Observer: Councillor Val Slater

43.       DISCLOSURES OF INTEREST

(1)       Councillor Sajawal disclosed an interest in Minute 49 and 50 as he was an elected Board Member on Better Start Bradford and worked for Barnardo’s.

(2)       Councillor Jeanette Sunderland and Salam disclosed an interest in Minute 50 as the organisation they worked for were part of Rise Yorkshire.

ACTION:       City Solicitor

Recommended –

That the minutes of the meeting held on 24 November 2016 be signed as a correct record (previously circulated).

(Fatima Butt – 01274 432227)

Resolved -

That the minutes of the meeting held on 24 November 2016 be signed as a correct record.

(Access to Information Procedure Rules – Part 3B of the Constitution)

Reports and background papers for agenda items may be inspected by contacting the person shown after each agenda item.  Certain reports and background papers may be restricted. 

Any request to remove the restriction on a report or background paper should be made to the relevant Strategic Director or Assistant Director whose name is shown on the front page of the report. 

If that request is refused, there is a right of appeal to this meeting. 

Please contact the officer shown below in advance of the meeting if you wish to appeal. 

(Fatima Butt - 01274 432227)

There were no appeals submitted by the public to review decisions to restrict documents. 

(Access to Information Procedure Rules – Part 3B of the Constitution)

To hear questions from electors within the District on any matter this is the responsibility of the Committee. 

Questions must be received in writing by the City Solicitor in Room 112, City Hall, Bradford, BD1 1HY, by mid-day on Tuesday 10 January 2017.

(Fatima Butt - 01274 432227)

There were no questions submitted by the public. 

At its meeting of 17 March 2016 this Area Committee approved as part of its Safer Roads Schemes programme the promotion of an improvement scheme at the New Street/Butt Lane/Howgate/Apperley Road/Cross Road junction in Idle.

The Strategic Director, Place will submit Document “T” which considers the objections received to a recently advertised proposal for improvement works at the New Street/Butt Lane/Howgate/Apperley Road/Cross Road junction and associated Traffic Regulation Order.

Recommended-

(1)          That the objections to the proposed junction improvement and associated waiting restrictions at the New Street/Butt Lane/Howgate/Apperley Road/Cross Road junction be overruled and the proposals be implemented and Traffic Regulation Order be sealed and implemented as advertised.

(2)          That the objectors be informed accordingly.

(Andrew Smith – 01274 434674)

At its meeting of 17 March 2016 this Area Committee approved as part of its Safer Roads Schemes programme the promotion of an improvement scheme at the New Street/Butt Lane/Howgate/Apperley Road/Cross Road junction in Idle.

The Strategic Director, Place submitted Document “T” which considered the objections received to a recently advertised proposal for improvement works at the New Street/Butt Lane/Howgate/Apperley Road/Cross Road junction and associated Traffic Regulation Order.

A Member pointed out that the improvement works proposed would also act as a traffic calming measure as it would alter the width of the road.

Resolved -

(1)          That the objections to the proposed junction improvement and associated waiting restrictions at the New Street/Butt Lane/Howgate/Apperley Road/Cross Road junction be overruled and the proposals be implemented and Traffic Regulation Order be sealed and implemented as advertised.

(2)          That the objectors be informed accordingly.

ACTION:       Strategic Director, Place

The Strategic Director, Children’s Services will submit Document “U” which provides a summary of the outcomes from Early Years to KS5 for the Bradford East area. Some of the information is based on preliminary data which has to be confirmed by the Department for Education late in 2016 or early in 2017.

Recommended-

That the Bradford East Area Committee receive this report on education performance and standards in the area.

                                                                        (Judith Kirk – 01274 439255)

The Strategic Director, Children’s Services submitted Document “U” which provided a summary of the outcomes from Early Years to KS5 for the Bradford East area. Some of the information was based on preliminary data which had to be confirmed by the Department for Education late in 2016 or early in 2017.

Members were informed that:

·         It was a positive picture in relation to primary schools; 34 out of 47 schools were classed as good or better by Ofsted which equated to 79% compared to 74% across the district; 10 schools were inspected last academic year and 7 had improved their Ofsted judgement.

·         Of the 30 Local Authority maintained schools with current Ofsted judgements, 24 (80%) of schools are good or outstanding.

·         The key stage 2 results were positive in Bradford East.

·         Performance for key stage 4 was now assessed on a number of measures; the schools Attainment 8 and Progress 8 scores.  Three of six schools had Attainment 8 scores above the provisional national average of 48.2, and a further one was above the Bradford average.

Members commented on a number of issues which included:

·         What work was being undertaken to encourage schools that were underperforming to work with schools that were doing well on making the relevant progress and learning from good practice? Some schools in deprived areas were making remarkable achievements.

·         Dixons schools were located in deprived areas but only a handful in the local area gained a place in them; such schools could help children in deprived areas, they were letting the local community down because of their admissions policy; needed to look closely at what good schools could do in deprived areas.

·         What progress was being made with the issues relating to Hanson?

·         Primary schools progress was better but secondary school’s was worrying; needed rapid progress in secondary schools.

·         How many schools in Bradford East were in special measures?

·         How early did schools identify children likely to be NEET?

·         More information was needed on NEET and “not known”.

·         Was work undertaken by Better Start Bradford making the necessary improvements?

·         Needed to look at learning taking place in community buildings and where else outside school, learning could take place.

·         Schools should have safe, strong leadership; how stable was leadership in schools?

·         Were there any schools that did not have five days a week of learning?

·         Certain schools had a majority of one community attending it; what did that do to Community Cohesion?

·         Did we have facts and figures on teacher turnaround; what was making teachers leave and not come to Bradford?

