Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor David McBride, Councillor Reg Adams attended as his substitute.  Apologies for absence were also received from Joan McConnell and Michael Youlton.  Apologies for lateness were received from Delores Bray-Ash.

Councillor Roxy Fawthrop declared that her sister attended a school in the Borough.  Councillor Judi Ellis declared that she had a son who was a teacher in the Borough.  Mrs Nancy Thompson declared that she was Chairman of Governors of one of the Schools due to receive funding in respect of Item 9j and Mrs Alison Regester declared that she owned and ran a private day nursery in the Borough.  Mr Brian James declared the same interests as at the previous meeting of the Committee, with the exception that he was no longer the Chairman of Governors at a school outside the Borough, although he still remained on the Governing Body.  In respect of Item 10, Mr James declared that he had a young adult son who was currently part of the Learning Disability transition process.

To hear questions to the Committee received in writing by the Legal, Democratic and Customer Services Department by 5.00pm on Wednesday 14^th July and to respond.

No questions were received.

In respect of minute 13, Councillor John Getgood noted that the school with the largest budget deficit, Clare House, had been left out of the discussion and Councillor Getgood stated that he felt that this had been unfair on the other schools that had been named in the discussion.

The Head of CYP Finance responded to the issue raised by Councillor Getgood and outlined the reasons for the deficit which included poor financial management by the previous head teacher of the school budget and a high cost staffing structure, that had been identified through comparisons with other schools through the Local authority and benchmarking.  Management action to achieve a recovery plan under new management had been agreed by the School and the Local Authority and this action included restructuring of the staffing structure, an evaluation of Service Level Agreement and Contracts and tighter financial controls and budget monitoring.  As a result of this action, Officers projected that the School’s deficit would improve from 2012/13 with the School achieving surplus by 2014.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 15^th June 2010 be agreed.

Report LSCD10128

The Committee reviewed a report updating Members on matters arising from previous meetings.

The Chairman asked for an update regarding the issue of admission arrangements in neighbouring boroughs.  The Assistant Director (Access and Inclusion) reported that LB Bexley had employed a consultant who had made recommendations but no decisions by Members had been taken.  It had been reported anecdotally to the admissions team that Kent CC had changed its pass rate for examinations so that there local pupils had to achieve a different pass rate to “out-of-borough” pupils.  The Assistant Director (Access and Inclusion) explained that legal advice had not yet been sought as to how this change would affect the Greenwich Judgement.  The legal advisor to the Committee undertook to review the arrangements and report back to the Committee before the next meeting.

Referring to Minute 11B, the Chairman sought an update on comments made by Mrs Alison Regester regarding undertaking CRB checks.  The Assistant Director (Access and Inclusion) reported that Officers were working with providers in the private and voluntary sector and that an education safeguarding committee had been established to keep pace with changes.  Mrs Regester reported that an Early Years Forum had taken place since the last meeting and at the Forum she had asked how many routinely checked their providers every three years.  No one indicated that they did this every three years which suggested that the checks were not being undertaken routinely.

In terms of the Placement Planning Working Group, the Chairman suggested that the Members on the Working Group should be Cllrs Evans, Wells, Humphrys and McBride.

A Co-opted Member asked for an update on the presentation that Bromley MyTime made to the Children and Young People Trust Board.  The Portfolio Holder reported that MyTime had attended the meeting and provided some information but they had been asked to attend a further meeting in the autumn in order to expand on the information provided to the Trust Board.

Mr David Gibson, Assistant Director (Housing and Residential Services), ACS, attended the meeting and provided the Committee with an update on the progress of the Foyer Scheme.  A briefing paper was tabled and this provided an update on the current provision.

