Agenda and minutes

Mr E A Britten - Church Representative (Catholic Diocese of Leeds)

Mr A Graham – Church Representative (Church of England)

Mr A Khitou – Primary Parent Governor Representative

Co-Opted Members (Non-Voting)

Mr N Tones – School Staff Representative

Laura Whitaker – Young Lives Leeds

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.

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 on the agenda

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

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

A late item was admitted to the agenda by the Chair which was considered as Agenda item 9 and was a report on the ongoing inquiry work on the Provision of EHCP Support in Leeds. This was admitted as a late item due to time constraints on agenda clearance and was circulated to Board Members on Monday 19 February 2024.

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.

The Board received the following apologies:

Cllr David Blackburn

Jackie Ward – Co-opted Member

Helen Bellamy – Co-opted Member

Kate Blacker – Co-opted Member

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 24 January 2024.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 29 November 2023, be approved as an accurate record.

To receive a report from the Director of Children and Families providing an update on the work of the Voice and Influence Team putting the voice of children and young people at the centre of the directorate’s work.

The Board considered a report from the Director of Children and Families providing an update on the work of the Voice and Influence Team putting the voice of children and young people at the centre of the directorate’s work.

In attendance for this item were:

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

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

·  Julie Longworth, Director of Children & Families

·  Farrah Khan, Deputy Director – Social Care

·  Hannah Lamplugh, Children’s Strategy and Influence Lead

The Executive Board Member for Children’s Social Care and Health Partnerships introduced to the report noting the excellent work done by the Voice, Influence and Change Team and the recognition that they had received in being nominated for a national award. The Executive Board Member highlighted the number of children that are reached through this small team for example the 25-26,000 children that complete the My Health, My School Survey, the thousands of children that vote for the Leeds Children’s Mayor each year and the 80,000 children consulted with over a period of years to develop the 12 Child Friendly Leeds wishes.

The Executive Member also emphasised the growing feedback received through the Voice and Influence Team from children and young people that focuses on poverty and the associated worries they have linked to that issue.

The Children’s Strategy and Influence Lead also provided introductory comments covering the statutory element of the Voice and Influence role, the universal offer that is made to children and young people in the city, the role in working with social care colleagues to hear the voices of seldom heard children and young people and work with SEND children and young people.

The report recommendations also covered enhanced working between the Board, through the Principal Scrutiny Adviser, and the Voice and Influence Team to potentially include the Board being invited to an annual Youth Takeover event to enable the Board to meet directly with children and young people; more input into the Board’s work programme to look at ways in which the voice of children and young people could be heard more clearly in the work the board is planning to do and also consider whether report authors could reflect on how each report considered by the Board meets the child friendly wishes or whether reports could specifically cover the voice of the child as standard. It was agreed that the scrutiny adviser would take this away and report back to the Board following further work with the Voice and Influence Team and taking account of any wider, relevant advice about the possible approaches.

In response to questions and comments from Board Members the following issues were covered:

·  Members welcomed the report and were supportive of the wide reach of the Voice and Influence Team and the drive to ensure that the voice of children and young people is fully captured as part of the directorate’s work.

·  Members asked about formal links between the team and its work  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

To receive a report from the Director of Children and Families that presents an update on Thriving: The Child Poverty Strategy for Leeds and the work that sits underneath the strategy.

The Board considered a report from the Director of Children and Families that presented an update on Thriving: The Child Poverty Strategy for Leeds and the work that sits underneath the strategy.

In attendance for this item were:

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

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

·  Julie Longworth, Director of Children & Families

·  Farrah Khan, Deputy Director – Social Care

·  Julie Devonald, Head of Service Workforce Development & Change

The Executive Member for Children’s Social Care and Health Partnerships introduced the report highlighting some key issues. These included; comments made by the Rowntree Foundation on the increase in destitution which relates to people who are unable to meet their basic needs and the importance of not normalising the issues that this raises such as the use of food banks; mortality rates and the links to increased child poverty; the refresh of the Child Poverty Strategy and the consultation that has taken place with children and young people on this, noting that it can be difficult to discuss this issue due to the stigma attached to poverty and the worries that children and young people experience as a result of poverty; housing issues and evictions from private sector landlords and the links to child poverty and housing as a health issue particularly respiratory health linked to damp and mould. The Executive Member added that there is now an additional focus on breast-feeding in the strategy due to the lowest rates being found in areas of highest deprivation, this is from both a health perspective and economic perspective in terms of the cost of baby formula.

