Agenda and minutes

Resolved:- That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 15^th July, 2009 be approved as a correct record.

Resolved:- That the contents of the minutes of the meeting of the Children’s Board held on 14th July, 2009, be noted.

Alison Leone and Angela Milton, report authors

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Principal Officer, Student Support, stating that the Learning and Skills Council makes an annual funding allocation to local authorities of Access funds, aimed at providing financial assistance to students aged 16 and over studying in school sixth forms. The local authority must have a written policy for distribution of the Access funds. The amount available for allocation during the 2009/10 academic year is £27,020 (compared to £26,520 in 2008/09).

The report stated that the Access Fund (also called Learner Support Fund) is an additional means of financial support for sixth form students, the purpose of which is to provide support for a specific financial need, normally course- or study-related costs.

During the 2008/09 academic year, the Rotherham Access Fund assisted 142 students at school sixth forms in Rotherham and one student who was attending a school sixth form outside the Borough area.

Attached to the report were (i) the Schools Access Fund Awards Policy Document for the 2009/2010 academic year and (ii) the Equality Impact Assessment document.

Members discussed ways in which the Authority might minimise the costs of administering this Access Fund.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and its contents noted.

(2) That the Schools Access Fund Awards Policy Document for the 2009/2010 academic year, as now submitted, be approved for implementation.

Tricia Smith, report author

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Principal Development Manager, Children and Young People’s Services, stating that an amount of £100,000 had been allocated from LABGI (Local Authority Business Growth Incentives) for a Theme 3 project around Business/School Enterprise and educational activity. The submitted report outlined the joint proposal of Rotherham Ready Young People’s Enterprise Project and the Chamber of Commerce to develop further the role of Young Chamber in Rotherham Secondary schools and Further Education (FE) Colleges by developing a sustainable Enterprise Challenge Fund.

It was proposed that the Enterprise Challenge Fund will award an allocation of funds to support enterprise activities identified by the students in each secondary school and FE College in Rotherham. This initiative is modelled on the ‘Dragon’s Den’ concept and each organisation will establish an investment panel whose role it will be, in partnership with a local employer, to determine the feasibility of students proposals.

Rotherham Ready has worked with the Chamber of Commerce to establish a Young Chamber in every school and college in the Borough. The level of development and activity varies, from institution to institution. The Young Chamber is a way of bringing schools/colleges and businesses closer together by giving young people a ‘voice’ in the development of enterprise and business education in their school or college. 

Utilising the LABGI, Theme 3 allocation for Business/School Enterprise and Educational Activity allocation, this proposal seeks to develop further the role of the Young Chamber in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce, by developing an Enterprise Challenge Fund.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and its contents noted.

(2) That the proposal for the development of an Enterprise Challenge Fund in Rotherham secondary schools, as described in the report now submitted, be approved.

Julie Westwood, report author

Further to Minute No. C50 of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 15^th July, 2009, consideration was given to a report, presented by the Director of Commissioning, Policy and Performance, containing the updated Action Plan prepared in response to the recommendations of the 2008 Annual Performance Assessment of Children and Young People’s Services.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and its contents noted.

(2) That the contents of the updated Action Plan be noted.

(3) That the Action Plan be reported to the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Children and Young People’s Services on a monthly basis.

Julie Westwood, report author

Further to Minute No. 9 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Children and Young People’s Services held on 3rd June, 2009, consideration was given to a report, presented by the Director of Commissioning, Policy and Performance, concerning the findings of an internal risk assessment undertaken as part of the Comprehensive Area Assessment of Children and Young People’s Services.

The report stated that the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) had undertaken an unannounced inspection of Contact, Referral and Assessment on 4^th and 5^th August, 2009 and a number of priority actions had been identified.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and its contents noted.

(2) That the report be submitted to the meeting of the Children’s Board to be held on Wednesday, 16^th September, 2009.

Julie Westwood and Deborah Johnson, report authors

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Performance Manager which detailed the Children and Young People’s Services performance at the end of the first quarter 2009/10 (June 2009). The report provided analysis against targets, direction of travel against previous performance and where possible comparisons with this Council’s statistical neighbours and national data.

Members noted that the format of the report had changed to provide more analysis and assessment of comparison and direction of travel, which will be valuable to managers, Directors and Elected Members under the Comprehensive Area Assessment regime.

Members noted the arrangements concerning performance clinics and also that this report would be submitted the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel and to the Children’s Board.

Resolved:- That the report be received and its contents noted.

Joanne Robertson, report author

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Director of Resources and Access detailing the expenditure, income and the net budget position for the Children and Young People’s Service compared to the profiled budgets for the period 1^st April until 31^st July 2009 and the projected year end outturn position for 2009/2010. The report stated that, currently, the Directorate is forecasting an overspend of £4,134,000.

Members noted that, since the last budget monitoring report, an unannounced Comprehensive Area Assessment inspection of contact, referral and inspection had taken place on 4^th and 5^th August, 2009, the costs from which are included in the overspend detailed in the submitted report.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and its contents noted.

(2) That the current 2009/2010 forecast outturn position for the Children and Young People’s Services Directorate, based on actual costs and income to 31st July, 2009 and forecast costs and income to 31^st March, 2010 be noted.

