Issue - meetings

  Report CEF23025

The report presented the Children, Educations Portfolio Plan 2022/23 Quarter 4 Update and the draft Portfolio Plan for the 2023/24 financial year.

In considering Priority 3: Life Changes, Resilience and Wellbeing, a Member identified a specific action to monitor NEET performance for care leavers but queried why there was nothing similar for the general school population.  The Assistant Director: Strategy, Performance and Corporate Transformation advised that there was no specific action as Bromley was one of the highest performing local authorities in England in this area, but that individual support was provided to any young person aged 16+ identified as not being in education, employment or training.  Another Member noted an action on supporting children to catch-up after the COVID-19 pandemic and the Director of Education explained that the Local Authority continued to monitor attendance and attainment of Bromley students in the post-COVID period and that the remit of the Bromley Virtual School had been expanded to monitor the progress of all children with a social worker as well as those who were Looked After.  Attendance continued to be a key issue across the whole education sector and a lot of work was being undertaken to improve performance in this area. 

With regard to Priority 4: Supporting and Challenging Effective Multi-Agency Working, a Member asked that a direct reference be made within the Portfolio Plan to the role of Bromley’s special schools in delivering outstanding education and this was supported by the Committee.  In response to a question from another Member, the Director of Education advised that statistics suggested that there was no hesitancy amongst Bromley parents in seeking statutory assessment for their children where there were concerns around additional support needs. 

RESOLVED: That progress on actions associated with the Children, Education and Families Portfolio Plan be noted.