Agenda and minutes

Resolved:- That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 28^th April, 2010 and be approved as a correct record.

Resolved:- (1) That the contents of the minutes of the meeting of the Children’s Board held on 21^st April, 2010 be noted.

(2) That, with regard to Minute No. 78 (Financial Management of Children’s Trust), the preparation of a risk register be noted.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Director of Resources, Planning and Performance concerning the recent legislative changes contained in the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, which amended the requirements for resource planning of the Children and Young People’s Plan. A previous report to the Children’s Trust had Board identified that the Audit Commission had developed key lines of enquiry which Children’s Trust Boards could use to determine their position. The Board had agreed to the key partners contributing to the self assessment, these partners being the Borough Council, NHS Rotherham, South Yorkshire Police and Voluntary Action Rotherham. The findings of the self assessment carried out by all partners were summarised in the submitted report.

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

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Director of Resources, Planning and Performance stating that Rotherham is one of a number of local authorities in Yorkshire and Humber which is a member of the Yorkshire and Humber Grid for Learning, one of the ten Regional Broadband Consortia in the country which provides broadband services and educational content to schools, colleges and other educational establishments.

Local Authorities are being invited to nominate a director to sit on the foundation board to be responsible for taking decisions about the running of the company which is a “non profit sharing company limited by guarantee”.

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

(2) That Mrs. Susan Wilson, Performance, Information and Quality Manager of Children and Young People’s Services, be nominated for appointment to the Yorkshire and Humber Grid for Learning Foundation Board.

Further to Minute No. D156 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Children and Young People’s Services held on 7th April, 2010, consideration was given to a report presented by the Performance and Quality Manager concerning the Children and Young People’s Services’ Improvement Plan summary and action plan. Members noted that detailed regular monitoring continues to take place against a number of actions across several themes.

The report provided an overview of the progress made since the Minister of State’s Notice to Improve was received, included the RAG (red, amber, green) rating and direction of travel for the areas of improvement and identified some areas of good performance and key risks to meeting the stretching targets set for the Council and its strategic partners.

With regard to National Indicators 59 and 60 (initial and core assessments for children’s social care), Members noted the significantly improved performance of a number of the Locality Teams and the continuing rigorous monitoring of all Locality Teams’ performance on these assessments.

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

(2) That the progress being made against the targets set in the Notice to Improve be welcomed.

(3) That further progress reports continue to be submitted to the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Children and Young People's Services.

Further to Minute No. 90 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Children and Young People’s Services held on 2nd December, 2009, consideration was given to a report submitted by the Systems and Change Manager providing an update on progress within the Improving Information Sharing and Management (IISaM) Programme. The IISaM Programme includes the implementation of ContactPoint, electronic enablement of the Common Assessment Framework, Integrated Children’s System and Information Sharing. The programme also covered the Connexions Client Caseload Information System (CCIS).

Discussion took place on the possibility of alterations to the IISaM Programme as a consequence of the recent formation of the Coalition Government.

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

(2) That a further update be provided to an early meeting of the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Children and Young People's Services.