Agenda and minutes

To approve the Minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on the 4^th February 2025.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on the 4^th February 2025 be approved as a correct record.

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

All Panel Members were in attendance.

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

Councillor Tanisha Bramwell declared an interest regarding a member of the public who was present online to ask a question. Councillor Bramwell declared that the member of the public was a resident in her ward, who she had been supporting.

Most agenda items take place in public. This only changes where there is a need to consider exempt information, as contained at Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. You will be informed at this point which items are to be recommended for exclusion and to be resolved by the Committee.

All items were considered in public session.

The Panel will receive any petitions and/or 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 submit a petition at the meeting relating to a matter on which the body has powers and responsibilities.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10, Members of the Public must submit a deputation in writing, at least three clear working days in advance of the meeting and shall subsequently be notified if the deputation shall be heard. A maximum of four deputations shall be heard at any one meeting.

No deputations or petitions were received.

To receive any public questions.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11, the period for the asking and answering of public questions shall not exceed 15 minutes.

Any questions must be submitted in writing at least three clear working days in advance of the meeting.

In accordance with Council Procedure rule 11, Sally Ellis read out questions on behalf of Laura Reich.

“My questions relate to Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Tribunal cases in Kirklees. Could the panel please provide:

·       The total number of active appeals currently lodged with the First-tier Tribunal (SEND) where Kirklees Council is the respondent

·       A breakdown of these active appeals by the nature of the appeal (refusal to assess, refusal to issue an EHC plan, contents of an EHC plan, etc.)

·       The number of tribunal orders from concluded hearings that remain outstanding (where the local authority has not yet fully implemented the required actions within the statutory timeframe)

·       Supplementary question: For any outstanding tribunal orders, the length of time elapsed since the order was issued

This information will help provide transparency regarding SEND disputes and the authority's compliance with tribunal decisions, which impacts some of our most vulnerable children."

A response was provided on behalf of the Panel.

RESOLVED –

The Panel agreed that a meeting would take place with officers to discuss the areas of concern raised in the public questions, with a view to potentially widening the Panel’s area of focus in relation to SEND and EHCPs. 

The Panel will consider a report providing an insight into the new initiatives of schools working in clusters.

Contact:         Jo-Anne Sanders, Service Director

The Panel considered a report providing an insight into the new initiative of schools working in clusters, presented by Jo-Anne Sanders, Service Director for Learning and Early Support.

Jo-Anne Sanders highlighted the following key points -

• The report was presented in the early days of the cluster initiative to provide transparency on how the programme had originated and how it would support children and young people with additional needs, and their families. It informed the Panel how the clusters were operating and how checks and challenge were built in across the development.
• Cluster working involved bringing together geographical groups of mainstream Primary and Secondary Schools (and those in the three-tier system), so that school SENDCOs could meet to discuss the emerging needs of young people and receive help and support from the team around the cluster.
• Funding was provided to clusters to support individual children or groups of children, or to fund staff training.
• The cluster initiative had been suggested by Peter Gray, who had written a report for the Department for Education looking at innovative ways of using funding to support children with additional needs in schools. The Council and Kirklees Schools Forum commissioned Peter Gray to carry out a review of arrangements in Kirklees in Summer 2023. In the Autumn of 2023, the review was fed back to the stakeholder groups who had been consulted, including Headteachers, Parent and local officers.
• The review concluded that there were opportunities to offer more consistency of provision across Kirklees, and to offer early funding and help to avoid waiting for the funding associated with an EHCP.
• Ways of working in clusters had been trialled successfully in other local authorities, however it was important to produce a model that would meet the needs of Kirklees.
• A task and finish group was set up in October 2023 and ran until March 2024, which consisted of SENDCOs and Headteachers from Primary and Secondary Schools, Educational Psychology Teams, Specialist Outreach, Early Years Support, and the Parent and Carer Forum.
• Key principles had driven the approach and were outlined in the report which provided detail on what a good funding system should look like, and the principles of cluster working.
• The initiative was piloted in Kirklees with a first cluster in Summer 2024, with the intention of a full roll-out in September 2024.
• 17 clusters were now operating across Kirklees, each formed from a mix of Primary and Secondary schools, providing opportunities for work on transition.
• Council teams “around the cluster” had been organised to fit with the 17 clusters.
• Two Cluster Area Leads had been appointed to have an overview of practice in their area and share best practice, working with the cluster leads (a designated SENCO in each cluster).

Jayne Whitton, Principal Educational Psychologist, further informed the Panel about how the clusters were working in practice. Jayne Whitton explained that:

·       At each cluster meeting schools brought individual cases where there were concerns, cases around groups of children or young people, or school-wide issues.

·       By  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Panel will consider a verbal update on the performance highlights from the latest Children’s Services data report covering period ending January 2025.

