Agenda and minutes

A Graham, H Bellamy, M Adams

To consider any appeals in accordance with Procedure Rule 25* of the Access to Information Procedure Rules (in the event of an Appeal the press and public will be excluded).

(* In accordance with Procedure Rule 25, notice of an appeal must be received in writing by the Head of Governance Services at least 24 hours before the meeting).

There were no appeals against refusal of inspection of documents.

1.  To highlight reports or appendices which officers have identified as containing exempt information, and where officers consider that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons outlined in the report.

2.  To consider whether or not to accept the officers recommendation in respect of the above information.

3.  If so, to formally pass the following resolution:-

RESOLVED – That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following parts of the agenda designated as containing exempt information on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information, as follows:

No exempt items have been identified.

There was no exempt information.

To identify items which have been admitted to the agenda by the Chair for consideration.

(The special circumstances shall be specified in the minutes.)

There were no late items.

To disclose or draw attention to any interests in accordance with Leeds City Council’s ‘Councillor Code of Conduct’.

There were no declarations of interests.

To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutes.

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors R. Stephenson, J. Heselwood, J. Bowden, T. Goodall, R. Downes.

Councillors S. Firth, E. Thomson, and I Wilson were in attendance as substitutes.

Apologies from co-opted members Shanaz Gul and Anas Khitou were noted.

To consider a report from the Head of Democratic Services advising the Scrutiny Board on the procedural aspects of Calling In the decision.

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report advising the Scrutiny Board on the procedural aspects of Calling In the decision made by Executive Board dated 19^th June 2024 on the Little Owls Nurseries Review.

Members were advised that the Call In was specific to the key decision in question, and issues outside of the decision, including other related decisions, were not to be considered as part of the Board’s decision regarding the outcome of the Call In.

Members were also advised that options were available to the Scrutiny Board in respect of this particular call-in decision were as follows:

Option 1 – Release the decision for implementation.

·  Having reviewed this decision, the Scrutiny Board may decide to release it for implementation. If the Scrutiny Board chooses this option, the decision will be immediately released for implementation and the decision may not be called in again.

Option 2 – Recommend that the decision be reconsidered.

·  The Scrutiny Board may decide to recommend to the decision maker that the decision be reconsidered. If the Scrutiny Board chooses this option a report will be submitted to the decision maker.

·  In the case of an Executive Board decision, the report of the Scrutiny Board will be prepared within three working days of the Scrutiny Board meeting and submitted to the Executive Board. Any report of the Scrutiny Board will be referred to the next Executive Board meeting for consideration.

·  In reconsidering the decision and associated Scrutiny Board report, the Executive Board may vary the decision or confirm its original decision. In either case, this will form the basis of the final decision and will not be subject to any further call-in.

Failure to agree one of the above options.

·  If the Scrutiny Board, for any reason, does not agree one of the above courses of action at this meeting, then Option 1 will be adopted by default, i.e. the decision will be released for implementation with no further recourse to Call In.

It was noted that the decision of the Executive Board was subject to two valid Call Ins. The first from Cllr Stephenson as the lead signatory and with the agreement of the Chair four witnesses would be allowed to make representations.

The second Call In was from Cllr Ali as lead signatory and with the agreement of the Chair one witness would be allowed to make representation.

The procedure would be repeated for both Call Ins, with the outcome being voted on after all representations had been made.

RESOLVED – That the report outlining the Call-In procedures be noted.

To consider a report from the Head of Democratic Services, which presents background information relating to an Executive Board decision that has been ‘called in’ in accordance with procedures set out within the Council’s Constitution.

The original decision was taken by the Executive Board on 19 June 2024 and relates to the Little Owls Nurseries Review.

This item considers the call in request form submitted with Cllr Stephenson as the lead signatory.

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report that presented background papers to a key decision made by Executive Board, which had been Called In in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.

The decision had been called in for review by Councillors R Stephenson, B Anderson, C Anderson, N Buckley, N Harrington, M Dobson, O Newton, R Finnigan, W Dixon, W Kidger, S Golton.

