A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Council and councillors

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Via Zoom - https://us06web.zoom.us/j/93333104034

Contact: Jane Narey  01572 758311

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

WELCOME AND APOLOGIES RECEIVED

Minutes:

Councillor Ainsley welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies were received from the co-opted member Mr Peter French and from Karen Kibblewhite.

2.

RECORD OF MEETING pdf icon PDF 254 KB

To confirm the record of the meeting of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee held on the 30th September 2021.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on the 30th September 2021 were approved as an accurate record.

3.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

In accordance with the Regulations, Members are invited to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have and the nature of those interests in respect of items on this Agenda and/or indicate if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest

4.

PETITIONS, DEPUTATIONS AND QUESTIONS

To receive any petitions, deputations and questions received from Members of the Public in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 216.

 

The total time allowed for this item shall be 30 minutes.  Petitions, declarations and questions shall be dealt with in the order in which they are received.  Questions may also be submitted at short notice by giving a written copy to the Committee Administrator 15 minutes before the start of the meeting.

 

The total time allowed for questions at short notice is 15 minutes out of the total time of 30 minutes.  Any petitions, deputations and questions that have been submitted with prior formal notice will take precedence over questions submitted at short notice.  Any questions that are not considered within the time limit shall receive a written response after the meeting and be the subject of a report to the next meeting.

 

Minutes:

There were no petitions, deputations or questions.

5.

QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE FROM MEMBERS

To consider any questions with notice from Members received in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rules No 218 and No. 218A.

Minutes:

There were no questions with notice from members

6.

NOTICES OF MOTION FROM MEMBERS

To consider any Notices of Motion from Members submitted in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule No 219.

 

Minutes:

There were no notices of motion from members

7.

CONSIDERATION OF ANY MATTER REFERRED TO THE COMMITTEE FOR A DECISION IN RELATION TO CALL IN OF A DECISION

To consider any matter referred to the Committee for a decision in relation to call in of a decision in accordance with Procedure Rule 206.

 

Minutes:

There were no call-ins.

 

---oOo---

At the request of Dawn Godfrey and with the permission of the Chair, it was agreed that Agenda Item 10 would be discussed first, followed by Agenda Item 9 and then Agenda Item 8.

---oOo---

8.

SEND RECOVERY PLAN PROJECTS: UPDATE pdf icon PDF 355 KB

To receive Report No. 188/2021 from Bernadette Caffrey, Head of Early Help, SEND and Inclusion

Minutes:

Report No. 188/2021 was received from Bernadette Caffrey, Head of Early Intervention, SEND and Inclusion and was presented by Louise Crookenden-Johnson, SEND Capital Programme Manager.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

 

·       The High Needs cumulative deficit was projected to be about £1m by March 2022 and would increase by approximately £500k per year.

·       100 children had been considered through the sector led panel process.  In the future, schools would be able to commission support directly using their own funds.

·       There had been a significant reduction in the number of excluded pupils at Catmose College because of the projects.

·       The demand for EHCP’s had increased in the past year.

·       The national review of the SEND Code of Practice had not been finalised.

·       The projects were assisting schools to act early when they saw that a child’s social emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs had escalated so that support could be put in place to prevent a child from being moved into the SEND system.

·       Councillor Brown requested that the ‘current modelling’ table (page 45) be simplified as the items in brackets usually identified a deficit, which was not the case in this example.

ACTION: Louise Crookenden-Johnson

·       Dawn Godfrey confirmed that the projects were moving in the right direction to financially balance in the long-term, without the need to reduce services.

·       Louise Crookenden-Johnson confirmed that some schools had not understood the projects at the beginning but have since seen the results and were now very supportive of the projects.

·       Councillor E Baines stated that he would abstain from voting as he had not received the papers until the afternoon of the meeting.

 

RESOLVED

That the Scrutiny Committee:

 

a)    NOTED the progress and emerging impact of the SEND Recovery Plan group of projects.

b)    ENDORSED the actions planned to continue to positively impact the High Needs Budget deficit.

 

---oOo---

Louise Crookenden-Johnson left the meeting at 7:48 p.m.

---oOo---

9.

REVIEW OF COMMISSIONED SERVICES AND YOUTH OFFENDING pdf icon PDF 216 KB

To receive Report No.187/2021 from Bernadette Caffrey, Head of Early Help SEND and Inclusion

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No. 187/2021 was received from Dawn Godfrey, Strategic Director – Children’s Services.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

 

·       The report and Appendix A detailed the different services commissioned by Children’s Services and due for recommissioning within the next 2 years.