The Assistant Director (Access and Inclusion) provided an update on services available at Children and Family Centres in response to the issues raised by Cllr Ellis at the previous meeting.  The Committee was informed that Crèche facilities were available at the Cotmandene Centre. Parents who were accessing provision at the Centre could access a crèche facility for up to four hours while the parent remains on site, with the parent retaining responsibility for their children. However, there was no day-care provision at the Cotmandene Centre. Day-care provision was included in the full core offer of Children’s Centres based on an assessment of need – for example, full day-care provision was available at Community Vision in the west of the Borough and Blenheim in the east, as these were areas with high deprivation.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

To hear questions to the Children and Young People Portfolio Holder received in writing by the Legal, Democratic and Customer Services Department by 5.00pm on Wednesday 14^th July 2010 and to respond.

A number of written and oral questions were asked of the Portfolio Holder and these are attached at Appendix A.

To note decisions of the Portfolio Holder made since the previous meeting of the Committee.

The Committee noted the decision that had been taken by the Portfolio Holder since the last meeting on 15^th June 2010.

Report DCYP10112

The Committee considered a report providing Members with the first budget monitoring position for 2010/11 based on spending up until the end of May 2010.  As in previous years, the financial information was separated between the schools’ budget – funded from the Dedicated Schools’ Grant and specific grants, and the non-schools – budget funded from Council Tax, Revenue Support Grant and specific grants.  The schools’ budget funded from the DSG was forecast to underspend by £72,000 in 2010/11.  However, there was a deficit carried forward from the previous financial year of £185,000, making the net forecast by the end of this year a deficit of £113,000.  There was provision within the central schools’ budget contingency to offset this forecast overspend.  The controllable part of the non-schools’ budget was forecast to overspend by £890,000.  However, this was after allowing for management action to use resources efficiently in the Children’s Social Care Services (staffing and placements) and use of grants to offset existing expenditure.  Details were provided in paragraph 3.6 of the report.

The Head of CYP Finance introduced the report and outlined the budget pressures that would be affecting the department into the future.

The Portfolio Holder expressed the hope that the Government’s amount of a review of children’s social care would assist in addressing the broad range of difficulties experienced by the Local Authority in relation to recruitment and retention of social workers.

The Committee considered a number of aspects of the report and a Member asked what steps the department had taken to rationalise the education estate.  The Director CYP outlined the Local Authority’s framework for the review of school place capacity, school organisation and projected demand.  Members had received reports and the Portfolio Holder had approved an increase in capacity at three primary schools given the rise in pupil numbers.  The Local Authority had a strong track record in identifying opportunities to change school organisation through amalgamations, closures and where appropriate developing new provision.  The challenging financial context would require detailed consideration of efficient models of school organisation and that would be under review by the CYP PDS Working Party during Autumn 2010.

A Member questioned the cause of the underspend on nursery placements and asked whether the forecasts had been inaccurate or whether there had been less uptake of places.  The Head of CYP Finance reported that forecasts for 3 and 4 year old children were the hardest to undertake and that an explanation of why numbers of 3 and 4 year olds did not correlate with the numbers of places would be reported back to the Committee.

Another Member asked for an update on the success of the Riverside facility, and the Assistant Director (Access and Inclusion) reported that the facility had been thriving since it opened in January 2010.  The facility had initially opened with around 20 pupils and by September 37 pupils would be enrolled, this eventually rising to 45 pupils.  The Assistant Director stressed that without the new Riverside provision all  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

The Children and Young People Portfolio Holder to present scheduled reports for pre-decision scrutiny on matters where he is minded to make decisions.

Report DCYP10095

The Portfolio holder introduced a report outlining nominations for LA Governor Appointments for fifteen schools in the Borough.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder be recommended to approve the following LA Governor appointments, subject to CRB checks:

Report DCYP10113

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report providing an overview of the policy direction and key areas for reform, including the academies agenda, together with the potential implications and strategic planning issues for Bromley Council’s local policy and strategy.

The Director CYP provided a presentation to the Committee outlining the main aspects of the Government’s Reform Agenda for education and wider children’s services, and the implications for schools, individually and collectively, and for the Borough.  The Director stressed that the reform agenda was moving at a fast pace, in many areas only headline information was available and details were awaited.

