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:-
· The Corporate Parenting Board was now working more effectively, strengthened by the clearer work programmes for partners.
· Post-Ofsted, work was being undertaken to ensure that improvements were sustainable and the services provided were ambitious for children.
· The Adult Education service was now rated Good by Ofsted and a celebration event had recently been held.
· Good progress was being made in a number of service areas: the Youth Offending Service, Adult Education, and Children’s Services.
· The Portfolio Holder had undertaken a number of visits to schools across the Borough, including a recent trip to Darrick Wood with the Director of Education.
· Bromley had once again performed well in the London Youth Games.
· The Portfolio Holder highlighted that the Annual Corporate Parenting Fun Day was due to take place on Sunday 28th July 2019.
Cllr Fortune then responded to questions making the following comments:-
· A Bromley delegation had attending a meeting with Nick Gibb (Schools Minister) regarding lagged funding. At the meeting the delegation had also taken the opportunity to raise concerns surrounding high needs funding. It was essential to work with schools and the whole school system to highlight the impact of this lack of funding.
· There was no deliberate delay in releasing high needs funding where a need had been identified. There was a 20 week statutory assessment process and during this time there were a number of steps that needed to be taken to ensure that a child’s needs were accurately identified and appropriate support put in place. Where a quick release of additional funding was required and a need had been identified “Pupil Resource Agreements” could be put in place. Officers were currently reviewing the process to identify where improvements could be made.
· As far as the Portfolio Holder was aware Buller’s Wood School for Boys was on course. Nothing had been highlighted by the DfE
· The planning application for the Aeronautical College at Biggin was due to be considered by the Development Control Committee in July. The Portfolio Holder reminded members that this was an FE college and outside of the Departments responsibility. The matter was with the Planning Department.
· The decision to withdraw from the pan-London agreement in relation to unaccompanied asylum seeking children was a collective decision taken within the leading group. There was no requirement for the decision to be considered at a scrutiny committee as the original arrangement was voluntary and Bromley had met its original commitment.
· In relation to the Council-wide Transformation Programme; this represented a corporate shift in the way the business of the local authority was delivered. There were well reported and documented challenges on the horizon in terms of local government funding. For the Children, Education and Families Portfolio the particular challenges included: placements, SEN Transport, and staff retention. Work was ongoing and the Council was currently three months into its 4 year transformation programme, a needs-led, holistic approach to service redesign across the Council. A project officer had now been secured and regular updates would be provided to the Committee as work progressed. The Portfolio Holder stressed that any service redesign needed to be deeply and professionally thought through and the wider impact of any changes given due consideration. Going forward there would be less focus on silo working.
The Committee thanked the Portfolio Holder for the update.