Agenda, decisions and minutes

At this point Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on this agenda.

Councillor Runciman – Governor of Joseph Rowntree School and Trustee of the Theatre Royal.

Councillor Aspden – Governor of Knavesmire Primary School. Member of the National Union of Teachers (NUT). Teacher at Norton College, Malton, North Yorkshire.

Councillor Bradley – Governor of Poppleton Ousebank School

Councillor Cuthbertson – Governor of Headlands Primary School & Burnholme Community College

Councillor D’Agorne – Governor of Fishergate School, Employee of York College Student Services.

Councillor Kind – Governor of Burnholme Community College; Haxby Road Primary School

Councillor King – Governor of Burton Green School

Councillor Fraser – Governor of Knavesmire Primary School, Member of Unison

Councillor Livesley – Governor of Bishopthorpe Infant School

Councillor I Waudby – Governor of Lakeside Primary School

Dr D Sellick – Governor of Derwent Infant & Junior School

Mr A Lawton - Governor of Canon Lee School

Mr J Bailey – Governor of Huntington School

Ms F Barclay – ATL: Branch Secretary for City of York.

Mrs A Burn – Headteacher and Governor of Yearsley Grove Primary School.  Secretary of the York branch of the NAHT

Ms B Reagan is a teacher at Joseph Rowntree School, SENCO and Secretary of the York Association of the National Union of Teachers.

Mr M Thomas is the secretary of the York Association of NASUWT.

The following interests were also declared:

Councillor Kind declared a personal non-prejudicial interest in items 4 & 9 on the agenda as she was a foster carer.  She exercised her right to remain in the room and took part in the discussion.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 7 September 2006.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the last meeting of the Panel, held on

7 September 2006 be approved and signed as a correct record.

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 Panel’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 Friday 13 October 2006 at 10am.

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

With the agreement of the Chair, Ben Drake a representative of Unison, provided a written objection in relation to item 7 ‘Early Years SEN Funding Arrangements’.  He objected to the proposed close of Burton Green Enhanced Nursery Resource which would result in the redundancy of a union member employed as a Nursery Assistant and raised concern about the loss of the enhanced resource in an area of high social need.

Notice to Members - Calling In:

Members are reminded that, should they wish to call in any item on this agenda, notice must be given to Democracy Support Group by 10:00 am on Friday 13 October 2006.

Notice to Members - Calling In:

Members are reminded that, should they wish to call in any item on this agenda, notice must be given to Democracy Support Group by 10:00 am on DATE.

This report provides information on the key aspects of the Independent Review service and a progress report following the local implementation of the new regulations and guidance.

Members considered a report which provided information on the key aspects of the Independent Reviewing Service.  These included that:

·         The service carried out statutory reviews of care plans for looked after children which were used to highlight and progress priority concerns

·         The service was responsible for investigating and resolving problems in relation to complaints made by looked after children

·         In the case of a child at risk, the service was responsible for the production of a good quality, multi agency child protection plan through the involvement of all parties including the child and family. 

·         The service was responsible for chairing, minuting and administering child protection conferences for all children placed on the Child Protection Register

·         Through transitional planning meetings, the service aimed to provide a consistent approach for children as they passed from the 0-10 social work teams to the 11+ social work teams. 

·         The service had recently introduced a new system to ensure the stability of placements for looked after children up to the age of 11yrs with the intention of extending that to include children up to 14yrs.

The report highlighted the number of reviews, protection plans and conferences arranged over the past three years  and gave a progress report on local implementation of the new regulations and guidance.

It was noted that the new Adoption & Children Act 2002 guidance had provided a much clearer framework for developing the service and enabled the team to focus attention on improving all aspects of planning and reviewing activity.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to note the contents of the report and request further reports on an annual basis.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:   That the advice of the advisory panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:            To inform the Executive Member.        

