Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Jonathan Andrews and Councillor Dr Sunil Gupta FRCP FRCPath attended as his substitute.  Apologies for absence were also received from Councillor Sophie Dunbar, Councillor Robert Evans and Ben Thompson.

The report asked that Co-opted Member appointments to the Children, Education and Families PDS Committee be confirmed.

The Chairman observed that work was ongoing to appointment to the vacant Secondary and Special School Parent Governor and Church Representative Co-opted Member roles.  Committee Members were requested to promote these opportunities across their networks and further details would be provided following the meeting.

RESOLVED: That

·  The following Parent Governor Representative appointments be made to the Children, Education and Families PDS Committee for 2022/23 with voting rights:

·  Mr Ben Thompson, Primary School Representative.

·  Reverend Roger Bristow representing the Church of England be appointed as Co-opted Member to the Children, Education & Families PDS Committee for 2022/23 with voting rights; and

·  The following Co-opted Membership appointment be made to the Children, Education & Families PDS Committee for 2022/23 without voting rights:

·  Penny Osborne, as Early Years Representative.

Ben Thompson, Co-opted Member asked that it be declared in his absence that he was a Governor of Southborough Primary School in relation to Item 9b: Education Planned Maintenance Programme.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions that are not specific to reports on the agenda must have been received in writing 10 working days before the date of the meeting. 

Questions specifically on reports on the agenda should be received within two working days of the normal publication date of the agenda.  Please ensure that questions specifically on reports on the agenda are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Thursday 9^th June 2022.

There were no questions.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meetings of Children, Education and Families PDS Committee on 15 March and 18 May 2022 be agreed as a correct record.

The report set out progress against outstanding actions from previous meetings and the forward work programme of the Committee.

With regard to Matters Arising, the Director of Children, Education and Families advised that CAMHS waiting times for Tiers 3 and 4 were currently at an average of 24 weeks and 45 days respectively.  As this waiting list was dynamic, young people with the highest needs were prioritised.  The ‘I’m not Tracey Beaker’ video would be provided to each of the political groups to show at upcoming Group meetings.

The Chairman invited Committee Members to nominate items for inclusion in the Committee’s Work programme for the 2022/23 municipal year and advised that a deep dive on fostering would be undertaken at the next meeting of the Committee on 13 September 2022.

RESOLVED: That:

• Progress on matters arising from previous meetings and the 2022/23 work programme be noted;

• The School Place Planning Working Group be reconstituted for the 2022/23 municipal year and its membership be agreed as:

·  Councillor Felicity Bainbridge (Chairman)

·  Councillor Thomas Turrell (Vice-Chairman)

·  Councillor Jonathan Andrews

·  Councillor Graeme Casey

·  Councillor Ryan Thompson

• The Conservative membership of the Children, Education and Families Budget Sub-Committee be agreed as:

·  Councillor Jonathan Andrews (Chairman)

·  Councillor Robert Evans (Vice-Chairman)

·  Councillor Felicity Bainbridge

·  Councillor Kira Gabbert

Membership of other political groups was agreed at the meeting of the Council of the London Borough of Bromley on 18 May 2022 as:

·  Councillor Ryan Thomson (Labour)

·  Councillor Rebecca Wiffen (Labour)

·  Councillor Sam Webber (Liberal Democrat)

Consideration of this item was deferred to a later meeting.

The Portfolio Holder for Children, Education and Families, Cllr Kate Lymer, provided an update to the Committee on her recent activities.

As Lead Member for Children, Education and Families, the Portfolio Holder served on a number of bodies including the Youth Justice Service Strategy Board and SEND Governance Board and chaired the Corporate Parenting Board which brought together key partners in supporting Children Looked After and Care Leavers.  The Portfolio Holder also attended quarterly Children’s Safeguarding Assurance meetings with the Council’s Leader, Chief Executive, Director of Children, Education and Families, Police Borough Commander and the Chair of the Bromley Safeguarding Children’s Partnership which briefed the Borough’s strategic leadership on arising issues for vulnerable children and young people.  In addition to these formal arrangements, informal activities were also undertaken by the Portfolio Holder including a programme of school visits and attending the official opening of the Ukrainian hub.

The Portfolio Holder was pleased to announce that feasibility work was underway on establishing a prospective new secondary school in the Kent House area.  A Corporate Parent Fun Day was due to be held on 31 July 2022 and all Members were encouraged to attend.

RESOLVED: That the update be noted.

