Agenda and minutes

Mr. G. Hart CC

Mr. I. Ould CC (for minute 48 to 51)

The minutes of the meeting held on 20 January 2014 were taken as read, confirmed and signed.

The Chief Executive reported that four questions had been received under Standing Order 35 from Mrs Sue Whiting and two questions had been received from Mr Richard Carter.

(A)         Mrs Whiting, a member of the public, asked the following questions:

“Now that the Children and Families Act 2014 has received Royal Assent and the provisions within the Act are required to be active from September 2014 could the Chair please answer the following questions with regard to the provision available in Leicestershire?

1.            A report to the Children and Young People’s Service Overview and Scrutiny Committee in January 2011 stated that 8 children with Dyslexia were being educated ‘out of county’ at a cost of £118,602, yet in June 2013 Councillor Ould stated that “Leicestershire does not hold information about specific provision for dyslexia across the county.”  In a separate letter dated 23^rd May 2013 he stated that “Local offer will require schools and local authorities to produce information about the services available to children and young people with special needs, including Dyslexia”.  Does Leicestershire now have information about the provision for children with Dyslexia both within the county and any further out of county provision that is still needed to cater for children with dyslexia “because the educational needs of the individual young person are highly specialised?”

2.            In Leicestershire Criteria for Cognition and Learning: Specific Learning difficulties multi agency protocols include the Rose review on Dyslexia, Guidance on Dyslexia Friendly schools and Equality Act 2010.

Feature 3 for identification states low self esteem, anxiety, frustration, task avoidance.  Speech and language difficulties may also be apparent.

(a)   What are the current waiting times for a child to access the services of CAMHS [Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services], Educational Psychologists and Speech and Language Therapists? 

(b)   If a child is ‘at risk’ of becoming a young offender, are these waiting times in any way different?

(c)    What will the impact of cuts to Educational Psychologists, CAMHS, Speech and Language and Young Offenders Service be on these waiting times?

3.         On 28^th October 2010 Councillor White wrote “We do not hold data on Leicestershire children that would allow us to provide an analysis of co-morbidity - the extent to which children with one area of difficulty (dyslexia) also experience another area of difficulty (mental health difficulties).

However, case work experience in our Educational Psychology Service suggests that there is a strong link……

Children’s anxiety provides the bridge from one area of difficulty to the other.  Many young people with Dyslexia experience anxiety, and if this is not dealt with, it can lead to longer term mental health problems.”

Does Leicestershire now have provision for gathering and monitoring this data so that early correct teaching and health provision can be provided?

4.            In December 2013 Olivia Loder aged 11 wrote to Michael Gove, “The reason I’m writing is to tell about how state schools treat dyslexics and that we feel like we have no potential and feel like the thing you found on the bottom of your shoe and that’s not nice.” 

The reason I am asking these questions is because I still get contacted by parents who are desperately trying to help their children to have the correct provision of education.  By the time they contact me I usually have to tell them how to access CAMHS either via the school medical officer or their own GP.  A recent contact had already gone to their GP and CAHMS, but the education provision was not there.

(a)  Does Leicestershire now have any information on schools which have  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

The Chief Executive reported that no questions had been received under Standing Order 7(3) and 7(5).

There were no urgent items for consideration.

The Chairman invited members who wished to do so to declare any interest in respect of items on the agenda for the meeting.

Mr D. Snartt CC, Mr L. Spence CC, Mr G. Welsh CC, Mr J. Perry and Mr B. Monaghan declared personal interests in matters relating to schools, as they had family members who taught in Leicestershire.

Mr L. Spence CC indicated that, whilst it did not amount to an interest to be declared at this meeting, he felt it relevant to report that he was employed by two academies within the County.

There were no declarations of the party whip.

The Chief Executive reported that no petitions had been received under Standing Order 36.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Children and Family Services, the purpose of which was to present the draft strategy for the provision of school and other education places in Leicestershire for 2014/18, ‘In the Right Place’.  A copy of the report is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussion, the following points were noted:

(i)            Whilst the Authority retained responsibility to ensure a sufficient supply of school places in Leicestershire, with the introduction of academies and free schools it no longer had direct control over a majority of Leicestershire schools;

(ii)          It would be important for the Authority to work closely with schools and other stakeholders to ensure there was a co-ordinated approach to school place planning.  Its aim would be to promote educational excellence, retain the high standards within schools as currently existed in Leicestershire, and ensure the education system was not de-stabilised by schools working in isolation;

(iii)         The Authority, through the recently allocated Basic Needs Capital funding for additional school places, would look carefully at how this might be used to support the expansion of good and popular schools.  Academies themselves could also apply for funding direct to the Education Funding Agency (EFA).  Where possible, the Authority would hold discussions with schools and the EFA with a view to bringing these funding streams together to ensure there was a joint approach to school expansions and resources were utilised as effectively as possible;

(iv)         The issue of Home to School Transport whilst interlinked with school place planning, being a cross departmental issue, would be considered by the Scrutiny Commission on 26 March 2014.  It was acknowledged that whilst transportation would be an important consideration for parents, parental preference was often the key driver of where children when to school;