Referring to the proposed amendments made by the House of Lords to the Academies Bill, and specifically the duty to consult, a Member asked about the range of consultees.  The Director CYP explained that the Bill had no requirement on schools to consult, however, the proposed amendments suggested a duty to consult with parents and the local community.  As yet there was no information regarding how the consultation should be undertaken.

Another Member asked whether there was any information emerging regarding the school leaving age, the abolition of AS examinations, the future of the International Baccalaureates and International GCSEs and whether CRB checks would be portable.  The Director CYP responded that as yet there was no information regarding these areas.  The Secretary of State for Education had indicated that he wanted to reform qualifications.  In terms of the CRB checks, the Department was awaiting further information.

A Co-opted Member expressed concern regarding the delay imposed for special schools applying to be academies and asked which officers and organisations would be briefed.  The Director CYP confirmed that special schools with ‘outstanding’ status could only apply for ‘conversion’ to Academy status from September 2011.  All head teachers and governors had been invited to the Director’s briefing sessions during June and July. The Local Authority would continue to provide guidance and advice to schools as further details of changes emerged in the autumn.

A Member sought clarity regarding academy status for underperforming schools.  The Director CYP explained that the Academies Bill determined that the Secretary of State would have the power to convert underperforming schools.

Councillor John Getgood raised a procedural issue relating to the motion that had been deferred to the Committee from Full Council.  Following legal advice and a vote, the Committee agreed to defer consideration of the motion to a future meeting.  Councillor Getgood was against deferring consideration of the motion.

Concerns were also raised by a Member that as schools transferred to academy status and top-sliced Local Authority funding, there may be insufficient funding available to support young people who had been excluded.  This would represent a huge loss to the collective responsibility that had existed in the past.  The Director CYP responded that this was a concern and that a lot would depend on the ability to negotiate with schools to focus DSG funding to support vulnerable groups such as those children with behavioural issues.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29b

Report DCYP10106

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report outlining the findings and recommendations of the Ofsted Inspection of Children’s Safeguarding and Looked After Children Services.

In 2009, Ofsted introduced a new three yearly announced inspection regime for safeguarding and looked after children services. This inspection replaced the Joint Area Review methodology which ceased on 31 March 2009.  A significant change in the new methodology was that the inspection process started immediately following the letter of notification to the Director of Children and Young People (CYP) Services with the requirement to submit an extensive range of documentation and data regarding service performance.

Bromley was notified in writing of the inspection on the 25 March 2010.  The fieldwork commenced on 11 April 2010 and the five strong inspection team arrived on that date having previously reviewed a wide range of documentary evidence.  The fieldwork period included over 70 individual meetings and focus groups with staff, partners and children and young people and visits to a range of settings across the Borough. The inspection report was published on 24 May 2010.

Ofsted judged services for both safeguarding and Looked After Children as adequate overall but with some good features in both.  The Local Authority was required to produce an action plan for submission to Ofsted setting out how it would make improvements.

The Chairman reported that the report had been thoroughly reviewed by the Executive Working Party for Child Safeguarding and Corporate Parenting and asked that the minutes of this meeting be circulated to all Members.

Ms Jenny Selway reported that there was also a Health Action Plan resulting from the inspection.

Councillor Nicholas Bennett noted that the improvement plan had not been endorsed by Members prior to the Ofsted Inspection and questioned why this had not happened.  The Director CYP reported that the Local Authority had not received any advanced notification of the inspection.  The CYP Department held a number of individual plans, all of which received Member approval over time.  These plans had been consolidated into one overarching Children’s Social Care Improvement Plan for consideration during the inspection.  There had been no opportunity for formal Member approval.  However, during the process the Portfolio Holder had been kept informed and the Lead Inspector had accepted that one coherent plan had been developed from a number of plans which had previously been before Members.

The Portfolio Holder, Executive Assistant and Committee thanked Officers for all the work that had been undertaken over a Bank Holiday weekend in order to support the inspection process, especially as the Local Authority had received no notice of the inspection.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder be recommended to approve the proposed draft Post-Inspection Action Plan and timescales.

