Local democracy

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1 - City Hall, Bradford. View directions

Contact: Fatima Butt / Jill Bell 

Items
No. Item

48.

DISCLOSURES OF INTEREST

(Members Code of Conduct - Part 4A of the Constitution)

 

To receive disclosures of interests from members and co-opted members on matters to be considered at the meeting. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.

 

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

 

Notes:

 

(1)       Members may remain in the meeting and take part fully in discussion and voting unless the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an interest which the Member feels would call into question their compliance with the wider principles set out in the Code of Conduct.  Disclosable pecuniary interests relate to the Member concerned or their spouse/partner.

 

(2)       Members in arrears of Council Tax by more than two months must not vote in decisions on, or which might affect, budget calculations, and must disclose at the meeting that this restriction applies to them.  A failure to comply with these requirements is a criminal offence under section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. 

 

(3)       Members are also welcome to disclose interests which are not disclosable pecuniary interests but which they consider should be made in the interest of clarity.

 

(4)       Officers must disclose interests in accordance with Council Standing Order 44.

 

Minutes:

All Members who were Governors disclosed this in the interests of transparency.

 

In the interests of transparency Cllr Dale Smith also disclosed, specifically in relation to the matters on the Agenda, that he was a Governor of Canterbury Nursery and a Trustee of the Kirklands Trust.

 

In the interests of transparency, Councillor Peart disclosed that she worked with children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and a member of her family accessed SEN services.

 

In the interests of transparency Councillor Mullaney disclosed that she worked in childcare and a member of her family accessed SEN services.

 

In the interests of transparency Claire Parr disclosed that a member of her family accessed SEN services.

49.

INSPECTION OF REPORTS AND BACKGROUND PAPERS

(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)

 

Minutes:

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

 

NO ACTION

50.

REFERRALS TO THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

To receive referrals that have been made to this Committee up to and including the date of publication of this agenda.

 

The Committee is asked to note any referrals and decide how it wishes to proceed, for example by incorporating the item into the work programme, requesting that it be subject to more detailed examination, or refer it to an appropriate Working Group/Committee.

 

Minutes:

No referrals had been received.

 

NO ACTION

51.

PROGRESS REPORT ON CHILDREN'S CENTRE CLUSTERS pdf icon PDF 315 KB

The Strategic Director Children’s Services will submit Document “AA” which details progress made by children’s centre clusters in respect of new key performance indicators which were introduced in 2017.  The report also describes progress made in respect of the integration of children’s centres and Health.

 

Recommended-

 

(1)  That the information in the report be noted.

 

(2)  That it be noted that future overview and scrutiny of arrangements for securing improved outcomes including through children’s centre services, would be determined by the outcomes of the Prevention and Early Help consultation and final proposals would be submitted to the Executive in April 2018.

 

(Lynn Donohue/Susan Moreau – 01274 439606/431390)

 

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Strategic Director Children’s Services submitted Document “AA” which detailed the progress made by the Children’s Centres in respect of seven new Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which had been introduced from 1 April 2017.  The report also outlined the progress made in respect of the integration of Children’s Centres and Health services.

 

In response to a question, the Strategic Director clarified that this was a report in respect of the performance of the Children’s Centres relative to Key Performance Indicators. The outcome of the consultation on Prevention and Early Help (which would inform the future arrangements of the Children’s Centres (CC)) would be considered by the Executive in April.  The consultation on this issue had closed on 12 February 2018. Over 700 responses to the consultation had been received and these were currently being analysed. He was unable to comment on that issue at this meeting as sufficient time was needed to properly consider the responses received and the options for moving forward. Sufficient time had been programmed to enable the necessary analysis and assessment of all the representations.

 

In presenting the report, the following issues were highlighted:

 

·         There were seven new KPIs relating to:

o   Contact with those 3 year olds not accessing early education at Age 3, for which the target was 95%.

There was generally good take-up of three year old places but some of the most disadvantaged were not accessing this entitlement. It was too early to assess at this stage if the target was being met but this KPI had certainly made this issue a strong focus for workers and had led to an issue with mobility in the city being identified.

o   All family support cases being underpinned by a robust ‘Signs of Safety’ Action Plan.

