Apologies were received from Dr
Andrew Povey, Councillor Yvonna Lay and Mr Simon Parr. Councillor
Clare Curran attended as a substitute for Dr Andrew Povey.
To
agree the minutes of the previous meeting of the Children,
Families, Lifelong Learning and Culture Select Committee as a true
and accurate record of proceedings.
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.
Councillor Peter
Martin declared a personal interest in relation to Item 5. This
interest did not prevent the Member from participating in the
discussion.
Declaration:
Grandchild is an EHCP recipient.
Councillor Clare
Curran declared a personal interest during the discussion of Item
7.
Declaration: The
Councillor is a non-executive Director of Surrey
Choices.
1.The deadline for Member’s questions is 12.00pm
four working days before the meeting (Tuesday, 8
December 2020).
2.The deadline for public questions is seven days
before the meeting(Monday, 7 December
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.
Due
to the COVID-19 pandemic, all questions and petitions received will
be resonded to in writing and will be recorded within the minutes
of the meeting.
To
provide the Children, Families, Lifelong Learning and Culture
Select Committee with an update on progress in implementing the
recommendations of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
Task Group which was established to evaluate the support provided
to children with Special Educational Needs (SEN).
Liz Mills, Director
– Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture
Jane Winterbone,
Assistant Director – Education
Mary Burguieres,
Assistant Director – Systems and Transformation
Key
points raised during the discussion:
The
Chairman invited Cllr Chris Botten, Chairman of the former Special
Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Task Group, to chair the
discussion.
The
Assistant Director – Systems and Transformation thanked the
SEND Task Group for its report and stated
that its recommendations helped guide improvement work around the
support provided for children with Special Educational Needs
(SEN). The Assistant Director stated that when the Task
Group was established in October 2019, the Graduated Response (GR)
approach, the Schools Alliance for Excellence (SAfE), and
engagement with Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs)
were in their infancy; the Learner’s Single Point of Access (L-SPA) and the Early
Intervention Fund did not exist; contracting arrangements for
independent schools were not yet robust; and the Service had
only just agreed Phase 1 of its capital investment programme.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Service had made progress on
eight of the nine recommendations put forth by the Task Group. The
ninth recommendation was to provide a progress update on actions
that took place to implement each of the Task Group’s
recommendations, to the Select Committee.
The Cabinet
Member for All Age Learning thanked all school leaders who worked
tirelessly during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns. She
commented that the school relationships team and area schools
officers were fantastic in dealing with
schools and ensuring that Public Health colleagues were providing
sufficient advice and guidance.
A
Membernoted that school attendance of SEN learners during the first
national lockdown in Surrey was higher than the national average
and asked how this was achieved. The Assistant Director –
Systems and Transformation informed the Select Committee that 23%
of children in Surrey with an Education, Health and Care Plan
(EHCP) attended school during the first lockdown in Spring 2020,
compared to 16% nationally. A number of things were done to achieve
this: the GR Advisers ascertained
which children were capable of attending school and undertook risk
assessments for all learners with EHCPs or those who were
considered vulnerable; the Service worked closely with schools,
particularly specialist schools, to ensure they received priority
access to personal protective equipment (PPE); the Service ensured
director-level oversight of children attending school; and needs
were responded to in a way that ensured parents’ confidence
that their children were safe in school.
A Member
asked what percentage of SEN learners were attending school
currently. The Assistant Director – Systems and
Transformation stated that attendance was approximately 85% because
some children with SEN were required to stay at home to
self-isolate. For that reason, this figure was lower than that for
the proportion of children without an EHCP who were attending
school.
A Member
asked what extra challenges
schools might face with providing support for children with SEND in
2021. The Assistant Director – Systems and Transformation
stated that ...
view the full minutes text for item 33/20
To
apprise the Select Committee of the Cabinet Response to the Report
of the No Wrong Door Task Group and provide opportunity for the
Select Committee to make further recommendations.
Mary Lewis, Cabinet
Member for Children, Young People and Families
Tina Benjamin,
Director – Corporate Parenting
Key
points raised during the discussion:
The
Chairman invited Councillor Lesley Steeds, Chairman of the former
No Wrong Door (NWD) Task Group, to introduce the Report. The
Chairman of the Task Group was pleased to report that the Cabinet
Member for Children, Young People and Families had accepted six of
the Task Group recommendations outright and accepted the essence of
the remaining three. The Chairman of the Task Group supported the
Cabinet Member’s decision to maintain the name No Wrong Door
for the Service. The Chairman of the Task Group was assured by the
Cabinet Member’s representation that the accreditation of
Surrey’s NWD by North Yorkshire County Council would not
prevent further development of the service to meet local need. The
Chairman of the Task Group recommended that the Select Committee
agree that the assurances provided satisfactorily addressed the
concerns underlying recommendations 1, 2 and 8.
A Member
asked for an update on the progress of the NWD project. The
Director – Corporate Parenting informed the Select Committee
that the Service was scheduling key training which was crucial for
the rollout of the NWD and ensuring that staff understood the model
and engaged with partners. An operational group of staff members
was established, and roles and job descriptions were being
developed. The Service was also considering what the NWD would look
like for foster carers who wanted to work within the model,
identifying the eligibility and pathways for young people, and
exploring the future working relationship with colleagues in social
care and other agencies. The NWD was on course to commence in
shadow form in late January/February 2021.
A Member
asked if there were any risks of implementing the NWD Service. The
Cabinet Member stated that failing to introduce a new service for
teenagers at risk of becoming looked after was the greatest risk
and thanked the Task Group for its work and supporting the
introduction of the NWD policy.