Report DCYP10111

The Portfolio Holder introduced the third annual report of Bromley Safeguarding Children Board.

A Member questioned the amount of bureaucracy surrounding the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board and the Director CYP reported that Safeguarding Board arrangements were defined by statute and had been subject to the Ofsted Inspection of safeguarding arrangements.  The Inspection Report had suggested that the Bromley Safeguarding Board had been effective.

RESOLVED that the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board Annual Report be noted.

Report DCYP10102

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report outlining the actions taken to establish additional places at Bickley, Princes Plain and Unicorn Primary Schools.  The statutory notice period had completed and the report recommended that the decisions were now implemented.

The Chairman asked whether any comments had been received from Kelsey and Eden Park Ward Members regarding parking at Unicorn Primary.   The Assistant Director Access and Inclusion reported that no comments had been received to date.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder is recommended to agree that the proposals be implemented to increase the Published Admission Numbers at Bickley Primary School from 30 to 60, Unicorn Primary School from 30 to 60 and Princes Plain Primary School from 45 to 60.

Report DCYP10096

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report outlining two Instruments of Government that had been submitted for approval by Beaverwood School for Girls and St Paul’s Cray CE Primary School.  Each school must have an Instrument of Government recording the name of the school and the constitution of the Governing Body.  It is the Governing Body’s responsibility to prepare a draft instrument for submission to the LA, who must be content that the draft complies with all applicable statutory requirements.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder be recommended to (1) approve the revised instruments of Government for Beaverwood School for Girls and St Paul’s Cray CE Primary School. (2) Instruct that the Instrument be made by the Common Seal of the Council of the London Borough of Bromley.

Report DCYP10109

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report outlining the post completion review of schemes within the capital programme.  Existing capital programme procedures required that a post completion review be carried out within 12 months of the completion of schemes within the programme.  The report presented by the Portfolio Holder outlined the findings of the Post Completion Review carried out in respect of Bishop Justus School.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder be recommended to endorse the findings of the Post Completion Review carried out in respect of Bishop Justus School.

Report DCYP10097

The Portfolio holder introduced a report providing an evaluation of the use of the school lunch grant from September 2009 to June 2010.

Councillor Nicholas Bennett suggested that the Portfolio Holder write to the Secretary of State asking if the remaining School Lunch Grant could be returned to the Department of Education and the balance offset against the in-year grant savings of £1.4 million that the Local Authority had to make.

The Portfolio Holder agreed to write a letter setting out this propsal as suggested by Cllr Bennett.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio holder be recommended to (1) approve the proposals for use of the school lunch grant as detailed in the main body of the report and the distribution as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report.  (2) Approve the proposal to retain funding from schools until receipt of required response and/or recover funding from schools which are non-compliant.

On 24 May 2010 the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced £6.2 billion worth of Government savings from previously announced expenditure for the current financial year 2010/11.  The Secretary of State for Education announced on 16 June how the Department for Education would make its contribution to these savings through reductions to Area Based Grant and funding devolved from the Department to Local Authorities and other National agencies; the in?year reduction of Area Based Grants to Bromley Children and Young People Services is £1.42m.

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report making recommendations to Members on how to meet the £1.42m in?year budget reduction of CYP Area Based Grant and requesting authority to consult with staff as appropriate.

The Head of CYP Finance explained to the Committee that further update reports would be taken to Members as further information emerged.

Councillor Nicholas Bennett questioned whether the Department would be able to meet the required £1.4 million cuts as well as other costs associated with the cuts and reductions in staffing, such as redundancy costs.  The Member suggested that the Department should look to make saving of around £2 million in order to ensure that the required savings were made.  The Director CYP confirmed that only six weeks had elapsed since the DfE announcement of the cuts, officers were working to identify options for service reductions to achieve the necessary savings.  However, in addition to the cuts required by the Government the Department was also facing significant budget pressures in areas such as the recruitment and retention of social workers, children’s placement and SEN.   Every area of the Department’s work was being reviewed to see where savings could be made.  The Director stressed that Officers were doing their utmost to protect front line services but that it was inevitable that some service areas would be affected.  The Director also reported that she had been in consultation with the Chief Officers to see if there were grants available in any other areas that could be used to off-set aspects of the in-year grant cuts to support services to young people.

