To receive apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Paul Andrews, Mr Burbidge, Councillor Hey and Mr James.

To receive declarations of interest in respect of Schedule 1, Schedule 2 or Other Interests from members of the committee in respect of items on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting on 14 January 2020.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting on 14 January are agreed as a correct record and are signed by the chairperson.

To receive any written questions from members of the public.

Deadline for receipt of questions is 5:00pm on Tuesday 10 March.

Accepted questions and answers will be published as a supplement prior to the meeting. Please submit questions to: councillorservices@herefordshire.gov.uk. 

A copy of the public questions and written answers, together with supplementary questions asked at the meeting and their answers, is attached to the Minutes at Appendix 1.

To receive any written questions from members of the council.

Deadline for receipt of questions is 5:00pm on Tuesday 10 March.

Accepted questions and answers will be published as a supplement prior to the meeting. Please submit questions to: councillorservices@herefordshire.gov.uk. 

A copy of the Member question and written answers is attached to the Minutes at Appendix 2.

To consider school performance of summer 2019 and make recommendations to cabinet on how the effectiveness of the school improvement framework and strategy could be enhanced.

The committee received a report from the head of learning and achievement (HLA) concerning the examination performance from 2019. The HLA introduced the report and provided the presentation attached as appendix 1.

The principal points below were raised by the committee in the debate:

·         It was requested that in future the presentation of the results in the report should be set against performance in earlier years to establish if there were any trends. The director children and families (DCF) explained that this detail was available and could be circulated after the meeting.

·         Performance in the primary phase was positive but there was concern over the performance in the secondary phase. The HLA explained that it was difficult to compare the results for the secondary phase over a number of preceding years due to the change in examination methods.

·         It was queried whether the council was funding the local National leaders in education (NLEs). The HLA confirmed that the council was helping fund the NLEs. The DCF explained that the school improvement team was a small resource and occasionally there was a need to ‘buy-in’ expertise.

·         The role of schools to support the mental health and wellbeing of pupils was raised and if there was concern regarding the provision of this support locally. The HLA explained that schools had a mental health lead and could provide counselling to pupils. There was also the provision of child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) which accepted referrals from schools. A selection of secondary schools had received funding to develop mental health and wellbeing provision; if the project was successful the provision could be introduced across all secondary schools from September 2020. The DCF highlighted the launch of the children and young people plan which had included examples of how the emotional wellbeing of pupils was being supported across the primary and secondary phases. It was explained that at a recent head teacher stakeholder event there had been a discussion on the need for greater work to be undertaken to define the mental health support that was available in the primary phase.

·         There was concern regarding pressures on local CAMHS and speech language therapy (SLT) services and the length of waiting lists. These were topics of importance to the scrutiny committee and were proposed as subjects of reviews in the forthcoming municipal year.

·         The performance of the multi-academy trust over the previous year was raised. The assistant director education development and skills (ADED&S) explained that there was assurance with the primary academies but the secondary academies were still posing some concern. It was acknowledged that a recent Ofsted inspection had contained areas of positivity with respect to the secondary schools.

·         The difficulty of recruitment for schools and the impact on standards of education was raised; it was posed that such difficulty would mirror problems in other sectors, such as the recruitment of social workers and health workers. The ADED&S explained that this was an issue for schools particularly small establishments. There was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

To review progress against the improvement plan produced in response to the Ofsted Inspection of Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACS) inspection judgement of June 2018 and the subsequent Safeguarding and Family Support division improvement plan 2019 / 2020.

To include an update on work with West Mercia Police regarding referrals to the Multi-agency safeguarding hub.

The committee received a report from the assistant director safeguarding and family support concerning progress against the safeguarding and family support improvement plan. The report which provided the outcomes from the end of quarter 3 was introduced by the DCF.

The principal points below were raised in the debate:

·         There was concern regarding the number of care leavers not in education, employment or training (NEET) and not in suitable accommodation. It was proposed that the topic could be address by the scrutiny committee as a task and finish group or spotlight review. The DCF explained that currently 86% of care leavers were in suitable accommodation. The ADED&S was currently working on a project looking at NEETs and a briefing note would be circulated to the committee following the meeting.

·         It was queried whether there was a reluctance on the part of employers in the county to employ care leavers or offer training opportunities. The cabinet member children and families explained that a 16+ member champion had been established to look into options for training and work experience for young people.

·         The continuing difficulty to recruit social workers was raised. The DCF explained that problems around the recruitment of social workers were an underlying issue for the children and families directorate. A new assistant director would shortly be taking up a post who would focus on the social work academy and the long term objective to train and develop social workers from Herefordshire.

·         The use of providers to undertake social work activities that were not statutory or crucial was raised. The DCF explained that business support was provided to social workers to undertake such tasks and voice recognition software had been provided to reduce the resource required for some tasks. This was kept under review and the current focus was on the prevention of the escalation of cases.

·         The issue of the frequency of supervision was raised. The DCF explained that there were regular conversations between social workers and managers but the formality and recording of these meetings needed to improve. The issue was an area of focus with weekly reports on supervision and heads of service involved in supervision.

·         In the previous item there was no mention of other organisations that provided services for NEETs and should they be part of discussions around key stage 5 plans. The DCF explained that a specific response would be necessary, the further education team co-ordinated with the 16+ team to investigate training opportunities for 19 -21 year olds. It was acknowledged that there were a number of care leavers who were NEETs and were not benefitting from opportunities. 

·         It was acknowledged that there were positive areas and accomplishments in performance against the improvement plan but that public perception was informed by a focus on those negative elements. It was felt that there should be attempts to accentuate and publicise those areas of progress that had been achieved. The cabinet member children and families acknowledged that it was important to appreciate the achievements  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

To review and agree the proposed work programme for 2020/21, attached.

The committee considered its work programme 2020/21. It was explained that the police would be invited to the committee meeting that considered the youth justice plan and there would be a visit to the accommodation for care leavers once complete.

A scrutiny review concerning CAMHS and SLT would be added to the work programme.

The committee considered the recommendation tracker in the appendix to the work programme. The chairperson provided an update to explain the responses received from local MPs to letters concerning oral health in Herefordshire. The letter from the MP for North Herefordshire would be shared with the committee.

RESOLVED: That the work programme 2020/21 be approved subject to the inclusion of a review concerning CAMHS and SLT.