The report presented the Children, Education and Families Portfolio Plan Quarter 4 Update for the 2021/22 financial year and 2022/23 Refreshed Plan.

In response to a question on children going missing from home or education or identified as being at risk of child sexual, criminal exploitation or gang affiliation, the Assistant Director for Children’s Social Care outlined the full range of work undertaken to protect children from extra-familial harm.  This included daily reports on any child missing which were escalated through a strategic multi-agency process designed to locate missing children and young people and safeguard them once found.  Measures were also in place to protect children and young people identified as being at risk of criminal exploitation and gang affiliation, including via the Missing, Exploitation and Gang Affiliation (MEGA) Panel and through the Your Choice initiative taking a therapeutic Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) approach to engaging with young people most at risk of experiencing violence.  The Local Authority worked closely with the Police to address places and spaces of concern, particularly during at-risk periods such as the school summer break.  Following a recent Government consultation on children not in school, which included elective home education and those not in receipt of full-time education, it was anticipated that a new statutory local authority duty would be introduced on maintaining a register of all children not in school.  The Portfolio Holder observed that a Practice Observation week would be held later in 2022, and this would present an opportunity for Committee Members to observe a MEGA Panel.

Another Member asked what steps were taken to support the most disadvantaged children and young people to access digital devices and data to support their education.  The Director of Children, Education and Families explained that the Government had provided digital devices to all Looked After Children during the COVID-19 pandemic and would continue to do so, with social workers also able to make an assessment of need for children requiring devices for education or social reasons.  Bromley schools distributed digital devices to at-need pupils via their hardship policies which were designed to identify and meet the ongoing education needs of pupils of low-income families, including access to devices (which could be via a loan scheme) as well as participation in activities and educational visits. 

In response to a number of other questions regarding service quality, the Director of Children, Education and Families advised that Deep Dive Data Analyses of children’s social care placements was undertaken independently by the Commissioning Alliance to assess practice and provide reassurance to the Local Authority.  The high quality of Bromley’s social worker cohort was maintained by innovative recruitment and retention measures that were designed to attract and retain the best talent, with 81% of the Local Authority’s social workers workforce now in place as permanent staff. 

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

The report presented a regular update on the performance of services for children across a suite of performance measures. 

As at March 2022, the majority of key performance indicators were rated as ‘Green’.  There were two ‘red’ marked performance indicators on the number of in-house foster carers recruited and the number of Children Looked After who were adopted.  There was also one ‘amber’ marked performance indicator on Average Caseloads within Children’s Social Care with average caseloads at 16 per social worker against the ‘case load promise of 12-15.  This was due to an increase in the number of referrals of Children in Need and those subject to a Child Protection Plan, and additional staffing capacity had been placed in the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub Referral and Assessment Service and the Central Social Work Teams to address this.

In considering Performance Indicator 15: Average Number of Weeks Taken to Complete Care Proceedings Against a National Target of 26 Weeks, a Member noted that the Local Authority’s average was 49 weeks.  The Director of Children, Education and Families confirmed that this was a national issue affecting many local authorities as a result of a backlog of Court cases following the COVID-19 pandemic, and that other cases had been delayed by requests to repeat assessments.  Work was underway to tackle the backlog and the Local Authority had previously proposed that the East London Court, which heard the Local Authority’s cases, introduce a Saturday Court session. 

RESOLVED: That the March 2022 outturn of key performance indicators and associated management commentary be noted.

The Committee considered the following reports where the Children, Education and Families Portfolio Holder was recommended to take a decision:</AI11>

The report requested approval to extend an existing contract with Sentinel Partners Ltd for the provision of the online early years funding solution for a period of two years from 32 July 2022 to 30 July 2024.

Bromley Early Years Funding team annually distributed approximately £20M of early years funding to Bromley providers for approximately 6,500 children.  Following a detailed market testing exercise in 2019, the contract for the provision of a digital early years’ funding solution was awarded by exemption to Sentinel Partners whose system had the necessary functionality to process all seven of the early years funding streams and identify duplicate claims, as well as to pay monthly claims based on actual hours’ rather than estimates as required by the Department for Education.  In order to fully meet Bromley’s specification, it was agreed at that time that Sentinel Partners would develop their off-the-shelf product to include provider and parent portals that offered a self-service option that was transparent and had a clear audit trail for funded hours used and claimed.  Under the existing contract terms there was an option to extend this service for a further two years which would give continuity and stability for service users as well as time to further develop and refine the product.

