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.

There were no issues to report.

(1) Road Safety and the Levels of Motor Traffic outside Schools – there would be a meeting of this Scrutiny Review Group on Friday, 23^rd January, 2009; members of the Regeneration Scrutiny Panel would also serve on this Review Group of which Councillor Kaye had been appointed Chair;

(2) Regional Health Scrutiny Event – this event would take place at the Town Hall, Rotherham on Thursday, 12^th February, 2009; members of the Adult Services and Health Scrutiny Panel would also be invited to attend.

To nominate 2 Elected Members and 1 Co-opted Member to represent the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel on the Annual Health Check Working Group

FOR MONITORING

Resolved:- That the Mayor (Councillor G. A. Russell) (with Councillor Burton as substitute) and Councillor Kaye be nominated as this Scrutiny Panel’s representatives on the Annual Health Check Working Group.

Consideration of this matter was deferred until the next meeting.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Commissioning Manager (Children and Young People’s Services) about commissioning, a strategic process of identifying priority areas, reviewing need and current provision, identifying evidence, developing service plans, acquiring and monitoring the necessary provision. Commissioning aimed to achieve, at best value, optimum outcomes for children and young people, greatest return for the investment made and also reduced inequalities. The presentation included:-

- details of the ‘Every Child Matters’ commissioning cycle;

- commissioning and procurement;

- joint and regional commissioning, with partners and stakeholders (eg: with NHS Rotherham) as well as the market place for Children and Young People’s Services;

- the Department of Health world class commissioning competencies and their application to commissioning in Children and Young People’s Services;

- the current, medium term commissioning schedule for Children and Young People’s Services;

- examples of commissioning of services by Children and Young People’s Services (eg: the Connexions Service; Short Breaks; Care Placements);

- the principles and challenges of commissioning and ways of ensuring the best possible outcomes for children and young people.

The Scrutiny Panel’s discussion of this issue referred included reference to the following matters:-

- outcome based contract specifications and the responsibility for risk (either the Council or the contractor) and the impact upon the Local Area Agreement targets;

- cost-benefit analyses; contract monitoring and contract penalties;

- development of markets and providing opportunities for local companies and voluntary and community sector organisations to bid for contracts;

- dialogue with potential contractors (eg: meet the buyer events);

- joint partnership working with organisations such as NHS Rotherham, which may have different priorities and pressures than the Borough Council;

- use of research and dialogue with stakeholders to ensure that the commissioning process has reliable information about the level of service provision required;

- commissioning is still a relatively new and developing agenda, providing challenge, scrutiny, identifying priorities for change and investigating best practice;

- evaluation of tenders by quality of service provision, as well as cost;

- appropriate clauses allowing early termination of contracts, when necessary and the possibility of litigation.

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

(2) That a progress report about commissioning for Children and Young People’s Services be submitted to this Scrutiny Panel in six months’ time.

(3) That Scrutiny Panel Members make suggestions of individual services, encompassed by the commissioning process, which may be included in this Scrutiny Panel’s work programme for 2009/2010.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Director of Learning Services outlining the model of developments to address the current challenges in relation to ethnic minority achievement in Rotherham.

The report stated that despite some significant, recent improvements, issues of under-achievement among Rotherham’s EAL (English as an Additional Language) population were still evident. Rotherham hosted a recent and growing population of new arrivals from other European Union countries whose needs were significantly different from the established British Asian community. The model proposed in the report combined recommendations for a shift in strategy and practice and identified opportunities to test new practice in an initial, limited pilot programme. Beginning in January, 2009, the pilot programme would include:-

- the local authority’s provision of clear strategic leadership and expertise, with the creation of a team of specialist staff;

- support for schools in taking responsibility for a sustainable approach to ethnic minority achievement;

- using the Council’s Ethnic and Cultural Diversity Service resources more strategically and increasing the Council’s capacity to raise achievement for learners with English as an Additional Language.

The Scrutiny Panel’s discussion of this matter included the following salient issues:-

- the possible introduction of a central register of pupils of Rotherham’s EAL (English as an Additional Language) population;

- the function, role and location of the Welcome Centre and arrangements for an OFSTED inspection;

- details of the ‘welcome offer’ services provided for new arrivals to Rotherham’s EAL (English as an Additional Language) population;

- provision of best practice hubs on two secondary school sites and on one primary school site;

- the model of developments would be evaluated during October, 2009, at the schools’ Autumn half-term recess.

