To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Hollingsworth, Pryer and Mrs Airey. Cllr Jones was attending as a substitute.

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest received. Cllr Jones stated that her ward included St Peter’s School, but was informed that she did not need to declare an interest.

To consider the Part I minutes of the meeting held on March 15^th 2018.

The Part I minutes of the meeting held on March 15^th 2018 were approved as a true and correct record.

To note the report.

The Director of Children’s Services reminded Members that the Panel had previously considered the SEND area inspection, and informed them that this report was to provide an update on the progress that had been made over the two quarters that had since passed.

Members were informed that an Inclusion Summit was held on April 19^th, which was the culmination of the first stage of the plan to address the weaknesses that had been identified by Ofsted and the CQC. The Director of Children’s Services said that the Summit allowed the Council to meet with partner agencies; although issues had not been raised by the SEND inspection report regarding individual care, concerns had been raised over the lack of joined-up thinking between different partners.

Members were told that the DfE and Ofsted had identified 107 action points for the Council to carry out. The Director of Children’s Services informed the Panel that of these, 49 were in the green category and on track to be completed; 30 were in the amber category as more work needed to be done; six were in the red category as significant issues had been identified; and five had not yet been started. A further 17 had been completed. The Panel was informed that the six red actions of concern related to four activities: reviewing whether the matrix used to assess the level of pupil need in mainstream schools was working effectively; reviewing the use of text messaging for obtaining feedback; implementing an updated ICT system; and agreeing the datasets and information to be updated on the Local Offer. The Director of Children’s Services informed Members that the Local Offer was a requirement for all local authorities to make available online information to parents and carers regarding services that were applicable to them that were provided by the Council, health authority and voluntary sector, as well as schools with their own Local Offers. Members were told that the information needed to be easier to navigate and should include clear descriptions of the roles and responsibilities of each care provider. Regarding the ICT system, Members were told that the Council was on the software developer’s work list.

Sarah Bellars, Director of Nursing at East Berkshire CCG, stated that it was important to emphasise the progress that had been made since the initial inspection, due to the complexities faced by some service users. In particular the progress that had been made in relation to getting the different groups to work together was of great importance. A key achievement that Sarah Bellars identified was the fact that all 750 statements of special education had been successfully converted into Education Health and Care Plans. The Chairman congratulated officers on completing this transfer.

Members were informed that a draft of the Inclusion Charter would be brought to Council by the Lead Member for Children’s Services in due course.

It was agreed that the Evaluation Report would be brought to Panel when the review that was currently in progress  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To note the report and make recommendations to Cabinet.

Members were reminded that a strategic approach regarding school places up to and through 2035 had been formulated as a result of the Borough Local Plan. It had been noted that in 2019 the middle school provision in Windsor would be insufficient, which had prompted a recommendation to expand middle school capacity. It had been agreed in principle to expand St Peter’s CE Middle School as Dedworth Middle School was already in the process of expanding its capacity, St Edward’s Royal Free Ecumenical School had no capacity to expand further and Trevelyan Middle School did not presently wish to extend so soon after conversion to Academy status. It had been agreed in principle that £2.7million would be provided for the expansion of St Peter’s.

It was noted that there was a low response rate to the initial consultation on the proposals, and that the major finding from this was concerns relating to the impact on parking and traffic.

Cllr Jones noted that St Peter’s was the smallest middle school and stated that doing nothing to expand it was not an option. She stated that the proposals had been discussed by Old Windsor Parish Council, which had only raised concerns over the dropping-off point. Cllr Jones asked if the prioritisation model could be reviewed, as she felt that it did not take a long-term view. The Director of Children’s Services said it was difficult to forecast parental preference and there had been significant shifts in the last 18 months.

It was noted that the proposals only scored one out of ten in terms of value for money. The Director of Children’s Services explained that typically a figure of £14-15,000 per school place represented good value for money. The concerns over the impact on traffic had raised this figure to £20,000 per school place; however the Director of Children’s Services stated that it could be argued that this level of expenditure was appropriate, and that the benchmark scoring had been harsh. The Panel requested that the Cabinet paper explained why the scoring matrix had given the proposals one out of ten for value for money.

The Chairman noted that the Memorandum of Understanding only mentioned St Peter’s School’s admission policy once, and stated that changing the policy had been agreed by the school and the Diocese as part of the Academy conversion process. Cllr Wilson stated that the Memorandum of Understanding cleared up a lot of ambiguity regarding the Council’s role with Academy schools. He said however that the Memorandum of Understanding should state that the expansion of St Peter’s School would cover basic need for school places as a result of demographic growth, in order to aid public understanding. It was agreed that the Cabinet paper should be updated so that the Memorandum of Understanding should state that the expansion of St Peter’s School was to cover basic need, and for the clause about PAN to also cover wider admission arrangement changes. Members noted that it was important that parents were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To note the contents of the report.

The Chairman informed Members that this had been added as a late item to the agenda as it had been agreed to produce a full report for scrutiny, with the item having previously existed only as a briefing note to Cabinet. The Director of Children’s Services informed Members that there had been a delay in compiling the report due to the initial responses from schools, with a significant number no longer wishing to be part of a central contract. Additionally some schools had asked to see the terms of the contract before making a decision on whether to sign. This impacted on the suppliers who were tendering, with some asking how they would cope with this uncertainty and what would happen if some schools changed their mind. The Director of Children’s Services stated that he hoped to have been able to provide Members with a more detailed report.

The Director of Children’s Services informed the Panel that the tendering process had involved asking the suppliers to describe their menus and to provide proof that they met children’s nutritional requirements. Feedback from people that were supplied by these companies had also been sought in order to make a more informed decision. However the contract had been written in such a way so as to provide redress if the provider fell below the required standard.

The contents of the report were noted by Members.

To note the Work Programme and suggest items for future meetings.

Cllr Wilson requested an agenda item on Alternative Provision within the Royal Borough. The Chairman said she would like a presentation on the Council’s obligations towards home schooled children. The Director of Children’s Services said that as the two items were linked he would look to provide a report in the autumn.

Cllr Jones asked for an overview of the provisions made by Children’s Centres, as there had been some statutory changes. The Director of Children’s Services informed Members that a new Deputy Director had recently been appointed and she would be able to provide an update on social care and early help provision with regard to Children’s Centres. Cllr Jones also requested that she be made aware of when scrutiny reports were going to be discussed at Panel.

The Chairman asked for a progress report on the Council’s linked working with other local authorities in order to deliver services. The Director of Children’s Services informed the Panel that this would be covered in the AfC Annual Performance Review at the next meeting.