The Scrutiny Board considered the following written information:

·  Copy of the completed Call In request form

·  Copy of the report of the Director of Children and Families to Executive Board on the Review of the Little Owls Nurseries which included:

o  Appendix 1 – Engagement Sessions, Compendium of Comments/Queries/Questions

o  Appendix 2 – Comments, Queries into the Little Owls Review Mailbox

o  Appendix 3 ECDI Impact Assessment

o  Minutes Extract of Executive Board – 19^th June 2024

The following were in attendance:

·  Councillor Ryan Stephenson – Lead Signatory

·  Councillor Helen Hayden – Executive Member for Children and Families

·  Julie Longworth – Director of Children and Families

·  Phil Evans – Chief Officer Transformation and Partnerships

·  Vicky Fuggles – Head of Early Help Services

·  Amanda Ashe – Children’s Centres and Early Help Lead

·  Rachael Davison – Change Manager

·  Kevin Shillito – Legal Officer

·  Nicole Walker – Head of Service – Legal

Witnesses

·  Hattie Hodgson-Crome, child at Hawksworth Wood

·  Kath Owen, child at Meanwood

·  Rosie Taylor, Child at Meanwood

·  Hannah Minks, child at Bramley

Councillor Stephenson addressed the Board as lead signatory to the Call In. He set out his grounds for requesting a call in, citing the nature of the consultation process, and the clarity of aims and desired outcomes and the lack of explanation of the options considered and details of the reasons for the decision.

Councillor Stephenson invited his witnesses to introduce themselves and provide the Scrutiny Board with brief details of their personal circumstances and their reasons for attending the Call-In meeting.

Councillor Stephenson raised the following concerns:

·  There was no obvious consultation, with no communication plan, and it was the opinion that the consultation had been rushed and not meaningful. 

·  It was noted that some sessions had been provided via Teams’, however, this had not been accessible for all families and was at a time when parents would be multi-tasking with family issues such as teatime and bedtime.

·  It was recognised that Councillor Hayden had only been in her executive role for four weeks and had not had time to meet with parents.

·  The Executive Board had not been presented with all the evidence and facts.

·  Future decisions on the review of further 12 Little Owls sites would be delegated to the Director of Children and Families without being brought back to Executive Board.

Witnesses addressed the Scrutiny Board highlighting the following concerns:

·  The consultation had not been meaningful.

·  Letters had been sent to parents via the nursery, but these had been in English, however, many of the families and children using the Little Owls Nurseries, English is not their first language.

·  At the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

To consider a report from the Head of Democratic Services, which presents background information relating to an Executive Board decision that has been ‘called in’ in accordance with procedures set out within the Council’s Constitution.

The original decision was taken by the Executive Board on 19 June 2024 and relates to the Little Owls Nurseries Review.

This item considers the call in request form submitted with Cllr Ali as the lead signatory.

The meeting recommenced at 16:00

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report that presented background papers to a key decision made by the Executive Board, which had been Call-In in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.

The decision had been called in for review by Councillors M Ali, L Cunningham, T Goodall, E Carlisle and P Stables.

The Scrutiny Board considered the following written information:

·  Copy of the completed Call-In request form

·  Copy of the report of the Director of Children and Families to Executive Board on the Review of the Little Owls Nurseries which included:

o  Appendix 1 – Engagement Sessions, Compendium of Comments/Queries/Questions

o  Appendix 2 – Comments, Queries into the Little Owls Review Mailbox

o  Appendix 3 ECDI Impact Assessment

o  Minutes Extract of Executive Board – 19^th June 2024

The following were in attendance:

-  Councillor Mothin Ali – Lead signatory

-  Councillor Helen Hayden – Executive Member for Children and Families

-  Julie Longworth – Director of Children and Families

-  Phil Evans – Chief Officer Transformation and Partnerships

-  Vicky Fuggles – Head of Early Help Services

-  Amanda Ashe – Children’s Centres and Early Help Lead

-  Rachael Davison – Change Manager

-  Nicole Walker – Head of Service – Legal

-  Kevin Shillitto - Section Head – Legal

Witness

-  Helen Fearns – Unison

Councillor Ali addressed the Scrutiny Board as the lead signatory to the call-in. He set out his reasons for requesting a call-in without reiterating those already discussed in relation to the first call-in, citing proportionality, Human Rights and key stakeholders not having been properly consulted. It was noted that the Chair had requested that information already received by the Board in relation to the consultation process was not discussed again. Therefore, Councillor Ali focused on the proportionality aspect of his call-in request. 

