To receive any questions submitted from Members of the Council in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rules 30 and 30A.

Councillor A Brown presented his question as set out in the agenda supplement.

The Chairman invited Councillor L Stephenson to respond which was as follows:

“We will be commencing work on our electric charging policy this year, and this will set out our approach for delivery of electric charging points within the county. As part of this process, we will be considering the need for residential charging for households without off street parking.  We will undertake a public consultation on this document when we have completed.

The installation of charging points for households without off street parking will be covered in the electric charging policy. The lack of regulations/by-laws may restrict how far the Council can go in the requirements that it can make, however there are general health and safety considerations.  If cables crossed a highway/footpath it could create a hazard and/or cause an obstruction.  If anyone were to route cables across public footpaths to charge their vehicle, there would be a risk of a claim of liability if an accident occurred. It is likely that this will be an emerging area for policy development nationally and we will monitor the position carefully.

The Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) is a grant that provides a 75% contribution to the cost of a charge point and its installation. The EVHS will not be available to homeowners who live in single unit properties after 31st March 2022 and the installation must be complete by 31 March 2022 and a claim submitted to DVLA by 30 April 2022”.

Further information can be found here, Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme: guidance for customers - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The following supplementary question was asked by Councillor A Brown:

“Councillor Stephenson are you aware of the Government guidance for the On-Street Residential ChargePoint Scheme for Local Authorities and what is your view on cable protectors”.

In response to Councillor Brown’s supplementary regarding government guidance for the On-Street Residential ChargePoint Scheme for Local Authorities and views on cable protectors;

Councillor Stephenson reminded Council that Officers could provide advice on the legalities but her personal view would be that it was important to meet the demand for electric charging vehicles, but Highway’s safety was paramount.

Councillor R Powell presented her question as set out in the agenda supplement.

The Chairman invited the Leader of the Council to respond which was as follows:

“As Members are aware Council approved the establishment of a Cross Party group with representation from the Group Leaders to provide oversight to the preparation of the Local Plan and engage with elected Members throughout the plan making process.

The first stage would be to look at the issues and options and the Group Leaders and Deputy Members had all received training on the process. These options would be looked at by the Group Leaders and would then be open for discussion. As outlined in the Constitution a full report would be taken at the 5 April Cabinet meeting seeking approval. Prior to this there was scope for Scrutiny consideration and Member Briefings prior to this.

Regulation 18 Local Plan sets out the Councils preferred Local Plan and Spatial Strategy, and this was currently scheduled for 2023. This is expected to involve Scrutiny and Members engagement prior to Cabinet consideration. The Local Plan including a Spatial Strategy will be finalised in a pre-submission Local Plan which will require the resolution of Full Council, and this is scheduled for 2024 and full Member engagement prior to this”.

The following supplementary question was asked by Councillor Powell:

Councillor Hemsley responded to Councillor Powell’s supplementary by agreeing that all Members needed to have an open debate at an early stage with all of the evidence and options presented before them.

Councillor A MacCartney presented her question as set out in the agenda supplement.

The Chairman invited Councillor D Wilby to respond, which was as follows:

“Rutland has an Inclusion Team that works with schools, education providers, early help partners, the Admissions Service and families to support children to receive their full education entitlement. This is underpinned by the (attached) Children Missing Education guidance and separately, Children Missing from Education guidance to support schools and other education provider to understand the risks for children and to fulfil their responsibilities to protect children as well as setting out the Local Authorities’ responsibilities and the support that can be put in place to support children and their families and schools.

The Local Authority has in place the following to support the identification and support for children, and to address concerns about children not being in school.

1. Termly school meetings held with each secondary school in Rutland and attended by senior leadership team members, to discuss children with school attendance concerns and plan appropriate interventions of support. This will consider the range of support available through our own early help offer and our wider early help community support.
2. Attendance Surgeries are offered to all schools in Rutland to provide advice and guidance on whole school attendance strategies and to discuss cases of concern. 
3. Education Inclusion Partnership Support; provides a range of interventions to support children who are at risk of disengaging/exclusion from school, which might be related to their emotional needs, issues at home, ranging from whole school training, CPD, Educational Psychology intervention, Specialist teachers in Social, Emotional & Mental Health (SEMH), ADHD solutions support etc.
4. Exclusion Support from Inclusion Support Officer following permanent exclusion to avoid delay in returning to school. This will include providing short term education such as alternative provision or tuition, whilst securing a permanent plan of education. This will often take a whole family approach, considering the support required for parents and siblings also for example through early help.
5. Medical Needs Support; children who are too unwell to attend school are provided with appropriate education such as 1-1 tuition and are supported with a multiagency plan to access education. This will include input from health, education, early help etc.
6. Children Missing Education (CME) tracking; Inclusion support officer tracks children who are missing from their education to ensure the time out of school is kept to a minimum. This will include for example supporting parents to apply to schools. This may also require liaising with other local authorities to ensure children’s safe arrival into education when moving between authorities.
7. Inclusion Tracking; Rutland’s Inclusion Team tracks those children who are identified as at risk of missing education or missing education. This data is analysed to understand need and to ensure we are responding appropriately. This data is reported to the performance board on a monthly basis.
8. Monthly meeting with the Admissions Service; This ensures any child without a school place, or at risk of becoming a child without a school place, is identified.  Established processes within the Authority and with neighbouring Admission Authorities aim to minimise time a child is not in school for their education.
9. Strategic Links and sharing information about children at risk; Rutland’s Inclusion Team are members of the Association of Education Welfare Management. This group has members from across the country who meet to discuss key themes. The Department for Education supports the group and consults key development areas. Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland also have an Attendance and Inclusion group, that has been set up to bring the neighbouring authorities together to identify the services available and understand the gaps that need addressing.
10. Families with family support needs that may be impacting on children ability to get to school or to attend, will be offered Early Help support from a case officer, who will work closely with families, with health staff, the police or community safety to protect children at home and in the community.
11. During Covid Lockdown, the Early Help and Children Social Care teams maintained regular contact with vulnerable families known to the service, either face to face or virtually to ensure they were supported and attending school when it was safe to do so, working closely with school teachers. Risk assessments were conducted to identify any risks to families and prioritise those most vulnerable.  Schools were encouraged to report regularly in to the LA on the number of children attending school. 

Elective Home Education; Inclusion Officer supports families when the decision has been made to provide education for their children themselves. The responsibility is to understand the education in place for the child(ren) and to satisfy ourselves that the education plan is sufficient. Families will be offered an assessment to understand if there are other needs and the appropriate support will be sought for them.

Legal Interventions

In all cases we will aim to engage the family and support the child to access their full-time education. However, in some cases the local authority may need to refer to their legal powers to bring about change.

1. School Attendance Orders; this may be issued to parents when we are not satisfied that a child is in receipt of a sufficient education. This can include those parents who have elected to home educate and where the parents have failed to satisfy the local authority that that provision is suitable.
2. Prosecution; a parent may be prosecuted if a child has not been attending school regularly (and that absence has been unauthorised), and other attempts to support the family to make improvements have been unsuccessful.
3. Fine; we may alternatively issue a fine in the case of above. This may also be used when a child has been taken out of school for a leave of absence in term time and the absence has been unauthorised.  

Below is the number of children which the Local Authority is aware of, and is supporting, who are not in school or in school part time

• Medical Needs (children not attending full time) – 14
• Permanent Exclusions (Academic Yr 2021-2022 YTD) – 4
• Children without School Place (Children not on roll at school who are being supported to seek a school place/appropriate education provision) – 3
• Electively Home Educated Children (rolling register total) - 27