Agenda and minutes

It was noted that Councillors Adoh, Dormer, Hussain, Kayani and Summers had given their apologies for the meeting. Cllr Susan Lewin attended the meeting in place of Cllr Hussain.

The Chairman will appoint the Vice-Chairman of the Select Committee for the forthcoming year.

The Chairman confirmed their appointment of Cllr Mark Dormer as Vice-Chairman of the Children’s and Education Select Committee for the ensuing year.

The Chairman welcomed John Macilwraith, Corporate Director for Children’s Services and Cllr Anita Cranmer, Cabinet Member for Children’s and Education to the meeting.

The Cabinet Member introduced the Corporate Director and explained that he would replace Richard Nash, who returned to his role as Service Director for Children’s Services. Mr Macilwraith thanked the Cabinet Member for the introduction and advised that he was looking forward to working with the Children’s & Education Select Committee.

For Committee Members to disclose and Personal or Discloseable Pecuniary Interests.

·       Cllr K Bates declared a personal interest as a Chair of Governors for nursery schools in Buckinghamshire.

·       Cllr P Turner declared a personal interest as a Governor at Chiltern Wood School.

·       Cllr A Osibogun declared a personal interest as a governor at Buckingham Primary School.

·       Mr T Wilson declared a personal interest as a trustee of the Oxford Diocesan Bucks Schools Trust.

Public Questions is an opportunity for people who live, work or study in Buckinghamshire to put a question to a Select Committee. The Committee will hear from members of the public who have submitted questions in advance relating to items on the agenda. The Cabinet Member, relevant key partners and responsible officers will be invited to respond. Further information on how to register can be found here:

Scrutinising council policies and decisions (Select Committees) | Buckinghamshire Council

No public questions were received in relation to this agenda of the Select Committee.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Select Committee held on 30^th June 2022.

Cllr Collingwood requested that an audit log for items discussed in previous meetings be added to the agenda papers going forward.

Action: KD

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings of the committee held on 30^th June 2022 be AGREED as an accurate record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive a report detailing the positive impact on vulnerable families made by the Family Support Service since its introduction in 2019 and to note the work underway to deliver the ambitions of the revised Early Help Strategy 2022-2025.

Contributors:

Councillor Anita Cranmer, Cabinet Member for Children’s & Education

Gareth Morgan, Head of Early Help

The Chairman welcomed Cllr Anita Cranmer, Cabinet Member for Children’s and Education, Simon James, Service Director for Education and Early Help, and Gareth Morgan, Head of Early Help, who attended the meeting to speak on this item.

In their presentation, the following points were highlighted:

·       The two-year-old Family Support Service was a key service in the Council’s progress towards improvements suggested in the latest OFSTED inspection. With cases growing in both number and complexity, early intervention and collaboration with partner organisations (schools, health institutions and the voluntary sector) were identified as key factors in meeting children’s welfare requirements. 

·       The Family Support Service supported approximately 400 families, with just over 1000 children, most of which required statutory intervention via social care. In addition, support was also provided at a universal level through the 15 family centres.

·       The demand for family support had increased by 25 % since last year. The service had been responding well to the increased demand, and performances had remained good. 85 % of families were able to achieve their desired outcomes. The biggest increase in requests for help has been received by schools. Family support link workers have been placed in all schools, and the use of family support centres and parenting groups were being promoted to reduce unnecessary escalation of work into children’s social care. 

During the discussion, comments and questions raised by the Committee included:

·       Clarifying how the services provided are dovetailing, and if the increased capacity in accessibility of early health services would help reduce waiting times. It was noted that the children’s mental health support teams, which included youth practitioners and family support workers, were an example of a collaborative service between Oxfordshire Health Trust’s CAMHS service and the Early Help Service. Simon James explained that mental health teams in schools provided a faster way of accessing diagnostic services for neurodevelopmental conditions than a referral. In addition, specialist mental health workers could also support children prior to or instead of receiving a formal diagnosis. Gareth Morgan added that these teams would also provide opportunities for families to access longer-term support if needed. Although this did not directly impact waiting times, it reduced the impact of mental health issues in young people before requiring clinical intervention, thus resulting in fewer numbers of referrals overall. Furthermore, parenting courses for parents of SEND children increased the understanding of their needs and the best ways to support their learning.

·       Simon James explained that family centres were a key facility for  supporting hard-to-reach families and communities. Furthermore, the youth work also connected families with the local community, and increased the understanding of different levels of need across the county, as did work carried out with the voluntary sector. Partnership forums, located in three localities (Wycombe, Aylesbury and Chiltern & South Bucks), were attended by professionals from different agencies and served as a problem-solving mechanism for families who do not fit in one agency or need. Typically, a school might bring a young person and their family forward if work  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

For the Select Committee to receive an update on the Participation Strategy for Young People 2022-2025.

