Meeting documents

Children's Services and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Panel
Monday 29 September 2008

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CHILDREN’S SERVICES AND LEISURE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY PANEL

29 SEPTEMBER 2008

PRESENT: Councillors Maxwell (Chairman), Fido, Lenton, Mrs Pitteway (Vice-Chairman) and Mrs Stock.

Non Members: Councillor Mrs Quick.

Officers: Mr Abrahamson, Ms Galloway, Mr Herlinger, Mr Kiely, Mr Turner, Ms Verity, Mrs Wellings, Mr Wright.
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27/08 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Mrs Mintern and Councillor J Evans.

28/08 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

The following declarations of interests were received:

Councillor Mrs Pitteway declared a personal interest in all education related items on the agenda as a School Governor of Knowl Hill Primary School.

Councillor Mrs Stock declared a personal interest in Item 13, Holyport Manor School, as her husband was a non-executive director of the Primary Care Trust.

Mr Kiely declared a personal interest in Item 13, Holyport Manor School, as he was a member of the Cox Green Community Centre.

29/08 MINUTES
    RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 4 August 2008 be approved.
30/08 ORDER OF BUSINESS
    RESOLVED: That the order of business for the meeting be amended.

31/08 HOLYPORT MANOR SCHOOL REPROVISION

The Panel received a verbal update from the head of Housing and Residential Services who was acting as project coordinator. Members received a detailed site plan and a document which outlined the reporting lines.
CHILDREN’S SERICES AND LEISURE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY PANEL – 29.09.08
During the update, the following points were made:
    The school was being fully funded by a DCSF grant.
    Key stakeholders and people resident close to the proposed site were extensively consulted.
    It was a complex project, and was being constructed within a complex site.
    A much needed residential respite centre would be provided, along with the school. Planning permissions had been granted and works had commenced.
    Some tree removal and pruning had taken place. It was hoped that many of these trees would be replaced during the later, landscaping phase.
    The access road would be completed by Christmas 2008.
    Works to construct the all-weather pitches would commence in January 2009. The school would open in September 2010.

In a brief discussion the following points were made:
    It was agreed that future updates to the Panel should be verbal reports.
    Members considered the reporting lines to be quite complex but recognised the need to work carefully with all project partners.
    A number of site visits were conducted to other recently built special schools. The architects initially engaged in the project had a lot of experience in designing special schools.
    Headteachers, staff and parents were fully engaged at an early stage.
    The possibility of a Panel site visit would be explored.

32/08 PANEL WORK PROGRAMME

Members noted the contents of the work programme which was included as part of the agenda papers. After a brief discussion it was agreed that the Chairman would meet with Democratic Services to monitor the workload and also explore the possibility of using email to circulate information reports, rather than placing them on the Panel agenda.

33/08 DEVELOPING PHASE 3 CHILDREN’S CENTRES IN THE ROYAL BOROUGH – CAPITAL EXPENDITURE 2008-2010

Members received the report due to be submitted to Cabinet on 23 October 2008, on the development of Phase 3 Children’s Centres. A Children’s Centre was designed to be a “one-stop” shop for families with children under five years of age to receive advice and support regarding children’s health, care and development. They were largely funded by the central government SureStart grant.

During the discussion, the following comments were made:

    Members were pleased to note that the Borough was working in Partnership with the Army at Broom Farm.

    It was noted that all costs referred to were capital and project management type costs. There was a separate revenue stream to fund actual service delivery.

    It was hoped that the entire borough would be covered, via the use of outreach work.

    Concern was expressed on whether long-term funding would be available.

    Members suggested that the final report to Cabinet should include the numbers of children reached in each area and a map indicating the location of each centre across the Borough.

    RESOLVED: That the report be recommended to Cabinet for approval, subject to the inclusion of reach targets for each proposed allocation and a map of the Borough which indicated the location of each centre.

34/08 QUALITY AND ACCESS CAPITAL FUNDING WITHIN EARLY YEARS AND CHILDCARE PROVISION 2008-2009

Members received the report due to be submitted to Cabinet on 23 October 2008, on Quality and Access Capital Funding within Early Years and Childcare Provision.

The report detailed the grant funding which was available from the DCSF over the next three years, targeted at the improvement of pre school provision in the Borough.

Childcare providers would be kept well informed of available funding through the mailing network operated by Early Years and Childcare Team, along with other special events for providers it was confirmed that if providers already had a good standard of laptops and PCs then there was enough flexibility for the funds to be spent on alternatives. The Chairman of the Panel, who had extensive experience of IT procurement, offered to provide advice on the matter, outside of the meeting.

In the ensuing discussion, the following comments were made:


    Members suggested that the numbers of providers in each category be included in the report.

    Concern was expressed about the proposed IT procurement. This included potential quality issues of the cameras and printers, and the Panel suggested that the period of cover for the warranties and antivirus software should be maximised.

