Agenda and minutes

At this point Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on this agenda. A list of general personal interests previously declared are attached.

Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda, in addition to the list of general personal interests usually circulated with the agenda.

Councillor Looker declared a personal non-prejudicial interest in agenda item 4 (Extended Schools Agenda – Draft Final Report) (Minute 60 refers) as she is a Governor at Park Grove Primary School.

To approve and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 7 April 2009.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the meeting held on 7 April 2009 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair subject to the action points being numbered and referenced correctly in the body of the minutes.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Committee’s remit can do so. Anyone who wishes to register or requires further information is requested to contact the Democracy Officer on the contact details listed at the foot of this agenda. The deadline for registering is Tuesday 5 May  at 5 p.m.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

This report provides an update on the current scrutiny review of the Extended Schools Agenda.

Members considered the draft final report of the Education Scrutiny Committee on their review of the Extended Schools Agenda.

The Assistant Director of Partnerships and Early Intervention advised the Committee that he was very pleased with the report and that it was in alignment with where they want to be and how they want to move forward and that it would add weight to discussions they would be having with schools.

Members discussed the draft final report and agreed some minor amendments. Members discussed which annexes should be included in the final report. It was agreed that annexes A ( Findings from visits to after school clubs) and B (Findings & Analysis from returned surveys) be included as annexes with the final report. However Members decided that Annexes C (Information received from particular schools) and D (ContinYou Presentation) were not required as annexes and should be listed as background papers. Members remarked that these should still be available to members of the public and the Scrutiny Officer agreed to put the web address within the report directing readers to these documents.

The Chair thanked the Assistant Director of Partnerships and Early Intervention and the Extended Services team for their input throughout the review, especially with regard to the survey, and asked that they pass on the Committee’s thanks to schools.  He also thanked the Scrutiny Officer and Vice Chair for their support to the Committee.

Members were also reminded that this was Dr David Sellick’s, (Co-opted Statutory Member and Church of England Representative) last meeting and the Chair thanked him for the significant contribution he had made over several years to the work of the Committee.

RESOLVED:            

(i)         That the amendments made to the information shown in the report and annexes be agreed and the Scrutiny Officer be delegated to make these changes to the final report. ¹

(ii)        That the recommendations arising from the review be agreed as follows:

Objective 1

            That Members recommend that:

i.               Officers continue to develop the Strategic Steering Group

ii.             The new Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committee which is due to come into effect from the beginning of the municipal year 2009/10, consider reviewing the development of the Strategic Steering Group in the future

Reason:  In order to ensure the Strategic Steering Group is fit for purpose.

Objective 2

            That Members recommend that:

i.               The Childcare Sufficiency Audit be broadened to include Extended Services with a particular focus on accessibility, affordability, inclusive provision, and flexibility as detailed in the final bullet point of paragraph 21.

ii.             All local Authority schools in York identify a member of staff and a Governor responsible for Extended Services and community cohesion

iii.           The Executive Member for Children & Young People’s Services commission two reports highlighting how the issues raised in the final bullet point of paragraph 21 can be addressed.  The reports to be on:

·       ways of improving cluster arrangements and the establishment of a number of Extended Services Partnership Co-ordinators for York schools with the options for the medium /  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60.