Agenda and minutes

There were no Declarations of Interest to report.  

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

An update was provided in relation to the ongoing Schools’ Governing Body review; a questionnaire had been distributed to 150 school Chairs and Vice Chairs of governing bodies via Survey Monkey and 69 responses had been received.  Six of the respondents had offered to be interviewed as part of the process.  Two review meetings will be arranged and three Governors would attend each meeting.  At the close of the review, the Head of the Governor Development Service would be invited to report to the Improving Lives Select Commission.

In relation to the previous meeting of the Commission on the 25^th January, 2012, further work would be undertaken in relation to the withdrawal of the Education Maintenance Allowance and the introduction of the 16-19 Bursary Fund. Bronwen Moss, Scrutiny Adviser, informed the meeting that she would report back to the Commission at a date to be agreed with the Chair.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the previous meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission, held on 25^th January, 2012. 

Resolved: - That the minutes of the previous meeting be agreed as a true record for signature by the Chairman. 

Sue Wilson, Children and Young People’s Services Performance and Quality Manager, Commissioning, Policy and Performance, to report.   

Consideration was given to the submitted report and background papers, presented by Sue Wilson, Performance and Quality Manager, Resources Directorate, in relation to Government Consultation on proposals to repeal Section 138 of the Education and Inspections Act (2006).  This consultation specifically related to the removal of the requirement on Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to conduct an annual rating on the ‘top-tier’ of Local Authority Children’s Services.

The proposed changes to legislation were being made through a Legislative Reform Order under the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act (2006).  Consultation had begun on 23^rd January, 2012, and would close on 18^th March, 2012.  Subject to the outcome of consultation it was proposed that the changes be implemented from Summer, 2012. 

The assessment methods currently considered by Ofsted when deciding local authorities’ Annual Children’s Services’ Assessment ratings were:

• Outcomes from education, social care settings and skills providers’ inspections, and;

• Performance profiles. 

The overall level of assessment was awarded on a four point scale: grade 1 (performs poorly), grade 2 (performs adequately), grade 3 (performs well) and grade 4 (performs excellently). 

The rationale for the proposed repeal was that it would free up resources within Ofsted so that the Inspectorate’s workforce could be used for other, higher priority inspection activity.  The proposals would also contribute towards meeting Ofsted’s 30% budget reduction target.

The effects of the proposal within Rotherham were discussed.  These factors included:

• The Annual Children’s Services Assessment and the related Performance Profile had been used as part of continued service monitoring since the removal of Rotherham’s Children’s Services’ Notice to Improve.  The Service was currently rated as ‘performing adequately’;
• Regular local updates, over and above the quarterly publication of the Ofsted profile, were already produced, whereby performance reports were provided to Children and Young People’s Services’ Strategic Director and the Service’s Lead Cabinet Member; 
• To ensure that recent improvements that had led to the lifting of the Service’s Notice to Improve were maintained, it was essential that equivalent internal monitoring arrangements continued.

Discussion ensued and the following points were raised and clarified:

• Proposed loss of a ‘critical friend’: it was noted that although the external annual rating would no longer take place, setting inspections that contributed to the outcome would continue.  Rotherham would therefore be able to develop an accurate and reflective performance profile and identify areas of good practice and where improvements were required.
• The quality monitoring of Children and Young People’s Services would remain a priority for the Service and for the Commissioning, Policy and Performance team within the Resources Directorate.
• The Children and Young People’s Services’ Improvement Panel would continue to meet and would be chaired by the Chief Executive of the Council.  The Panel would assess whether the Service’s performance profile was continuing to improve;

o       It was noted that the Service’s performance profile was currently Green in a RAG rating, as 66% of provisions were rated good or better.

·         Changing relationships with Schools and the Local Authority’s school  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

Aileen Chambers, Childcare Sustainability Manager, Schools and Lifelong Learning, Children and Young People’s Services, to report. 

Consideration was given to the submitted report that was presented by Aileen Chambers, Childcare Sustainability Manager, Early Years and Childcare Service, Children and Young People’s Service, which outlined the proposed changes to the entitlement to Free Early Education and childcare sufficiency.

