Agenda and minutes

CO-OPTED MEMBER (VOTING)

Mr E A Britten - Church Representative (Catholic)

Mr A Graham – Church Representative (Church of England)

Ms J Ward – Parent Governor Representative (Secondary)

CO-OPTED MEMBERS (NON-VOTING)

Ms H Bellamy – School Staff Representative

Due to the absence of Councillor Alan Lamb a nomination was sought to appoint a Chair for the meeting.

A nomination was made and seconded on behalf of Councillor Ryan Stephenson.

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 the 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 were no exempt items.

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 of business.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutes.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor E Bromley, Councillor C Howley, Councillor A Lamb, Councillor D Ragan, Councillor J Senior and co-opted members K Blacker, N Tones and L Whitaker.

Councillor T Smith was in attendance as substitute member for Councillor A Lamb.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 7^th September 2022.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 7^th September 2022 be approved as an accurate record.

The Chair invited the Executive Member for Adult and Children’s Social Care and Health Partnerships, Councillor Fiona Venner, to brief the Board on the recent visit to Leeds by his Majesty The King.  The Board was informed that as part of his visit, The King had unveiled a special plaque to mark the 10th anniversary of the Child Friendly Leeds initiative, which was launched by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2012.  The King also met the newly elected Leeds Children’s Mayor, Mason Hicks, and members of the UK Youth Parliament. 

The Executive Member also took this opportunity to introduce Board Members to ‘Ted’ as the mascot of Child Friendly Leeds.

To receive a report from the Director of Children and Families surrounding Children and Families workforce recruitment and retention in Leeds.

At the request of the Board, the Director of Children and Families submitted a report that set out the challenges involved with the recruitment and retention of the Children and Families workforce in Leeds and the efforts made by the directorate to address these challenges.

The following were in attendance for this item:

·  Councillor Fiona Venner, Executive Member for Adult and Children’s Social Care and Health Partnerships

·  Councillor Jonathan Pryor, Executive Member for Economy, Culture and Education

·  Councillor Mary Harland, Executive Member for Communities.

·  Julie Longworth, Director of Children and Families

·  Ruth Terry, Chief Officer for Social Work

·  Tim Pouncey, Chief Officer Resources and Strategy

·  Val Waite, Chief Officer Learning Inclusion

·  Erica Hiorns, Leadership and Management Lead

The Chair invited the Executive Members and the Director of Children and Families to provide a brief introduction to the report and in doing so, the Board was informed of the scale of the challenges facing the social care workforce nationally, particularly with employers struggling to recruit to posts.  However, reference was also made to the recognition and role that Leeds plays in national improvements in the sector following senior appointments onto the Local Government Association National Board for Children and Young People and the Children’s Social Care National Implementation Board, which is tasked with delivering the recommendations of the Care Review.

Reference was also made to challenges with the recruitment and retention of school staff, with the National Education Union (NEU) survey in 2021 showing that nearly half of all teachers and leaders surveyed did not think they would still be working in schools in 5 years’ time.  It was noted that the common reasons cited related to workload pressures, lack of government trust and the reduced status of the profession.  The NEU Sixth Form Colleges Strike, that was taking place on the same day as the Scrutiny Board’s meeting, had also been acknowledged.

The following areas were also discussed during the Board’s consideration of the report:

Ø  Promoting trade union engagement with all local schools.

Ø  Concerns surrounding the shortfall in DfE recruitment targets to secondary initial teacher training courses.

Ø  The innovative approaches being undertaken by local schools in addressing recruitment challenges, which includes developing close relationships with local universities and maintaining close links with their Sixth Form pupils and offering them a paid year long internship to support them into employment.

Ø  Efforts in reducing reliance on expensive Agency Social Workers, including the Memorandum of Co-operation with other Directors of Children Services from across the region to commit to a maximum hourly rate of pay (£35) for Agency Social Workers that will be fully implemented by 1 April 2023, having begun in September 2022 for new agency assignments.

Ø  The importance of raising the profile and acknowledging the value of both teaching and social care professions in order to attract and also retain an effective workforce moving forward.

Ø  The value of adopting a 'Grow Your Own’ ethos and exploring further options to develop the talent pipeline for the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

To receive a report from the Director of Children and Families which presents an update on the new Leeds strategy ‘Everyone’s included: the Leeds SEND and Inclusion Strategy 2022-2027’.