·       Some services were commissioned to other Local Authorities to deliver on our behalf due to the small size of Rutland County Council namely adoption services, which were commissioned to Lincolnshire County Council; the children’s social care legal services, which were commissioned to Peterborough City Council and the out of hours service, which was commissioned to Leicestershire County Council.

·       Dawn Godfrey had established the Children’s Commissioning Group to oversee all of Children’s Services commissioning.  The group ensured that all commissioned services were provided to a high quality via monthly meetings with the respective Local Authorities.

·       Councillor Begy asked how such a big job was managed and errors prevented.  Dawn Godfrey confirmed that KPI’s (key performance indicators) were issued with each contract and were closely monitored by Children’s Services and the Commissioning Team during the life of the contract.

·       Healthy Child Programme extended to undertake a full review of the service specifications in two sections: 0–11-year-olds and the 12–19-year-olds.

·       Contracts were reviewed when due for renewal to assess if the service was still required, if there was any duplication of services and if the service could be provided cheaper but with the same quality by a different provider.

·       Bernadette confirmed the Educational Psychology Service had 275 children with a plan and that the service did not have a waiting list, unlike many other Local Authorities.  However, the demand for plans and assessments of children was expected to rise, especially those arising from parental requests. Dawn Godfrey also reported that a national shortage of qualified Educational Psychologists would also increase costs.

·       Bernadette Caffrey clarified that ‘ADHD Solutions’ were an independent charitable provider working across Rutland and Leicestershire.

·       Dawn Godfrey stated that the Official Journal of the European Union stated in item 10.1 was no longer relevant due to Brexit.

·       Bernadette Caffrey confirmed that the ‘greater choice and control’ stated in item 10.3 was not an ‘open cheque’ to families.  Instead, families, if they met the threshold for support, were given a set amount via a personal budget or a direct payment for them to directly purchase the service(s) they deemed most appropriate.  

·       Councillor Ainsley stated that the commissioning of services for the Council’s Children’s Services was very complex, with 21 contracts due for renewal in 2022 alone.

 

RESOLVED

That Scrutiny Committee:

 

a)    NOTED the commissioning arrangements, assurances and impact of significant commissioned contracts in Children’s Services

 

---oOo---

Dawn Godfrey and Bernadette Caffrey left the meeting at 8.38 p.m.

---oOo---

10.

ANY OTHER URGENT BUSINESS

To receive any other items of urgent business which have been previously notified to the person presiding

 

Minutes:

None

---oOo---

Councillor N Begy left the meeting at 8:41 p.m.

---oOo---

11.

APPOINTMENT OF A NEW VICE CHAIR OF THE COMMITTEE

To appoint a new Vice Chair of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee following Councillor Harvey’s appointment to the Cabinet.

Minutes:

·       Councillor Ainsley informed attendees that, following Councillor Harvey’s appointment to the Cabinet, a new Vice Chair for the Scrutiny Committee was needed. 

·       There were no nominations for the role of Vice Chair, so Councillor Ainsley nominated Councillor Sue Webb as the Vice Chair.  This was seconded by Councillor P Browne and was unanimously agreed by the committee.

 

RESOLVED

 

That Councillor Sue Webb was APPOINTED as the Vice-Chair of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee.

12.

REVIEW OF FORWARD PLAN AND ANNUAL WORK PLAN pdf icon PDF 144 KB

To consider the current Forward Plan and identify any relevant items for inclusion in the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee Annual Work Plan, or to request further information.

 

The Forward Plan is available on the website at:

 

https://rutlandcounty.moderngov.co.uk/mgListPlans.aspx?RPId=133&RD=0

 

Minutes:

The Forward Plan and Work Plan were discussed. No changes were made.

13.

DATE AND PREVIEW OF NEXT MEETING

Wednesday, 26th January 2022 at 7 pm

 

This will be a joint meeting with the Children & Young People Scrutiny Committee with only 1 item on the agenda: The Budget for 2022/23

Minutes:

Wednesday, 26th January 2022 at 7 p.m. via Zoom

 

This would be a joint meeting with the Adults and Health Scrutiny Committee with only 1 item on the agenda: The Budget for 2022/23

 

 

SUMMARY OF ACTIONS

 

No.

Ref.

Action

By

1

9

Councillor Brown requested that the ‘current modelling’ table (page 45) be simplified as the items in brackets usually identified a deficit, which was not the case in this example.

Louise Crookenden-Johnson