Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest made at this meeting.

There were no questions from members of the public or the press.

The Scrutiny Panel noted the contents of the minutes of the meeting of the Rotherham Youth Cabinet held on Tuesday, 11^th March, 2008.

FOR MONITORING

(a) Annual Health Check of the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – Members were thanked for their involvement in the 2007/08 annual scrutiny review and health check of these hospitals.

(b) As today’s meeting was the last meeting of this Scrutiny Panel during the current Municipal Year, the Chairman thanked Elected Members and Co-opted Members for their valued contributions to the work of the Scrutiny Panel during the past year. It was also noted that the two years’ term of office of the Co-opted Members was coming to an end. Applications were now being invited for co-opted membership of the Scrutiny Panels.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Partnership Manager, concerning the current position with regard to the development of the new Local Area Agreement for the period 2008 to 2011.

The report stated that the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 included a duty on the Council, working with the Rotherham Partnership, to negotiate an additional Local Area Agreement with partners and with Central Government. This agreement would cover the period June 2008 until April 2011 and would be based on the understanding of the needs of the Rotherham Borough. The Local Authority is the ‘accountable body’ for the partnership which underpins the Local Area Agreement (in Rotherham’s case, the partnership is the Rotherham Partnership) which means that the Council has ultimate accountability to Central Government for the achievement of the targets negotiated as part of the Agreement

The report included an emerging list of indicators taken from the National Outcome and Indicator set, which could form the basis of the Council’s second Local Area Agreement 2008-2011.

The Scrutiny Panel debated a number of issues including: indicators relevant to Children and Young People’s Services; the consultation process; links with the Council’s other strategies and policies; the involvement of the public through the Area Assemblies.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and the information about the emerging list of potential Indicators, which can form the basis of the 2008-2011 Local Area Agreement, be endorsed.

(2) That a progress report about the 2008-2011 Local Area Agreement be submitted to a future meeting of this Scrutiny Panel.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Policy Officer concerning the Health Check Submission (2007/2008) made on behalf of the South Yorkshire Joint Health Scrutiny Committee. The Joint Committee comprised locally Elected Members from the Health and Children’s/Adult Scrutiny Commissions of the four South Yorkshire districts, with a remit to scrutinise issues and service delivery for health which have cross-boundary implications for the South Yorkshire districts.

As part of the Annual Health Check for 2007/2008, the Joint Committee carried out scrutiny of the various trusts representing the Sheffield Children’s Hospital and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals. Evidence gathering was centred on the Healthcare Commission’s Core Healthcare Standards.

The Joint Scrutiny Committee met on 14^th March 2008 to consider the performance of the Children’s Hospital against selected Core Standards, each one chosen to reflect key issues of Strategic Direction, Patient/Cater interface and Service Delivery. These core standards were:-

C4 – Infection Control

C6 – Co-operation to Meet Patients’ Individual Needs

C7 – Governance

C14A – Complaints Procedures

C14B – Discrimination

C14C – Appropriate Service Improvements

C15 – Food

C22 – Reducing Health Inequalities.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and the details of the Annual Health Check for 2007/2008 be noted.

(2) That, with regard to Core Standard 7 (Sound Clinical and Corporate Governance), the submission should include a recommendation that future Annual Health Checks should include a non-executive director of the Sheffield Children’s Hospital Trust.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Assistant Head of School Effectiveness concerning the performance of Rotherham children in Foundation Stage in 2007.

The Scrutiny Panel’s discussion of both this item and the related reports (referred to at Minutes Nos. 106, 107 and 108 below) included the following salient issues:-

- ways of improving results;

- the effect of gender differences in the results;

- the Government’s assessment and testing regime;

- comparisons between the learning experience and the assessment processes;

- emphasis upon education from birth to age eleven years;

- the capital programme for improvements to primary schools;

- the role of Children’s Centres;

- the Imagination Library and improvements in reading levels;

- the success of schools, as measured by OFSTED inspection results.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received.

(2) That the lower outcomes in the Foundation Stage profile be noted.

(3) That this Scrutiny Panel endorses the drive to

(a) encourage all schools to continue to improve their results and strive to reflect outcomes more in line with national averages; and

(b) improve standards, particularly in Communication, Language and Literacy (CLLD) throughout the Foundation Stage, together with the attainment of boys and other vulnerable and under-achieving groups.

(4) That the Foundation and Key Stage assessment results continue to be reported to this Scrutiny Panel each year.

(5) That the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services be asked to investigate the feasibility of linking with local universities to undertake academic research into the long-term effects of the Imagination Library upon children’s attainment in reading and feedback the decision to this Scrutiny Panel.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Assistant Head of School Effectiveness concerning the performance of Rotherham children at the end of Key Stage 1, in 2007.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received.

(2) That the improvements in the Key Stage 1 profile and also the declines, when compared to the national trend, be noted.

(3) That this Scrutiny Panel endorses the drive to:-

(a) encourage all schools to continue to improve their results, and strive to reflect outcomes at least in line with national averages; and

(b) improve standards, particularly in Reading, throughout this key stage together with the attainment of boys and other vulnerable and under-achieving groups.

please note that the Key Stage 3 Results are not yet available

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Assistant Head of School Effectiveness concerning the performance in Rotherham primary schools, at the end of Key Stage 2, in 2007.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received.

(2) That the improvements in performance in Key Stage 2, most particularly when compared to those reported nationally, be noted.

(3) That this Scrutiny Panel supports the drive to:-

(a) encourage all schools to continue to improve their results, and strive to reflect outcomes at least in line with national averages; and

(b) reduce the number of schools below the Department of Children, Schools and Families floor target of 65%, improve boys’ attainment and that of Black and Minority Ethnic pupils and Looked After Children.

FOR DISCUSSION

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Head of School Effectiveness concerning the GCSE examination results for 2007. The report described the way the results compared to previous years, to the national average and to the results of the Council’s statistical neighbours.

The Scrutiny Panel noted the improved performance and attainment, at Key Stage 4, of black and minority ethnic pupils.

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

(2) That the improved levels of performance at the end of Key Stage 4 be noted.

(3) That this Scrutiny Panel agrees that all schools be encouraged to continue to improve their results and to strive to achieve outcomes at least in line with the national rate of improvement.

(4) That this Scrutiny Panel endorses the drive to:-

- reduce the gap between Rotherham’s performance and the national average performance;

- improve boys’ attainment;

- improve the attainment of black and minority ethnic (BME) pupils; and

- improve the attainment of Looked After Children.

MINUTES

The Senior Scrutiny Adviser presented a report outlining the draft Work Programme for 2008/09 of issues for future consideration by the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel during the forthcoming Municipal Year.

The Scrutiny Panel discussed areas for future consideration and inclusion in the draft work programme, as follows:-

- support provided for newly arrived children in schools;

- Travel to School plans and parking and traffic congestion near to schools;

- community cohesion and racially motivated incidents;

It was noted that a planning session with the Members of the Performance and Scrutiny Overview Committee would take place on Friday, 25^th April, 2008, in order to prioritise items for the year ahead for each of the Scrutiny Panels. After the planning session had taken place, a work programme would be submitted to each of the five Scrutiny Panels, for approval.

Resolved:- That the contents of the draft Work Programme for 2008/09, for the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel, be noted and the report of the outcome of the planning session with the Performance and Scrutiny Overview Committee be awaited.

Resolved:- That the minutes of the previous meeting of the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel, held on 7^th March, 2008, be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chairman.

Resolved:- That the contents of the minutes of the meeting of the Performance and Scrutiny Overview Committee held on 29^th February, 2008, be noted.