The Director of Children and Families submitted a report which presented an update surrounding the new Leeds strategy ‘Everyone’s included: the Leeds SEND and Inclusion Strategy 2022-2027’.  A copy of the strategy was appended to the report for Members’ consideration.

The Chair explained that last year, the Scrutiny Board had considered and welcomed the emerging draft version of the new Leeds SEND and Inclusion Strategy and agreed to maintain a watching briefing surrounding the implementation of the new Strategy.

The following were in attendance for this item:

·  Councillor Fiona Venner, Executive Member for Adult and Children’s Social Care and Health Partnerships

·  Councillor Jonathan Pryor, Executive Member for Economy, Culture and Education

·  Julie Longworth, Director of Children and Families

·  Val Waite, Chief Officer Learning Inclusion

·  Natalie Samuel, Best Practice Development Officer

·  Sally Townend, Designated Clinical Officer – SEND, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust

The Chief Officer Learning Inclusion gave a brief introduction to the report and explained that the new strategy responds to a changing and challenging national and local context.  Reference was made to the Green Paper ‘The Send Review: right support, right place, right time’ which proposes significant reforms to services for children and young people with SEND across learning, health and care services.  Linked to this, the Board was informed that the findings and recommendations of the SEND review mirror the priorities that local families and partners have shared with the service and therefore these already form the basis of the new local strategy.  It was highlighted that the strategy, as appended to the report, will be published alongside a much shorter ‘quick and easy read’ format and will be accessible on the Leeds Local Offer website.  The Board was also informed that a communication plan is in production to ensure that the strategy is widely communicated from December 2022.

The Board then received a presentation by the Best Practice Development Officer and the Designated Clinical Officer (SEND) from Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, which highlighted the following key points:

·  A recap on the 6 priorities for change set out within the new Strategy and how these will be addressed as part of phased approach over the five-year period.

·  Key actions to support the priorities and outcomes in phase 1, which includes:

ØThe production and launch of a new Leeds SEND and Inclusion Practice Framework which will bring together national and local policies and best practice principles with learning, resources, and practical tools, all in one place.

ØDeveloping high-quality plans across the continuum of SEND support and services.

ØPromoting multi-agency early identification and support for learners who are vulnerable to permanent exclusion, missing education or dis-engaging from education, and vulnerable to criminal activity or exploitation and sexual exploitation.

ØDeveloping the local offer of provision (schools and other learning places and services) for Leeds’ growing population of children and young people with diverse needs.

ØA commitment to review and improve the multi-agency pathway to identify, assess and meet the needs of those  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

To consider the Scrutiny Board’s work schedule for the 2022/23 municipal year.

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report that presented the Board’s latest work schedule for the forthcoming municipal year.

The Board’s Principal Scrutiny Adviser raised the following key points for the Board’s consideration and agreement:

·  Proposed rescheduling of the Board’s February meeting – It was highlighted that the Board’s planned meeting on 15th February 2023 falls within the school half term holiday period and ordinarily efforts would be made to avoid any clashes with school holidays. To rectify this oversight, Members were informed that the Chair had proposed to re-schedule this meeting to Wednesday 8th March 2023 at 10 am.

·  Additional Board meeting on safeguarding – Members were informed that the Chair had also proposed that the Board holds an additional formal public meeting dedicated to the issue of safeguarding, which is to take place as soon as possible and when all members of the Leeds Safeguarding Children Partnership Executive are available to attend too.  The primary focus will be around the review of the notification process in line with the commitment of the Partnership Executive to come back to Scrutiny to discuss the findings and agreed actions stemming from this review.  However, this dedicated meeting will also allow for the Partnership Executive to share information surrounding its broader work around quality assurance and collective learning. 

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the Scrutiny Board’s planned meeting on 15^th February 2023 be re-scheduled to 8^th March 2023 at 10 am.

(b)  That the Scrutiny Board holds an additional formal public meeting on the issue of safeguarding, with a date to be confirmed.

(c)  That the work schedule be updated to reflect the above updates.

Wednesday, 25^th January 2023 at 10.00 am (pre-meeting for all Board Members at 9.45 am)

Wednesday, 25^th January 2023 at 10.00 am (pre-meeting for Board Members at 9.45 am)