Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence from those Members who are unable to attend the meeting.

Apologies were received from Councillor Carole Pattison, Elaine McShane, Service Director - Family Support and Child Protection, Sara Miles, Head of Service – Resources, Improvement and Partnership, Christine Carmichael- Kirklees Fostering Network, Barry Lockwood - Kirklees Fostering Network, Keely Lucas – Care leaver Representative and Farah Munir – Care leaver Representative.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 29^th March 2022.

The Board considered the minutes of the last meeting held on 29^th March 2022.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the previous meeting be approved as a correct record.

The Board Members will be asked to say if there are any items on the Agenda in which they have disclosable pecuniary interests, which would prevent them from participating in any discussion of the items or participating in any vote upon the items, or any other interest.

No interests were declared.

Most debates take place in public. This only changes when there is a need to consider certain issues, for instance, commercially sensitive information or details concerning an individual. You will be told at this point whether there are any items on the Agenda which are to be discussed in private.

It was agreed that all agenda items would be held in public session.

The Board will receive any petitions and hear any deputations from members of the public. A deputation is where up to five people can attend the meeting and make a presentation on some particular issue of concern. A member of the public can also hand in a petition at the meeting but that petition should relate to something on which the body has powers and responsibilities.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10 (2), Members of the Public should provide at least 24 hours’ notice of presenting a deputation.  

No deputations or petitions were received.

The Board will hear any questions from the general public. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, questions should be emailed to executive.governance@kirklees.gov.uk  no later than 10am on Monday 11^th July 2022.  

No public questions were received

The Board will consider a report giving key highlights from the latest Performance Monitoring data for Children’s Services.

Contacts:

Ophelia Rix, Head of Service for Children in Care, Care Leavers and Looked After Children
Janet Tolley, Virtual School Headteacher
Gill Addy, Designated Nurse for Looked After Children
Ian Mottershaw, Head of Service – Contextual Safeguarding and Y.E.S, Family Support and Child Protection

The Board considered the latest reports giving key highlights on Performance Monitoring data for Children’s Services.

Ophelia Rix, Head of Service for Children in Care, Care Leavers and Looked After Children presented the key highlights in relation to Children Entering Care, Children in Care and Placement Stability. It was explained that:

·         There was a decreasing trend in the number and rate of children in care from 650 children in June 2021 to 604 children in May 2022.

·         Between January and May 2022, 73 children became looked after, and 87 children were no longer looked after during the same period.

·         It was important to look at the reasons for the decreasing trend to understand the data.

·         Children were still becoming looked after, but work had been undertaken to ensure that children returned home where it was safe and appropriate to do so.

·         Special Guardianship Orders had been secured for 23 children, and5 Children had been returned home after being looked after for a significant period.

·         16 Children also had remained with carers under the refreshed Staying Put policy.

The Board noted the update and explanation for the decreasing trend expressing that the breakdown of the data was reassuring and positive. The connection to family was key for children and young people and the Board highlighted that this work should carry on wherever it was safe to do so.

In response to a question from the Board in relation to Children Looked After Reviews, Visits and Missing the Board highlighted the number of missing episodes and questioned how young people had been reported missing. The Board also questioned if the postponed meeting with the police had taken place and what the outcomes of this discussion was.  Ophelia Rix responded to suggest that a focused report around children missing, and the context of the work undertaken around this be provided to a future meeting of the Board. The Board welcomed the suggestion and further expressed concerns that when a young person was missing it left them potentially open to exploitation.

Janet Tolley, Head Teacher of the Virtual School provided an update in relation to Children Looked After Educational Outcomes and explained that:

·         The nationally published data for Children Looked After attainment showed outstanding performance at Key Stage 4 (KS4) in 2021.

·         For all attainment and progress indicators at KS4 Kirklees Council Virtual School was in Band A and one of the highest ranking nationally.

·         Performance in terms of overall attendance and exclusions was also strong with Kirklees Council Virtual School being placed in Quartile Band A.

·         In relation to Personal Education Plans, 100% of PEPs were completed within the Spring Term in-line with the termly processes.

·         97% of initial PEPs were completed within 10 school days of a child coming into care since 1^st September 2021.

·         3 PEP’s were not completed within the 10 days, but there were exceptional circumstances involved and these PEP’s took place on day 11.

·         91% of school moves since the start of the academic year  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Board will receive a verbal update from the Chair of the Virtual School Governing Body.

