Agenda item

To receive a report from the Head of Democratic Services on the appointment of co-opted members to the Scrutiny Board (Children and Families) following discussion of potential changes in the 2023/24 municipal year.

The Board received a report from the Head of Democratic Services on the appointment of co-opted members to the Scrutiny Board (Children and Families) following discussion of potential changes during the 2023/24 municipal year.

In attendance for this item were:

Rob Clayton, Principal Scrutiny Advisor

By way of introduction the Principal Scrutiny Adviser set out the background to this item which had arisen from board member comments on having a SEND co-opted member and a view that the Board could more formally and consistently seek the views of children and young people on the reports being put before them.

Following member comments and questions the following issues were discussed:

·  It was suggested that in addition to the proposal to have a non-voting co-opted member with a SEND specialism or background that the Board should also seek to appoint a voting parent governor co-opted member from a Special School in the city. The Board also thought that the non-voting co-opted member should come from the Leeds Parent Carer Forum who had contributed significantly to the inquiry report on the Provision of EHCP Support. This was agreed to by the Board.

·  In addition to this Cllr Stephenson suggested that a third non-voting co-opted member should be considered from a social work background to provide balance amongst the five non-voting co-opted members which currently has two school staff representatives, social work representing a significant element of the directorates work along with education and teaching. As part of the proposal, it was accepted that a Leeds City Council staff member could not sit on a scrutiny board.

·  It was noted that, if necessary, this might involve the expansion of non-voting co-opted members from five to six through the appropriate processes which would be through the General Purposes Committee and if approved there, Full Council.

·  Some Board members were not supportive of this approach setting out the difficulty in finding an individual who would be in a position to represent social work staff who was not a member of staff and due to the other forums available for staff representation such as Joint Consultative Committees (JCC) where liaison between the council, staff and Trade Unions takes place regularly.

·  It was also noted that staff who regularly attend the Board as witnesses such as the Director of Children and Families and Deputy Director Social Care are social workers. Furthermore, the Board can call witnesses from the frontline to assist with work items should that be required by the Board and this would include social workers.

·  Following further debate Cllr Stephenson moved a motion, seconded by Cllr Flynn to expand the number of non-voting co-opted members (Scrutiny Board procedure Rule 8.1) on the board from 5 to 6 through the appropriate channel which would be General Purposes Committee and Full Council and that if that were approved the non-voting co-opted member would have experience in or be from a social work background.

·  Following a majority vote by show of hands by Board Members (excluding voting co-opted members who can only vote on matters related to education) the motion was lost.

Resolved:

The Board:

a)  Agreed to allocating a non-voting co-opted member position to a representative from the Leeds Parent Carer Forum and that the Principal Scrutiny Advisor would endeavour to find a suitable candidate.

b)  Agreed to an additional voting parent governor co-opted member to be sourced from a specialist school in Leeds and that the Principal Scrutiny Advisor would endeavour to find a suitable candidate.

c)  Agreed that the voices of children and young people should feature as part of the reporting process in the 2024/25 municipal year and that the Principal Scrutiny Adviser will build this into the Board’s work programming approach in 2024/25 as well as considering attendance at Board meetings from appropriate witnesses to support this approach.