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

(2) That a progress report about the model of developments to address the current challenges in relation to ethnic minority achievement in Rotherham be submitted to a meeting of this Scrutiny Panel after the Autumn half-term evaluation of the pilot programme.

(3) That details of the action plan for the model of developments be reported to a future meeting of this Scrutiny Panel.

Further to Minute No. 108 of the meeting of the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel held on 27^th April, 2007, consideration was given to a report presented by the Director of Learning Services and the Council’s Anti-Bullying Officer detailing the progress of the development of the anti-bullying strategy in schools and the implementation of the recommendations of the Scrutiny Review.

The report stated that the recommendations of the Scrutiny Review provided direction to the Anti Bullying Strategy Group and to the Council’s Anti Bullying Development Officer. The Strategy Group is a multi-agency group with representation across the Children and Young People’s Services Directorate, including secondary and primary school head teachers, officers from the Neighbourhoods Directorate, as well as representatives from the South Yorkshire Police, the Fire and Rescue Service, NHS Rotherham and from voluntary sector organisations. This Group has primary responsibility for developing the Anti Bullying Strategy and for implementation of the recommendations of the Scrutiny Review.

Included with the report were (i) the draft revised anti-bullying strategy (dated November, 2008), (ii) the updated list of recommendations from the Scrutiny Review, with commentary on progress being made and also (iii) the draft action plan for the revised anti-bullying strategy.

The Scrutiny Panel’s discussion of this issue referred included reference to the following matters:-

- the role of School Councils, the anti-bullying standard and ‘whole school approaches to preventing bullying;

- schools nominating a designated governor for bullying;

- trial of the Sentinel computer system and whether the SIMs system would be a preferred alternative;

- the need for thorough reporting of all incidents of bullying in schools;

- the pathway project for the prevention of bullying, already in operation in several secondary schools (eg: Maltby; Clifton);

- the resource implications of preventing bullying in schools;

- the role of the Anti-Bullying Officer.

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

(2) That consideration of (i) the draft revised anti-bullying strategy (dated November, 2008) and (ii) the draft action plan for the revised anti-bullying strategy be deferred until a future meeting.

MINUTES

Further to Minute No. 65(1) of the meeting of the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel held on 28^th November, 2008, consideration was given to a report presented by the Early Years and Childcare Strategy Manager describing the arrangements for the governance and management of the Sure Start Children’s Centres which are located on a number of primary school sites.

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

(2) That the information be distributed to the Governing Bodies of all primary schools which are also accommodating Sure Start Children’s Centres and of those schools which will do so in the future.

Resolved:- That the minutes of the previous meeting of the Children and Young People’s Services Scrutiny Panel held on 28th November, 2008 be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chairman.

Resolved:- That the contents of the minutes of the meeting of the Looked After Children Scrutiny Sub-Panel held on 10th December, 2008 be noted.

Resolved:- That the contents of the minutes of the meetings of the Performance and Scrutiny Overview Committee held on 21st November, 2008 and on 5th December, 2008 be noted.

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).

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Director of Resources and Access concerning the budget for Children and Young People’s Services. The report detailed the key areas of under/overspend for 2008/09, the proposals to reconcile to the allocated cash limit and also those for possible savings and investment for 2009/10.

The Directorate’s Budget proposals were appended to the report submitted. The presentation referred to the following matters:-

- overview of the current budget position and areas of under/overspend

- current budget pressures (eg: Looked After Children; Foster Care)

- the overall prediction of a budget overspend for 2008/2009

- performance under the five outcomes of Every Child Matters

- legal costs for family law cases, previously subsidised by Central Government

- achieving the five outcomes of Every Child Matters

- suggested efficiency savings to meet the funding gap for 2009/2010

- investment proposals for consideration

- the risks to service provision caused by budget pressures

The Scrutiny Panel’s debate included reference to the following salient issues:-

- Looked After Children, including foster care and out-of-Authority placements;

- recruitment and retention of and support for foster carers;

- budget monitoring and value for money;

- employee vacancy management;

- the integrated Children’s Services and introduction of locality based teams.

Resolved:- (1) That the report and presentation be noted.

(2) That the budget proposals, as submitted, be supported by this Scrutiny Panel and be considered further by the Performance and Scrutiny Overview Committee, before being submitted to the Cabinet and to full Council.

(3) That a report be submitted to a future meeting of this Scrutiny Panel, about the approved budget for Children and Young People’s Services for the 2009/2010 financial year.