Agenda item

To consider any reports from Select Committees, Task Groups and any other Committees of the Council.

A.    Alternative Provision Report (Children, Families, Lifelong Learning And Culture Select Committee). A response from the Cabinet is included.

B.    Customer Transformation Programme Update (Resources and Performance Select Committee)

C.   Unit4/MySurrey Stabilisation Board Report (Resources and Performance Select Committee)

The Chairman of the Children, Families, Lifelong and Culture Select Committee introduced the Alternative Provision report explaining that the Committee had scrutinised this area in February 2024 and was concerned that Surrey was not adequately fulfilling its responsibilities in this area. Concern was raised around the number of children missing school and the quality of alternative provision in place. Parents did not know what to expect from alternative provision and the committee was concerned about the safeguarding implications especially as children were receiving very little alternative provision hours. A number of recommendations were made by the Select Committee. The majority were accepted by the service however it had been disappointing that it had taken so long to implement these and in particular the parent handbook. The Select Committee recommend that the handbook should be produced by June. It was explained that it can take parents months to get alternative provision in place especially for children with EHCPs. The Select Committee reviewed Alternative Provision again in December 2024 and were pleased to note that progress had been made. The Cabinet response to the Select Committee report shows a plethora of work being undertaken to address the committees concerns.

The Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Lifelong Learning explained that she had taken it as a personal challenge to make significant improvements in the area of alternative provision. The Cabinet Member was pleased to see that the Select Committee could see progress being made. The Cabinet Member explained that the law did not actually define full time education as a number of hours and the council defined this as being between 15 and 18 hours. There had been a real focus on improving school attendance which had been taken up by the Education Partnership as a key priority. The Select Committee Chairman commented that she still could not understand why the parent handbook and list of alternative provision providers was taken so long to compile. The Leader agreed that a response to the points would be addressed and thanked the Select Committee for the report and the work they were doing.

The Chairman of the Resources and Performance Select Committee introduced the Customer Transformation Programme Update report and the Unit4/MySurrey Stabilisation Board report. With regards to the Customer Transformation Programme report the Chairman thanked the Deputy Leader for her response to the Select Committee recommendations. The Chairman stated that the Select Committee had some doubts about the financial and customer service returns of the project taking into account that the council would be abolished in two years. He commented that Members should be involved in any large scale expenditure proposals going forward.

The Deputy Leader welcomed the ongoing scrutiny provided by the Select Committee and explained that any financial decisions would be reviewed as part of the local government reorganisation review that was under way. The Deputy Leader appreciated the reservations around the scale and level of expenditure. The Leader explained that business as usual would need to continue but that every major item of expenditure or change would be subject to review in light of local government reform. The customer transformation programme was an important piece of work which improved the experience for residents directly.

The Chairman of the Resources and Performance Select Committee introduced the Unit 4 stabilisation report thanking the Cabinet Member for accepting the Select Committee’s recommendations. Tribute was paid to the Vice- Chairman Councillor Steve McCormick for the work he had done in leading the task and finish group which reviewed Unit 4. It was agreed that another review of Unit 4 would be undertaken in 3 months due to ongoing concerns. Expenditure on the system would also need to be carefully considered taking account of local government reorganisation. The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources recognised the work of the task and finish group stating that the system had been thoroughly scrutinised by the Select Committee and the Audit and Governance Committee. The Cabinet Member felt that real improvements were being made and implemented which was reflected in the audits.The Stabilisation Board was due to complete the first phase of its work at the end of March and would then move into the optimisation phase. The Leader stated that the Deputy Chief Executive had a keen interest in this area and was confident that matters would be progressed at pace.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Alternative Provision report be noted.

2.    That the Customer Transformation Programme Update report be noted.

3.    That the Unit4/MySurrey Stabilisation Board report be noted.