Signs of Safety was generally well used although further development was considered possible.  It was acknowledged that it would normally take up to three years for the impact of this model to be demonstrated.

o   Reduction in the levels of obesity in Reception age children, the target for which was -10%.

o   Reduction in the numbers of missing/decayed/filled teeth in Reception age children, the target for which was -10%.

There were specific programmes in place to support these initiatives and more data was expected to be available in the Summer term. In terms of oral health there was a significant difference in the figures for the most advantaged and most disadvantaged communities.

o   Increase the percentage of expectant mothers who set a smoking cessation date further to referral by midwives, the target for which was 25%.

All the Children’s Centre Clusters (CCCs) now had staff trained to support expectant mothers in quitting smoking. Again, more robust data on the results/achievement of target would be available in a few months time.

o   Increase take-up of 2 year old places in education.

Take-up was now 76% across the district although there was a wide range of variation between different areas.  Children’s Centres and the Families Information Service were working in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

52.

EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS 2017 - EARLY YEARS TO KEY STAGE 5 - FINAL REPORT pdf icon PDF 677 KB

The Strategic Director, Children’s Services will submit Document “AB” which outlines some of the key outcomes for Bradford from the 2017 national tests and teacher assessments; much of the report is based upon the Statistical First Release (SFR) data; the 2017 national average, where available, have been included; the KS4 and KS5 data presented in the report is based on revised data published on 25th January 2018.

Recommended-

(1)        That the report (Document “AB”) on the performance of Bradford’s Children and Young People in Key Stage tests for 2017 be received.

 

(2)       That Members are asked to continue to encourage families in their wards to become more actively engaged with their children’s learning and attendance in order to further improve their children’s learning  capacity and resilience.

 

                                                            (Judith Kirk – 01274 431078)

 

 

Minutes:

The Strategic Director, Children’s Services submitted Document “AB” which detailed some of the key outcomes for Bradford pupils from the 2017 results of national tests and teacher assessments from Early Years to Key Stage 5.

The report explained that: a lot of the information was based upon the Statistical First Release (SFR) data; the 2017 national averages had been included for comparison, where available; and the Key Stage 4 (KS4) and Key Stage 5 (KS5) data was based on revised data published on 25 January 2018.

The Strategic Director and the Headteacher of a local Secondary School highlighted the following:

·         Early Years was recognised as a critical stage and there was a lot of on-going work in this area.

·         There had been an overall 6% rise in the number of pupils achieving a Good Level of Development (GLD) at Early Years Foundation Stage since 2015.

·         The greatest improvement had been achieved by boys. (which reflected the positive impact of the initiatives targeted at this group).

·         The gap in Phonics at Key Stage 1 (KS1) was being closed and Bradford was now just below the national average, this was positive progress on the right trajectory.

·         In KS1 the overall proportion of those achieving the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths had increased. The gap with the national average had widened slightly in Writing and decreased slightly in Maths.

·         In KS2 there had been an increase of 10% in those reaching the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths which was a very positive development and a clear indication that the Authority’s strategies were having an impact. There was some work to be done in terms of the Writing element but significant improvement had been made with this in 2016.

·         Bradford had moved up the Standard Rankings in terms of its performance compared with all other local authorities apart from its results in Writing.

·         Officers were proud of the progress being made with outcomes but it was stressed that there was no complacency.

·         For KS4 and 5; Progress 8 was considered to be a much fairer measure of attainment, particularly for urban authorities like Bradford; it measured the progress made between KS2 and KS4 for each pupil which was then aggregated to a whole school score and then further aggregated to a score for the Authority as a whole. Bradford was now ranked in the top third of authorities.

·         Almost a quarter of Bradford Schools had results falling within in the top 10% of schools nationally and there had been a general upward shift overall.

·         The overall Progress 8 score for Bradford was +0.02 which was a significant move forward.