    Concern was also expressed that there was no web connectivity or IT helpdesk support being provided.

    RESOLVED: That the report be recommended to Cabinet for approval, subject to the inclusion of the comments outlined above.









35/08 REVIEW OF THE AREA CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S TEAMS

Members received the report on the review of the Area Children and Young People’s Teams. It was originally due to be submitted to Cabinet on 27 November 2008, but it was subsequently decided that this was not required. It was therefore received by the Scrutiny Panel as an information item, and did not contain any recommendations.

Area Teams for Children and Young People (ACTs) began to function from two bases from September 2007, following an internal restructure of the local authority and the need to develop an integrated Children’s Service as identified in The Children’s Act 2004 and Every Child Matters: Change for Children.

Area Teams brought together several universal and targeted front line services working with children, families, schools and other settings. The report summarised progress to date and set out possible future improvements.

Members noted that the Windsor area team was located in York House, which was not an ideal location for those accessing the services and offered little space for expansion.
    RESOLVED: That the contents of the report be noted.
36/08 PROPOSED AMALGAMATION AT SOUTH ASCOT VILLAGE SCHOOL

Members received the report due to be submitted to Cabinet on 23 October 2008, which concerned a proposal to ‘amalgamate’ South Ascot Village Primary School and South Ascot Village Nursery School into one school, with effect from 1st September 2009. The schools were currently federated as South Ascot Village School.

The proposal was driven primarily by concern from the schools over future funding arrangements for nursery schools, but an amalgamation would benefit the school also by streamlining the administrative burden on the management team of the federation. This, in turn, would help focus effort on improving outcomes for all children.
    RESOLVED: That the report be recommended to Cabinet for approval.
37/08 SECONDARY SCHOOL PROVISION IN THE ROYAL BOROUGH – BUILDING SCHOOLS FOR THE FUTURE

Members received the report due to be submitted to Cabinet on 23 October 2008, on two issues facing secondary school provision in the Royal Borough, the most important of which was the Building Schools for the Future programme. This was a national programme, intended to renew all secondary school provision by 2020, which had been running for several years. The government had issued new guidance about this and it was noted that the Royal Borough could be eligible to enter the programme earlier than envisaged.

The report also looked briefly at the Targeted Capital Fund grant, which related to the 14-19 Diploma and to special educational needs (SEN) provision, noting that these funds would need to be spent in a way that was complementary to developing Building Schools for the Future plans. The guidance suggested that the Targeted Capital Fund grant should be spent on fewer, larger, projects to maximise impact.

The Panel queried whether there was staffing capacity to develop and deliver such a large and complex programme. It was noted that additional staff could be recruited to work on specific projects.

The Panel emphasised the need to develop a clear vision for all schools which would substantially improve education in the Borough.
    RESOLVED: That the report be recommended to Cabinet for approval, subject to the inclusion of the above comment, which emphasised the need to develop a clear vision for all schools which would substantially improve education in the Borough.
38/08 SECONDARY SCHOOL DESIGNATED AREAS

Members received the report due to be submitted to Cabinet on 23 October 2008, which considered the case for changing the Royal Borough’s secondary school designated areas. It concluded that there was a case for action in the Maidenhead secondary schools and that consultation on the issue should take place at the same time as the consultation on the Building Schools for the Future programme.

The Panel endorsed the report. In relation to the proposed changes to the Maidenhead secondary school designated areas, the Panel expressed a preference for the second option (paragraphs 3.1.25 and 3.1.26 in the report).


    RESOLVED: That the report be recommended to Cabinet for approval, subject to the inclusion of the above comment.
39/08 SERVICE MONITORING REPORT

Members received the latest 2008/09 Budget Monitoring Report for all service areas, with areas relevant to the Children’s Services and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Panel highlighted. Overspends in the central schools budget, the children and Young People – LA Funded budget, home to school transport, residence order allowances and looked after children placements were noted. Under spends in agency foster care payments, internal foster care and Youth and Community Outdoor Education were noted.

40/08 EFFECTIVENESS OF GOVERNING BODIES

The Panel agreed that this item would be reconsidered for inclusion in the work programme at a future date.

41/08 APPOINTMENT OF LEA REPRESENTATIVES TO GOVERNING BODIES OF SCHOOLS IN THE ROYAL BOROUGH

The Panel did not consider the report due to be submitted to Cabinet on 23 October 2008, as Members had not received all information about the applicants.
42/08 USER EVALUATION OF THE CHILDREN’S INFORMATION SERVICE DURING JUNE 2008

The Panel agreed that this item would be reconsidered for inclusion in the work programme at a future date.

43/08 MEETING

The Meeting which began at 7.30pm, concluded at 10pm.
CHAIRMAN…………………………

DATE………………………………..