To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Mr J.D. Griffin and Councillors: N.J.J. Davies and R.M. Manning.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on the Agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 13th July, 2005.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 13th July 2005 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To consider suggestions from members of the public on issues the Committee could scrutinise in the future.

No suggestions for areas of Scrutiny were received from the public.  Committee Members suggested the following issues for consideration as part of the future work programme:

• Extended Schools – a presentation was requested on the extended schools system.
• Connexions Service.
• School Transport issues.
• Sexually transmitted diseases/sex education.
• Council’s strategy on dyslexia.
• Provision of Education, particularly of English, for children of immigrant workers.
• Restructuring of Herefordshire Schools.

To brief scrutiny members on a number of areas of work within Children’s Services and to invite questions and debate around these key areas which are attendance, attainment, behaviour, exclusions and drugs education.

The Committee received a briefing on a number of key areas of work within Children’s Services and debated issues around the key areas of attendance, attainment, behaviour, exclusions and drug education.

Attendance

The Head of Children’s & Student’s Services reported that Children’s Services continued to work closely with schools to reduce truancy rates which locally continued to be below the national average.  The Service embraced the Government’s ‘Penalty Notice’ initiative as an alternative to prosecuting parents/carers.  Herefordshire was one of the leading authorities using the initiative.  During the 2004/05 academic year 204 Penalty Notice Warnings had been issued resulting in 43 full Penalty Notices.  ‘Truancy sweeps’ continued to be carried out, however, the majority of young people stopped had legitimate reasons for being out of school.

The Committee noted that contact was made with the parent/guardian after 10 unauthorised absences and that, depending on circumstances, a Penalty Notice Warning may be issued after 20 unauthorised absences.  Appropriate support was offered to the parent in an attempt to resolve the situation.  The Committee felt that unfortunately there was still a minority of parents who didn’t value education and for whom court action wouldn’t make a difference.  The Committee appreciated that despite the best efforts of the parents some pupils were still absent during the day.  It was further noted that despite headteachers actively discouraging holiday absences during term time a number of such absences still occurred.

Attainment

The Head of School Effectiveness presented the provisional 2005 results for Herefordshire the details of which were set out in the report.  He highlighted that past experience indicated that, due to re-marking of exam papers etc, the 2005 figures may be revised upwards by between 1% and 2%.  He commented that in general, it looked like a ‘steady’ performance rather than one marked by very significant gains.  The English performance at Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 was good but it was disappointing that the mathematics results at level 4 (Key Stage 2) had not improved.  In addition, the 5A*-C figure at GCSE had apparently plateaued for a second year, although some individual schools had done well.

The Committee noted that the Service was working on getting an improvement in mathematics.  However, at KS2 the two stumbling blocks seemed to be that the level of parental assistance/involvement declined and that some pupils had difficulties adjusting to the more complex use of mathematics.

The New Ofsted Inspection System for Schools

The Head of School Effectiveness reported that from September 2005 a new school inspection system was being introduced whereby every school would be inspected every three years.  The new system would mean that schools would receive no more than one week’s notice of inspection; there would be fewer inspectors, who would be in school for no more than 2 days, and schools must have an up-to-date self-evaluation form, together with appropriate performance data.  A school’s overall effectiveness and efficiency would be graded either: Outstanding; Good; Satisfactory or Inadequate.  While outcomes could not be guaranteed, the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To identify action taken by the Children’s Services Directorate in response to the requirements and recommendations of the Inspection of Herefordshire Local Authority Fostering Service (2005) undertaken by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI).

The Committee considered the action taken by the Children’s Services Directorate in response to the requirements and recommendations of the Inspection of Herefordshire Local Authority Fostering Service undertaken by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI).

The Head of Social Care (Children) reported that inspectors had compiled the 2005 report, copies of which had been forwarded separately to Committee Members, after attending a meeting of the Fostering Panel, reviewing policy documents and case files on foster carers and children, and undertaking visits to a range of individuals and groups over a two-week period.  In 2004, 31 of the 32 National Standards had been inspected.  In 2005, Inspectors had been pleased to find that all the inspection shortfalls identified in 2004 had been addressed promptly, with systems reviewed and developed to ensure improvement.  All 32 standards had been inspected. 28 were met in full and there were minor shortfalls in 4.  An action plan indicating progress to date in response to the inspection findings was appended to the report.

The Committee congratulated the Fostering Service Team on the outcome of the inspection and noted the actions taken to address the limited number of issues arising from the inspection.

The Committee debated the staff vacancies in the Foster Care Service and noted that, while the issue was a national problem, the Service was working on various methods of filling vacancies.  A previous suggestion that the local Ward Member be a contact point for support to Foster Carers in their area was being discussed with Carers.  Headteacher representatives commented on the link between pupil attendance/ attainment and having a stable domestic environment.

The Chairman suggested that a visit to the Service be arranged to enable Committee Members to see first hand what the work of the Fostering Service entailed.

RESOLVED: That the Director of Children’s Services convey to staff the congratulations of the Committee on the outcome of the 2005 Fostering Service inspection.

To review the statutory and co-opted membership on the Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee.

The Committee considered the Statutory and co-opted membership on the Committee.

A report by the County Secretary and Solicitor set out the current statutory (Diocesan and Parent Governors) and co-opted (Teacher and Headteacher) membership of the Committee. The report sought to regularise a number of membership issues and highlighted a number of considerations in relation to the possible co-option of representatives to reflect the wider remit of the Committee.

The Committee expressed its appreciation of the input by the statutory and co-opted members of the Committee. In view of the wider remit of the Committee following Every Child Matters and the Children Act 2004, they acknowledged the need for wider representation from, in particular, the Foster Carers and Children Social Care Social Worker sectors.

The Cabinet Member (Children’s Services) commented upon the ‘Youth Matters’ Green Paper and in particular its possible effect upon the remit of the Committee.

RESOLVED:

That

a)     The Diocesan Authority membership as set out in paragraphs 4-6 of the report be reaffirmed and the County Secretary and Solicitor request that the Authorities reconsider or reaffirm their nomination prior to Council elections;

b)     The Parent Governor membership and terms of office as set out in paragraphs 7-10 of the report be reaffirmed;

c)     With a view to reflecting the wider remit of the Committee the Director of Children’s Services in consultation with Chairman and Vice-Chairman consider the appropriate sectors, number and term of office of the non-voting co-opted representatives on the Committee and report to a future meeting.