Children's Services and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Panel
Wednesday 1 August 2007
CHILDREN’S SERICES AND LEISURE
OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY PANEL – 01.08.07
CHILDREN’S SERVICES AND LEISURE
OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY PANEL
1 AUGUST 2007
PRESENT: Councillors Mrs Pitteway (Vice-Chairman in the Chair), Baskerville, J. Evans, Mrs Hunt (substitute for Councillor Mrs Bursnall), Majeed (substitute for Councillor Lenton), and Mrs Stock.
Also present: Councillor Mrs Quick
Dr Spicer
Officers: Heather Andrews, Allan Brown, Peter Brown, Frances Hewitt, Diana Hills, Dave Horler, Ian Hunt, Christine King, David Scott, Mark Taylor, Jill Thompson, and Cliff Turner.
part i
The Chairman paid tribute to the late Councillor Elizabeth Hawkes, who had sadly passed away on 25 July. She had been the Chairman of this Panel, and was a highly thought of and well-respected Member within both the Council and the community and would be sadly missed. All present remained standing and observed a minute’s silence to her memory.
14/07 ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN
The Panel was invited to elect its new Chairman.
- RESOLVED: That Councillor Lenton be elected Chairman of the Panel for the ensuing year.
15/07 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
were received from Councillors Mrs Bursnall, Lenton, and Mrs Luxton.
16/07 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
There were no declarations of interest.
17/07 MINUTES
- RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 June 2007 be approved, subject to the following amendments:
ii) that Councillor Mrs Newbound was present as a substitute for Councillor Mrs Stock.
iii) that the Panel had requested an updated Terms of Reference for the Panel be presented for their consideration.
18/07 ORDER OF BUSINESS
RESOLVED: That the order of business as outlined in the Agenda be varied.
19/07 SCHOOLS’ CATERING SERVICES CONTRACT
Members considered the Part I report due to be submitted to Cabinet on 23 August 2007 detailing the background of the School Meals Contract with Harrison Catering Services Limited. It was a noted that a Part II report later in the Agenda would be considering the contract in further detail.
At the commencement of the item, it was reported that a petition had been handed in at the full Council meeting on 31 July 2007 by Councillor Mrs Newbound. The petition was in relation to the School Meals Contract and Council agreed that it should be referred to this meeting of the Panel, and also Cabinet.
The petition read as follows: “Under the current contract for school meals each school is set a target by the Borough for the number of meals it has to sell. If this target is not reached the school is required to cover the lost revenue.
At Alwyn Infant School we are not going to meet our current target and will be charged a considerable sum this year. The Governors and Staff of the school feel our target is unrealistic and it is wrong to charge the school from the school budget.
This will mean the school has less money to teach our children.
We the undersigned call on the Borough to act urgently to remedy this situation by funding the shortfall for all schools affected from Borough Funds, as the contract was negotiated by the Borough. This is for the benefit of all our children.”
The lead petitioner, Mr Ian Runcie, addressed the Panel, and outlined the concerns expressed by the petition. He confirmed that he was a governor of Alwyn Infant School, and circulated a brief summary to the Panel, which set out background information in relation to uptake statistics for the Borough of school meals, the Government funding, the cost per meal, ingredients costs, sales targets, and the cost of failure for each school, which indicated that the schools were fined from their budget a figure of £1.24 for each meal not sold. Mr Runcie also referred to a survey undertaken at Alwyn Infant School and outlined the reasons expressed in that survey for pupils not having a school meal, and the reasons expressed that would increase the uptake of having a school meal.
Mr Runcie commented that a number of schools were likely to fail to reach their sales targets for school meals, and stated that the current contract had failed in terms of numbers. He expressed concern at the fact that schools had to finance the sales shortfalls, and, whilst acknowledging that the quality of food and level of service provided by Harrison Catering Services was good, urged the Panel to recommend to Cabinet that the way in which the contract was financed be reviewed.