The Chairman asked how the cuts outlined in Appendix 2 of the report relating to school improvement would affect service delivery.  The Assistant Director (Learning and Achievement) reported that in the short term an impact assessment had not been undertaken but that the in-year affects of the DfE grant cuts would be staff reductions.  The Assistant Director (Learning and Achievement) provided assurances that retaining services for vulnerable schools and pupil groups would be the first priority.

Another Member asked if any savings could be realised through the abolition of the Comprehensive Area Assessment and this meant that previous levels of statistical analysis required by the last Government were no longer needed.

A Co-opted Member, supported by the Committee, congratulated Officers in the progress that had been made in progressing and managing the in-year grant cuts announced by the Government in such a short space of time.

RESOLVED that (1) the Children and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29i

Report DCYP10098

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report setting out proposals for how the remainder of Early Years Capital funding would be allocated to Early Years and Childcare Providers.

The Assistant Director Access and Inclusion reported that this was one area where unspent funds were under review by the Department for Education.

The Chairman sought assurances that the Local Authority was not committing capital to projects that could be lost and these assurances were provided.

Officers reported that they had been in contact with all early years providers who may be vulnerable to the loss of funding advising them of the urgency of finalising schemes and submitting them for approval.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder be recommended to (1) approve the schemes recommended for priority approval; (2) approve the priority ranking for remaining schemes within the Capital Funding budget, should funds become available; (3) approve the allocation of funding as set out in the report.

Report DCYP10107

The Portfolio holder introduced a report outlining a proposed revision of the Phase 3 Children and Family Centres (CFCs) capital programme since the last report dated 2 December 2009 (DCYP09168) in the light of emerging changes to the new Government’s Sure Start policy.  The report also provided an assessment of the resulting implications and risks to the programme as well as highlighting ongoing planning to contribute to the sustainability of the Children and Family Centre programme.

The Chairman asked when the Committee would receive a report on the use of Children and Family Centres and Officers confirmed that this would be presented in November 2010.

A Member sought assurances that libraries would be provided with the necessary information and leaflets in order to signpost service users to Children and Family Centres and Officers confirmed this information would be provided to the libraries.  

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder be recommended to (1) approve a revised set of schemes which reduces the programme from six to two and reprioritises the remaining capita to areas of deprivation and other CYP Portfolio priorities; (2) approve plans not to proceed with CFC projects within Beckenham, Bromley Central and Chislehurst Libraries, and the proposal in Chilham Way. (3)Endorse proposals to continue to progress the schemes at Hawes Down and the Highway with increased capital funding allocations to each development to accelerate the schemes.

Report DCYP10108

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report outlining proposals for distributing the 2009/10 unallocated Standards Fund (Grant 1.1).

The Head of CYP Finance tabled a letter from the Chairman of the Schools Forum, along with a response to the letters from the Director CYP and the Committee noted the two letters.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder be recommended to approve the proposed allocation (Option 2).

Report DCYP10110

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report setting out the proposed allocation of £300,000 available within the Council’s Capital Programme through the Bromley Seed Challenge Scheme to deal with priority premises issues at Bromley schools.

A Member questioned the use of the boundary fencing at Red Hill Primary School and the Head of Construction and Maintenance reported the fence was to separate the school from the car park.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio holder be recommended to (1) approve the list of schemes set out in Appendix 1 of the report.  (2) that, where appropriate, the Director of Children and Young People Services be authorised to submit planning applications at the appropriate time in respect of the schemes set out in the report.

