governing bodies; subsequently, recordings of the briefings had been made available for retrospective viewing. The council was working with the SGA to increase the schedule of availability through the Schools Alliance for Excellence (SAfE) in order to make information more accessible. The Assistant ... view the full minutes text for item 23/20 |
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VERBAL UPDATE ON THE REOPENING OF SCHOOLS
Purpose of the report:
Regarding a verbal update on the reopening of schools to be received pursuant to a recommendation made by the Select Committee on 28 July 2020 following its consideration of a report on the council’s preparations for school reopening.
Additional documents: Minutes: Witnesses: Julie Iles, Cabinet Member for All-Age Learning
Liz Mills, Director – Education, Learning and Culture
Key points raised during the discussion:
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NO WRONG DOOR TASK GROUP REPORT
Purpose of the report:
To apprise the Select Committee of the work, findings and recommendations of the No Wrong Door Task Group.
Report to follow. Additional documents: Minutes: witnesses: Mary Lewis, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families Lesley Steeds, Chairman – No Wrong Door Task Group and Vice-Chairman of the Select Committee
Jo Rabbitte, Assistant Director – Children’s Resources
Key points raised during the discussion:
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RECOMMENDATIONS TRACKER AND FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME
Purpose of the report:
For the Select Committee to review the attached actions and recommendations tracker and forward work programme, making suggestions for additions or amendments as appropriate. Additional documents: Minutes: Key points raised during the discussion:
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DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING: 14 DECEMBER 2020
The next public meeting of the committee will be held on Monday 14 December 2020. Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee noted its next meeting would be held on 14 December 2020.
Meeting closed at 12:10 pm.
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PRIVATE WORKSHOP
Budget Scrutiny: review of the council’s current financial position and core planning assumptions. Additional documents: |