Councillor Ali highlighted his concerns which included:

·  This was a compassionate and people focused appeal to reconsider the decision as it impacted on those on the most deprived areas of the city.

·  The report had highlighted a small reduction of 12.5% in nursery provision by the Council. However, with the closure of 3 Little Owls Nurseries, 2 in close proximity, Gipton North and Kentmere, this was a large reduction in provision, in an area of high deprivation.

·  Reference was made in relation to Human Rights Article 28 of the UNCRC guarantees the right of every child to an education. However, it was noted that the Council has no responsibility to provide nursery provision, but to ensure that there is sufficient nursery provision. Councillor Ali said that in Kentmere the Little Owls  was the main provider of this type of service.

Councillor Ali requested that his witness, a Unison Representative address the Board to set out the concerns of the staff, which included:

·  The impact on the staff at the centres was of feeling vulnerable, unsettled and undervalued.

·  The staff were concerned about the uncertainty of their contracts, the sites that they would be working at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

To determine whether to release the decision for implementation or recommend to the decision maker that the decision should be reconsidered.

Having considered both of the call-in documentation together with the representations made to them, the voting members of Scrutiny Board considered whether to release the decisions for implementation or recommend to the decision-maker that the decisions should be reconsidered.

The Board agreed to the suggestion of the Chair that decisions be made in respect of each sub section (b) – (g) of the Executive Board resolution of the minutes of 19th June 2024 and voted upon in turn.

Individual votes were then subsequently held on the components (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) and (g) as set out in the resolutions of Executive Board Minute No. 7, 19th June 2024 (as presented in full below), and it was 

RESOLVED –

(a)  That resolutions (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f) of the Executive Board Minute No. 7, 19th June 2024 (as presented in full below) each be released for implementation;

(b)  That resolution (g) of the Executive Board Minute No. 7, 19th June 2024 (as presented in full below) be referred back to the Executive Board, as decision taker, for reconsideration on the basis of ensuring that appropriate democratic oversight is in place for any potential future decisions regarding those settings listed in resolution (e).

Resolutions of Executive Board Minute No 7, 19^th June 2024

(a) That in general terms, the contents of the submitted report, be noted;

(b) That it be noted that the Council will continue to directly deliver day care at the following Little Owls settings:

• Chapeltown  • Harehills  • Middleton Laurel Bank 

• New Bewerley  • Swarcliffe  • Two Willows 

• Little London  • Seacroft  • Armley Moor

(c) That the consultation and engagement responses in relation to the proposal, as detailed within the submitted report and appendices, be noted; and having had regard to those, the withdrawal from and/or closure of Little Owls Gipton North, Little Owls Chapel Allerton and Little Owls Kentmere, be approved;

(d) That following resolution (c) above, where possible and noting ancillary use, those buildings be declared surplus to operational requirements following the closedown of Little Owls functions;

(e) That the initial consultation and engagement responses in relation to the proposal to explore the potential amalgamation of some Little Owls settings and to explore potential and viable interest from other providers, as detailed within the submitted report and appendices, be noted; and that agreement be given to the undertaking of a ‘market sounding exercise’ to deliver additional nursery places to replace specific Council run settings at the following locations:

• Shepherds Lane  • City & Holbeck  • Hunslet Rylestone

• Meanwood  • Parklands  • Osmondthorpe

• St Mary’s Hunslet  • Quarry Mount  • Rothwell

• Hawksworth Wood  • Bramley  • Burley Park

(f) That the subsequent ‘market sounding exercise’ in relation to the settings set out in resolution (e) above, be agreed, and that it be noted that those ‘market sounding exercises’ will commence immediately;

(g) That it be noted that the Director of Children and Families may take further  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

The next meeting of the Scrutiny Board (Children and Families) will take place on 18 July 2024 at 2.00PM. There will be a private pre-meeting for all Scrutiny Board members at 1.45PM.

RESOLVED – To note the next meeting of the Scrutiny Board (Children and Families) will be on Thursday 18^th July 2024 at 2pm. (There will be a pre-meet for all Board Members at 1:45pm)

Meeting concluded at 16:55