Agenda and minutes

To approve as an accurate record, and the Chair to sign, the minutes of the meeting of the Children and Education Policy and Accountability Committee held on 13 June 2016.

RESOLVED THAT:

The minutes of the meeting of the Children and Education Policy and Accountability Committee held on 13^th June 2016be confirmed and signed as an accurate record of the proceedings.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Elaine Chumnery.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter.  The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Audit, Pensions and Standards Committee. 

There were no declarations of interest.

To invite questions from members of the public present.

Members of the public with more complex issues are invited to submit their questions in advance in order to allow a more substantive answer to be given. Questions can be sent to the contact officer shown on the front page of the agenda.

There were no public questions. 

Ian Heggs, Director of Schools and Commissioning, submitted apologies on behalf of Executive Director For Schools, Claire Chamberlain, as she had been unable to attend this meeting.  He provided an update to the meeting, beginning with the news that the provisional test results across all key stages indicated a good performance, despite statutory changes, in particular to Key Stage 1.  Support to prepare for the new testing regimes had been put in place and he was particularly pleased with the performance of secondary schools, which had shown fantastic improvement. 

Full details of the results will be set out in a report to the Committee, once the results had been confirmed, hopefully in time for the November meeting.  He expressed his thanks to the support provided by the Cabinet Member for Children and Education, Councillor Sue Macmillan, in protecting resources for schools, enabling that improvement to continue.  It was explained that the results would be shown by individual school on the LBHF website, once the Department for Education (DfE) had formally published the results.  The individual results will highlight particular achievements but this will not be until November.  

Nadia Taylor, Parent Governor Representative, highlighted on-going concerns regarding the provision of school meals in at least two LBHF schools that she was aware of.  Complaints about the service provider, Eden Foodservice, ranged from the lack of variety, nutritiously balanced meals and food served cold.  A working group had investigated this issue previously and it was disappointing that there remained further issues to address. Rachael Wright-Turner, Director of Children's Commissioning, expressed disappointment and concern, particularly since the feedback that she had received had been positive.  The two schools referred to, each had different issues that they were trying to deal with.  Councillor Caroline Needham, Chair, commented that the Committee was happy to channel complaints from the schools so that the contracts with the schools can be closely monitored. The Schools Contract Monitoring Team would investigate further and it was agreed that officers would produce a report for the Committee to consider. 

ACTION: Children’s Service

The Cabinet Member for Children and Education will provide a verbal update on duties undertaken since the previous meeting.

Councillor Sue Macmillan, Cabinet Member for Children and Education, informed the Committee that since the previous meeting, she had undertaken a number visits around the borough.  Most recently, she had visited the home of family, where a child protection plan was in place.  She had been very impressed and encouraged by the work of social care officers.  Councillor Macmillan had met with Action for Change, an organisation that worked with women whose children had previously been removed from their care.  She had also met with social workers from the referral service.  More recently, she had attended the foster carers awards ceremony, recognising the significant contribution made by carers over three boroughs.  Finally, she reported that she had also spent some time visiting Lady Margaret School, in Parsons Green, Fulham.

This report provides an overview of recent developments in national policy in relation to children and young people with special educational needs (SEN). It also provides a summary of how Council services have implemented the changes and are supporting children, young people, parents and education settings. Finally it describes service improvements that are taking place.

Ian Heggs introduced two officers to the Committee who would be integral to delivering the requirements of the service changes to special educational needs (SEN) provision within the borough.  He welcomed Mandy Lawson, Assistant Director, Special Educational Needs.  A decision had been taken that Children’s Services be integrated with the specialised, disabled service, reflecting the spirit of the new Children and Families Act 2014 (CFA).  He also welcomed Fiona Phelps, Head of Special Educational Needs, a strategic role, encompassing every aspect of SEN.

Fiona Phelps began by outlining the initial progress that had been made to implement the changes to the new service.  The key element here was co-production, drawing to together expertise.  Historically, reports focused on the right placement but had moved to conjoined working, supporting children by developing holistic outcomes to meet special educational needs.  The CFA stipulated that a local offer was made and that to achieve, officers worked closely with parents and young people.  A local offer was also about finding what can be delivered in the community that will best meet need.  

It was important to distinguish the new report, the Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) from what was previously known as the SEN assessment.  The transfer review team under took an 18 week process to produce the EHCP.  To be clear, this was a reassessment, looking at the holistic need of each child.  She expressed her thanks for the extra resources allocated to this important area of work which included 1.6 managers, 5 key workers and additional administrative support. 

Mandy Lawson briefly outlined the CFA movement from SEN to EHCP and that broadly, it was about understanding the journey from the first diagnosis, through designated services in a coordinated way, delivered through children’s centres, schools and into young adulthood.  The aim was to work closely with parent groups and service providers to understand this journey.  She welcomed the decision to provide funding for dedicated resource centre for special needs to be located at Queens Manor Primary School. This would offer local provision for children with complex needs. In improving the transition from post 16 to adulthood, the new service also brought together SEN and adult disability services and was a key element of this work.  This was an innovative and interesting area of work, particularly with the recent placement developed for post 16 young adults with learning disabilities, who had just began their internships with the Council. 