Julie Westwood, report author

Further to Minute No. 7 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Children and Young People’s Services held on 3^rd June, 2009, consideration was given to a report presented by the Director of Commissioning, Policy and Performance containing the most recent update of the Annual Performance Assessment (APA) 2008 Improvement Plan for Children and Young People’s Services. Members noted that the action plan is monitored on a regular basis.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and its contents noted.

(2) That the contents of the latest updated improvement action plan are noted.

(3) That a progress update against the areas for improvement be reported to the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Children and Young People’s Services every month, in order to track indicative outcomes from inspection activity and the APA recommendations be incorporated into the overall Children and Young People’s Services’ improvement plan.

Pam Allen, report author

Consideration was given to a report, presented by the Interim Safeguarding Children’s Board Manager, containing the attendance statistics for members of the Safeguarding Children Board for the year 2008 to 2009.

Members noted that attendance statistics were not available for all the Safeguarding Children Board Sub?Groups and this issue would be addressed in the near future. Rotherham continued to develop a proactive and responsive Safeguarding Children Board, requiring a review of the Safeguarding Board Constitution and including a review of all Sub?Groups.  The appointment of a new Safeguarding Children Board Chair provided an opportunity to consider the current position, taking stock of the current situation and actions required in light of the recommendations of the Lord Laming Report.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and its contents noted.

(2) That the revised statutory guidance, referred to in the report now submitted, relating to membership of Safeguarding Children Boards, be awaited.

(3) That agency participation in the Rotherham Safeguarding Children Board shall continue to be a priority.

(4) That the report be submitted to the Children’s Board.

Catherine Hall, report author

Further to Minute No. 32 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Children and Young People’s Services held on 15^th July, 2009, consideration was given to a report presented by the Interim Safeguarding Children’s Board Manager on the implications of the findings of the Lord Laming report about the protection of children from harm. The multi-agency action plan, which was appended to the submitted report, had been given a ‘RAG Status’ (Red, Amber, Green) based on a further assessment of Rotherham’s continuing position.

Resolved:- (1) That the report and action plan be received and their contents noted.

(2) That the Safeguarding Board partners undertake a self assessment of their agency’s compliance with the recommendations of the Lord Laming Report.

(3) That reports of progress from the agencies throughout the Rotherham Borough area be submitted to the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Children and Young People’s Services at quarterly intervals.

Simon Perry and Paul Grimwood, report authors

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Director of Targeted Services, which:-

(i) summarised the actions and progress taken in Rotherham to reduce and prevent children and young people’s involvement in crime and disorder; and

(ii) made clear the data recording issues at the Department for Children Schools and Families, which could impact upon an accurate picture of this issue.

The report also described the details of a new option available for young people, the Youth Restorative Disposal [YRD], who become involved in low level criminal offending and the arrangements in place between Targeted Children and Young People’s Services and the South Yorkshire Police locally, to ensure that all relevant young people are identified and receive the YRD.

Members noted the impact of this issue upon one of Rotherham’s key Local Area Agreement indicators: NI111 ‘Reducing the Number of First Time Entrants to the Youth Justice System’.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and its contents noted.

(2) That the initiatives delivered and planned to reduce first time entrants to the youth criminal justice system be welcomed.

(3) That the issue of published data be monitored and, if necessary, further consideration be given to the making of formal representations.

(4) That the report be submitted to a future meeting of the Children’s Board.

Sue May, report author

Further to Minute No. 127 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Children and Young People’s Services held on 11th February, 2009, consideration was given to a report, presented by the Looked After Children Service Manager, concerning the developments within the Department for Children, Schools and Families’ agenda, the results of an initial gap analysis of Rotherham provision in respect of the Care Matters agenda and progress made to improve provision for Rotherham’s looked after children.

The report stated that the Care Matters agenda contains a range of required actions for local authorities and timescales for implementation.

The submitted report provided details of progress made after the full review of the Care Matters agenda and the gap analysis of service provision within Rotherham. This agenda has implications for the whole of Children’s and Young People’s Services Directorate. Service provision is considered to be good and many aspects of the proposed legislation are incorporated within existing practice. Where gaps have been identified, action plans have been developed to ensure compliance. Details of the actions being taken were included in the report.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and its contents noted.

(2) That the various actions, as described in the report now submitted, to ensure compliance with the Government’s Care Matters agenda, be endorsed.

ShereeHenchley, report author

Further to Minute No. 34 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Children and Young People’s Services held on 15^th July, 2009, consideration was given to a report presented by the Capital Projects Officer (Early Years and Childcare Service) containing the updated criteria for the strategy and distribution of the Department for Children, Schools and Families Quality and Access Capital Grant funding to private, voluntary and independent (PVI) early years and childcare providers. The report stated that the grant is time limited and all purchases must be made by 31^st March, 2011.

The Quality and Access Capital Grant is provided to local authorities to improve the quality of the environment in private, voluntary and independent (PVI) early years and childcare settings, both to support higher quality experiences for young children and to ensure that all children can access services and benefit fully from them.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and its contents noted.

(2) That Sheree Henchley (Capital Projects Officer) be thanked for her services to this Council and wished every success in her new appointment with another local authority.

The following item is likely to be considered in the absence of the press and public as being exempt under Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 as amended (information relating to financial or business affairs)

Resolved:- That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 as amended (information relating to financial or business affairs).

Julie Westwood, Paul Hamblett and Rebecca Wragg, report authors

Consideration of this item was deferred.