The Chairman welcomed Ms Jo Davidson, the new Interim Director of Children’s Services who had recently joined the Authority and he invited her to briefly outline her initial thoughts on the performance and direction of Herefordshire’s Children’s Service.

The Interim Director of Children’s Services (IDCS) thanked the Chairman for the welcome.  She commented that the County had many strengths and opportunities and must invest in the future of its young people.  She also emphasised that there were difficult times and decisions ahead. Gone were the days of operating as single organisations - the Service and all education providers will need to work even closer through partnership working if the County is to achieve what was expected. 

There were many good elements of learning in the County.  However, to ensure that future cohorts achieved their full potential, greater efforts were needed in the Early Years settings and primary schools.  Herefordshire had to ensure that it did the ‘basics’ well and ensure that everyone contributed to the ‘learning community’.  Outcomes for young people in the County were good but not as good as they could be.

With the budget cuts there will be difficult times ahead and the Service, and the Council, will need to ensure that it clearly communicates with parents, schools and citizens to ensure that messages were properly conveyed. 

While the Council clearly doesn’t have the budgets it had, not just for schools but as a whole, there were still multi-million pound budgets to be invested and it was important that the budgets be used to best effect.

Early Years settings, schools and colleges will need to give serious consideration to how they can make best use of reduced resources e.g. by Federating.

She commented that outcomes from the Education Bill 2011 (taking forward the legislative proposals in the Schools White Paper, The Importance of Teaching) were still awaited.  However, legislation set out the role of the Council: being an advocate for young people; being a strategic commissioner of services; being a custodian of excellence (including knowing the performance of academies, and being the champion for vulnerable children, particularly as Corporate Parent for children in care.

Following changes to the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) she expected a revised Strategic Investment Plan to be available in the next few months and she thanked the Schools Forum for its contribution to this work. 

Following change to the Connexions Service from a National to a local level, on which there were still a number of local concerns, the IDCS commented that it would take a little while for the Service to fully re-establish its self.

In relation to Sure Start there was still a commitment for universal Children’s Centres with a duty to ensure provision. However, due to the change in grant funding there was a need to review their economics and efficiency and to ensure a particular focus on the most vulnerable.

The IDCS appreciated that there were tensions around the future operation of the Peripatetic Music Teaching Service, referred to earlier in the meeting. The Music Service had run at a deficit for a number of years and as part of the changes and reductions to the Dedicated Schools Grant a number of options for the Service had been explored through the Herefordshire Schools Forum.  It was in the best interest of young people that any future service was provided on a sustainable footing. She again confirmed that no decision had been made about the future of the Music Service.

The IDCS warned that the new Council (post May elections) would face some challenging times and would need to be clear about its intentions.

The Chairman thanked the Interim Director of Children’s Services for her comments on the future of Children’s Services and young people in the County.

RESOLVED: That the position outlined by the Interim Director of Children’s Services be noted.