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.

Members were invited to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda. The following general personal non-prejudicial interests were declared.

Councillor Runciman             Governor of Joseph Rowntree School

                                                Governor of New Earswick Primary School

                                                Trustee of the Theatre Royal

Councillor Aspden                Member of National Union of Teachers

                                                Teacher at Norton College, Malton, North Yorkshire

Councillor Firth                      Governor of Wigginton Primary School

                                                Wife is Member of National Association of National Association of Head Teachers

Councillor Gunnell                 Son at York College

Councillor Merrett                  Child at St Paul’s Primary School

                                                Member of York Chinese Cultural Association

Councillor D’Agorne             Governor of Fishergate School

Employee of York College Student Services (Information Advice & Guidance for Young People)

Daughter at All Saints School

Councillor Brooks                 Member of Association of Teachers and Lecturers

                                                Lecturer employed by City College, Manchester

Councillor Alexander            Is an employee at York St John’s University

Mr J Bailey                             Governor of Huntington Secondary School

                                                LEA Governor of Huntington Primary School

Dr D Sellick                           Governor of Derwent Infant and Junior School

Ms F Barclay                         Teacher at All Saints School

                                                ATL Branch Secretary for City of York

Mrs J Ellis                              Governor of Burton Green Primary School

                                                Governor of Canon Lee School

Mrs A Burn                             Headteacher and Governor of Yearsley Grove School

Ms B Reagan                        Teacher at Joseph Rowntree School

                                                SENCO, Secretary of York Association of the National Union of Teachers

Mr M Thomas                        Secretary of York Association of NASUWT

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 6^th September 2007.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the last meeting held on 6 September 2007 be approved and signed as a correct record.

The Director of Learning Culture and Children’s Services updated the Committee on the Establishment of a Management Committee for the Pupil Referral Service (Minute 26 refers). He said that there had been a change in emphasis in the national guidelines and guidance since the meeting on 6^th September 2007.

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 5pm on Friday 12^th October 2007.

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

This report seeks approval for the development of Enhanced Resource Provision for children with Autistic Spectrum Conditions (ASC) as part of the new build at Joseph Rowntree School.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to:

·              adopt Option One as laid out in paragraph 7 of the report.

Decision of the Executive Member

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

REASON:                  To enable the Local Authority to meet the needs of a very vulnerable group of children in an inclusive and cost effective setting.

Members considered a report that sought their approval for the development of enhanced Resource Provision for children with Autistic Spectrum Conditions (ASC) as part of the new build at Joseph Rowntree School.

The Head of Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Principal Educational Psychologist said there was a growing population of children in the city (and nationally) with Autistic Spectrum Conditions (ASC) and a range of flexible provisions was needed to meet their requirements. The Enhanced Resource Provision for secondary age children at Fulford School was a small but extremely successful unit and it was felt that another unit on the north side of the city would be the most appropriate option. Joseph Rowntree school had given their full support for the proposed unit to be sited within their new buildings.

Members discussed the importance of having staff with the relevant expertise available for children with ASC on site.

Members were presented with the following Options:

Option 1        Enhanced Resource Provision within the planned new build for Joseph Rowntree School. This would be provision for 10 pupils diagnosed with ASC and would be based on the successful provision already established at Fulford.

Option 2        Increase the numbers of children with ASC within the Fulford Centre

Option 3        Maintain the10 places available at Fulford School and support all other secondary age pupils through individual packages of support across all schools in the city.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to:

·              adopt Option One as laid out in paragraph 7 of the report.

Decision of the Executive Member

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

REASON:                  To enable the Local Authority to meet the needs of a very vulnerable group of children in an inclusive and cost effective setting.

This paper updates members about progress on developing the selection processes for the Children and Young People’s Champion.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to:

1.      Agree to the process outlined at option 3 of the report with the amendment that ballot boxes be used instead of ballot papers being collected by teaching staff.

