Meeting documents

Children's Services and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Panel
Tuesday 1 April 2008

CHILDREN’S SERVICES AND LEISURE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY PANEL


1 APRIL 2008

PRESENT: Councillors Lenton (Chairman), Mrs Pitteway (Vice-Chairman), Baskerville, J Evans, Mrs Luxton and Mrs Stock.

Non Members: Councillor Mrs Quick.

Officers: Mr Abrahamson, Mrs Crispin, Mr A Scott, Mr M Taylor and Mr Turner

Also Present: Mr T Keable, Assistant Director of Commissioning, Berkshire East Primary Care Trust
part i

76/07 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Miss Barton and Mrs Bursnall (substitute for Councillor Miss Barton).

77/07 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

The following declarations of interests were received:

Councillor Mrs Pitteway declared a personal interest as a School Governor.

Councillor Mrs Pitteway declared a personal and prejudicial interest and left the room in relation to item 14 “Windsor Arts Delivery” as she personally knew one of the interested parties that had expressed an interest in the provision of the service.

Councillor Mrs Stock declared a personal interest as a Governor at Courthouse Junior School, her husband was the Chairman of Windsor and Maidenhead Voluntary Action and a non-Executive Director of the Berkshire East PCT and her daughter was a teacher at Charters School.

Councillor Mrs Luxton declared a personal interest as a School Governor.

78/07 MINUTES
    RESOLVED: That the Part I minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 29 January 2008, which was reconvened on 11 February 2008, be approved.
79/07 CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE (CAMHS) UPDATE – BERKSHIRE EAST PCT

The Panel received a report on the delivery of the Tier 3 specialist community Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), commissioned by the Berkshire East Primary Care Trust (PCT) for the residents of East Berkshire, including the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, and provided by Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

Mr T Keable, Assistant Director of Commissioning for the PCT, addressed the Panel and commented upon the nature of the Tier 3 service, the interface between the Tier 1 and 2 services provided by the local authorities and outlined the current position with regard to the future delivery of the Tier 3 service. Mr Keable referred to the work being undertaken to develop a comprehensive CAMHS strategy and the market testing exercise that was being undertaken to evaluate the benefits and risks of a undertaking formal tender process for the service.

In response to a number of questions, Mr Keable commented upon the work that the Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust had done to address the concerns that had been raised about the service and outlined the timeframes should a formal tender process for the Tier 3 services be pursued. He commented upon the referral process between Tier 2 and 3 services and, as the three unitary authorities in East Berkshire provided their Tier 1 and 2 services in a different way, outlined the particular challenges in ensuring that there was a smooth interface between Tier 2 and 3 services.

At the conclusion of the debate, the Chairman thanked Mr Keable for the update and requested that the Panel be kept informed of future developments with the service.
    80/07 APPROVAL OF THE CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE PLAN

    Members considered the report due to be submitted to Cabinet on 22 May 2008 on the draft Children and Young People Plan 2008-2011. The Plan set out the key priorities, which were aimed at improving the lives of children and young people, for Children’s Services within both the Council and its partner agencies for the next three years. Members were advised that integrated planning through the Children and Young People Plan was an essential part of the continuous improvement cycle for Children’s Services, which involved an assessment of need, an identification of priorities, specification of the services and resources to meet those needs, and monitoring and evaluation of outcomes for children.

    Arising from the discussion, the Panel endorsed the Plan but, in addition to a number of minor typographical/formatting amendments, suggested a number of amendments to the Plan for clarification/presentational purposes and made a number of comments as follows:-
        • Page 4 – Growing Up in the Royal Borough – The description of the Royal Borough be amended to reflect the fact that it had three main centres of population.
        • Page 5 – An indication be given as to the approximate percentage of pupils from the Royal Borough that attended schools in neighbouring authorities;
        • Page 9 – Engaging Children and Young People - Reword priority 5 to “Early Intervention”;
        • Page 15 – Concern was expressed that less than 40% of schools (including independent schools) had developed School Travel Plans;
        • Page 18 – Concern was expressed that the percentage of pupils that consider that their school did not deal with bullying very well was higher that the national average, despite the rates of bullying being comparable to the national average.
        • Page 20 – bullet point 3 - add the word “complex” after the word “exceptional”;
        • Page 20 – bullet point 5 – Add description of “P Scale” to the Glossary of Terms;
        • General – reference should be made to the initial percentage targets in cases where it was specified within the Plan that they had been increased to a different percentage figure.
      RESOLVED: That the report be recommended to Cabinet for approval, subject to the inclusion of the above comments.
    81/07 HOME TO SCHOOL TRANSPORT POLICY: GENERAL POLICY AND POLICY FOR POST 16 TRANSPORT

    Members considered the report due to be submitted to Cabinet on 24 April 2008 on the Council’s Home to School Transport Policy and Policy for Post 16 Transport. Members were advised that there was a need to review and update the current Policy to ensure that it complied with current practices and requirements, particularly as there had been significant developments in the requirements for the provision of transport to pupils aged 16 and over since 2002. It was therefore proposed that a Member/Officer Working Group be established to undertake that review. Members were advised that the only amendments to the current Post-16 Policy and Guidance developed as part of a 2006 consultation were in relation to updated travel costs.