Contacts:

Councillor Carole Pattison
Janet Tolley, Virtual School Head Teacher

Janet Tolley, Head Teacher of the Virtual School presented a verbal update in relation to the last meeting of the Virtual School Governing Body which was held on 9^th June 2022. It was highlighted that:

·         The Governing Body firstly received a staffing update, which advised that a SEND Lead was recently appointed to the Virtual School.

·         There were also changes to the Senior Leadership Team as a result of the new duty placed on the Virtual School which included supporting all young children with a social worker.

·         Since the introduction of the new duty, the virtual school had adopted a new SLT model on a temporary basis.

·         This was decided as the best approach to take forward and since the governing body meeting a permanent Virtual School Headteacher had been recruited to work alongside the Executive Virtual School Headteacher.

·         The specific role of the Executive Headteacher was to work strategically across services and the education provision.

·         So far work had included raising awareness of the new duty, and the roles that providers and services play in terms of safeguarding and supporting attainment.

·         Wider work involved the development of a ‘Vulnerable Children’s Dashboard,

·         The Head Teacher update was considered by the Governing Body.

·         Whilst nationally attendance performance data was strong, there were still attendance concerns particularly post pandemic in relation to Persistent Absence (PA) and unauthorised absence.

·         Arising from the discussion, the Governing Body requested that interrogation of the data for PA, exclusions and suspension breakdowns be undertaken and compared with other local authorities.

·         A Finance Overview and Update was presented to the Governing Body.

·         It was noted that investment was being used to commission services that schools could not commission alone and for targeted individual support.

·         Presentations were considered in respect of Post 16 and 17 work.

·         It was also noted that the virtual school’s was now working with young people from 2 -18 years old and providing support from nursery onwards.

The Board commented that the work undertaken to explore how to work strategically across services to implement the new duty was encouraging. The Board asked if there was any national longitudinal work ongoing in respect of understanding the impact on attainment outcomes for the cohort of students impacted by the disruption to education arising from the covid-19 pandemic.

Janet Tolley responded to advise that there was no specific work yet but agreed it was interesting to consider how this cohort of students was tracked across all areas. Jo-Anne Sanders, Service Director for Learning and Early Support further advised that Kirklees’s Outcomes Report would be presented to Cabinet towards the end of this month and would provide a good baseline source of information in respect of specific groups of children. It was noted that it was important to start to track longitudinal information going forwards and agreed this was to be discussed at a future meeting of the governing body.

The Board welcomed the work being undertaken by the Virtual School in response to the new duty and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The Board will receive an update in relation to the Children’s Ambition Board.

Contacts:

Elaine McShane, Service Director (Family Support and Child Protection)
Tom Brailsford, Service Director ( Resources, Improvement and Partnerships)

The Board considered an update on the Children’s Ambition Board presented by Jo-Anne Sanders,Service Director for Learning and Early Support.

It was explained that the focus of the last meeting of the Board, was on understanding data in relation to various key areas such as suspensions and early support. The Board also received updates new partnerships and on progress made in family hubs and early support.

The Board noted that the development of MST and the impact on children and young people had been useful and positive. 

RESOLVED: The Board noted the update on the Children’s Ambitions Board.

The Board will consider verbal updates from Members in relation to progress and key issues following interactions with Services and partners to challenge the role of the Corporate Parent.

Contact:

Jodie Harris, Principal Governance and Democratic Engagement Officer

The Board shared that member of the Children’s Scrutiny Panel had attended various visits including the social work team in Batley and to the MST teams and it was useful to hear their feedback.

The Chair of the Board and Cllr Pattison – Cabinet Member for Learning and Aspiration had also attended the Brambles School Opening celebration. It was highlighted that the school was fantastic in terms of the new design and that it was inspiring to see the enthusiasm of the staff and children.

RESOLVED: The Board noted the update on Interactions with Services.

The Board were informed that the next meeting of the Board may be cancelled due to the date of the meeting taking place at a time when a significant number of members could not attend. It was agreed that a decision would be taken in due course and members informed as soon as possible.

The Board highlighted some of the agenda items to be considered in the next municipal year 2022/23, which included:

·         The Annual Health Report

·         The One Adoption West Yorkshire Annual Report

It was also noted that several focused reports had been agreed arising from the discussion during the meeting and that these should be factored into the work programme at an appropriate time.

RESOLVED: The Board noted the agenda plan 2022/23