Issue - meetings

  Report CEF23073

The report presented the Children, Education and Families Portfolio Plan Quarter 3 update for the 2023/24 financial year.

In response to a question from a Member, the Director of Education was pleased to report that 98.8% and 94% of children had secured a preference for their primary and secondary places respectively which was at or above regional and national comparators.  A very small number of families did not secure a preference, and this was due to several factors including proximity or selecting only one preference.  The Local Authority always met its sufficiency duty with regard to school places and where a family did not secure a preference, they would be allocated a place at another school with the vast majority of Bromley schools rated as ‘Good’ or above.  A Member observed that 390 children were electively home educated in the Borough and the Director of Education explained that families had the right to determine if they wished to home educate their children.  In such cases, the Local Authority met with families to ensure they understood the requirement for their child to receive a satisfactory education as well as to provide resources and guidance.  Annual home monitoring visits were undertaken which increased in frequency if any concerns were identified and as a last resort, the Local Authority could utilise the School Attendance process to require a child who was not in receipt of a satisfactory education to be placed on a school roll. 

A Member queried work underway to reduce the waits for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services with 155 total waits reported as of December 2023.  The Director of Children Education and Families clarified that long waiting times for a particular treatment did not necessarily mean that service users were not receiving other interventions and treatments and all assessed service users were allocated a support worker.  Another Member was pleased to note the eating disorders early intervention pilot was progressing well.  The Member observed that the second element to the pilot was the delivery of the ‘Me and My Body’ and ‘Happy Being Me’ programmes to promote positive self-esteem/image in 3 Primary and 3 Secondary Schools and requested that an update be reported to a future meeting of the Committee. 

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