Agenda and decisions

This is where Councillors who are attending as substitutes will say for whom they are attending.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr O’Donovan.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 9 November 2018.

The minutes of the meeting held on the 9th November 2018 were agreed as a correct record.

The Councillors 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 interests.

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.

All items were considered in public session.

Members of the Panel will welcome Mel Meggs, the new Director for Children’s Services.

Officer: Helen Kilroy, Principal Governance and Democratic Engagement Officer.

This item was deferred.

Members of the Panel will consider the letter sent to the Director for Children’s Services following the inspection on 4th & 5th December 2018.

Officer: Mel Meggs, Director for Children’s Services.

(1)  The Panel noted the letter from Ofsted sent to the Director of Children’s Services following the inspection on the 4th and 5th December and thanked Elaine McShane for the update.

(2)  The Panel welcomed the progress made so far within Children’s Services and thanked officers for their hard work and commitment but acknowledged that there was still further work and improvements to be made.

(3)  The Panel agreed to consider sickness absence data for Agency staff working within the Children’s Service at a future meeting – date to be determined.

Members of the Panel will consider the regular report relating to children in care, and their current foster placements, to maintain an overview.

Officer: Steve Comb, Head of Corporate Parenting.

(1)  The Panel noted the report on numbers of children in care and current foster placements and thanked Steve Comb for his contributions.

(2)  The Panel agreed that details of statistical neighbours and comparable data should be included in future reports to the Panel.

(3)  The Panel agreed to visit the Fostering Team in Kirklees – date to be arranged.

Members of the Panel will consider the CAMHS Transformation Plan, and receive an update on the autism assessment waiting list.

Officer: Tom Brailsford, Head of Joint Commissioning – Children

(1)  The Panel noted the report on CAMHS Local Transformation Plan and Autism and thanked Tom Brailsford for his contributions.

(2)  The Panel agreed to receive a summarised version of the CAMHS Local Transformation Plan when available.

(3)  The Panel agreed to consider a report outlining what was available digitally when making a request for an assessment and also what support and help was available for families whilst awaiting an assessment.

Members of the panel will note the recent work of the Elective Home Education Ad Hoc Scrutiny Panel.

Officer: Helen Kilroy, Principal Governance and Democratic Engagement Officer.

The Panel noted the progress update on the work of the Ad-Hoc Panel on Elective Home Education and agreed the next steps as outlined in 5.1 of the report.

Dates for the future meetings of the Children’s Scrutiny Panel will be confirmed.  Scheduled dates in the calendar are as follows:

-       22nd February, 10 am

-       1st April, 10 am

Officer: Helen Kilroy, Principal Governance and Democratic Engagement Officer

(1)  The Panel noted the dates of the meetings of the Children’s Scrutiny Panel for the remainder of the 2018/19 municipal year.

(2)  The Panel agreed to rearrange the February Panel meeting to take place on Monday 25th February at 10am.

Members of the Panel will consider the current work programme and agenda plan for the 2018/19 municipal year.

Officer: Helen Kilroy, Principal Governance and Democratic Engagement Officer.

(1)  That the 2018/19 Agenda Plan for the Children’s Scrutiny Panel be noted.

(2)  That the Governance Officer be authorised to liaise with officers on agreed actions.