Members considered a report which provided information on the key aspects of the Independent Reviewing Service.  These included that:

·         The service carried out statutory reviews of care plans for looked after children which were used to highlight and progress priority concerns

·         The service was responsible for investigating and resolving problems in relation to complaints made by looked after children

·         In the case of a child at risk, the service was responsible for the production of a good quality, multi agency child protection plan through the involvement of all parties including the child and family. 

·         The service was responsible for chairing, minuting and administering child protection conferences for all children placed on the Child Protection Register

·         Through transitional planning meetings, the service aimed to provide a consistent approach for children as they passed from the 0-10 social work teams to the 11+ social work teams. 

·         The service had recently introduced a new system to ensure the stability of placements for looked after children up to the age of 11yrs with the intention of extending that to include children up to 14yrs.

The report highlighted the number of reviews, protection plans and conferences arranged over the past three years.  Members were pleased to note the high number of reviews in which the child had taken part but noted they were not always held within the agreed timeframe.  It was reported that the service took a pro-active approach to ensuring that timescales where met but that it was not always possible.  

The report detailed the role of an IRO including a new power that where a child’s human rights were considered to be in breach, the Children Act 2002 regulations allowed them to refer a case outside of the local Authority to CAFCASS, and bring legal proceedings in order to achieve a resolution.

The report also included the progress made on local implementation of the new regulations and guidance which gave a framework for IROs to work independently from the Local Authority.  It was noted that the new Adoption & Children Act 2002 guidance had provided a much clearer framework for developing the service and enabled the team to focus attention on improving all aspects of planning and reviewing activity.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to note the contents of the report and request further reports on an annual basis.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:   That the advice of the advisory panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:            To inform the Executive Member.        

This report informs members of the Pathfinder award of new flexible entitlement for 3 & 4 year olds, requests approval to extend posts within the service and seeks agreement on the membership of the Pathfinder Project Board and the creation of a Headteacher Reference Group.

Members considered a report detailing the Pathfinder award of new flexible entitlement for 3 & 4 year olds which had increased from 12.5 hours to 15 hours of nursery education provision for 2006/7 and 2007/8.

The report highlighted the aims and objectives of the project which included:

·         the delivery of 15 hours of free and flexible early learning and care across the hours of 8-4 or 8-6

·         the participation in a national evaluation and giving access to selected settings as part of that process

·         acting as a beacon of good practice for other local authorities

It was noted that the intention was to form a Pathfinder Project Board from the existing NEF multi-agency group, which would fit into the existing reporting structure but with a widened remit and purpose.

Members were informed that participation in the pathfinder initiative would require the creation of three new temporary part-time posts.  Funding for those posts had been identified and any extension of them would need to be reviewed at the end of the pathfinder.

The report also highlighted the need for a new reference group made up of five headteachers from Primary schools with education nursery provision together with HR, Early Years and Finance staff from the local authority.  The intention would be to work on finding a new formula for schools funding for early years.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised:

i.                          To approve the membership of the Pathfinder Project Board

ii.                        To approve the creation of three additional posts

iii.                      To approve the creation of the Headteacher Reference Group

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:  That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and   endorsed.

REASON:          i.To ensure that the membership is reflective of the aims of the Pathfinder and that all key stakeholders are involved 

ii.         To co-ordinate and manage the Pathfinder to ensure maximum efficiency

iii.       To ensure equity across all settings

Members considered a report detailing the Pathfinder award of new flexible entitlement for 3 & 4 year olds which had increased from 12.5 hours to 15 hours of nursery education provision for 2006/7 and 2007/8.  The report detailed the aims and objectives of the project which included:

·         the delivery of 15 hours of free and flexible early learning and care across the hours of 8-4 or 8-6

·         the participation in a national evaluation and giving access to selected settings as part of that process

·         acting as a beacon of good practice for other local authorities

Members noted the intention to form a Pathfinder Project Board from the existing NEF multi-agency group, which would fit into the existing reporting structure but with a widened remit and purpose.  Members expressed concern that if the board became too large it would become unwieldy and hinder progress.  In an effort to prevent that from happening, the board’s remit would need to be properly defined and focused and ways of consulting with a wide range of parents would also need to be identified.