RESOLVED: That the Portfolio Holder be recommended to agree an extension of the contract with Sentinel Partners Ltd for the provision of the online early years funding solution for a period of 2 years from 31 July 2022 to 30 July 2024 at an annual value of £26,200 (Total value £52,400).

The report set out the Education Planned Maintenance Programme 2022/23.

The Local Authority received an annual School Conditions Allocation from the Department of Education to undertake capital maintenance works at Local Authority Maintained Schools.  The allocation for 2022/23 was made on the basis of six remaining Local Authority Maintained Schools and would be distributed with reference to the schools’ premises development maintenance plans and condition surveys as well as the Department for Education’s Condition Data Collection reports.  The Local Authority was also allocated £466k of Salix Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme Phase 3 funding towards the replacement of the heating system at Southborough Primary School.  The estimated total value of this scheme was £825k with the Local Authority’s contribution of £359k partly funded by £133k funding carried forward from the 2020/21 and 2021/22 School Conditions Allocation.

In presenting the report, the Head of Strategic Place Planning confirmed that there were no major issues around the condition of the six remaining Local Authority Maintained Schools in Bromley.  The Local Authority had been included in a recent report around school condition by the Department for Education and would be following this up with respect to the condition of academies in the borough to ensure there were no concerns around the learning environment of Bromley pupils.  In response to a question from a Member, the Head of Strategic Place Planning explained that Downe Primary School was currently consulting its governors on moving to academy status but that this would not impact any allocations to Downe Primary School within the Education Planned Maintenance Programme 2022/23.

RESOLVED: That the Portfolio Holder be recommended to:

·  Note the School Condition Allocation of £383k from the Department for Education to support the capital maintenance of community and foundation schools within Bromley during 2022/23;

·  Note the allocation of £466k of Salix Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme Phase 3 funding to the Local Authority for 2022/23;

·  Authorises the proposed expenditure of £982k capital funding allocation to the six remaining Community and Foundation schools as set out in Report CEF22034;

·  Agree that the maintenance works be procured either through open procurement or via the Council’s in-house Corporate Property Team. The Council may also on occasion delegate funds to schools to deliver capital works; and,

·  Delegate authority to the Director of Education to authorise the allocation of the £383k School Condition Allocation received for 2022/23.

The report requested the approval of the final one-year extension to the current agreement with Royal Borough of Kingston to deliver the Post-16 Tracker Service, resulting in an amended contract expiration date of 31 March 2024.

The Local Authority had a statutory duty to monitor and report on the designation of children and young people upon leaving school which was currently fulfilled via a shared management information service between five London Boroughs, led by the Royal Borough of Kingston.  Authorisation for the agreement with the Royal Borough of Kingston commenced on 1 April 2018 for a period of three years and this agreement was later extended for a further two-year period to 31 March 2023.  An option to extend for a final one-year period to 31 March 2024 was available.  Follow an options appraisal which identified that the existing service offers the best value for money and meets all statutory reporting requirements, it was proposed to agree the final one-year extension, representing a consolidated contract value of £256k over the six-year term.

RESOLVED: That the Portfolio Holder be recommended to approve the final one-year extension to the current agreement with Royal Borough of Kingston, resulting in an amended contract expiration date of 31 March 2024.

The report presented the provisional outturn position for the Children, Education and Families Portfolio for the 2021/22 financial year.

The provisional outturn for the ‘controllable’ element of the Children, Education and Families’ budget for the 2021/22 financial year showed an overspend of £4,056k compared to the last reported figure of an overspend of £1,987k which was based on activity at the end of December 2021.  The overspend was primarily due to additional staffing costs, with fewer permanent staff than anticipated, as well as increasing demand for services including SEN Transport and children’s social care placements at the higher end of need.  Senior officers were meeting on a regular basis to scrutinise and challenge the expenditure position and management action was being taken to address identified issues, including securing an additional £0.5M of funding from the Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group to help fund the health element of residential placements during the 2022/23 financial year.

In response to a question from the Chairman, the Head of Finance, Children, Education and Families explained that the budget cycle was an annual process subject to ongoing challenge processes on areas of concern, pressure and growth.  The draft budget for Children, Education and Families Portfolio was presented to the Committee to scrutinise at its January/February meeting each year and following the approval of the draft budget by Executive, further comments were sought from the Committee prior to the formal approval of the budget by Council in March/April.  The Children, Education and Families Portfolio was a particularly challenging budget area as many services were statutory and high cost with demand fluctuating throughout the year.

