Agenda item

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. The needs analysis for the Cotmandene Centre did not support the development of a full day-care offer.  In addition during the past 12 months, Cotmandene Children and Family Centre has provided a wide range of services to meet local needs which included child and parent health services, counselling, evidence-based parenting courses and one to one family support/advice, early education sessions and help for parents to get back into work and training.

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