Agenda and minutes

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

That the Panel note the resignation of Graeme Sunderland, Voluntary Co-optee, who recently resigned from the role.

Apologies were received from Councillor Richard Smith and Councillor James Homewood.

Councillor Marchington advised the Panel that Graeme Sunderland had resigned as a Co-optee and thanked him for his contribution to the Panel.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 31^st October 2022.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 31^st October 2022 be approved 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.

The Committee 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 Panel will hear questions from members of the public.

No questions were received from members of the public.

The Panel will consider a verbal update on the performance highlights from the latest Children’s Services data report.

Contact:         Jo-Anne Sanders, Service Director

                        Elaine McShane, Service Director

                        Tom Brailsford, Service Director

The Panel received a verbal update on the performance data which was provided by the Service Directors in Children’s Services and the following areas were highlighted:-

Exclusions

Joanne Sanders, Service Director of Learning and Early Support, explained that the ambition across Kirklees as part of ‘our Kirklees futures’ was to secure zero exclusions by 2030.  It was important to find the right and most appropriate pathway for youngsters, by securing sufficient places that met the needs of learners.

The Panel agreed that an in-depth report would be provided at the next meeting in March 2023, which showed a breakdown of the key stages and how old the youngsters were that were subject to permanent exclusions and currently suspended.  It was also agreed that deeper analysis would be provided which included the reasons for the exclusions and suspensions for children in Kirklees schools, along with youngsters who lived in Kirklees but were educated elsewhere. Joanne Sanders advised that the data looked at the characteristics of young people to show if any trends emerged, so that the correct resources could be directed as soon as possible.

Joanne Sanders provided the headlines of the data regarding permanent exclusions which were:

-  There was an increase in permanent exclusions across key stages with the largest proportion at Key Stage 3 & 4,

- There was not a particular pattern emerging with regards to the types of schools that had permanent exclusions,

- There was a small number of schools involved that permanently excluded,

- The number of boys permanently excluded was a higher proportion than girls

- Physical assault was a prevalence in terms of reasons for exclusions,

- After consideration at meetings, some schools re-instated youngsters,

- Further analysis needed to be undertaken with regards to suspensions.

In response to a question from the Panel which asked how the figures for 2021 compared to pre Covid figures, around the long-term behavioural impacts with the removal of face-to-face teaching for pupils, Joanne Sanders advised that that it was important to look beyond when there was disruption to education, as young people were not in school the same way that they were prior to the pandemic. Schools and partners were inclusive and strong engagement had taken place across the system with school leaders which included the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities transformation plan that concentrated on reducing exclusions.  A dashboard had been developed which would be shared with schools, and other professionals at specialist meetings.  The Panel was informed that specialist teachers around Social, Emotional and Mental Health had been recruited who supported schools and learners at an earlier point, and that there was a tendering process in place for an alternative provision which allowed additional places and included medical teaching, a primary and secondary turnaround provision, along with alternative pathways.

Children’s Mental Health

In response to a question from the Panel around Children’s Mental Health, Tom Brailsford, Service Director (Resources, Improvement and Partnership explained that there had been a reduction in waiting list times in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Panel will consider a verbal update on the Budget Process for Children’s Services.

Contact:         Mel Meggs, Director of Children’s Services

The Panel received an update on the Budget process fromMel Meggs, Strategic Director for Children’s Services.

Mel Meggs advised the Panel on proposals of the budget for the Council and Children’s Services, which was being prepared for 2023/24.  The Panel was informed that there were some significant gaps in the amount of money Kirklees had to spend, versus the amount of money Kirklees had planned to spend.  Monitoring of the budget led to two actions earlier in the financial year that looked across the council to areas where money could be saved. The Council had imposed an overall recruitment freeze where a People Panel had been set up to decide upon requests to recruit. The focus in children’s services was that front line staff services could keep going, and to a high standard, and in certain roles, where possible recruitment should be delayed. There had also been changes around buildings used, and how staff were deployed.  The priority for savings and investment was around growth and demand, for example SEND. Mel Meggs explained that there was an increase in demand and costs in school transport.  The aim was to ensure that there were no barriers for youngsters attending school, therefore a proposed uplift into school transport had been put forward.

Mel Meggs advised the Panel on the saving proposals for 2024, which focused on prioritising front line services ensuring there was early help. There were proposals on how things could be done differently, including different ways of working, integrating work within teams, and identifying funding streams and investing to save, for example providing sufficient homes for children where they needed to go into care or children with special education needs.

RESOLVED:

    (i)        That the update on the budget proposals be noted

  (ii)        That a report on the budget proposals be presented to the Panel post publication of the proposals.

The Panel will consider any potential areas of pre-decision scrutiny in accordance with any cabinet decisions relating to children and young people which are on the horizon and receive updates from Senior Officers in Children’s Services.

Contact:          Jo-Anne Sanders, Service Director

                        Tom Brailsford, Service Director

                        Elaine McShane, Service Director

The Panel noted there were no new areas of pre-decision scrutiny on the horizon relating to children and young people.  Councillor Marchington advised the Panel that he had attended a Cabinet meeting in December 2022, where the alternative provision for SEND was considered. It was noted that the recommendations made by the Scrutiny Panel on the alternative provision had been considered as part of that decision by Cabinet.

RESOLVED: That the update on pre-decision scrutiny be noted.

Panel Members who attend the Corporate Parenting Board, will feedback on key areas of focus considered by the Board, which will be of interest to the Panel.

Councillor Marchington advised the Panel that a Corporate Parenting Board meeting had not taken place since the last meeting of the Children’s Scrutiny Panel on 31^st October 2022.  The next Corporate Parenting Board was scheduled to take place on 24^th January 2023 and Panel members would feedback to the Panel in March 2023 on any key areas of focus.

RESOLVED:

That, following Corporate Parenting Board in January 2023, Panel Members feedback on any key issues to the March Panel meeting.

The Panel will consider the proposed areas of focus and activity for the 2022/23 municipal year and discuss the method and means to be used to continue the Panel’s work going forward.

Contact: Helen Kilroy, Assistant Democracy Manager

The Panel considered the work programme for the 2022-23 municipal year.

Councillor Marchington advised that a summary of the visits which had taken place since the last Panel meeting had been added to the work programme and that further visits were scheduled to take place during the next 3 months.

RESOLVED-

The Panel noted the Work Programme and agenda plan for 2022-23.