A Member observed that the Local Authority had developed a strong cohort of in-house foster carers and suggested that an investment be made in upskilling foster carers to allow more Looked After Children with the highest levels of need to be placed within the Borough.  The Director of Children, Education and Families advised that these children and young people often required highly specialist residential placements and that the majority of local authorities did not supply such provision in-house due to regulatory complexity and cost.  Having said that, it was possible that the role of local authorities in residential care could evolve moving forward in response to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care by Josh MacAlister.  The Director of Children, Education and Families further outlined a number of Local Authority programmes in place to ensure that Look After Children received the right care, including the emergency foster carer programme for children in crisis and the New Horizons project which supported children in residential care who were ready to step down to a specialist foster care placement.

Another Member queried an overspend within SEN Transport due to unavailability of drivers.  The Head of Finance, Children, Education and Families explained that a framework was in place to supply SEN Transport to a specific quality standard but that a contractor had chosen to withdraw from the framework during the 2021/22 financial year which had made it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12d

The report set out proposals developed following a review of SEN Transport operations in Bromley to enable a broader offer of support for families giving greater access to preferred schools, improved transport options and more flexibility in the service offer.

Over the past five years there had been a significant increase in the number of children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans in Bromley which had increased pressure on the arrangements for providing SEN Transport.  A range of options had been considered for the future delivery of SEN Transport designed to ease anticipated pressure and it was requested that a public consultation be undertaken on updated Transport Assistance Policies for all children aged 0-16 years, Post-16, and 18+ Adult Learners, including those with Education Health and Care Plans.  The revisions were intended to improve the lives of young people accessing services, introduce efficiencies and improve consistency of the service offer.  Updated versions of the report and associated Transport Policies were tabled at the meeting for consideration by the Children, Education and Families Committee which removed any reference to Post-16 charging.

In considering the report, the Head of Access to Education and Inclusion advised that most efficiencies would be derived from route optimisation which was also expected to offer more consistency in terms of drivers and journey times.  A specialist transport advisor had completed the route optimisation work on behalf of the Local Authority and moving forward it was planned to develop in-house expertise in this area.  The Chairman welcomed the proposals around independent travel training which would help young people develop greater confidence and independence.  In response to a question from a Member, the Head of Access to Education and Inclusion explained that the vacant seat payment scheme had been proposed to maximise use of SEN Transport; whilst it was not anticipated there would be high demand for this service, it would create an additional transport option to families not entitled to transport.  Places would only be made available under this scheme where there were vacant seats and notice periods would be enforced to ensure that children who were entitled to transport were not displaced by paying service users. 

In response to concerns raised by a Member, the Director of Education confirmed that robust data analysis had been undertaken in developing the proposed options for the future delivery of SEN Transport which could be made available to Members on request.  An in-house SEN Transport service had been considered but was not feasible as the cost per service user would be significantly higher than the proposed delivery model.

RESOLVED: That the Executive be recommended to:

·  Agree the draft transport policy for public consultation and endorse the proposed transport initiatives recommended for progression in the revised report;

·  Agree the introduction of Personal Transport Budgets and revisions to the mileage payment scheme;

·  Endorse the development of the Independent Travel Training Service;

·  Agree to the retention of existing discretionary transport support for children under statutory school age;

·  Agree to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13a

The report sought approval from the Executive to proceed to tender for a new contract for a Weekend and Holiday Short Breaks Service for Children with disabilities.

Weekend and Holiday Short Breaks Service for Children with disabilities provided meaningful and fulfilling activities for children and young people with a range of disabilities, while offering valuable respite for parents and carers.  The existing contract for this service was awarded to Riverside School in May 2010 following competitive tender; however, this contract was due to end on 31 March 2023,and it was necessary to undertake a tendering process for the provision of this service.  A Gateway 0 report setting out the service, background, history and potential options for recommissioning the service was approved at the meeting of the Executive on 30 March 2022.

RESOLVED: That the Executive be recommended to proceed to tender for a new contract for a Weekend and Holiday Short Breaks Service for Children with disabilities. The proposed contract was for three years with the option to extend for two further periods of two years each (3 +2+2) with a planned contract commencement date of 1 April 2023 at an estimated annual value of £196,507 (estimated whole life value of £1,372,399).

The report updated Members on the planned future use of the Phoenix Centre, Masons Hill, Bromley.