Contributors:

Councillor Anita Cranmer, Cabinet Member for Children & Education

Krissie Hutton, Youth Participation Co-ordinator

Gareth Morgan, Head of Early Help

The Chairman invited Cllr Anita Cranmer, Cabinet Member for Children’s and Education, Simon James, Service Director for Education and Early Help, and Gareth Morgan, Head of Early Help, to speak on this item.

The recently launched strategy focused on involving young people in decision-making processes in the areas of the service’s work affecting them. A key factor in the strategy was the introduction of a properly safeguarded and monitored participation champions’ programme. This included children’s panels for the recruitment of high-priority senior staff within the Council, the launch of the Youth Voice Hub website (https://www.youthvoicebucks.co.uk) and the ‘Shout out for SEND’ programme. The strategy’s success would be measured over the coming months.

During discussion, comments and questions raised by the Committee included:  

·       The Councillors welcomed the development of the strategy and expressed their enthusiasm for the programme.

·       Gareth Morgan explained that the Council would roll out a programme to identify young people as community board youth ambassadors. The youth voice executive would initially identify volunteers to share opportunities through schools and community-led youth centres. A new website was also in development to ensure accessibility on phones to involve young people in local democracy, recruitment and other activities.

·       Simon James advised that the councillor mentoring scheme would be a corporate-wide programme rather than solely run by Children’s Services. Councillors would be trained and supported through the corporate team. Chrissy Hatton had recently been appointed as the Participation Coordinator to engage young people and communities. She had been making links with local organisations and also the young carers commissioning service to ensure the inclusion of young carers’ views in the programme.

·       The Youth Interview Panel was launched as an opportunity for young people to be trained on interview questions. It was noted that the programme was an important priority for both Officers and Cabinet Members, as it could prepare young people leaving school for further education and employment.

·       The Youth Voice Hub Website had gone live on the 7^th September 2022. The design and content had been co-produced with children, young people, and Buckinghamshire Council’s partners. It was built by the team’s identification of best practice, was made fully accessible via mobile phone and would be reviewed regularly. The website would be promoted through social media channels, the Council’s Youth Voice Executive and through school bulletins. The team would also include younger employees with significant interest and knowledge in social media.

·       Councillors raised suggestions on further promotion opportunities and offered to seek engagement through resident Facebook groups in their own wards.

Action: Councillors

·       It was also suggested that the programme team could seek contact with families through local housing associations, for example by forwarding links to tenants or advertising the website on their own. Simon James welcomed the suggestions and agreed to implement them.

Action: SJ

·       In relation to the financial implications of the programme, Simon James noted that the participation work was part of the service budget and not dependent on external grants. A breakdown of the service budget can  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To note the updated work programme and the progress made in relation to the planning of a proposed task and finish group.

Contributors:

All Members

Mrs Katie Dover, Senior Scrutiny Officer

The Select committee received the draft work programme and made the following suggestions for consideration with the Chairman at the next meeting:

·       The Committee had previously agreed that issues around SEND would be prioritised in the forthcoming year for some detailed work. Since the last meeting, a potential scope around this work was being developed, with particular focus on access to services. Evidence gathering on this topic would commence in October. The Senior Scrutiny Officer would email the Committee to identify a working group around this topic. Councillors Blamires, James, Turner and Ward, put their names forward for the group.

Action: KD

·       Cllr Collingwood expressed interest in attending the working group and highlighted the importance of consistency in SEND offerings across different educational institutions. Simon James advised that a five-year sufficiency strategy for SEND has been published, and would share the link with the Committee.

Action: SJ

·       Cllr Blamires suggested that the OFSTED action plan be added to the work programme. She further requested that reports around the attainment gap be shared with the Committee prior to January 2023.

Action: SJ

·       Simon James advised that the team would consolidate a list of the department’s achievements in decreasing the attainment gap over the past 12 months before the January Select Committee meeting.

·       Cllr Bates noted the importance of the Committee discussing children missing from education in the next meeting’s agenda due to the high numbers nationally. Richard Nash suggested that Committee members familiarise themselves with the statutory obligations around this issue prior to it being discussed.

The next meeting of the Select Committee will be held on Thursday 3^rd November 2022 in The Oculus, Buckinghamshire Council, The Gateway, Aylesbury at 2.00 p.m.

The date of the next meeting of the Select Committee would be Thursday, 3^rd November 2022.

CHAIRMAN

The meeting concluded at 3.40 p.m.