(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 must consider their interests, and act according to the following:

(2)       Disclosable pecuniary interests relate to the Member concerned or their spouse/partner.

(3)       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. 

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

No declarations were received for matters under consideration.

Recommended –

That the minutes of the meetings held on 29 June and 13 July 2022 be signed as a correct record (previously circulated).

(Jill Bell/Kanwal Amrez – 07970 413716/07929 070228)

Resolved – That the minutes of the meetings held on 29 June and 13 July 2022 be signed as a correct record (previously circulated).

ACTION: Director of Legal and Governance

(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. 

(Jill Bell/Kanwal Amrez – 07970 413716/07929 070228)

No requests were received to inspect any restricted documents.

Recommended -

That the Committee confirm and recommend to Council the appointment of the following voting co-opted representative for the remainder of the 2022/2023 municipal year:

VOTING CO-OPTED MEMBER:

Parent Governor: Shifa Simab

(Jill Bell/Kanwal Amrez – 0970 413716/07929 070288)

The report of the Chief Executive (Document “E”) provides an update on activities to establish the Bradford Children & Families Trust, the progress to date and critical next steps.

There are no specific recommendations from this report.

(Chris Chapman - 01274 43 3656)

The report of the Chief Executive (Document “E”) provided an update on activities to establish the Bradford Children & Families Trust, the progress to date and critical next steps.

It was reported that after the children’s services social care services was deemed inadequate following an Ofsted inspection, the Department of Education intervened to improve the provision of the Service by establishing a wholly owned local authority company (Children’s Trust) to take responsibility for the provision of children’s services social care services.

The Council would remain responsible and accountable for the delivery of Children’s statutory duties but the Trust would be responsible for delivering priorities and outcomes.

The Officer provided a PowerPoint presentation which provided an update on Bradford Children and Families Trust Programme, items in the presentation included:

·         Summary of the Programme

·         Lessons learned from other Trust programmes and how these lessons learned had informed the set-up of the BCFT implementation programme

·         And a Programme update (September 2022)

Members asked who the Trust would be accountable to and who had the ultimate control. The Officer presenting stated that the Trust would have its own procedures and that the Council and the Trust would need to work together to ensure good end product. The Council would retain statutory accountability for children’s services and required assurance that the accountabilities were being effectively and appropriately discharged by the Children’s Trust.

Members were advised that there would be ongoing engagement and briefings with elected members. 

A Member asked if there could potentially be any conflict of interest due to Interims. The Officer replied that the Interims would have a very detailed knowledge of what was required and there would be a good balance with experienced Interims and a permanent Chair.

A Member asked that moving forward, looking and learning from other Children’s Trusts, how well equipped Bradford was to adapt in the new ways of working.

The Officer informed Members that the programme structure and plan was put together after conducting lessons learned from Trust arrangements for other local authorities. Lessons learned formed the basis for the programme itself and focus on allowing the programme to deliver, safely, efficiently and to the 1^st April 2023 deadline.

The presenting Officer provided the Committee Members with summary of progress to date that:

·         The overall progress to date was on track and in line with the programme plan and that progress towards achieving critical milestones had been quicker due to building on the lessons learned from elsewhere when compared to other Children’s Trust implementations.

·         A programme rhythm has been established which allowed critical oversight from key stakeholders and this had proved to be effective in monitoring progress and mitigating key risks and issues.

·         Trust board members had been appointed and relationships between stakeholders were good and getting stronger. This has played a key role in progress within the implementation programme.

·         The main risk had been around agreeing the establishment list, this was close to resolution.

·         The programme had moved into the negotiation stage; this could  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

The report of the Chair of the Children’s Services Overview & Scrutiny Committee (Document “F”) presents the DRAFT Terms of Reference for the Child Poverty Scrutiny Review.

Recommended -

That the committee adopts the DRAFT Terms of Reference

(Mustansir Butt - 0127 432574)

The report of the Chair of the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Document “F”) presented the DRAFT Terms of Reference for the Child Poverty Scrutiny Review.

The Scrutiny Lead presented the report and requested and feedback/comments.

A Member suggested that it would be useful to have some desk data in terms of areas of deprivation.

Another Member commented that it would be beneficial to have data of the impact of the pandemic on children.

Members also suggested that engaging with useful sources such as schools would provide valuable information on how they have been managing issues with children and parents through the pandemic and recognise what efforts the schools are putting in.

Resolved –

Members amended and approved the Terms of Reference.

ACTION: Overview & Scrutiny Lead

The report of the Chair of the Children’s Services Overview & Scrutiny Committee (Document “G”) includes the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee work programme for 2022/23. 

Recommended -

(1)       That members consider and comment on the areas of work included in the work programme.

(2)       That members consider any detailed scrutiny reviews that they may wish to conduct.

(Mustansir Butt - 07582 101597)

The report of the Chair of the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Document “G”) was submitted to Members for comment and review of the 2022/23 Work Programme.

Resolved –

Members discussed the Elective Home Education Scrutiny Review and commented on the Work Programme.

ACTION: Overview & Scrutiny Lead