Free Early Education was a universal Statutory entitlement for three- and four-year-old children.  From September 2013, it would also be a Statutory entitlement for the most disadvantaged two-year-old children.  In relation to this, Government Consultation was now seeking views on:

• The streamlining of Statutory guidance to local authorities on the delivery of Free Early Education and securing sufficient childcare;
• Setting eligibility criteria for the new entitlement to Free Early Education for two-year-olds;
• Increasing flexibility on when the free entitlement hours can be taken; and;

• Clarification of eligibility requirements that providers need to meet to deliver Free Early Education entitlement.   

The current Code of Practice on the delivery of Early Education had been in place since September 2010 and related solely to the Early Education for three- and four-year-olds.  Separate guidance was currently in place in relation to Sections 6 and 11 of the Childcare Act detailing childcare sufficiency requirements. 

The proposed replacement Statutory guidance provided guidance on all areas in one document.  The majority of the Statutory requirements were the same, although the completed document was much shorter at 14 pages long (previous guidance was 50 pages) and did not contain the same level of prescriptive guidance, leaving interpretation of the requirements to individual local authorities.

Further changes to the Statutory guidance included:

• The introduction of eligibility criteria for two-year-olds;
• Extension of the hours in which Early Education could be delivered from 8.00 am – 6.00 pm to 7.00 am – 7.00 pm;
• To allow the entitlement (15 hours) to be taken over a minimum of two-days, rather than the current requirement to take over three-days;
• Introduction of a ‘basket’ of quality indicators which providers would need to meet to enable them to deliver Early Education;
• Repeal of Section 11 of the Childcare Act (the Duty to Assess Childcare Provision) and replacement with guidance on how Section 6 (Childcare Sufficiency) should be delivered;
• Method of funding for the free entitlement for two-year-olds from 2013-14.

In drafting the response to this consultation, the Early Years Team had consulted the Early Education Working Group (which included representatives from the maintained and PVI sector), as well as Officers currently involved in the delivery of early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds, and delivery of childcare sufficiency.  The responses received had generally been in favour of the proposed changes. 

Discussion ensued and the following observations were made:

• Whilst allowing greater flexibility for local authorities to formulate and apply their own guidance, there was a risk that boundary local authorities would introduce different practices, which could impact on families’ access to provision;
• The impact of the proposals on providers;
• Eligibility criteria for two-year-olds to access free Early Education entitlement would be based on Free School Meal entitlement from 2013.  This would be based on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

Consideration was given to the submitted report and work programme update for the activities of the Improving Lives Select Commission.  The document noted the items that the Select Commission had already considered and those which were due to be presented to future meetings. 

The attached report noted the remit of the Improving Lives Select Commission and asked for feedback on it’s work stream and efficiency, and whether anything else could be done differently within current resources.

Discussion ensued, and the following salient suggestions were made:

• An unexpected number of Government Consultations had been opened up, which had taken up a large amount of time during the meetings of the Improving Lives Select Commission.  This had, in turn, impacted on the amount of time the Select Commission could dedicate to Reviews.  It was noted that consultations were presented to the Commission where it had been assessed by officers that an impact could be made.
• The Improving Lives portfolio encompassed a large amount of priorities and policies and many crosscutting issues;
• There was real desire to ensure that the Select Commission’s work would remain relevant and proactive;
• Methods of engaging the public and press in the Select Commission’s work were suggested;
• The Town Hall was an easily accessible location from anywhere in the Borough;

Future topics for consideration by the Improving Lives Select Commission were suggested.  These included:

·         National Child Weight Measurement Programme;

·         Schools, sports and leisure;

·         Overseas visits by schools;

·         Safeguarding.

Resolved: - (1) That the report and work programme be accepted, and their contents noted. 

(2)  That feedback on the report and the Improving Lives Select Commission’s discussion be referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board.

Wednesday 14^th March, 2012, to start at 1.30 pm in the Rotherham Town Hall.

Resolved: -  That the next meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission be held on Wednesday 14^th March, 2012, to start at 2.00 pm in the Rotherham Town Hall.