It was recognised that participation in the initiative would require the creation of three new temporary part-time posts.  Funding for those posts had been identified and any extension of them would need to be reviewed at the end of the pathfinder.

The report highlighted the need for a new reference group to work on finding a new formula for schools funding for early years.  The group would be made up of five headteachers from Primary Schools with education nursery provision, together with staff from the local authority.

It was noted that the challenge would be to strengthen the relationship between the private, voluntary, independent and maintained sectors to ensure that all viewed themselves as equal partners aiming to provide high quality nursery education.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to approve:

i.                          The membership of the Pathfinder Project Board

ii.                        The regular review of the size of the Board and consideration of different consultation structures

iii.                      The creation of three additional posts

iv.                       The creation of the Headteacher Reference Group

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:  That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and   endorsed.

REASON:          i. To ensure that the membership is reflective of the aims of the Pathfinder and that all key stakeholders are involved 

ii.         To ensure effective decision making

iii.       To co-ordinate and manage the Pathfinder to ensure maximum efficiency

iv.       To ensure equity across all settings

This report outlines a bid in process to the DfES for funding under the Independent State School Partnership arrangements (ISSP).

Members considered a report which outlined a bid in process to the DfES for funding under the Independent State School Partnership arrangements (ISSP).

It was noted that if the funding of £100,000 was won in the second stage of the bidding process, it would support collaborative working amongst staff from both maintained and independent secondary phase schools and provide master classes for KS4 and KS3 pupils from across the City, spanning pure and applied science to the scientific aspects of art and design.

Members were informed that the first stage bid had been successful and the second stage bid would be submitted early October.  If successful, it would provide opportunities for students and their teachers from both private and maintained sectors, to work together in challenging and engaging contexts thus promoting social cohesion in the City.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member should support the furtherance of the bid.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel should be accepted and endorsed

REASON:                  To enhance provision for a key group of young people, through externally provided resources.

Members considered a report which outlined a bid in process to the DfES for funding under the Independent State School Partnership arrangements (ISSP).

Members were informed that the first stage bid had been successful and the second stage bid would be submitted early October.  If successful, the funding of £100,000  would provide opportunities for students and their teachers from both private and maintained sectors, to work together in challenging and engaging contexts, provide master classes for KS4 and KS3 pupils spanning pure and applied science to the scientific aspects of art and design, and promote social cohesion in the City.

Members expressed their support for a scheme which would enhance the provision of education for able, gifted and talented children across the city as that was a national and local priority.  In particular, that it focused on science, as York was a designated ‘science city’.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member should support the furtherance of the bid.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel should be accepted and endorsed

REASON:                  To enhance provision for a key group of young people, through externally provided resources.

This report asks members to consider the funding arrangements for children with Statements of special educational needs (SEN) and to make decisions about the range of provision available.

Members considered a report detailing the funding arrangements for children with Statements of special educational needs (SEN) and about the range of provision available.

The report highlighted the specialist provision that the Local Authority had developed at Hob Moor Oaks Special School and in enhanced resources at St Paul’s Nursery and Burton Green Nursery.  It was noted that it had worked well but in recent years there had been a significant shortfall in take up of places at Burton Green Nursery and an increase in the number of children with special needs who attended playgroups, day nurseries, private and maintained nurseries.

Some parents had asked the local Authority to formally name one of those settings on their child’s Statement and fund the support which was required.  This had resulted in the need to realign resources in response to changing patterns of need and parental preference.