Contact:        Jo-Anne Sanders, Service Director

Vicky Metheringham, Service Director

Vicky Metheringham, Service Director for Child Protection and Family Support and Jo-Anne Sanders, Service Director for Learning and Early Support, presented highlights from the Performance Data covering the period ending January 2025.

Vicky Metheringham highlighted the following key points:-

Care Leavers

There had been a deterioration in some areas of practice despite the focus on this area.

• There had been some recording issues regarding the number of care leavers in suitable accommodation and these figures were being amended. Housing colleagues were working on schemes that would better support care leavers and there was confidence that improvements were being made.
• A number of care leavers were unable to work due to disability, illness or parenting duties. If those unable to work were removed from the figures, there would be almost 65% of care leavers in education, training or employment, which was encouraging. Strong links existed with C&K Careers, Kirklees College and Huddersfield University, and there were opportunities within the Council for employment.
• The figures showed a drop in contact every 8 weeks with care leavers, and practice standards were being reconsidered to better meet the needs of care leavers. Sickness absence had contributed to the decline, but more PAs had been recruited and different ways of supporting additionality to the service were being investigated.

Children Going Missing

• Data suggested that there had been more missing children episodes, however the change in the way the Police recorded data had impacted on these figures.
• The number of children going missing in the last twelve months had increased, after a previous significant reduction, and work including partnership auditing continued, in order to better understand the impact of the recent changes in policies and protocols.

Children at Risk of Criminal Exploitation

• The number of children at risk had risen; this was seen as positive as it was a result of an earlier intervention approach.
• The information sharing portal was being well used, as partners worked together to share information on vulnerable children.
• A multi-agency group met weekly to scrutinise individuals’ circumstances.
• Risk reduction was a priority, and bespoke and targeted work was taking place with vulnerable young people through plans which had been developed to reduce risk.
• The Kirklees Youth Engagement Service were integral to the plans to support young people and shared valuable intelligence about targeting perpetrators and potential perpetrators.

In answer to a question from the Panel about the rising numbers of children being electively home educated and the ways in which those children were safeguarded, Jo-Anne Sanders advised that-:

• There were officers dedicated to Elective Home Education (EHE) as part of the Access to Education function, who were notified of children becoming EHE.
• Each child registered as EHE was screened for vulnerabilities and each notification was RAG rated to prioritise the next steps for support.
• If the child had been on the school roll, then the school would be contacted, to ensure all background information was known and so that the family could be supported appropriately.
• Reasons for the parental decision  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

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:          Service Directors (Children’s Services)

No items of pre-decision scrutiny on Cabinet decisions were discussed. 

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

Tom Brailsford gave an update on the key highlights discussed at the last meeting of the Kirklees Parenting Board Meeting:-

• Mark Riddell, the Government appointed Advisor for Care Leavers, had attended, to observe and give advice.
• An update was provided on the overall offer for Care Leavers, eg: free prescriptions agreed with the Integrated Care Board (ICB).
• The Family Firm was discussed, whereby employment opportunities and work placements within the Council would be available to Care Leavers.
• Wider improvements for Care Leavers, including a better Housing offer, were also discussed, to ensure accommodation was suitable.
• Care Leaver representation continued and their first-hand experience was making a positive contribution to the Board; a third Care Leaver representative had joined.
• Senior Officers were undertaking formal mentoring for Care Leavers, which had two-way benefits, with leaders gaining understanding of individual’s experiences and for Care Leavers to receive one to one support.
• Further volunteers were wanted to become mentors, information about how to volunteer would become available in due course on the website.
• The Council’s fleet of vehicles would soon be advertising for Foster Carers in Kirklees.

RESOLVED:

That the updates from the Kirklees Parenting Board be noted.

The Panel will consider the proposed areas of focus and activity for the 2024/25 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 Chair of the Panel had visited the Front Door Team at Civic Centre 3 on 11^th February 2025 and seen first-hand the complexity and volume of their work, how they worked physically alongside the Policing Team and liaised with Social Work and Health and Housing Teams.

Cllr McKerchar, Panel Member, had visited the Children with Disabilities Team on the 25^th February to learn more about how that team fitted in with the other services such as the adaptations team.

There had been a joint discussion between the Adult Health and Social Care Scrutiny Panel and the Children’s Scrutiny Panel on the 26^th February to consider a report giving an overview of the Healthy Child Programme (HCP) and the background and vision of the contract which will be effective from April 2026. The Panel was updated with key milestones for the competitive tender process and the governance flight path was outlined. Improvements around statutory contact points with children aged 0-5 were also discussed.

RESOLVED:

That the progress on the Work Programme and Agenda Plan for 2024-25 and the updates on recent visits be noted.