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Contact: Guy Close (0113) 247 4356 Email: guy.close@leeds.gov.uk
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Chair's Opening Remarks Minutes: The Chair welcomed all in attendance to the March meeting of the Scrutiny Board (Children’s Services).
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Late Items To identify items which have been admitted to the agenda by the Chair for consideration.
(The special circumstance shall be specified in the minutes.) Minutes: The Chair admitted to the agenda as supplementary information an update on the Multi Agency Support Team (MAST), which was to be considered as part of agenda item 9, Recommendation Tracking. (Minute No. 108 refers)
The Chair also admitted to the agenda as supplementary information the current Forward Plan of Key Decisions, which was to be considered as part of agenda item 11, Work Programme. (Minute No. 110 refers).
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Declaration of Interests To declare any personal/prejudicial interests for the purpose of Section 81(3) of the Local Government Act 2000 and paragraphs 8 to 12 of the Members’ Code of Conduct. Minutes: Councillor Driver declared personal interests in agenda item 7, Children’s Services Improvement Plan, and agenda item 8, Children’s Services and the Children and Young People’s Plan Update, in his capacity as Governor at Windmill Primary School. (Minute Nos. 106 and 107 refer)
Councillor Selby declared personal interests in agenda item 7, Children’s Services Improvement Plan, and agenda item 8, Children’s Services and the Children and Young People’s Plan Update, in his capacity as Governor at Grange Farm Primary, Cross Gates Primary and the Pupil Referral Unit Management Committee. Also in his capacity as Member of the Parent Partnership Advisory Board. (Minute Nos. 106 and 107 refer)
Further declarations of interest were made at later points in the meeting. (Minute Nos. 106 and 107 refer)
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Apologies for Absence Minutes: Apologies for absence were submitted by Councillors R D Feldman and E Taylor and Co-opted Member, Ms T Kayani.
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Minutes - 25th February 2010 PDF 69 KB To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 25th February 2010. Minutes: RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 25th February 2010 be confirmed as a correct record.
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Children's Services Improvement Plan PDF 54 KB To receive and consider a report from the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development presenting the Children’s Services Improvement Plan. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted a report which presented the Children’s Services Improvement Plan, agreed by the Executive Board on 10th March 2010, as well as providing details of the Improvement Board, and the final Improvement Notice issued by the Secretary of State. Also included as background information was the quarter 3 performance report and the following appendices:
- Appendix 1 – Action trackers from the Leeds Strategic Plan (and Children and Young People’s Plan (CYPP)) which were relevant to the Scrutiny Board; and
- Appendix 2 – Performance indicator report containing quarter 3 results for all performance indicators reported in year from the Leeds Strategic Plan, CYPP indicators, National indicator set and any key local indicators which were relevant to the Scrutiny Board.
The Chair welcomed to the meeting Bill McCarthy, Independent Chair of the Improvement Board and Councillor Golton, Executive Member (Children’s Services).
The Chair also welcomed the following officers to the meeting:
- Eleanor Brazil, Interim Director of Children’s Services; and - Nicola Engel, Head of Performance, Policy and Improvement, Children’s Services.
The Independent Chair of the Improvement Board provided a brief update on the work of the Improvement Board. It was reported that the Improvement Board was established in the new year and to date had met 3 times. Significant progress had been made in ensuring that the scope of the improvement plan was comprehensive with appropriate focus on the main priority areas.
The following key areas were also discussed:
The Chair invited questions and comments from the Board and the main areas of discussion were:
- referral process into social care - young people identified in ... view the full minutes text for item 106. |
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Children's Services and the Children and Young People's Plan Update (March 2010) PDF 167 KB To receive and consider a report from the Interim Director of Children’s Services updating the Board on key developments across Children’s Services and outlining progress against specific priorities contained within the Children and Young People’s Plan. Additional documents: Minutes: As part of the process of receiving regular progress reports on the Council’s Children and Young People’s Plan, the Board considered a report submitted by the Director of Children’s Services which included updates on two particular aspects of the Plan;
- The Children and Young People’s Plan Priority of reducing teenage conceptions, with a particular focus on sex and relationships education in schools; and - The strategic development area of new school arrangements.
Appended to the report for Members’ information was the following information:
- Children’s Trust Arrangements Consultation Document (Executive Summary) - Summary of how Leeds was responding to 6 areas where particular action was being taken to drive up the quality of Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) in schools - Summary of responsibilities and opportunities across governance models - Table showing the current and emerging distribution of trust schools in the city.
The following Executive Member and officers attended the meeting and responded to Members’ questions and comments:
- Councillor Golton, Executive Member (Children’s Services); - Eleanor Brazil, Interim Director of Children’s Services;
Teenage conceptions
- Paul Bollom, Priority Outcome Commissioner, Children’s Services - John Freeman, Head of Service, Health Initiatives and Well Being, Education Leeds - Marilyn Raby, Healthy Schools Consultant, Primary SRE / PSHE, Education Leeds - Pat Santin, Lead Consultant for Secondary PSHE, Education Leeds - Keira Swift, Teenage Pregnancy Co-ordinator, Education Leeds
School arrangements
- Pat Toner, Director of Organisational Improvement, Education Leeds.
In brief summary, the main points of discussion relating to the two key priority areas were:
Teenage conceptions
School arrangements
RESOLVED – That the update report be received and noted.
(Councillor Coupar declared a personal interest in this item in her capacity as Governor at Corpus Christi Catholic College, Cockburn and Sharp Lane Primary School.)
(Ms N Cox declared a personal interest in this item in her capacity as Member of ... view the full minutes text for item 107. |
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Recommendation Tracking PDF 65 KB To receive and consider a report from the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development requesting Members to confirm the status of recommendations from previous inquiries. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted a report which requested Members to confirm the status of Children’s Services scrutiny recommendations.
Appended to the report was the recommendation tracking flowchart and draft status of recommendations.
RESOLVED –
(a) That the report and information appended to the report be noted; and (b) That the Board approves the status of recommendations, subject to further inquiries in relation to staffing issues as part of recommendation 5 on the Multi Agency Support Team (MAST).
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Draft Scrutiny Inquiry Statement - Attendance PDF 55 KB To receive and consider a report from the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development presenting the conclusions and recommendations arising from the Scrutiny Board’s work on school attendance. Additional documents: Minutes: The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted a report which presented the conclusions and recommendations arising from the Scrutiny Board’s work on school attendance.
It was agreed to obtain clarification for Members on the work of Attendance Advisors, funding arrangements and how the posts were allocated.
RESOLVED –
(a) That the Scrutiny Board’s final report and recommendations be approved; and (b) That a formal response to the recommendations be produced in line with normal procedures for scrutiny inquiry reports.
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To receive and consider a report from the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development outlining the Scrutiny Board’s work programme for the remainder of the current municipal year.
(Appendix 2 - Forward Plan of Key Decisions to follow) Additional documents:
Minutes: A report was submitted by the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development which detailed the Scrutiny Board’s work programme for the remainder of the current municipal year.
Appended to the report for Members’ information was the current version of the Board’s work programme together with the minutes from the Executive Board meeting held on 10th March 2010.
RESOLVED – That the work programme be approved.
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Date and Time of Next Meeting To note that the next meeting of the Board will be held on Thursday 22nd April 2010 at 9.45 am with a pre meeting for Board Members at 9.15 am. Minutes: Thursday 22nd April 2010 at 9.45 am with a pre-meeting for Board Members at 9.15 am.
(The meeting concluded at 12.40 pm.)
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