The Head of Service Workforce Development & Change added some further introductory remarks focussing on; statistics and the fact that they were collected prior to the emergence of the cost of living crisis and that they reflect a ‘moment in time’ as opposed to an indication of trend; the impact of poverty on children and families at school in terms of material deprivation, mortality and destitution, overcrowding in housing, the North-South divide and the Leeds approach to child poverty being delivered through the thriving strategy and its seven work streams.

In response to questions and comments from Board members the following areas were discussed:

·  Members asked about child deaths in areas of deprivation and whether there was any further analysis as to the causes or whether any statistics were available. In response the Board heard that this has been raised with the lead officer for children’s public health and the key causes are overcrowded housing and co-sleeping, poor housing condition generally linked to damp and mould, particularly in the private sector and poor maternal health. It was noted that co-sleeping is a key concern and is now part of public health messaging. The Board noted that Zarach (who provide beds to tackle child poverty and co-sleeping) have recently been invited to sit on the Child Poverty Board. The Board asked for more details to be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79.

To receive a report from the Director of Children and Families and the Head of Democratic Services setting out the latest stage of the Board’s inquiry into the provision of EHCP support in Leeds. This item highlights further feedback from parents, carers, children and young people on EHCP services in the city.

The Board considered a report from the Head of Democratic Services and the Director of Children and Families as part of the Board’s Inquiry into the Provision of EHCP Support in Leeds. This provided a summary of an ongoing survey of parents, carers, children and young people accessing EHCP and SEND support in the city and other contextual information.

In attendance for this item were:

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

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

·  Julie Longworth, Director of Children & Families

·  Dan Barton, Deputy Director – Learning

·  Phil Evans, Chief Officer Transformation and Partnerships

·  Sandra Pentelow, Projects and Programme Manager

·  Leanne Knight, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC)

·  Rob Clayton, Principal Scrutiny Adviser

The Principal Scrutiny Adviser introduced the report highlighting the scrutiny context to the report and that the report adds further depth to stakeholder feedback received at previous sessions of the inquiry and through working groups. The report specifically provided feedback from the survey and was not intended to provide an overview of the wider improvement work being undertaken by the directorate.

The Chair of the Board noted that previous feedback from the Board on the survey had led to the survey being sent out directly to stakeholders after concerns on coverage of the survey were raised.

The Deputy Director – Learning emphasised the importance of engagement with stakeholders and referenced the themes that are arising and that many of them were already known to the service and had been identified as areas to be addressed as part of the improvement work. Engagement has taken place with a wide range of stakeholders in addition to this survey including the Third Sector, advocacy organisations, parents, carers, children and young people, head teachers and SENCOs.

Responding to comments and questions the following discussion points were raised:

·  The Board wanted to place on the record the impact that EHCP delays can have on foster placement stability in terms of impacts on the young people and on the foster carers. It was noted that there is an impact on all of those waiting for an EHCP but potentially disproportionately so on children looked after. This was acknowledged as an important point and to be factored into the work on speeding up EHCP placement decisions.

·  Members noted that the report highlights that parents and carers see EHCPs as the only solution they have to accessing funding and support for their children when in fact that is not the case. The Board suggested that improving communication and signposting on this was an important piece of work in improving the service, EHCPs are not in and of themselves the only thing that can be done to access support. This was acknowledged and that improved signposting is needed to other available services . In addition, enhanced training to colleagues in schools and education settings could also be considered as part of the answer to that issue.

·  The Director of Children and Families emphasised the commitment within the directorate  ...  view the full minutes text for item 80.

To consider the Scrutiny Board’s work schedule for the 2023/24 municipal year.

The report of the Head of Democratic Services requested Members to consider the Board’s work programme for 2023/24 municipal year.

The Principal Scrutiny Adviser informed the Board that Appendix 1 was the latest draft of the work programme for the year.

The Principal Scrutiny Adviser highlighted the following issues:

·  There is now an additional meeting date for 2023/24 on Thursday 18 April at 1.30PM.

·  The Youth Justice Strategy item will be deferred to the April meeting of the Board to enable colleagues in those services to focus on the ongoing Targeted Inspection on Serious Youth Violence.

·  A report will be brought back to the Board on Co-opted member processes in this municipal year.

·  The March meeting now has a further item on the Impact of asylum changes on children in Leeds, which is a follow up on a report considered in September 2023.

Resolved

The Board noted the Board’s work programme for the 2023/24 municipal year and the adjustments set out by the principal scrutiny adviser.

The next public meeting of the Board will take place on 27 March 2024 at 10.00AM. There will be a pre-meeting for all board members at 9.45am.

The next public meeting of the Board will take place on 27 March 2024 at 10.00am. There will be a pre-meeting for all board members at 9.45am.

The meeting concluded at 15.45