Agenda and minutes

Children, Families, Lifelong Learning and Culture Select Committee - Thursday, 2 March 2023 10.00 am

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

Contact: Julie Armstrong, Scrutiny Officer 

Media

Items
No. Item

1/23

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Apologies were received from Tanya Quddus.

     

    Fiona Davidson arrived at 10:02am.

     

2/23

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETINGS: 15 DECEMBER 2022 pdf icon PDF 2 MB

    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.

3/23

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.

4/23

QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS pdf icon PDF 484 KB

    To receive any questions or petitions.

    Notes:

    1.    The deadline for Member’s questions is 12.00pm four working days before the meeting (24 February 2023).

     

    2.    The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting(23 February 2023)

     

    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.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    1.    One public question was received about the digital record-keeping system known as the Single View of a Child Integrated System (SVOAC), from Kate Goode and Leanne Henderson of Family Voice Surrey. A response to this question has been attached to these minutes. No supplementary question was asked.

5/23

CHAIRMAN'S COMMENTS

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    For the Chairman to provide any updates and comments to the Committee.

     

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    Minutes:

    1.    The Chairman commended the hard work and commitment of staff whom Members had met on visits to quadrants in Walton and Woking.

     

    Fiona White arrived at 10:05am.

     

6/23

ACTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TRACKER AND FORWARD WORK PLAN pdf icon PDF 24 KB

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    To review the actions and recommendations tracker and forward work programme, making suggestions for additions or amendments as appropriate.

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    Minutes:

    Key points made in the discussion:

    1.    A Member queried who held the remit of children’s mental health services (Mindworks). The Scrutiny Business Manager explained it fell under health scrutiny and the approach being taken was for the Adults and Health Select Committee (AHSC) to host meetings, with Members of this Committee joining relevant items to ask questions and contribute to recommendations.

     

    2.    Members commented that they would prefer to bring Mindworks’ witnesses and performance data before their own committee. The Cabinet Member for Education and Learning added she recognised that ASHC was the statutory committee for scrutiny of a health partner, though ‘Partnership work to secure support for children and young people’s mental health and well-being’ was said to need improvement in the 2022 ILACS (Inspecting Local Authority Children’s Services) report.

     

    Actions/ requests for further information:

     

    1.    Democratic Services to include actions in relation to Mindworks made at AHSC meetings in the Children, Families, Lifelong Learning & Culture (CFLLC) Select Committee’s actions tracker for ease of reference.

7/23

ADDITIONAL NEEDS AND DISABILITIES MONITORING pdf icon PDF 168 KB

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    To receive report on progress made towards and barriers against achieving the recommendations for the Inclusion and Additional Needs Partnership Strategy agreed by Committee in December 2022.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Witnesses:

    Clare Curran, Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning

    Rachael Wardell, Executive Director – Children, Families and Learning

    Liz Mills, Director – Education and Lifelong Learning

    Julia Katherine, Assistant Director – Inclusion and Additional Needs

     

    Key points made in the discussion:

    1.    The Assistant Director informed the Committee that all its recommendations were incorporated into the strategy that was agreed by Cabinet in January 2023. An easy-read version had been commissioned and the first webinar for families would be broadcast in April. Performance indicators against strategy priorities would be reported to the Committee regularly and include health indicators and timeliness of Education Health and Care needs assessments.

     

    2.    A Member voiced concern about the Council’s ability to meet its Safety Valve Agreement obligations without the required capital investment, after it was awarded a fraction of what it bid for (£8m of £56m). The Executive Director stated the Safety Valve Agreement currently remained on track but the agreement’s terms had assumed that bids would be successful. The Council was in a dialogue with the DfE about the Government’s under investment. The Executive Director was not optimistic more funding would be forthcoming in the short-term and, in this instance, the agreement would therefore need to be relaxed. The special free school announced this week would help, but did not close the gap.

     

    3.    The percentage of Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) due in January 2023 that were completed on time (within 20 weeks) was two per cent. A Member asked when the 70 per cent target would be reached. The Director for Education and Lifelong Learning said the latest figure was 10 per cent and they aimed for 60 per cent by the next Committee meeting in May. Delays were caused by professional assessments. The Assistant Director reported special educational needs teams were now almost fully staffed and were writing around 2,000 new EHCPs a year. These were done in-house; a lot of quality assurance would be required if external agencies were used.

     

    4.    The EHCP assessment process was taking an average of 142 days to complete, against a target of 112 days (i.e. phase 2). At its worst it was 226 days (December 2022). Every case over 40 weeks had been looked at and, the 138 that took between 40 and 50 weeks all involved an additional complication.

     

    5.    A Member asked if the practice of parents funding their own Educational Psychologists should be encouraged. The Executive Director said that could result in a significant injustice in the system and the Code of Practice expected Educational Psychologist (EP) advice to be commissioned by the local authority. The Assistant Director conveyed that only 12 higher education institutions in the country trained EPs; the University of Surrey was not one of these. Surrey County Council had trainees on placement each year and had employed eight supervised assistant EPs, on the Committee’s suggestion. The Department for Education’s (DfE) SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan includes training 600 more educational psychologists (EPs) across  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7/23

8/23

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL CARE WORKFORCE pdf icon PDF 396 KB

    To scrutinise the current approach to stabilising the children’s social care workforce.

