Agenda and minutes
Venue: Committee Rooms, Bromley Civic Centre
Contact: Philippa Gibbs 020 8461 7638
No. | Item |
---|---|
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND NOTIFICATION OF SUBSTITUTE MEMBERS Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Will Rowlands, and Michelle Fribbens (Primary Parent Governor Representative).
The Chairman welcomed the new Director of Education, Jared Nehra, to the meeting. The new Director of Education outlined his background and reported that since taking up his post at the beginning of January 2019, he had spent a considerable time in schools meeting Head Teacher colleagues. The Director outlined that he had inherited a number of priorities which he was looking forward to progressing. These included the key priorities of:
|
|
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Minutes: During the course of the substantive item; Cllr Peter Fortune declared an interest as a Non-Executive Director of Clarion Charitable Foundation. The Committee noted that the declaration was reflected on Cllr Fortune’s Register of Interest. There were no additional declarations of interest.
|
|
Additional documents: Minutes: The minutes of the meetings held on 16th October 2018, and 12th December 2018 (excluding exempt information) were agreed, and signed as a correct record.
Turing to matters arising from the minutes and the issue of the proposed transfer of £1m from the Schools’ Block to the High Needs Block. A Member queried whether the discussion with Head Teachers had taken place in advance of the Committee’s meeting on 12th December 2018. In response, the Portfolio Holder stressed that it was not in the power of the Local Authority to transfer funding between funding blocks. It had been necessary to make a disapplication request to the Secretary of State. The Portfolio Holder reported that conversations between the Council’s Education Department and Head Teachers and their Schools took place all the time. The Interim Executive Director of ECHS confirmed that the meeting of the Schools Forum took place in January after the Select Committee’s meeting on 12th December 2018.
|
|
QUESTIONS TO THE SELECT COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC AND COUNCILLORS ATTENDING THE MEETING To hear questions to the Committee received in writing by the Democratic Services Team by 5.00pm on Wednesday 23rd January 2019 and to respond. Questions must relate to the work of the scrutiny committee.
Minutes: No questions had been received. |
|
QUESTIONS TO THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC AND COUNCILLORS ATTENDING THE MEETING To hear questions to the Committee received in writing by the Democratic Services Team by 5.00pm on Wednesday 23rd January 2019 and to respond. Questions must relate to the work of the Portfolio.
Minutes: No questions had been received. |
|
EDUCATION, CHILDREN AND FAMILIES SELECT COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME PDF 110 KB Minutes: Report CSD190002
The Committee considered a report dealing with the Committee’s business management.
In relation to the School Place Planning Executive Working Group the following Membership was proposed in addition to the Portfolio Holder and Executive Assistant:
Cllrs Nicholas Bennett, Neil Reddin, Chris Pierce, Marina Ahmad, Stephen Wells, Judi Ellis, Yvonne Bear, Emmanuel Arbenser, and David Hullah. It was noted that the Clerk would canvass Members and Officers for suitable dates.
(NB: Following the meeting the Portfolio Holder confirmed that he endorsed the proposed Membership)
RESOLVED: That
1. Progress on matters arising from previous meetings be noted;
2. The following Members join the School Place Planning Working Group for 2018/19: Cllrs Nicholas Bennett, Neil Reddin, Chris Pierce, Marina Ahmed, Stephen Wells, Judi Ellis, Yvonne Bear, Emmanuel Arbenser, and David Hullah; and
3. The 2018/19 work programme be agreed.
|
|
PORTFOLIO HOLDER UPDATE Minutes: The Portfolio Holder for Children, Education and Families, Cllr Peter Fortune, attended the meeting to respond to questions from the Committee. The Portfolio Holder gave a brief introduction highlighting the following issues:-
Cllr Fortune then responded to questions making the following comments:-
|
|
EDUCATION INFORMATION ITEMS |
|
Minutes: The Committee noted the minutes of the Education, Children and Families Budget and Performance Monitoring Sub Committee meeting held on 30 October 2018. |
|
SCRUTINY OF THE INTERIM DIRECTOR OF CHILDREN'S SOCIAL CARE Minutes: The Chairman welcomed the Interim Director of Children’s Social Care and thanked her for the enormous contribution she had made to the transformation of Children’s Services in Bromley.
The Interim Director of Children’s Social Care, Mrs Janet Bailey, attended the meeting to respond to questions from the Committee. Mrs Bailey gave a brief introduction, reflecting on the previous two years’ of the transformation journey:-
|
|
SHORT ITEM: YOS UPDATE PDF 53 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Report ECHS19021
The Committee considered a report which provided Members with feedback and an update of progress made by Bromley Youth Offending Service in securing improvement and responding to the inspection findings.