A Member
asked whether the locations for future NWD hubs were confirmed and
for the reasons behind any decisions made. The Director informed
the Select Committee that the first confirmed location was
Walton-on-Thames, in Northeast Surrey. This site fulfilled much of
the criteria for children’s development and hub work. The
Service had looked at where in Surrey most teenagers entered into
care to help decide in which quadrant the hubs were best located.
The Director hoped that the hubs would be spread across the county
as much as possible and commented that, ideally, the second hub
would be in the southeast of the county, but this was not yet
confirmed. The service was deliverable without dedicated NWD hubs,
by using the council’s existing residential
estate.
The
Chairman noted that Cabinet agreed a refreshed Organisational
Strategy on 29 September 2020 and asked how the NWDsupported the council’s new priorities. The
Cabinet Member explained that outcomes for teenagers who entered
care were generally poor ...
view the full minutes text for item 34/20
The core planning
assumptions that informed the draft Budget were established using
the PESTLE Framework for considering political, economic, social,
technological, legal, environmental and climate factors. Future
demand, inflation and funding were also considered. Thus, the draft Budget and Medium-Term Financial
Strategy were based on an assessment of the likely operating
environment for the county council in 2021/22 and over the medium
term. The draft Budget was developed in an integrated way across
the organisation and was linked with the council’s four new
priority objectives and the community vision 2030. The immediate
priority for 2021 was to stabilise the council’s finances
following the COVID-19 crisis.
The Strategic Finance
Business Partner stated that the draft Budget contained an
£18.3m funding gap for 2021/22.The main areas of the funding
gap were £5m in Adult Social Care, £5.9m in Children,
Families, Lifelong Learning and Culture, and £5.9m in
Environment, Transport and Infrastructure. Funding estimates were
to be iterated with the further clarity that was expected before
Christmas in the local government finance settlement following a
government spending review in November 2020; there was relative
confidence that the £18.3m gap would be closed without
further directorate efficiencies. Fulfilling the council’s
statutory duty of setting a balanced budget for each financial year
was to be achieved by refining core planning and funding
assumptions, reviewing directorate gaps, and finalising efficiency
and transformation proposals. The 2021/22-2025/26 capital programme
also needed to be finalised. A final budget was to be presented to
Cabinet in January 2021, following the conclusion of a public
consultation in December 2020 and equality impact assessments for
proposed efficiencies, and approved by Council in February
2021.
The medium-term
estimates assumed that the Government Fair Funding Review would
reduce the council’s funding – estimates suggested that
the funding gap would rise to £170.1m over the 5-year period
to 2025/26.
The Director –
Financial Insights gave an overview of the Children, Families,
Lifelong Learning and Culture Draft Budget. There were seven
strategic priorities for 2020/21, alongside ongoing
business-as-usual responsibilities within the Directorate. The
Directorate budget, excluding the Dedicated Schools Grant, was
£251m, the largest part of that being allocated to Corporate
Parenting, followed by Education, Lifelong Learning and
Culture.
The Medium-Term
Financial Strategy for 2021-26 (MTFS) was focused on the key areas
of transformation and financial pressures within the Directorate.
The Ofsted rating of children’s services continued to be a
priority, but there were other financial issues such as expenditure
on placements, including Special Educational Needs and
Disabilities, ...
view the full minutes text for item 35/20
Mary Lewis, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and
Families
Jacquie Burke,
Director – Family Resilience and Safeguarding
Tina Benjamin, Director – Corporate Parenting
Mark Mapstone, Assistant Director – Performance,
Intelligence and System
Key
points raised during the discussion:
The Chairman thanked officers, social workers, the
management team and Cabinet Members for their hard work during the
COVID-19 pandemic and praised them for continuing to launch the
initiatives within the Family Resilience improvement
programme.
The Vice-Chairman asked whether Children’s
Services wereadequately resourced to meet
the increased demand and whether there were any risks of which the
Select Committee should be aware. The Director – Family
Resilience and Safeguarding stated that sophisticated modelling of
capacity examined cases coming through the children’s
services front door and the subsequent trickle down into the rest
of the system and informed the Service how best to meet that
demand. The Director emphasised that it was not desirable to
continue to provide the current level of statutory support for
families because issues were best resolved when identified and
addressed early. The Helping Families Early Strategy aimed to bring
families out of statutory services in a supported manner to help
them capitalise on changes made. Resourcing and staffing continued
to be one of the Service’s greatest challenges and was the
motivation behind a bespoke recruitment workstream. The results of
the new recruitment and retention package would hopefully be seen
in January/February 2021. The Cabinet Member stated that her
greatest concern was the pressure that increased caseloads placed
on staff. Members were actively engaging with Surrey Members of
Parliament to lobby the Government to take action to make social
work a more attractive career option.
The Vice-Chairmannoted the
increased caseloads to which social work staff were subjectand asked what wellbeing support was available to
staff and how this was provided and funded. The Director - Family
Resilience and Safeguarding informed the Select Committee that
there was a significant wellbeing offer which was accompanied by
mindfulness training and coaching, team trips to Surrey Outdoor
Learning, corporate coaching teams, and bereavement and domestic
abuse support. Service leaders were vocal about staff wellbeing and
internal communications emphasised the support available and the
importance of staff taking time for themselves away from
work.
For the Select Committee to review the
attached actions and recommendations tracker and forward work
programme, making suggestions for additions or amendments as
appropriate.
The Cabinet Member
for Children, Young People and Families suggested that the Select
Committee scrutinise the progress of work being undertaken with
disadvantaged children.
38/20
DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING: WEDNESDAY, 20 JANUARY 2021
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