    Arising from the discussion, the Panel expressed concern at the proposal that students would be required to pay a single payment for the entire year at the start of the year rather that having the facility to pay in three instalments. The Panel therefore recommended that Cabinet not approve that proposal but refer the matter to the Member/Officer Working Group that was being set up review the current Policy. Further, that Working Group should also consider issues relating to the financial payments made by the Council to transport providers and the consultation/communication arrangements between schools and individual transport providers.
      RESOLVED: That the report be recommended to Cabinet for approval, subject to the inclusion of the above comments.

    82/07 CODE OF PRACTICE FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF LEA REPRESENTATIVES TO GOVERNING BODIES OF SCHOOLS IN THE ROYAL BOROUGH

    Members considered the report due to be submitted to Cabinet on 24 April 2008 on the adoption of a revised Code of Practice for the appointment of LEA representatives to Governing Bodies of schools in the Royal Borough.

    Members of the Panel expressed the opinion that the Code of Practice and Application Form were to forbidding and recommended that they not be approved in their current state but they be reformatted to make them much “lighter” in tone and user friendly. In particular, the process map should be simplified, the application form should provide the facility for applicants to make personal statements in support of their application and the “Relevant Experience” section should be amended to stress that it was not necessary for applicants to have experience in all the areas specified. It was also suggested that a sample of Governors should be approached to seek their views on the documents once revised.
      RESOLVED: That the report be recommended to Cabinet for approval, subject to the inclusion of the above comments.

    83/07 APPOINTMENT OF LEA REPRESENTATIVES TO GOVERNING BODIES OF SCHOOLS IN THE ROYAL BOROUGH

    Members considered the report due to be submitted to Cabinet on 24 April 2008, which advised Members of vacancies that had arisen or would shortly arise for education authority representatives on governing bodies within the Royal Borough, and of nominations received.

    The Panel commented on the brevity of the information provided by some of the applicants and the need for the comments by the Chairman of Governors/Governing Body to be included, although it was recognised that the new application process would address those issues. Notwithstanding, the Panel fully endorsed the current applicants.
      RESOLVED: That the report be recommended to Cabinet for approval, subject to the inclusion of the above comments.

    84/07 RESULTS OF THE TELLUS 2 SURVEY FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE 2007

    The Panel considered a report that summarised the results of the 2007 OFSTED Tellus 2 survey, which had asked children to respond on the issues on whether they considered themselves healthy, whether they felt safe in their local area, how well they felt they were helped to enjoy life and achieve success, and whether they considered they had good opportunities to make a positive contribution to society and achieve economic well being. The questions in the survey had been designed to reflect the priorities set out in the Government’s Every Child Matters initiative. The report summarised both national findings and the findings for the Royal Borough and also outlined proposals for taking forward any emerging issues highlighted by young people, which were being progressed through the Outcome Groups of the Borough’s Children’s Trust. It was noted that the Tellus survey was part of the Annual Performance Assessment process and the 2008 survey was taking place from March - June 2008.

    Arising from the discussion, the officers responded to a number of comments/question raised by Members of the Panel. In particular, the Officers commented upon the terminology of a number of the questions, which were set nationally by OFSTED, and stated that measures were being progressed to address the below average score on the issues of what young people thought of public transport and information and help to plan for their future.
      85/07 SERVICE MONITORING REPORT

      Members received the latest 2007/08 Budget Monitoring Report for all service areas, with areas relevant to the Children’s Services and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Panel highlighted. In response to a number of questions, the Officers provided a comparison of the foster care costs for a child compared to residential care costs; although it was stressed that the costs would vary dependant upon the needs and requirements of the individual child. The reasons for the overspend on the re-provision of Woodlands Park Youth and Community Centre were also outlined.
        86/07 WORK PROGRAMME

        Members noted the items that had been identified for submission to the next meeting and agreed that a further item - The monitoring of the effectiveness of Governing Bodies - be included in the Panel’s work programme.
          87/07 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 13 – 15 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 - 7 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.