In response to a question, the Head of the Youth Offending Service reported that in terms of staffing, the workers in the Youth Offending Service were specialist and there was a limited supply of workers with the specialist skills that were required. There was a pool of people who worked via agencies and this resource would be utilised until it was possible to recruit permanent workers with the required skill set. Within the last two years there had been a 75% turnover in staff. All inadequate staff had now moved on from the service and those that were in post had the necessary competencies. The Director of Children’s Social Care highlighted that the Service had been realigned to ensure that there was now an emphasis on qualified workers and this in turn increased the skill set of the Team.
The Select Committee requested that an updated structure chart be circulated following the meeting along with information concerning the number of cases held by each worker.
The Select Committee noted that the actual number of young people who reoffended was small and this number was reducing year-on-year. A number of different interventions were being considered in order to reduce the risk posed by re-offending.
In response to a question concerning work with other Boroughs, the Head of the Youth Offending Service reported that there was a London-wide Officer Forum which met. In addition to this best practice was shared across the London network.
In relation to restorative justice, the Head of the Youth Offending Service explained that there was an effort to make reparations more offence focused and youth offenders were encouraged to reach out to the Community. Young people were also engaged in victim empathy work.
The Head of the Youth Offending Service explained that there had been good outcomes from the Liaison and Diversion provision and it was hoped that it would be possible to develop a Liaison and Diversion programme for the Borough in partnership with NHS England.
In response to a question concerning the ‘RAG’ report that had been circulated, the Head of the Youth Offending Service reported that there remained two ‘red’ actions outstanding. One related to drawing up and putting in place a bespoke programme to support parents, and the other concerned working with Bromley Y to review mental health services for young people.
The Head of the Youth Offending Service confirmed that once young people convicted of violent offences had received their sentence they were picked up by the Youth Offending Service directly from Court. The Service then worked directly with the young person and saw them on a regular basis at the Youth Offending Service offices. In relation to the support services aimed at knives and gangs, the Head of the Youth Offending Service reported that there were a range of ... view the full minutes text for item 43. |
|
WITNESS SESSION: THE IMPACT OF BENEFIT CHANGES ON CHILDREN AND FAMILIES (A) SARA BOWREY, DIRECTOR OF HOUSING, LBB
(B) RACHAEL DUNLEY, HEAD OF EARLY INTERVENTION AND FAMILY SUPPORT
Minutes: The Chairman welcomed Ms Sara Bowry (Director of Housing), Mrs Rachael Dunley (Head of Early Intervention and Family Support Services), Mr Colin Smith (Welfare Reform Manager), and Ms Tracey Wilson (Head of Compliance and Strategy) to the meeting Members of the Committee explored a number of themes and issues with the witnesses.
The Chairman opened the discussion noting that there were in excess of 1600 families in temporary accommodation in the Borough. Rent level across the Borough had become unaffordable and many vulnerable families faced additional financial pressures as a result of rising costs.
The Director of Housing confirmed that many of the pressures faced by vulnerable families were a result of the cumulative impact of the changes that had been introduced as part of the roll out of Universal Credit. The Director of Housing confirmed that there were over 1600 families in temporary accommodation and this included 1815 children aged 0-16 years old. An increasing number of families were now being placed outside the Borough, with over 600 school aged children housed in temporary accommodation outside the Borough. 300 were placed in Medway and Kent. Of these, an increasing number were required to travel back into the Borough to attend school which placed additional financial pressure on the families.
One of the aims of the introduction of Universal Credit had been to encourage families to budget on a monthly basis. This was a skill that did not necessarily come instinctively to vulnerable families and many required intensive support in order to learn how to manage their monthly budget. It was critical that there was intervention at an early stage in terms of debt and housing advice if it became evident that families were not able to manage their monthly budget.
In response to a question from the Chairman, the Director of Housing provided the following data in relation to families living in temporary accommodation:
1815 school aged children (0-16 years) living in temporary accommodation 504 children attended school in Bromley 286 families were placed in Croydon 178 families were placed in Lewisham 99 families were placed in Bexley 40 families were placed in Southwark 22 families were placed in Lambeth
The bulk of the remaining families (686) were placed in Kent (e.g. Gravesham, Swale, Thanet etc) and Medway. 229 families were placed in Medway and 86 families placed in Dartford.
It was agreed that the data provided by the Director of Housing would be circulated with the minutes.
The Select Committee was also provided with three case studies based on families from Bromley. The case studies illustrated that the vulnerable families tended to struggle with debt having started in a negative position as a result of significant rent arrears arising from the 5-week delay in the benefit payment. In addition the unaffordably high rents across the Borough placed additional pressure on families. The withdrawal of the additional bedroom subsidy also caused issues and many families were forced to take in lodgers. The Head of Early Intervention ... view the full minutes text for item 44. |
|
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1972 AS AMENDED BY THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT (ACCESS TO INFORMATION) (VARIATION) ORDER 2006, AND THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 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. Minutes: RESOLVED that the press and public be excluded during consideration of the items of business listed below as it was 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. |
|
PART 2 (EXEMPT) MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 12 DECEMBER 2018 Minutes: The Part 2 (exempt) minutes from the meeting held on 12 December 2018, were agreed, and signed as a correct record. |