The Panel thanked Mr Runcie for his comments. During discussion, the Panel noted the comments of the Lead Member for Children’s Services, who stated that the calculations on which the targets had been based had been flawed, as they had been based on all food sold in the schools, and that it was hoped that by re-addressing the targets in light of this, the deficits could be reduced. However, it was noted that this would not affect those deficits experienced at the primary schools. Some discussion took place on arrangements implemented by neighbouring local authorities in relation to school meals, and it was also noted that the details in relation to the specific financial elements of the contract would be discussed in the Part II report later in the meeting.
Whilst noting the petition and the representations from Mr Runcie, the Panel agreed that the Part I report should be submitted to Cabinet, and any specific comments by the Panel in relation to the contract would be submitted under the Part II report later in the meeting.
- RESOLVED: That the petition submitted be noted, and the Part I report be recommended to Cabinet for approval.
20/07 2007/08 CHILDREN’S SERVICES AND LEISURE MONITORING REPORT
The Panel received and noted the latest 2007/08 Children’s Services and Leisure monitoring report. Members received the latest financial and non-financial information in respect of the revenue and capital budgets, and noted that the current report was a new format that would be developed in the forthcoming reporting cycles. Initially, the report concentrated on the financial aspects affecting cost variations but would ultimately include a number of relevant performance indicators.
21/07 APPOINTMENT OF SCHOOL GOVERNORS
Members considered the report due to be submitted to Cabinet on 23 August 2007, which advised Members of vacancies that had arisen or would shortly arise for edication authority represenatatives on governing bodies within the Royal Borough, and of nominations received. In considering the report, the Panel noted that a further application was expected, and would be added to the report. In addition, Members were informed that the current policy allowed nominations to be received up to seven days prior to the Cabinet meeting at which the appointments were made, and it was noted that work was on-going with Internal Audit on reviewing the current policy and code of practice for the appointment of school governors. The Panel felt that in order to be able to comment appropriately on future reports, full details of the candidates to be considered for appointment should be provided to them.
- RESOLVED: That the report be recommended to Cabinet for approval, subject to the comments above also being included.
22/07 DETERMINATION OF PROPOSAL TO TRANSFER HOLYPORT MANOR TO A NEW SITE
Members considered the report due to be submitted to Cabinet on 23 August 2007 seeking a formal decision on a proposal to transfer Holyport Manor School from Ascot Road, Holyport to a new site off Cannon Lane, Maidenehad by April 2010.
The Panel was supportive of the proposals, and welcomed the report. Details of the consultation, that had expired on 27 July 2007, were reported, and the responses that had been received were outlined. In recommending the report to Cabinet for approval, the Panel endorsed the proposals and looked forward to being kept informed of progress.
- RESOLVED: That the report be recommended to Cabinet for approval, with the above comments.
23/07 CULTURAL HERITAGE STRATEGY
Members considered the report due to be submitted to Cabinet on 27 September 2007 on the main points of the revised Cultural Heritage Strategy.
The report included details of the Strategy, which included
· Aims and background information
· Current situation for heritage services as part of Library and Information Services
· RBWM collections and services relating to heritage
· Sub regional support from Berkshire for Archives, Museums and Archaeology
· Local Collections, Societies and Groups
· Vision for the future with route and milestones
· 4 case studies showing how use of new technology, new ideas increases access
· Heritage action plan for Library and Information Services
The Panel also noted and welcomed that the Strategy proposed the formation of a steering group, which would include representatives from each Directorate. Members warmly endorsed the Strategy, and during discussion, expressed a wish that the collection in the store in Windsor should be more accessible to the public in the future, and suggested that the officers continue to explore this as part of the strategy.
- RESOLVED: That the report be recommended to Cabinet for approval, with the above comments.
24/07 CHILDREN’S SOCIAL CARE SERVICES
Members received and noted the Social Care complaints process and the level and nature of the complaints and compliments received by Children’s Social Care services, Learning and Care Directorate during the period 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007. It was noted that the Children Act 1989 required the operation of the complaints procedure to be reported to Members, and deatiled information was presented for the Panel’s information.
25/07 CHILDREN’S SOCIAL CARE PERFORMANCE REPORT
Members received and noted the Learning and Care Directorate’s performance against the children’s social care perfoprmance assessment framework indicators for the year 2006/07.
26/07 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1972 – EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC
- RESOLVED: That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting whilst discussion takes place on items 12, 13 and 14 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.