Members were asked to consider the closing of Burton Green enhanced nursery resource at the end of the financial year and the use of the current delegated funding of £24k to create a budget which could support children with Statements of SEN in a much more diverse range of Early Years settings.  It was accepted that this would enable the Authority to be more responsive to parental wishes and would be in line with its policy of inclusion.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member:

i.                     Agree to the closure of Burton Green Enhanced Nursery Resource at the end of the financial year

ii.                   Ask officers to seek approval from the Schools Forum for the transfer of £24k from the ISB to the Central SEN budget in 2007/8, as an exception to the DfES central expenditure limits

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:                  To ensure a more efficient use of resources and enable the Authority to respond positively to changing patterns of need and demand

Members considered a report detailing the funding arrangements for children with Statements of special educational needs (SEN) and the specialist provision that the Local Authority had developed at Hob Moor Oaks Special School and in enhanced resources at St Paul’s Nursery and Burton Green Nursery. 

It was noted that the provision had worked well, but in recent years there had been a significant shortfall in take up of places at Burton Green Nursery and an increase in the number of children with special needs who attended playgroups, day nurseries, private and maintained nurseries.

Some parents had asked the local Authority to formally name one of those settings on their child’s Statement and fund the required support.  This had resulted in the need to realign resources in line with the changing patterns of need and parental preference.

Members were asked to consider the closing of Burton Green enhanced nursery resource at the end of the financial year and the use of the current delegated funding of £24k to create a budget which could support children with Statements of SEN in a much more diverse range of Early Years settings.  

Members expressed regret that it would result in redundancy for one member of staff but recognised that it would enable the Authority to be more responsive to parental wishes and would be in line with its policy of inclusion.  

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member:

i.                     Agree to the closure of Burton Green Enhanced Nursery Resource at the end of the financial year

ii.                   Ask officers to seek approval from the Schools Forum for the transfer of £24k from the ISB to the Central SEN budget in 2007/8, as an exception to the DfES central expenditure limits

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:                  To ensure a more efficient use of resources and enable the Authority to respond positively to changing patterns of need and demand

The purpose of this report is to seek approval for a restructure which clarifies the role and responsibilities, of EDS within the context of new legislation and establishes a greater emphasis on multi-agency working.

Members considered a report which sought approval for a restructure of the Educational Development Service which would clarify the roles and responsibilities of the service, within the context of new legislation and establish a greater emphasis on multi-agency working.

The report detailed how the Education and Inspection Bill currently awaiting Parliamentary assent, placed a different emphasis on the relationship between the LA and schools.  It would require LAs to take faster and more decisive action to turn around schools causing concern and would expect them to draw on the expertise of a range of providers to carry out their responsibilities and powers.  It would also mean working in partnership with School Improvement Partners (SIPs) to promote high standards in schools.

The proposed restructure would result in a change in  the staffing requirements, and the report detailed how that would be achieved without incurring any further net cost to the Authority.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to approve the restructure of EDs and agree to the change to the staffing structure

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed  

REASON:                  To enable Eds to work within the context of the new legislation

Members considered a report which sought approval for a restructure of the Educational Development Service which would clarify the roles and responsibilities of the service, within the context of new legislation and establish a greater emphasis on multi-agency working.

The report detailed how the Education and Inspection Bill currently awaiting Parliamentary assent, placed a different emphasis on the relationship between the LA and schools.  It would require LAs to take faster and more decisive action to turn around schools causing concern and would expect them to draw on the expertise of a range of providers to carry out their responsibilities and powers.  It would also mean working in partnership with School Improvement Partners (SIPs) to promote higher standards in schools.

It was noted that as part of the restructuring process, roles and responsibilities would need to be reallocated resulting in the deletion of one Advisor post.  That would put more pressure on the remaining advisors and consultants and it was not yet known which member of staff would be affected.  In line with national strategies, it would also lead to the creation of a senior consultant post with responsibility for intervention programmes and locality projects.  The report detailed how that would be achieved without incurring any further net cost to the Authority.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to approve the restructure of EDs and agree to the change to the staffing structure

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed 

REASON:                  To enable EDs to work within the context of the new legislation

This report seeks views from the Executive Member for Children’s Services and Advisory Panel on the priorities for the Children and Young People’s Plan 2007 - 2010.

