Meeting documents
Children's Services and Lifelong Learning Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Tuesday, 30th October 2007
Present
Chair
FM Doyle
Councillors
S L Clarke, Mrs CM Meaden, Sarah Quinn, WW Smith, PA Smith
Deputy
GCJ Watt (for Cllr Karen Hayes)
Co-opted members
Dr N Aziz, Mr M Jarvis, Mrs M Liddy, Mrs J Owens
Cabinet member
PL Davies
Index to Minutes
- Minute 35 - PARENT GOVERNOR REPRESENTATIVE
- Minute 36 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
- Minute 37 - MINUTES
- Minute 38 - SCRUTINY: FOSTERING SERVICES - UPDATE
- Minute 39 - SCRUTINY: YOUTH OUTREACH IN WIRRAL
- Minute 40 - EVALUATION: ANNUAL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT - OUTCOME
- Minute 41 - MONITORING: PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT - 2ND QUARTERLY REPORT
- Minute 42 - FINANCIAL MONITORING 2007/08
- Minute 43 - PROJECTED BUDGET 2008-2011
- Minute 44 - MONITORING: CAPITAL PROGRAMME 2007/08
Minute 35 - PARENT GOVERNOR REPRESENTATIVE
Minute Text :
The Chair welcomed Mrs Jacqui Kearney, who had been elected as a parent governor representative, replacing Jonathan Birch.
In addition, the Director introduced Mrs Charlie Bailey, who had recently been appointed as the Department's Senior Strategy Manager for Inclusion.
Minute 36 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Minute Text :
The members of the Committee were asked to consider whether they had a personal or prejudicial interest in connection with any of the items on the agenda and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of such interest. No declarations were made.
Minute 37 - MINUTES
Minute Text :
The Committee was advised that the minutes of the meetings held on 12 September and 22 October 2007 had been reported to the Council on 29 October.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the minutes be received.
Minute 38 - SCRUTINY: FOSTERING SERVICES - UPDATE
Minute Text :
Councillor Clarke reported on progress in relation to the scrutiny exercise on Fostering Services. The final round of interviews, of members of the Fostering Panel, had been arranged for 6 November.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the members of the Committee be circulated with details of the interview schedule, and any wishing to participate are requested to advise the Head of Legal and Member Services.
(2) That the proposed involvement of Councillor Harney in finalising the report be welcomed.
Minute 39 - SCRUTINY: YOUTH OUTREACH IN WIRRAL
Minute Text :
The Chair submitted the scoping document in respect of the proposed scrutiny review of the Youth Outreach service and he thanked Alan Veitch, Scrutiny Support Officer, for his work in preparing the it. He added that he and other members had already met with some young people in the Rock Ferry area and had noted what they had to say about their expectations. Further meetings had been arranged for later that week and in the following week.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the scoping report be accepted.
Minute 40 - EVALUATION: ANNUAL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT - OUTCOME
Minute Text :
The Director of Children's Services gave a brief presentation on the outcome of the Authority's Annual Performance Assessment (APA). He emphasised that Ofsted had submitted their findings in a draft letter, the contents of which were embargoed until receipt of their final letter, which was expected on 26 November. The Authority had an opportunity to comment on the draft.
The APA, which was carried out in those years when the Council was not subject to a Joint Area Review (JAR), judged the Council's performance in relation to the five outcomes for children and the Council's capacity to improve. He gave his views on the results, and pointed out that the areas for development identified in the report would be built into the Children and Young People's Plan for 2008 - 2011.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the report be noted and the Director report back on the final letter from Ofsted.
(2) That the Committee endorse the Director's acknowledgement of the contribution of his officers, in particular Moira Curran, to the outcome of the APA.
Footnote :
During this item it was necessary for the meeting to adjourn to another room within the Town Hall.
Minute 41 - MONITORING: PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT - 2ND QUARTERLY REPORT
Minute Text :
The Director of Children's Services submitted information on progress during the second quarter against the Performance Indicators for which the Children and Young People's Department was responsible. The report included detailed information on the Best Value and Local Area Agreement Performance indicators that were monitored quarterly by the Department. Of the 17 indicators reported, ten were green, one amber and two red. A further three indicators showed the services as over-performing, and one (staff absences) was awaiting the introduction of comparative data into the PIM system. Corrective action was being taken in respect of the indicators that were performing below target:
(i) The percentage of children registered through the year on the Child Protection Register that had previously been registered. That indicator was measured on an average figure at the year end, though the quarterly figures were acknowledged to be high. The quality of the de-registration planning would be examined to ensure that sufficient support measures were in place to reduce the need for re-registration.
(ii) The percentage of 16-to-18 year olds not in education, employment or training (NEET). That was a priority area, and NEET rates were under constant review. Since the report to the previous meeting, a hotspot project targeting employers had been started and a specific programme with 17-year-olds was under way. Some progress had been made in reducing the percentage of NEET young people, but it was still proving difficult to engage the private sector in current initiatives.
The Chair commented that one of the points made by young people that he had spoken to in Rock Ferry was that they could not find jobs. The Director replied that, despite the boom in, for example, the construction industry, it was proving difficult to identify opportunities for young people, and it was therefore all the more important to strengthen the links between economic agencies and Children's Services. Particular attention was being paid to impending new construction schemes within Wirral, in order to promote opportunities for apprenticeships. In response to Councillor Tony Smith's query, the Director explained the involvement of Jobcentre Plus and Connexions as part of the family services provided through the Ganney's Meadow Centre.
