Agenda item

To receive a report from the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development presenting a number of update reports on children’s services as follows:

a)  Children’s Services Improvement Update – To receive an update on key developments across Children’s Services

b)  Children’s Services Improvement Plan – monitoring report – To receive the Children’s Services Improvement Plan – monitoring report, as presented to the Improvement Board in February 2011

c)  Children’s Services Scrutiny Board Performance Report Quarter 3 2010/11 – To receive a report presenting an overview of performance against priority outcomes.

The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted a report which presented a number of update reports on Children’s Services as follows:

a)  Children’s Services Improvement Update – report presented to Executive Board, 9^th March 2011

b)  Children’s Services Improvement Plan – monitoring report – Current Developments and Next Steps

c)  Children’s Services Scrutiny Board Performance Report Quarter 3 2010/11.

The following Executive Member, officers and representatives attended the meeting and responded to Members’ questions and comments:

-  Councillor Blake, Executive Member (Children’s Services)

-  Nigel Richardson, Director of Children’s Services

-  Simon Flowers, Strategic Leader for Education Integration, Education Leeds

-  Peter Storrie, Team Leader, Education Leeds

-  Bill McCarthy, Independent Chair of the Improvement Board.

The Improvement Board was maintaining an overview of 4 key areas as follows:

-  improving consistency of practice across the city

-  boosting the confidence of the service supported by workforce development programmes

-  partnership working and development of co-ordinated approach

-  narrowing the gap and supporting those who were at risk of being left behind, e.g. children in care, children in poverty, minority groups, etc.

The Chair then invited questions and comments from the Scrutiny Board and the key areas of discussion were:

• The importance of partnership working and the Children’s Trust Board.
• The role of Elected Members, particularly in terms of building on local intelligence, etc.
• Challenge of greater resources needed in responding to the increased number of referrals.
• Refreshing the work of corporate carers and children’s champions.
• The use of an outcomes based accountability approach.
• Concerns around NEET linked to poor attendance – it was agreed to circulate a report recently submitted to Executive Board highlighting key challenges around attendance.
• Greater focus needed on chronic absenteeism.
• Issues around child adolescent mental health and development of joint working practices.
• Concerns about the need for greater engagement with young people and the need to encourage their participation in key areas, e.g. budget setting process, establishing priorities, etc.
• Acknowledgement of family values linked to a range of strategies and interventions in place.
• Support for young people not already engaged in youth services.
• The new relationship with schools and their role in locality working and concerns around the fragmentation of schools.
• Concerns of young people and associated funding implications, e.g. ensuring young people had somewhere safe to go and access to transport.

RESOLVED – That the report and information appended to the report be noted.

(Councillor Lancaster declared a personal interest in this item as LEA Governor at Carr Manor High School.)