In response to Members’ questions it was reported that:

·         In relation to Hanson, officers were working closely with the Wakefield City Academies Trust who were providing support for curriculum development;  additional support was being provided from other sources; officers were working closely with the Schools Regional Commissioner and the DFE; hoping to have leadership and management issues resolved by the end of this school term.

·         In terms of working with schools that needed improving the School  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

Previous Reference: Minute 34 (2015/16)

The Strategic Director, Children’s Services will present a report (Document “V”) which provides an update to the report presented to the Committee in 2015 regarding the issue of child sexual exploitation (CSE). It sets out the arrangements that have been put in place and which continue to develop to safeguard children from CSE.

Recommended –

(1)          That the contents of Document “V” be noted.

(2)          That the Committee consider ways in which CSE can be tackled at local level.

   (Jenny Cryer – 01274 434333)

Previous Reference: Minute 34 (2015/16)

The Strategic Director, Children’s Services presented a report (Document “V”) which provided an update to the report presented to the Committee in 2015 regarding the issue of child sexual exploitation (CSE). It set out the arrangements that had been put in place and which continued to develop to safeguard children from CSE.

It was reported that:

·         There was a continuing rise in the cases of potential or actual CSE that were referred to the Hub.

·         In the course of 2015/16 there was an average of 54 CSE referrals per month, compared to 36 per month the previous year.

·         In Bradford East on 27 October, there were 112 young people identified as at risk of CSE, including 14 considered to be at high risk.

·         20% of children considered to be at risk of CSE in East Bradford were males.

·         The peak age for males referred to the Hub was 14 years, for females it was 15 years; the peak age in East Bradford was 15.

·         The ward with the highest number of at risk children was Eccleshill, with Bolton and Undercliffe, Bowling and Barkerend and Bradford Moor close behind.

·         No ward had no children at risk with the lowest being one in Windhill and Wrose.

·         A breakdown of cases open on one day (29 March 2016) showed that 13% of cases were assessed as being at high risk, 42% at medium risk and 40% were low risk.

·         In the course of 2015/16, in the Bradford District, 109 crimes were recorded by West Yorkshire Police as “child sexual exploitation crimes”; this constituted 20% of all sexual offences against children recorded in Bradford during that period.

·         78% of identified offenders linked to CSE crimes were under the age of 36 while almost 60 % were under the age of 25.

Members were informed that Bradford Safeguarding Children Board had developed a 9 point strategic response to CSE which identified the priorities agreed by all partner organisations working with children and families in the Bradford District.  These priorities were outlined in paragraph 2.8 of the report.

Members made the following comments:

·         It was frightening that the work being undertaken now to tackle CSE was not being carried out only a few year ago; what was happening before?

·         Impressed with the work that was currently being undertaken to tackle CSE; how much additional resources had been put in; was enough being undertaken to tackle CSE?

·         Pleased to see more work being undertaken to stop people becoming perpetrators; Had work been undertaken as to what made someone become a perpetrator?

·         It was encouraging to note that 3,500 taxi drivers and operators had now been trained and the training was mandatory for all new licence applications; had operators of other mode of transport been looked at such as bus operators and operators carrying vulnerable adults etc.

·         Had the work on the “Nightwatch” Scheme worked in other authorities and was it working well in other areas?  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

The Strategic Director, Place will submit Document “W” which provides an overview of poverty-deprivation related statistics in Bradford East and a summary of key interventions led by the Council and partners to support vulnerable people.

The report aims to enable members to consider the potential impacts of poverty and any additional actions that could be taken to tackle the issues raised.

Recommended-

That Members note the issues outlined in the report and make observations and comments identifying gaps or areas of improvement.

                                                            (Helen Johnston – 01274 434401)

                                                            (Catriona Colborn – 01274 434691)

The Strategic Director, Place submitted Document “W” which provided an overview of poverty-deprivation related statistics in Bradford East and a summary of key interventions led by the Council and partners to support vulnerable people.

The report aimed to enable members to consider the potential impacts of poverty and any additional actions that could be taken to tackle the issues raised.

Members made the following comments:

·         Why was the figure for job seekers allowance claimants that had been sanctioned high in Bradford East?

·         What was the vision/strategy to improve the situation and stop people being in poverty?

·         The group set up to look at poverty (Anti-Poverty Co-ordination Group) should be renamed to something more positive such as Economic Prosperity Group.

·         Large amounts of money had been spent in other projects around Bradford which did not achieve anything; money could only be spent on certain initiatives which then came to an end; needed to do this differently and not do what’s always been done; any improvements needed to be sustainable.

·         12,000 children were living in poverty and were already behind in education and nutritionally not getting the right food; the Anti-Poverty Co-ordination Group needed to look at how these children relied on free school meals and how they accessed food and where did they go as children when schools closed.

·         Needed a report on the outcome of the Better Start Project.

·         How many schools were entitled to funding for Breakfast Clubs and how many took it up in Bradford East and the rest of the district.

·         Projects such as Better Start Bradford should be looking at 2 or 3 different things that could make a big difference; needed to look at how much was spent on management costs and how much was spent on actually doing the work; needed to learn from past projects.

In response to Members’ questions it was reported that:

·         The number of people on job seekers allowance that were sanctioned needed looking at as well as the impact on children of not having any money.

·         The answer to improving the situation in Bradford East would be developed over time with partners; Anti-Poverty Co-ordination Group would be looking at what was happening to people in poverty now and long term.

·         The Committee could feed into the work of the Anti-Poverty Co-ordination Group; the Group did not have any money attached to it.

Resolved -

(1)          That the Anti-Poverty Co-ordination Group involve Committee Members on the work they undertake and provide a report to the Committee in six months time on the progress made. 

(2)          That a further report be presented to the Committee on the impact on residents of Bradford East of the removal of Council Tax Discount.

ACTION:       Strategic Director, Place