Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Mr. T. Belmega, Ms. J. Carroll, Mr. P. Eyre, and Councillors Burke, Dodson, License and Thirlwall.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no questions from the press and public.

DiBillups, Executive Director for Children and Young Peoples Development gave a presentation on An Integrated Approach to Children and Young People’s Services Development – The Way Forward.

The presentation covered the following areas:-

-                       What we know about our present arrangements

-                       Proposed Way Forward  

            -     Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services

            -     Special Needs and Disability Services

            -     Information Sharing

            -     Joint Training and Development Team

            -     Establishment of a Safeguarding Team

            -     Embedding Voice and Influences

-           Future Service Vision

-           So What Next

DiBillups emphasised the need for partnership working, which included voluntary, community and private partners working alongside the statutory sectors in order to meet the true needs of children.

A question and answer session ensued and the following issues were covered:-

-                       What funding was available to spend in the community?

-                       Was funding in place to start the work?

-                       Were rules on Data Protection hindering the work?

-                       How the integrated approach related to Education and Social Services

-                       Need for direct contact/communication between the child and Senior Executive Director

-                       Need to intervene at an early stage – particular reference made to bullying

Examples were given where it was felt the present service delivery could be improved in order to achieve a comprehensive borough wide service.

Resolved:-  That Di Billups be thanked for an interesting and informative presentation.

Consideration was given to a request for a further nomination for the above Scrutiny Working Party.

Resolved:-  That Councillor Barron be nominated on the above Working Party.

The Scrutiny Panel was provided with a report on Local Democracy Week – 18^th-24^th October, 2004 as considered at the Democratic and Resources Scrutiny Panel held on 3^rd August, 2004.

The report related to this year’s Local Democracy Week – the seventh to take place so far.  The theme this year was “Making Your Mark” which aims to help young people up to the age of 26 to become more involved with decision making and planning at a local level.

According to recent research only 2% of young people think their council has any “power” and 50% think their Council has no direct control or relevance to their lives whatsoever.

Consideration was given to the need to seek three Members to serve on the scrutiny review group to address the way in which Citizenship education is conducted in schools in order to establish whether the research applies to Rotherham.

The Scrutiny Panel discussed the scope of the review.

Resolved:-  (1)  That Councillor Turner be appointed to the working party for the Joint Review of Citizenship Curriculum, 19^th/20^th October, 2004, being undertaken by the Democratic and Resources Scrutiny Panel.

(2)  That two further nominations be sought at the Panel’s next meeting.

(3)  That Councillors St. John and Turner take part in the “Take your Councillor to School” activity.

Delia Watts, Scrutiny Adviser, requested Expressions of Interest from up to six members of the Scrutiny Panel who wished to become involved in a Scrutiny Review on Opportunities for Adult Learning in Rotherham.

The Review Group would be responsible for scoping the review.

The Review would take place over a period of three months and consist of approximately six meetings.

Resolved:-  (1)  That Councillor St. John be nominated to serve on the above Review Group.

(2)  That further nominations be sought at the next meeting of this Scrutiny Panel.

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the meetings concerning decisions made by the Cabinet Member for Education, Culture and Leisure Services, held on the following dates, be received:-

(a)                6^th July, 2004

(b)                13^th July, 2004

(c)                20^th July, 2004

(d)                27^th July, 2004

(e)                17^th August, 2004

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the previous meeting of this Scrutiny Panel held on 26^th July, 2003 be received and accepted as a true record.

Consideration was given to a report of the Strategic Leader School Improvement on the annual review and evaluation of the School Improvement Plan (Education Development Plan 2 (EDP2) Annex 2 – April 2003-March 2004.

The revised School Improvement Plan 2004/05 and the evaluation report for the 2003/04 School Improvement Plan has to be submitted to the DfES by July, 2004.)

The Council is required to consult with schools, Governors and the diocesan authorities about the School Improvement Plan.  Details of this consultation is contained in Section E of the evaluation report.

The School Improvement Plan gives details of the actions to be undertaken in order to achieve the targets set out in the EDP2.  It is a statutory requirement to revise the SIP annually.

The main points highlighted in the report were:-

• Early Years provision and the development of Foundation Stage Units is good
• Attainment at Key Stage 1 (age 7) in both literacy and numeracy is close to national levels of attainment
• At Key Stage 2 (age 11) progress in the percentage of pupils achieving the average levels for their age, from 1998 to 2002, has been significant in both English (20%) and mathematics (24%)
• Challenging targets have been set to raise achievement at the end of Key Stage 3 (age 14)
• Activities involving all secondary and special schools, funded through Objective 1 grants, have been undertaken to improve 14-19 educational opportunities
• Targetted programmes, to raise the attainment of the most vulnerable children, are being developed and will be implemented throughout the timescale of the Education Development Plan

Discussion ensued on the report with the following points raised:-

-     Comparison of examination results and levels to grades attained two years ago

      Evidence that examinations are not easier but that young people are working harder and are better prepared – certainly at A Level with introduction of new curriculum

      Need to congratulate teaching staff more and accept a change in circumstances – how could Local Authorities be confident in statistics with constant media criticism

-           Greater opportunities for children now compared to several years ago allowing young people with capabilities to stay on in education or leave and take a different route to learning

-           Need to further promote what opportunities there are for 14-19 age group

-           Key Stage 4 and the preparation for the World of Work – Scrutiny Review planned for later in the municipal year

-           New opportunities created by world wide web access

The Acting Executive Director pointed out that these were last year’s figures and that the Minister for School Standards had recently written congratulating Rotherham Authority on their performance at Key Stage 2 as being the most improved Authority in the country.

The Acting Executive Director believed that a great deal of hard work was being carried out throughout the Borough for which teaching staff and students should take credit, a point he had challenged leading educationalists about.

Resolved:-   (1)  That the revised School Improvement Plan be received and a full copy  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

The Panel noted the content of the minutes of meetings of the above Committee held on 14^th May and 9^th July, 2004.

The Cabinet Member, Education, Culture and Leisure Services commented on the excellent working arrangements of the Project management.

The Panel noted the content of the minutes of a meeting of the above Committee held on 23^rd July, 2004.

Consideration was given to the need to appoint a representative and substitute to serve on the above Advisory Group.

The remit of the Group covered the following main themes:-

-          consider the results of the latest Reachout Survey

-          advise on the content of the next Reachout Survey

-          develop corporate consultation

-          advise and co-ordinate consultation of Members

The Advisory Group met on a quarterly basis.

Resolved:-  That Councillor Cutts be nominated to serve on the above Advisory Group, with Councillor Turner acting as substitute.

Delia Watts, Scrutiny Adviser, reported the need to nominate one Member to the above Review Group.

Resolved:-  That Councillor Cutts be nominated to serve on the above Review Group.