Members considered a report which detailed the Children’s and Young People’s Plan covering all services provided for children and young people in the city.

It was recognised that there had been a rapid pace of change over the last two years which had resulted in the need to review the plan twelve months earlier than expected.  The advantage of that had been to allow planning for Children’s Services to conform to the same timetable as the Local Area Agreement (LAA) which linked all the plans for the area.

Members were informed that a draft plan would be produced shortly before Christmas for approval by the Children’s Trust in the new year and recommended for implementation from April 2007.

A Consultation Document included as annex one of the report, outlined the nine most important issues identified as priorities for inclusion in the new plan.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to endorse the comments of the Advisory Panel.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:             That the comments of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed

REASON:                  To progress work in this area.

Members considered a report which detailed the Children’s and Young People’s Plan covering all services provided for children and young people in the city.

It was recognised that there had been a rapid pace of change over the last two years which had resulted in the need to review the plan twelve months earlier than expected.  The advantage of that had been to allow planning for Children’s Services to conform to the same timetable as the Local Area Agreement (LAA) which linked all the plans for the area.

Members were informed that a draft plan would be produced shortly before Christmas for approval by the Children’s Trust in the new year and recommended for implementation from April 2007.

A Consultation document included as annex one of the report, outlined the nine most important issues identified as priorities for inclusion in the new plan.  The document had been circulated to all interested partners and responses had been requested by 27 October 2006.  In parallel, consultation had also taken place with children and young people through the ‘Schools Out’ newspaper and arranged events.

Members were pleased to see that the issue of ‘Healthy Living’ included mental health problems, which had previously been omitted from the children and young people’s block of the Local Area Agreement (LAA).

Members noted the nine issues identified and agreed that although all were vitally important to the wellbeing of children, ‘success for all’ and ‘support for families’ were the bedrock for successful outcomes.  It was reported that the findings would be used to identify the actions needed to achieve the outcomes specified in the children and young people’s block of the LAA. 

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to endorse the comments of the Advisory Panel.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:             That the comments of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed

REASON:                  To progress work in this area.

This report invites comments on the Children and Young People’s Block of the Local Area Agreement.

Members considered a report that detailed the Children and Young People’s block of the Local Area Agreement which had previously been prepared by a reference group of the YorOK Board.  

It was noted that in preparing the draft block shown in annex one of the report, the  board had sought to align the priorities of all the partners delivering services in the city to ensure continuity with existing plans such as the Children & Young People’s Plan 2005-2008 and the Children’s Services Plan 2006-2009,  and in line with the five outcomes of ‘Every Child Matters’.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to endorse the comments of the Advisory Panel

Decision of the Executive Member:

RESOLVED:             That the comments of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:                  To progress work in this area

Members considered a report that detailed the Children and Young People’s block of the Local Area Agreement which had previously been prepared by a reference group of the YorOK Board.  

It was noted that in preparing the draft block shown in annex one of the report, the  board had sought to align the priorities of all the partners delivering services in the city to ensure continuity with existing plans such as the Children & Young People’s Plan 2005-2008 and the Children’s Services Plan 2006-2009,  and in line with the five outcomes of ‘Every Child Matters’.

Members commented on the outcomes and indicators specified within the report and recognised that the level of success of those outcomes would only become apparent after a period of time and that those timeframes would not all be the same.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to endorse the comments of the Advisory Panel

Decision of the Executive Member:

RESOLVED:             That the comments of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:                  To progress work in this area

Democracy Officer:            Melanie Carr

Telephone No. – 01904 552061

E-mail – melanie.carr@york.gov.uk

Democracy Officer:

Name - Melanie Carr

Telephone No. – 01904 552061

E-mail – melanie.carr@york.gov.uk