·         Bradford was the most improved at +0.17 in comparison with neighbouring urban authorities.

·         In comparison with statistically similar local authorities, Bradford ranked second and again was the most improved.

·         The overall average attainment score was slightly below the national average, this being achieved despite the overall ability level of pupils on entry being lower than the national average.

·         At KS5 the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

53.

PROPOSALS FOR THE RESTRUCTURE OF SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND DISABILITIES (SEND) SPECIALIST TEACHING SUPPORT SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE WITH SEND pdf icon PDF 320 KB

The Strategic Director, Children’s Services will submit Document “AC” which presents the revised proposed model for the restructuring of SEND Specialist Teaching Support Services for children and young people with SEND to improve their educational outcomes.

 

Members are asked to consider the report and comment as appropriate.

 

                                                                        (Judith Kirk – 01274 439255)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Previous references:  Executive, Minutes 9 and 73 (2017/18)

 

The Strategic Director, Children’s Services submitted Document “AC” which presented the revised proposed model for the restructuring of SEND (Special Educational Need and Disabilities) Specialist Teaching Support Services for children and young people with SEND to improve their educational outcomes. The model had been significantly amended further to feedback from the initial consultation process and due to the implications of the new National Funding Formula.

 

It was explained that:

 

·         The consultation on the revised model would be open until 28 February 2018 and a further report would then be considered by the Executive in April 2018.

·         The revised model was based on a locality model comprising four areas, with a High Incidence Team and a Low Incidence Team. High incidence covered the most common needs of which there were the highest numbers. The Low Incidence Teams would be located centrally.

·         This option would be 70% funded from High Needs Block and 30% from traded services across the entirety of the SEND function.

·         It was stressed that this provision was just one part of the whole SEND service which included Education Care and Health Plans (ECHPs), school places and the development of the SEMH (Social, Emotional and Mental Health) School.

 

The Deputy Director, Education, Employment and Skills responded to Member’s questions:

 

·         The Low Incidence Team had recently been restructured and it was not proposed to reduce the staffing any further.

·         A number of vacancies were currently being carried.

·         All posts were stated as Full Time Equivalent.

·         The locality split was part of the consultation; there were certain areas where there were higher numbers of low incidence cases.  The aim was to provide flexibility and to ensure that staff were available in the areas where they were needed.

·         The model would be constantly under review in respect of funding and it was not possible to predict whether this would change in the future.

·         The Equality Impact Assessment indicated that there was not expected to be any significant negative impact in respect of any of the protected characteristics and no disproportionate impact on any particular group.

·         There would not be any additional funding in 4 year’s time; the funding would just be what had been expected at this point, until then adjustments were having to be made to close the £2 million per annum High Needs Block funding gap resulting from the new National Funding Formula which was to be introduced from April 2018.

 

A representative of the Unite Union put forward a number of questions and concerns as follows:

 

·         It was questioned why there had been separate consultations on Early Help and Prevention and SEND as this was considered to have caused confusion.

·         How many children were waiting for ECHPs? The demand for these was rising.

·         No feasibility study had been undertaken in respect of the 30% traded services model; how was it known that this was achievable and what was the back up plan if there was a shortfall?

·         How much was traded  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

54.

CHILDREN'S SERVICES OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME 2017-18 pdf icon PDF 137 KB

The report of the Chair of the Children’s Services Overview & Scrutiny Committee (Document “AD”) presents the Committee’s Work Programme 2017-18.

 

Recommended -

 

That the Work Programme continues to be regularly reviewed during the year.

 

(Licia Woodhead – 01274 432119)

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee’s Work Programme 2017-18  (Document “AD”) was presented for Member’s consideration.

 

On behalf of the Committee, the Chair expressed thanks to Judith Kirk, the Deputy Director – Education, Employment and Skills, who was to leave the Authority shortly, for her contribution to and work within the district.  He wished her well for the future.

 

Resolved -

 

That an item be added to the Committee’s Work Programme in respect of those young people who do not attend mainstream school and are being educated in alternative provision.

 

ACTION:       Scrutiny Lead