In relation to the numbers of children on the Child Protection Register, Julia Hassall, Head of Children's Social Care, explained that the Register was part of the national framework aimed at ensuring the best possible multi-agency support for children at risk. It was monitored on a weekly basis, and the Authority had succeeded in reducing the number of children registered from 360 to fewer than 200, which was an indication of effective preventative measures. It was felt that the previously higher figures had been the result of an over-cautious approach. There were also now in place better arrangements for identifying situations of potential domestic violence. She concluded by pointing out that the Register would be phased out from 1 April 2008 and would be replaced by protection plans.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the report be noted.
(2) That the Committee receive an in-depth report at a future meeting in relation to young people that are not in education, employment or training.
(3) That the Committee record its thanks to all who participated in the successful Youth Parliament meeting on 16 October.
Minute 42 - FINANCIAL MONITORING 2007/08
Minute Text :
The Director of Children's Services submitted the latest financial overview of the Children and Young People’s Department budget in the current year. At that time there was a projected overspend for the Department for the year of £840,000. That represented significant progress since the previous meeting. The main areas of variation were looked-after children (£310,000), employee costs (£250,000), service re-engineering (£650,000), legal fees (£80,000) and transport (£100,000), offset by a likely surplus in Standards Fund money (£550,000), albeit as a one-off item. The Director commented on how required savings, service re-engineering and policy options were being implemented and on the most volatile areas of the budget.
Councillor Clarke commented that expenditure in several of those volatile areas related directly to children and it was therefore necessary to monitor closely the impact on those involved. The Director replied that currently the number of children placed outside of the borough was 51, against the target for the year of 47. Other children had been identified as being in circumstances where it was considered appropriate for them to be returned to Wirral. There were other cases of young people with complex needs moving into adulthood, where negotiations were being undertaken as to how health partners might contribute to the cost of their services.
Councillor Clarke asked what action was being taken to deal with those services where significant gaps in funding had been identified. Chris Batman, Head of Branch (Planning and Resources), replied that the Department was in the position of continually trying to catch up with savings requirements, and was actually spending less than in the previous year. He envisaged that the move towards three-year budgets would present further difficulties. However, he did think that with specific grants being merged into the overall RSG, there would be less emphasis on the ring-fencing of expenditure and more options available to the Authority for meeting local needs.
Further to minute 34 (22/10/07), the Committee discussed further the implications of the proposed closure of the Poolwood Children's Home and the options for disposal of the premises.
With regard to the impact of staff sickness on the budget, Chris Batman explained that there were different pressures on different groups of staff. Officers were concentrating their efforts on reducing those sickness levels that made it necessary to engage additional staff. The Employee Support Programme would help in that regard, in that it focused on those areas of employment with the highest stress levels; also, from January, management workshops on sickness were being organised for line managers. In addition, it was hoped that the reduction in the number of looked-after children would result in more manageable caseloads.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the report, and specifically the current state of the budget, the likely impact of savings on staffing levels and the action being taken to dispose of the Poolwood premises, be noted.
(2) That the Director's proposal to report back on the progress of a sample of young people returning from out-of-borough placements be accepted.
(3) That the format of the financial monitoring report be also accepted.
Minute 43 - PROJECTED BUDGET 2008-2011
Minute Text :
The Director of Children's Services informed the Committee of the Children and Young People’s Department's projected budget for the three years 2008 to 2011. He outlined the key financial changes to the Department’s budget expected over that period and explained that his report was the departmental version of one that the Cabinet had considered on the overall Council budget (the Schools Budget was funded by Dedicated Schools Grant and was not covered in the report - that would be the subject of a separate report when the details of the DSG settlement became available). It covered the various key areas of the budget, including the likelihood (or otherwise) that specific grants would continue, the overall efficiency savings targets that the authority had to achieve and probable growth areas.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the projected departmental budget for the three years 2008 to 2011 and specifically the base estimate of £60,632,000 for 2008/09 be noted.
(2) That this Committee be informed of any Cabinet decisions that affect the projected budget.
Minute 44 - MONITORING: CAPITAL PROGRAMME 2007/08
Minute Text :
The Director of Children's Services submitted the regular update on the Children and Young People’s Capital Programme. The proposed expenditure for the Department in 2007/08 had been reported to the previous meeting as £26,977,500, but that had been revised to a likely expenditure of 25,216,100. To date £9,654,980 had been spent. The reduction in the forecast expenditure of £1,761,400 was due to slippage from the 200708 programme into 2008/09. A number of schemes had been revised to take account of likely spend profiles. The slippage resulted in both the programmed expenditure and the available resources being put back to the 2008/09 programme.
David Armstrong, Senior Inspector (Finance and Resources), circulated an additional paper showing the likely DCSF allocations over the three years 2008 to 2011 under the various revised programme headings. In total, £60,819,795 would be made available to Wirral over that period. He referred in particular to the new Strategic Primary Capital Programme, commencing in 2009/10, which would be linked to the on-going review of primary places.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the report be noted.
(Minutes Published: 15 November 2007)