Agenda item

Councillor Nicholas Bennett highlighted that there was not sufficient information in the Matters Arising report and that the purpose of this report was to ensure that issues requiring follow up remained current until updates were provided.  The Chairman stated that the points made had been taken on board.

The Chairman went through the minutes and identified areas where further updates were required:

Turning to the Bromley Youth Music Trust that Chairman asked Mr James if he had pursued the meetings with head teachers.  Mr James reported that he had been in communication with special school head teachers and Paul King.  Mr James reported that he was happy with the progress being made.

The Chairman asked the Director CYP if she could provide an update regarding the publication of the CYP Plan.  The Director reported that the accountable body was the CYP Trust Board.  There was a Local Authority representative sitting on the Trust Board; the Portfolio Holder, Councillor Ernest Noad.  The Director also reported that the future of the Trust Board could be under review due to recent national political changes.

Councillor Nicholas Bennett requested an update on Langley Park School for Girls’ and the Head of CYP Finance reported that he had been involved in meetings with the school and he had advised they proceed with planning permission for the proposed scheme.  The school had taken this advice on board and was now moving forward with planning permission.

The Chairman asked whether the relevant papers from the CYP PDS Committee were now being circulated to the Chairman of the Foster Panel and the Chairman of the Adoption Panel.  The Democratic Services and Scrutiny Officer reported that email links to the agenda and reports would be provided to the two Chairmen for their information.

The Committee considered rumours to the effect that neighbouring Authorities were considering changing their admission arrangements.  The Director CYP reported that the issue was being pursued through the Admissions Forum and with advice from the Legal Department.  Councillor McBride reported that Kent had been heavily promoting selection criteria outside the County boundary and that Kent had been heavily marketing in Bexley.  Councillor Humphrys reported that he had read an article in a paper suggesting that Kent was thinking about adopting 2 separate admissions criteria, one for inside the boundary and one for outside the boundary.  The Director advised that these issues were being followed up by officers in the admissions team.

Another Member asked for an update around the issue of opportunities for young people attending special schools to mainstream schools.  The Director CYP reported that the Assistant Director for Access and Inclusion had been working with head teachers on this aspect and would provide a further update to the Executive Working Party within future reports as the SEN Strategy.

Councillor Nicholas Bennett stated that there had been a new government in place for five weeks and there was nothing on the Committee’s agenda to reflect the changes that were taking place at a national level. The Director reported that there was only headline information available at this time. It was suggested that a report be scheduled for the Committee’s meeting in July 2010 when it was hoped that Officers could provide the Committee with more information.

Finally the Chairman reported that the issue of Catholic representation on SACRE remained an ongoing issue.  Councillor Bennett reported that his local church had been advertising for a representative to sit on SACRE.

RESOLVED that progress on matters arising from previous meetings be noted.