(v)          Some members expressed the view that the 10+ system that operated in some areas across Leicestershire had been an anomaly which had not proved beneficial.  It was suggested that as the structure of the education system across the County changed, now might be an appropriate time for these to be removed.  Some considered that, if taken forward, such changes would need to be managed sensitively, noting that whilst the County Council could assist such changes, where they involved academies the decision would be made in agreement with the Department for Education;

(vi)         Housing developments across the County would have a significant impact on the future need of school places.  The Strategy would therefore need to have regard to the County Council’s policy on section 106 developer contributions which was currently being reviewed and the 2014/15 capital programme to be confirmed shortly.  It was acknowledged that there would be significant reliance on district councils as the local planning authority to secure section 106 funding and thus ensure that the increasing demand for school places could be met;

(vii)        The Committee noted that, in light of the work now being undertaken by the Authority to update its policy relating to section 106 developer contributions, it would not currently be appropriate for a letter to be sent to district councils highlighting the concerns raised regarding the need for educational provision to be made in relation to new developments, as it had requested at its last meeting;

(viii)      The Committee noted that following its last meeting the Department for Education (DfE) had made a number of decisions which supported the progress of arrangements for schools in special measures to be converted into sponsored academies.  The Committee had previously expressed concerns about the impact delays at DfE level were having on such arrangements and had requested that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Children and Family Services, the purpose of which was to present the outcomes of the internal audit of the Leicestershire Education Excellence Partnership (LEEP).  A copy of the report is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussion, the following points were noted:

    (i)        The outcome of the report provided significant reassurance that the LEEP would provide the necessary framework through which educational excellence could be promoted and the Authority could fulfil its statutory duties as champion for children;

  (ii)        Leicestershire still had over 80% of its schools rated as good or outstanding which was above the national average.  13 schools had recently been inspected; four were rated as requiring improvement, but the remaining nine continued to be rated good or outstanding;

 (iii)        It would be important to ensure there was appropriate representation on the LEEP Strategic Group, in particular including governors from all sectors.  Some members considered that representation from further education establishments might also be useful.  It was suggested that those governors represented on the Funding Forum might be a useful source of knowledge and experience to provide support and advice on particular issues;

 (iv)        It was no longer intended that the Strategic Group would establish three Local Excellence Networks.  Schools had been clear that such an additional layer of networking was not necessary.  It would be most beneficial for schools to continue to develop their own lines of communication.  The Authority would provide support and work to strengthen these links as necessary.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report and the outcome of the internal audit of the Leicestershire Education Excellence Partnership (LEEP) be noted.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Children and Family Services, the purpose of which was to provide an update on Children and Young People’s performance as at the end of quarter 3 of 2013/14.  A copy of the report is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussion, the following points were noted:

(i)            The timeliness of placements of looked after children for adoption remained static and continued to be rated ‘Amber’.  The majority progressed to adoption quickly.  However, for a small number of children it sometimes took longer for suitable adoptive parents to be found due to their specific care needs, therefore distorting the figures; 

(ii)          The Committee agreed that priority should always be given to ensuring appropriate long term arrangements were made for children in care and expressed concern that national requirements to speed up the adoption process could result in an increase in unsuccessful adoptions.  The Committee requested further information regarding adoption cases and the numbers of those that were successful and those which were not;

(iii)         The Committee noted that, following concerns raised at its last meeting, the Lead Member for Children and Young People and the Lead Member for Health had written a joint letter to the Leicestershire and Rutland clinical commissioning groups regarding the difficulties being experienced in securing input from community paediatricians into the Adoption process.  A response had been received and they would hold a meeting shortly aimed at finding a resolution as quickly as possible; 

(iv)         Concern was expressed that the number of children in care achieving 5 A* - C GCSEs (or equivalent) at Key Stage 4 (including maths and English) had fallen.  The Committee noted that action was being taken and a long term strategy had been put in place.  Work had already commenced at Key Stages1 and 2 to ensure additional support was provided early, but the impact of this would not be seen until the next annual figures were available in unvalidated form in October.  The Committee acknowledged that the current data did not provide a full picture and did not, for example, detail the level of progress being made which was often much higher.  The Committee requested that more detailed reporting be provided on the overall educational achievements of children and young people in care;

(v)          The data suggested that an increasing number of initial assessments for children’s social care were not being carried out within the required timescale (10 working days of referral).  However, this had been as a result of a number of cases which had been opened, but subsequently identified as not requiring an assessment, not having being closed down on the case management system.  Such cases had been identified due to a ‘housekeeping’ exercise prior to a forthcoming move to a new case management system and action had been taken to close each file appropriately;

(vi)         There was a dedicated post within the Children and Young People’s Service that worked to co-ordinate support for children and young people who were carers.  Further work in this area would shortly be undertaken to meet new requirements within the Children and Families Act.

(vii)        Children eligible for free school meals continued to perform below the national average.  The Leicestershire Education Excellence Partnership (LEEP) had been looking to address this and had been promoting the use of the Pupil Premium toolkit.  Training and support had been provided to ensure this was being used effectively.  Good practice would also be shared through the LEEP;

(viii)      Some raised concerns that knowledge of the LEEP and the work it undertook was not being widely communicated to school  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

The next meeting of the Committee is scheduled to take place on 9 June 2014 at 2.00pm.

RESOLVED:

It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee would be held on 9 June 2014 at 2.00pm.