The Phoenix Centre was a multi-agency premises on Mason’s Hill, Bromley that currently housed Local Authority, Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and Bromley Healthcare staff and the SEN Advisory Service.  The Local Authority’s 21-year lease for use of the Phoenix Centre including services for pre-school assessment classrooms and specialist teaching ceased in July 2015 and renewal negotiations were ongoing with NHS Property Services which owned and maintained the site.  It was proposed that Riverside School, a Community Special School, be permitted short-term use of the site to create an additional 16 in-borough specialist school places from September 2022 with an option to add further additional places from September 2023, subject to statutory consultation.  The new provision would be located on the ground floor of the Centre and would not affect existing on-site services, staff and community organisations.

In considering the report, the Chairman requested that the Committee be updated on any significant developments regarding the proposed new provision.

RESOLVED: That the Executive be recommended to:

·  Agree entering into negotiations for the future use of the Phoenix Centre including the relevant Heads of Terms (“HOTS”) for any proposed lease;

·  Delegate authority to the Director for Housing, Planning and Regeneration in consultation with the Director of Education and the Children, Education and Families Portfolio Holder to finalise the HOTS for any proposed lease of the Phoenix Centre; and for the Director of Corporate Services and the Assistant Director of Legal Services to enter into any ancillary legal agreements relating thereto; and,

·  Endorse the proposed short-term use of the site by Riverside Special School, a Community Special School, creating an additional 16 specialist school places from September 2022 with the option for further additional places from September 2023 subject to statutory consultation. 

The report set out the Children, Education and Families Risk Register update for Quarter 4 of the 2021/22 financial year.

The Children, Education and Families Risk Register comprised 15 risks identified across the Children, Education and Families Portfolio.  Of these risks, one was rated as ‘red’ which comprised Risk 1: Failure to Deliver Children’s Service Financial Strategy.  Management action was being taken to mitigate this risk and the financial pressures within the Portfolio’s budget were discussed by the Committee under Minute 12d: Provisional Outturn Report 2021/22

RESOLVED: Thatthe current Children, Education and Families Risk Register and the existing controls in place to mitigate the risks be noted.

The report provided an annual update on the work of Early Intervention and Family Support Services.

Early Intervention and Family Support Services encompassed both statutory and non-statutory services and acted as the Local Authority’s lead for Bromley’s Support Families work as well taking strategic responsibility for Domestic Violence and Abuse (intergenerational).  A wide range of services and programmes were delivered including Children and Family Centres, Bromley Children Family Project and the Common Assessment Framework Team.

In considering the update, the Chairman welcomed work to support Ukrainian refugees including the establishment of the Ukrainian Hub and noted that a recent update to the Local Authority’s website meant that all embedded text (excluding downloadable documents) could be translated to any language.  Other initiatives included the Reducing Parental Conflict Programme, which would be an ongoing area of focus going forward with training made available to the wider Local Authority workforce, and the Parenting Hotline which replaced time-limited drop-in sessions at Children and Family Centres.  The Head of Service Early Intervention and Family Support Services invited all Committee Members to join monthly virtual Early Intervention and Family Support Information Sessions which were bookable via Eventbrite and further details of parenting courses and events would be provided to Committee Members following the meeting to share across their networks.

RESOLVED: That the annual update be noted.

The items comprise:

• Bromley All Age Autism Strategy 2022-2027
• Contracts Register
• Children's Social Care Practice Advisory Group (CSCPAG) Annual Report

Members have been provided with advance copies of the briefing via e-mail.  The briefing is also available on the Council's Website at the following link: http://cds.bromley.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CId=559&Year=0

Information Items will not be debated at Children, Education and Families PDS Committee unless a member of the Committee requests a discussion be held.  24 hours’ notice must be given to the Clerk.

The items comprised:

• Bromley All Age Autism Strategy 2022-2027
• Contracts Register
• Children's Social Care Practice Advisory Group (CSCPAG) Annual Report

RESOLVED: That Information Items 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 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.

The following summaries

refer to matters involving exempt information

The Committee considered a report setting out Part 2 (Exempt) aspects of performance reporting against the Children’s Scrutiny Dataset.

The Committee considered a report setting out Part 2 (Exempt) aspects of a proposed tendering process for the provision of Holiday and Saturday Group based short breaks.

The Committee considered a report setting out Part 2 (Exempt) information relating to the future use of the Phoenix Centre.

The items comprise:

• Part 2 (Exempt) Contracts Register

Members have been provided with advance copies of the briefing via e-mail. 

Part 2 (Exempt) Information Items will not be debated at Children, Education and Families PDS Committee unless a member of the Committee requests a discussion be held.  24 hours’ notice must be given to the Clerk.

The Part 2 (Exempt) items comprised:

·  Part 2 (Exempt) Contracts Register