Report DCYP10105

The Portfolio Holder introduced the Forward Rolling Work Programme for the year ahead, based on items scheduled for decisions by the Children and Young People Portfolio Holder and items for consideration by the children and Young People PDS Committee.

Councillor Nicholas Bennett suggested that the Committee established a Working Group to review and scrutinise the provision of Children and Family Centres across the Borough.  After lengthy discussions it was agreed that the Committee would consider whether a working party was necessary in late November when discussions could be better informed.

Another Member suggested that the Chairman should be given some flexibility to amend and agree the work programme in light of the pace of changes emerging from Government.

Turning to Appendix 2 of the report and the rolling programme of contracts and service level agreements, the Strategic Commissioning Manager reported that the current financial situation meant that there was uncertainty around all contracts identified in the Forward Rolling Work Programme. The expectation that 2011/2012 budgets would not be confirmed until very late in the current financial year meant that it was likely that there would be delays in the procurement process, affecting the Department’s ability to put new contracts in place (where the service would be continued) immediately following the end date of the current contracts.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder be recommended to agree the Forward Rolling Work Programme.

Report ACS10040

The Committee considered a report setting out action being taken by Adult and Community and Children and Young People services to support young people and adults with learning disabilities to lead more fulfilling and independent lives and to manage the cost pressures arising from growing numbers of children with a learning disability moving through to adult services. The report sought Members’ endorsement of the development of a cross portfolio strategy which encapsulated the Council’s approach to working with children and families from an early age to prepare them for more independent lives as adults in the community.

The Assistant Director Commissioning and Partnerships, ACS, informed the Committee that there was currently a number of strategies covering this area and Officers wanted to specifically focus on young people with learning disabilities who transitioned through to adults services.

The Committee welcomed the report and the proposals it contained, and highlighted the need to support young people right through life and ensure that the right provision was identified early.

RESOLVED that the preparation of a joint Adult and Community and Children and Young People transition strategy for learning disabilities be endorsed.

The Committee is asked to refer to the report at Item 9O above and:

• Agree future PDS items to come before the Committee as listed at Appendix 1; and,
• Consider the Contracts/Service Level Agreements listed at Appendix 2.

This item was considered under Minute 29o.

Report LDCS10112

The Committee considered a report outling the details of the Young Persons Substance Misuse Grant and updating Members in relation to the end of year performance position with regard to the Young People substance Misuse Plan.

The Head of Community Safety introduced the report and the Committee considered a number of the targets outlined in the report.  The Chairman noted that the target for satellite sessions and been well exceeded and the Head of Community Safety confirmed that the over performance had been built into the new target that had been developed.

A Member commented that it was difficult to make a judgement on any of the targets as the report had not indicated the number of service users.  The Head of Community Safety confirmed that there were 164 new presentations of people into treatment in 2009/10.

In responding to a question regarding CAHMS, the Head of Community Safety confirmed that individuals were receiving treatment in good time and that out of 18 people who had been referred to the service, only 2 had continued to receive treatment at the year end.

Another Member asked if there were any outcome measures and Head of Community Safety reported that Substance Misuse Treatment Plans would be forwarded to the Public Protection and Safety PDS Committee (and the CYP PDS Committee) in September 2010 and this report would recast performance measures.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

The Chairman to move that the Press and public be excluded during consideration of the items of business listed below as it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings that if members of the Press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information.

RESOLVED that the Press and public be excluded during consideration of the items of business listed below as it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings that if members of the Press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information.

RESOLVED that the exempt minutes from the CYP PDS meeting held on 15^th June 2010 be agreed.

To note Part 2 decisions of the Portfolio Holder made since the previous meeting of the Committee.

The Committee noted Part 2 decisions that had been taken by the Portfolio Holder since the meeting on 15^th June 2010.

This report will be considered in Part 2 of the meeting.

Members considered and supported the recommendations in the report.

Members considered and supported the recommendations in the report.

The Committee considered and supported the recommendations in the report.

The Committee considered and supported the recommendations in the report.