Vic Daniels, Parent Governor Representative, enquired about the correlation between the amount by which resources had been increased and the added value achieved.  Ian Heggs confirmed that the changes in service provision were welcome but no local authority had received extra or additional funding and additionally, a noticeable increase in the requests for assessment.  It was explained that an SEN Burden Grant had been granted to fund the completion of the transfer reviews.  Dave McNamara, Director of Finance & Resources, Children’s Services confirmed that no additional funding had been received to resource the implementation of the new service  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The purpose of this report is:

·         To provide an outline of the Semi Independent Living Accommodation provision for care leavers in Hammersmith and Fulham

·         To summarise the headlines from Centrepoint’s Annual Contract Performance Review

·         To outline the future direction for the continued improvement of the delivery of the service and the proposed contract management process

Councillor Needham welcomed Nahar Chowdhury, Head of Housing Support and Anji McCormick, Head of Property Management, from Centrepoint.  Rachael Wright-Turner presented the report, setting out ambitions for semi-independent living (SIL) and the objectives (within budget and cost effective) that the service had to improve accommodation for young people.  It had been a year into delivery with the provider, Centrepoint, and contract mobilisation.  Generally, they had been satisfied with the support Centrepoint provided but there was clear evidence that work still needs to be done to manage repairs.   It was explained that they were working closely with them redress performance indicators and identify new priorities.

Councillor Needham reported that , together with Nadia Taylor, had visited accommodation at two different sites, meeting with team workers and residents.  Nahar Chowdhury explained that she was very positive about the improvement plan that had been agreed, acknowledging the complicated start to the contract, and which had been overcome with the actions being addressed.  Generally positive feedback had been received but it was accepted that there were a number of areas to focus on.  There were a number of added value services and service level agreement had been established on leaving care contracts. 

Referring to the report, Andy Sutton, Looked after Children, Service Manager, highlighted fact that the addresses of the accommodation sites had been included in the report.  Steve Miley, Director for Family Services, concurred that that the details be removed from report, as this had been made available in the public domain.  Andy Sutton asked what arrangements were in place to hand off between Centrepoint and other providers.  Additionally,  Councillor Caroline Ffiske enquired who was the landlord and owner of the building, and, who was the provider. It was clarified that in this instance, Centrepoint was both the building owner and service provider.  It was noted that the previous provider, Notting Hill Housing Association, had also owned the buildings, which they had managed and made repairs to, in addition to being the support provider.  This was the contract that had been taken over by Centrepoint.

Councillor Alan D’Ath congratulated Centrepoint on the fact that they had recognised and responded to the concerns raised.  It was very positive that young people were being actively encouraged to become involved and he anticipated that this would continue to be monitored.  Rachael Wright-Turner welcomed the positive comments and commended Centrepoint for the way in which they had responded.

Councillor Needham commented that the site visit had highlighted the issue of contact with the LBHF Youth Council and the ‘Make Your Mark’ consultation.  The survey of youth hostels and venues within the care systems that were accessible for young people, was to be included in the consultation.  Nadia Taylor thanked officers for arranging the visit, observing that this was very different from reading a report.  Nahar Chowdhury responded that the provision was  personalised service and that young adults were encouraged to access.  There were a number of different interventions, which, together with key workers, offered an added value  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

This report updates the Committee on key developments in the following areas:

·         The importance of accurate information for local families

·         Improving support for childminders and the effectiveness of the offer of childminding services for local families

·         The role of Children’s Centres in delivering effective, high quality childcare in Hammersmith and Fulham

·         Building on the findings of the 8-6 out-of-core-hours pilot for support in schools

·         Innovative solutions for growing a skilled workforce

Councillor Needham reiterated apologies on behalf of Councillor Elaine Chumnery, Chair of the Childcare Task Group,  who due to illness, was unable to attend the meeting and present the report herself.  Councillor Needham invited Rosemarie Lawrence to present the report. As a Social Worker, she explained that she had moved from Family Services (Children Youth & Community) to health in April.  They had been working with Open Objects, a local provider of digital service to the public health sector, specialising in social care and health.  She outlined how they had already been working around the local offer to produce an easily identifiable and navigable website.  The main priority was to identify what was already in the system.  They were currently working to certify the accuracy of the information on the site and were confident as to how well this work was progressing.  To illustrate, it was confirmed that there were 196 childminders registered within the borough.   The aim was to work with providers to help maintain their own accounts online, which they could update themselves.  There was also a forum planned for October which would include training opportunities.  It was noted that Ofsted would also feed into the process so that this information coud also be included in the site.  It was thought to be working well but there was still some way to go.

Phillippa O’Driscoll, Westminster Diocesan Education Service Representative enquired what the future vision was for early years mental health provision.  Rachael Wright-Turner explained that they were working with the CCGs to look at early intervention for mental health needs. 

Councillor Ffiske enquired about integrated family support work and if this was a standalone area of work.  Rachael Wright-Turner responded that they were looking at support services beneath underpinning family support, such as children’s centres, youth centres, school nurseries and health visitors.  They were seeking to move away from how services, comprising of numerous elements, were currently being delivered.  The aim was to develop a more integrated system, to identify need early on, with less need for complicated elements.  It was noted that there would be a Cabinet report available in early autumn on this. 

Andy Sutton observed that the report covered a large number of areas but was good starting point from which to develop services in an open discussion.  Councillor Needham thanked members of the task group for their valuable contribution and participation.  She also thanked officers for supporting the task group in their work.  The scope of the task groups remit was broad and a further update would be added to the work programme for a meeting in Autumn 2017.

ACTION: CEPAC

Councillor Needham noted that the June meeting would be considering a report on holiday play provision in the Borough.  The provision of play schemes on estates this summer at short notice was commended and the intention to continue this provision during holiday periods was noted, with the possibility of extending this to include teens and adolescents.

ACTION: CEPAC / CHILDREN’S SERVICES

RESOLVED

That  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The Committee is asked to note the date of the next meeting, which is to be held on 21 November 2016.

The Committee noted that the next meeting would be held on 21^st November 2016.