Issue - meetings

5.1       The Committee considered a further 12 month progress report on the recommendations arising from the Scrutiny Review of Raising the Age of Participation.

5.2       The following points were made in response to the Committee’s questions:

·         In relation to the Gatsby benchmarks it is too early to say how East Sussex compares to other areas or the position of schools with regard to achieving the benchmarks by 2020. However, the Committee was assured that significant work is ongoing with schools to establish their current position in relation to the benchmarks and there will be a review of progress in a year.

·         The Committee was assured that work on mental health will continue to be aligned with schools.

5.3       The Lead Member for Education and Inclusion, Special Educational Needs and Disability highlighted the importance of this work in relation to Skills East Sussex. East Sussex is leading the way in terms of careers work and expects investment to be attracted as a result.

5.4       The Committee concluded that good progress has been made against the recommendations and that performance against targets is positive. The key issue relates to longer term sustainability but the evidence suggests that the Committee can be reasonably confident that the work is embedded.

5.5       RESOLVED:

(1)   to conclude the monitoring of this Scrutiny Review given the good progress made; and

(2)   to thank officers for their work and for keeping it under ongoing review.