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Witnesses:

     

    Sinead Mooney, Cabinet Member for Children and Families

     

    Rachael Wardell, Executive Director – Children, Families and Learning

     

    Catherine Watkins, Assistant Director for South East Quadrant

     

    Anasia Teete, HR People Business Partner

     

    Key points made in the discussion:

    1.    The Department for Education (DfE) annual workforce census showed that nationally, social workers quitting their posts annually had risen by 40 per cent in five years. The number of leavers was greater than starters for the first time since the census began in 2017. The Assistant Director observed the Council had benchmarked salaries against neighbouring authorities and found although its base salary was reasonably competitive, its retention package was lower than elsewhere.

     

    2.    The complexity of cases since Covid had worsened retention. Workers moving to agencies was an issue, but people were also leaving the profession, both of which resulted in an increase of caseloads for those remaining. The cost of housing in Surrey had a significant impact and a comprehensive key worker housing scheme was not being offered, meaning many workers commute and have high petrol costs. A Member thought that if the Government made agency working difficult it could lead to more leaving the profession.

     

    3.    A Member remarked on the importance of competitive salaries amid a national staff shortage, when one third of the Council’s social workers were not permanent. A review of foster care pay had resulted in it being aligned with neighbouring authorities, enabled by extra money in the budget, agreed at January 2023 Cabinet. It was suggested the equivalent was required for Surrey’s social workers, a quarter of whom were leaving each year.

     

    4.    It was noted the 2023/24 budget includes £1.6m funding for a retention payment scheme, an apprenticeship scheme and ASYE (Assessed and Supported Year in Employment) training. A Member asked how much was needed for the proposals outlined in the report to Committee. A business case was due to be presented to the CFLL Assurance and Performance Board in April 2023.

     

    5.    The Executive Director remarked that a sufficiency programme was delivering children’s homes in county and the family safeguarding model emphasised keeping children with their birth families whenever safe; these policies contributed to reducing social workers’ workload. 

     

    6.    The Executive Director recognised the importance of creating a non-discriminatory environment and better supporting social workers who encounter discrimination. Many had experienced direct and indirect racism from both colleagues and families they work with. A Council-wide bullying and harassment policy had been approved by the People, Performance and Development Committee.

     

    7.    A Member remarked that the £0.1m budgeted for the apprenticeship scheme funded four apprentices and should be expanded. The HR People Business Manager said there were budgetary constraints.

     

    8.    A Member repeated that children’s social care should be a budgetary priority for the Council as a whole and should allow for virements rather than being constrained to a budget envelope. The Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning stated the budget had already been set for 2023/24 and had allocated Children’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8/23

9/23

CHILDREN'S HOMES - OFSTED REPORTS PUBLISHED SINCE THE LAST MEETING OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE pdf icon PDF 281 KB

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    To review new Ofsted reports on Surrey County Council-run Children’s Homes, received as part of the communications plan in Children’s Services agreed in 2022.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Witnesses:

    Sinead Mooney, Cabinet Member for Children and Families

     

    Tina Benjamin, Director – Corporate Parenting

     

    Key points made in the discussion:

    1.    The Director informed that all children’s homes were inspected every year and two homes had yet to be inspected this year. The home rated inadequate in December 2022 had a monitoring visit in January 2023, when it was judged to have met the two compliance notices issued. A further visit was expected in March.

     

    2.    A Member pointed out the Ofsted ratings had deteriorated since 2021, when 70 per cent of in-house children’s homes were rated Good or Outstanding, compared with 56 per cent currently. This also compared with 92 per cent of non-Council run children’s homes housing Surrey children. The Director explained the Council’s policy was not to use independent homes rated lower than Good or Outstanding. Furthermore, independent homes would only accept children whom they believed would support a positive Ofsted outcome, so children with the most complex needs were housed in Surrey.

     

    3.    A Member queried why in two of the inspections the managers had not been registered. Once appointed they must then be registered with Ofsted. The Committee was assured applications had been submitted on time, but Ofsted had a significant backlog causing a delay of months.

     

    4.    A Member questioned the level of quality assurance and was informed that in the last year a second deputy manager had been recruited for each home, and a new electronic system had enabled remote viewing of records. Following Covid, the number of agency staff was higher than ideal, and they did not always access the training available.

     

10/23

PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW pdf icon PDF 213 KB

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    To review the latest CFL performance information.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Witnesses:

    Sinead Mooney, Cabinet Member for Children and Families

     

    Clare Curran, Cabinet Member for Education and Learning

     

    Patricia Denney, Director of Children’s Quality Assurance and Performance

     

    Key points made in the discussion:

    1.    A Member requested Public Law Outline data.

     

    Actions/requests for further information:

    1.    Data sent to ASHC on Mindworks, including waiting times and outcomes, should also be shared with the CFLLC Select Committee.

     

    2.      The Director of Children’s Quality Assurance and Performance to share Public Law Outline data.

11/23

DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING

    The next public meeting of the committee will be held on Thursday, 25 May 2023.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    The Committee noted its next meeting would be held on Thursday 25 May 2023.

     

     

    Meeting ended at: 3.17 pm

                                                                                                                            Chairman