Venue: REMOTE MEETING streaming here: https://surreycc.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcasts
Contact: Benjamin Awkal, Scrutiny Officer
Note: Please note due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this meeting will take place remotely
No. | Item |
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS
To report any apologies for absence and substitutions. Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies were received from Tanya Quddus and Alex Tear. |
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MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETINGS: 21 JANUARY 2020
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. 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: None received. |
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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 (22 July 2020).
2. The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting(21 July 2020)
3. The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received.
Despite meetings being held remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 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. Additional documents: Minutes: None received. |
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CHILDREN'S IMPROVEMENT UPDATE
Purpose of the Report:
To provide an update on the improvement of Surrey’s children’s services and the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the improvement programme. This report provides further information on the services and activity outlined in the last report to the Select Committee on 21 January 2020. Additional documents: Minutes: Witnesses: Mary Lewis, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families
Jacquie Burke, Director – Family Resilience and Safeguarding
Key points raised during the discussion:
1. The Director informed Members that the Service’s annual conversation with Ofsted had taken place since the previous meeting of the Select Committee. Ofsted had been assured by the council’s progress during the COVID-19 pandemic and the approach taken in children’s social care to meet the needs of the county’s vulnerable children. Members heard that assurance visits and targeted visits would resume in September 2020, albeit they were likely to be conducted virtually. Full ILACS (inspection of local authority children’s services) visits would not be resumed until March 2021.
2. A Member asked whether there had been an increase in missing children cases during the COVID-19 pandemic and what the council did to locate missing children. The Director informed the Committee that there had been a reduction in the number of these cases during the pandemic. There were tight procedures in place for locating a missing child and for return to home interviews. The timeliness of the latter had greatly improved over the previous 12 months. The Service works with the Police – who were responsible for searching missing children – the missing child’s family and all agencies known to the child to locate them. Where necessary, with Police agreement, the council publicised missing children.
3. The Chairman agreed to circulate the figures relating to missing children from the Surrey Children's Services Improvement Board Performance Compendium to the Committee. The Cabinet Member notified Members that missing looked-after children was a standing item at every Corporate Parenting Board meeting; adding that a missing incident for a looked-after child could be an event as minor as returning late from a social activity, and this should be considered when examining data relating to missing children.
4. A Member referred to compliance rates for audit requests, questioning how instances of non-compliance were monitored and followed up on. The Director responded that, whilst compliance had improved over time and the Service was committed to achieving full compliance, there would always be occasions where people were unable to complete audits and, occasionally, furlough will be granted in this respect. Earlier in the year, the challenge to recruit permanent social workers meant existing staff carrying out audits had to undertake additional operational tasks. There had been a significant, positive response at team-practitioner level to providing management oversight for 6,000 open files at the outbreak of COVID-19 in England. A dip sample of 10% of those case notes by the quality assurance team returned an agreement rate of 91% on risk management.
5. A Member asked how the Service had been providing training on the analysis of motivational interviewing and the identification of what good supervision looks like. The Director replied that a number of catch-up training sessions had been arranged for practitioners who had already undertaken two-days of training on the technique and that a commitment had been made to ensuring that ... view the full minutes text for item 14/20 |
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UPDATE ON THE SCHOOLS ALLIANCE FOR EXCELLENCE
Purpose of the Report:
· To outline the purpose and impact of SAfE. · To provide assurances that SAfE is meeting the council’s core statutory duties for school improvement, as well as steering the changes needed to support the achievement of a sector-led education partnership. · To provide a summary of the role of SAfE during the current COVID-19 crisis. Additional documents: Minutes: Witnesses: Julie Iles, Cabinet Member for All-Age Learning
Liz Mills, Director – Education, Learning and Culture Maria Dawes, CEO – Schools Alliance for Excellence
Key points raised during the discussion:
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PREPARATIONS FOR THE REOPENING OF SCHOOLS
To follow.
Purpose of the Report:
To provide an overview of the work undertaken and planned to support schools’ preparations for the full reopening in September. 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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RECOMMENDATIONS TRACKER AND FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME
Purpose of the report:
For the Select Committee to review the attached 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: 21 SEPTEMBER 2020
The next public meeting of the Committee will be held remotely via Microsoft Teams on 21 September 2020. Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee noted its next meeting would be held on 21 September 2020. |