Agenda and minutes

18.1     RESOLVED – to confirm as a correct record the minutes of the last Committee meeting held on 26 September 2016.

19.1     Apologies were received from Dr Ann Holt (Church of England Representative).  It was also noted that Councillor Jim Sheppard was substituting for Councillor Francis Whetstone.

Notification of items which the Chair considers to be urgent and proposes to take at the appropriate part of the agenda. Any members who wish to raise urgent items are asked, wherever possible, to notify the Chair before the start of the meeting. In so doing, they must state the special circumstances which they consider justify the matter being considered urgent.

20.1     No urgent items were notified.

Report by the Chief Executive

21.1     The Director of Children’s Services, Stuart Gallimore, introduced the report by providing an overview of the context of the current RPPR process.

21.2       The Committee then discussed the areas of search before them and reiterated their request that written responses be provided to the items raised at its meeting in September.  These items are listed below, together with any further requests raised at the November meeting of the Committee: 

·        Revenue Budget.  The Committee asked for more detailed information about progress with Children’s Services review of all its costs across the department (which it is undertaking in response to a projected overspend for the year of approximately £4million);

·        Mental Health and Young People. More detail was requested about the impact of the savings plan on the provision of services relating to Mental Health and Young People. In particular the Committee asked about progress with the integration of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHs) with the local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).

·        Children’s Centres.    Further clarification was requested about the impact of the savings plan on Children’s Centres. In particular, the Committee asked for more information about the extent of the integration between Children’s and Health Services and whether more could be done to maximize this collaboration.

·        Troubled Families.   More detail was requested about the impact of the savings plan on the delivery of services for Troubled Families.   In particular, the Committee noted the Department’s comments about the scope for making further improvements for the 0-5 age group within this service area and the Early Help service.   The Committee therefore asked for further information from the Department regarding its plans for this age group in relation to these two services.   

·        Looked After Children.   The Committee were concerned about the reference under the Impact Assessment column for this service which indicates that the proposed reduction in staffing levels will mean there is an increased risk of young people being subjected to Child Sexual Exploitation.    Further clarification was therefore sought from the Department about this proposed area of savings and their potential impact.

·        Inclusion, Special Educational Needs and Disability (ISEND). Further clarification was sought regarding the increased costs the ISEND service is experiencing.  The Committee were specifically interested in:

o   whether more could be done to manage public expectations about the level of special educational needs support available; and

o   delays in converting statements to Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and the additional costs this may incur.

o   In addition to this, and following the discussion about the overspend for the ISEND budget, the Committee requested that a report be brought to its March meeting setting out in more detail the reasons behind the high level of demand the ISEND service is experiencing.

21.3     The Committee also discussed a number of other issues.  A summary of these issues, together with responses from officers are set out below:

·        Troubled Families.    The Committee were informed that a total of 1,382 families had been engaged by the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

Report by the Director of Children’s Services

22.1     The Committee were provided with an update on the implementation of the Integrated Progress Review for children aged 27 months. 

22.2     The Committee noted the report.

23.1     The Committee reviewed its work programme, noting the following:

·        that in relation to minute 21.4 (3), a report providing more detail about the reasons behind the high level of demand the ISEND service is experiencing be brought to the March 2017 meeting of the Committee.

The Forward Plan for the period to 28 February 2017. The Committee is asked to make comments or request further information.

24.1     The Committee noted the Forward Plan for the period 1 November 2016 to 28 February 2017.