Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1 - Wallasey Town Hall. View directions

Contact: Shirley Hudspeth 

Note: Reconvened Meeting from 5 February, 2014. See 5 February for agenda 

Items
No. Item

39.

Co-opted Members

Minutes:

The Committee was reminded that the meeting had been adjourned on 5 February 2014 until this evening so that the Council could be recommended to extend the Committee’s Membership to include two Parent Governor and appropriate Diocesan Authorities’ representatives (as statutory co-optees) to sit on the Committee and vote when it considered educational matters.  (Minute No. 38 refers.)  The Chair apologised for having to adjourn the meeting on 27 February 2014.  It had been necessary because it had been important to ensure that its Membership was correct when it considered the two call-ins which related to educational matters.

 

Consequently, the Council, at its meeting on 25 February 2014, in order to meet legal requirements, had co-opted onto the Committee:

 

the following two Parent Governor representatives:

 

·  Mrs H Shoebridge (until 28 October 2015); and

 

·  Mrs Nicola Smith (until 8 February 2017)

 

and;

 

the following two Diocesan Authority representatives

 

·  Damien Cunningham (representing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury); and

 

·  a representative of the Church of England Diocese of Chester (currently a nomination has not yet been made).

 

(Minute No. 78 refers.)

 

Mrs Smith was in attendance and the Chair welcomed her to her first meeting of the Committee.

40.

Apologies for Absence

Reconvened Call-in meeting from 5 February, 2014.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors R Abby, S Whittingham and S Williams, Mrs H Shoebridge and Damien Cunningham.

41.

Code of Conduct - Declarations of Interest Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012, Including Party Whip Declarations

Minutes:

Mrs Nicola Smith informed that she had a relative who worked at the Lyndale School.

42.

Procedure for considering a decision that has been Called-in

Minutes:

The Committee noted the procedure for dealing with a decision that had been subject to the Council’s call-in process.  This procedure had been agreed and adopted by the Committee for this purpose at its meeting on 24 June 2014.  (Minute No. 4 refers.)

43.

Call-in of a Delegated Decision - Cabinet Minute No. 129 - Report Seeking Approval to Consult on the Closure of The Lyndale School

Minutes:

In accordance with the procedure previously agreed by the Committee, the Chair referred to the decision of the Cabinet which agreed to consult on the closure of the Lyndale School; and authorise the Director of Children’s Services (or her nominee) to compile and produce the appropriate Consultation Document and proceed with the Consultation exercise as soon as practicably possible.  (Cabinet Minute No. 129 refers.)

 

The decision had been called-in by Councillors T Harney, P Gilchrist, J Green, I Lewis, C Povall and P Williams, on the following grounds:

 

The Cabinet was not given the full information to make a decision:

 

·  The category of Complex Learning Difficulties (CLD) includes children with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD) and children on the Autistic Spectrum. Their needs are different. This is not made clear.

·  The School has been in discussion with the LA about its future for 8 years. The uncertainty has caused some parents to send their children elsewhere.

·  The educational needs of the children are not analysed.

·  In paragraph 2.8, the LA admits they have failed to consider the funding of the school over past years. The funding arrangements are, in reality, in the hands of the LA and, in fact, were agreed at the same time as this proposal.

·  The argument about overheads ignores the present discussions between the Local Authority and Governors about reducing overheads.

·  Table 2 does not discuss the different nature of the intakes of the 3 schools. This is misleading.

·  The work done by Eric Craven on behalf of the LA looking at the needs of the PMLD pupils at the Lyndale and other schools has never been referred to.

·  The resolution of the Council of February 14 2010 and the work done by the Local Authority following this have not been referred to, not even mentioned. This should have formed the context for the present decision.

 

The Committee was invited to consider the decision that had been made and determine, in the light of evidence to be presented, the most appropriate course of action. The Committee had no power to overturn a Cabinet decision, or to substitute its own decision in place of the original. The options open to the Committee were:

 

·  to take no further action, in which case the original decision shall take immediate effect and may be implemented;

·  to refer the decision back to the Cabinet Member for reconsideration, setting out in writing the nature of the Committee’s concerns;

·  to refer the matter to the Council, if the Committee believes that the decision was outside the policy framework or contrary to or not wholly in accordance with the budget.

Explanation of the Call-In by the Lead Signatory, Councillor Tom Harney

 

Councillor Tom Harney provided a brief rationale for the call-in of the Cabinet’s decision.  He informed that there were a lot of reasons for calling in the decision and some he referred to as ‘technicalities’. He considered that things had been missing from the Cabinet’s report which should have been included.  Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

44.

Call-in of a Delegated Decision - Cabinet Minute No. 140 - Proposals for Changes to School Top Up Payments for Students with High Needs

Minutes:

In accordance with the procedure previously agreed by the Committee, the Chair referred to the decision of the Cabinet made at its meeting on 16 January 2014 to agree:

 

“That the recommendations of the Schools Forum in Appendix 1 to the report be approved with the following amendments and additions:

 

·  Notional SEN costs (LCHI) are funded from Schools Contingency (new addition).

·  The costs arising from a High Needs MFG is funded from an SEN under spend in 2013-14 (addition to final recommendation).

·  The Special Schools Contingency is used to support specialist provision facing financial difficulties (amendment to the second sentence of recommendation 3).”

 

(Cabinet Minute No. 140 refers.)

 

The decision had been called-in by Councillors T Harney, P Gilchrist, J Green, I Lewis, C Povall and P Williams, on the following grounds that:

 

The banding proposals (para 2.7) are not based on a clear costing of the needs of the children. In particular, the needs of the children with profound and multiple learning difficulties should be quantified.

 

There is a clear need for one to one in terms of adult presence for many of the children.  There is also a need for teaching and other staff. These are in addition to the running costs of the school.

 

In the case of the Lyndale, the funding proposals will result in the closure of the school. This has not been made clear in the paper.

 

We would like to seek assurance that the required contingency funding is in place to top up the special educational funding required for the best care and education to be provided for all children.

 

The Committee was invited to consider the decision that had been made and determine, in the light of evidence to be presented, the most appropriate course of action. The Committee had no power to overturn a Cabinet decision, or to substitute its own decision in place of the original. The options open to the Committee were:

 

·  to take no further action, in which case the original decision shall take immediate effect and may be implemented;

·  to refer the decision back to the Cabinet Member for reconsideration, setting out in writing the nature of the Committee’s concerns;

·  to refer the matter to the Council, if the Committee believes that the decision was outside the policy framework or contrary to or not wholly in accordance with the budget.

 

 

Explanation of the Call-In by the Lead Signatory, Councillor Tom Harney

 

Councillor Tom Harney provided a brief rationale for the call-in of the Cabinet’s decision.  He informed that a decision had been made about funding which meant that the Lyndale School had to close as there is insufficient money per child to educate children in the School. Councillor Harney considered that insufficient information had been provided for a rational person to make a rational decision.

 

The Head of Legal and Member services informed that the Cabinet had made its decision on the basis that it had considered that it had sufficient information to make it.  The Committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.