2.      Agree the revised role description for the Children and Young People’s Champion as outlined in Paragraph 22 of the report and Appendix 1

3.      Agree to the election rules as outlined in paragraph 23 of the report and Annex 2.

4.      Agree to the election timetable as outlined in paragraph 24 of the report and Annex 3

5.      Agree that any final amendments to the rules, timetable, process and or delivery required be delegated to Officers and the Executive Members and Shadow Executive Members for Youth and Social Inclusion. The following alterations had been made to the documentation:

·        The Wording in paragraph 2 of Annex 1 to the report had been amended to read ‘The role of the Children and Young People’s Champion must be filled by an Elected Member who is preferably not a member of the Executive or Shadow Executive’. This amendment had also been reflected within the ‘Children and Young People’s Election Rules’.

·        The wording in paragraph 12 of Annex 2 had been amended to read ‘Every effort will be made to ensure as wide spread participation as possible’.

·        The wording in paragraph 13 of Annex 2 be amended to ‘Ballots will be run through primary, secondary and special schools within the City.’

The following delegations were made:

·        That the work to advertise the election on the YorOK website be delegated to Officers in consultation with the Executive and Shadow Executive Members for Youth and Social Inclusion

·        Officers make effort to ensure that eligible young people attending York College are able to vote.

Decision of the Executive Member

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

REASON:                  To ensure that:

·        the vote is extended to the maximum amount of children and young people at a reasonable cost

·        that the role description fits with the new Constitution

·        a fair and transparent process for the election of a new Children and Young People’s Champion takes place

·        that the election of a new Children and Young People’s Champion takes place as swiftly as possible

Members considered a report that updated them on the progress of developing the selection processes for the Children and Young People’s Champion.

Officers said that they had explored the viability of various e-voting options including ‘I’m a Councillor Get Me Out of Here’, the university student union system, York College students and e-voting. It was concluded that these were not practical options as they were either too expensive or the facilities were not available to make them possible.

The Officer updated that the Members of the Young People’s Working Group had recommended Option 3 include the use of ballot boxes.

Members discussed the viability of including ‘non-state schools’ in the selection process and it was felt that this was something to be explored in future years once a more clear way forward had been agreed.  Some Members felt that there was a considerable expense to schools as the cost of reprographics was high but still felt that the election of a Children and Young People’s Champion was a good idea. There were also discussions on the feasibility of moving the date for preparation and distribution of the packs to the week including 4^th February 2007 to ease the impact on school staff. It was agreed that it would be a good idea for the School Councils to nominate some children and young people to act as independent scrutineers during the selection process.

Members were presented with the following options:

Option 1        Full election process including ballot boxes and numbered ballot papers involving all primary and secondary schools within the City.

Option 2        Election process including numbered ballot papers involving all primary and secondary schools within the City.

Option 3        Election process using un-numbered ballots in all primary and secondary schools within the City.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to:

1.      Agree to the process outlined at option 3 of the report with the amendment that ballot boxes be used instead of ballot papers being collected by teaching staff.

2.      Agree the revised role description for the Children and Young People’s Champion as outlined in Paragraph 22 of the report and Appendix 1

3.      Agree to the election rules as outlined in paragraph 23 of the report and Annex 2.

4.      Agree to the election timetable as outlined in paragraph 24 of the report and Annex 3

5.      Agree that any final amendments to the rules, timetable, process and or delivery required be delegated to Officers and the Executive Members and Shadow Executive Members for Youth and Social Inclusion. The following alterations had been made to the documentation:

o       The Wording in paragraph 2 of Annex 1 to the report had been amended to read ‘The role of the Children and Young People’s Champion must be filled by an Elected Member who is preferably not a member of the Executive or Shadow Executive’. This amendment had also been reflected within the ‘Children and Young People’s Election Rules’.

o       The wording in paragraph 11  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

This report provides information about the current position with regard to the Local Authority seats the permanent governing body at York High School and requests that members appoint the nominees listed in Annex 1 of the report.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to:

·        Appoint Local Authority Governors to the new York High School governing body to fill vacant seats as proposed in Annex 1 to the report.

Decision of the Executive Member

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

REASON:                  To ensure that Local Authority places on school governing bodies continue to be effectively filled.

Members considered a report that provided them with information on the current position regarding the Local Authority seats on the permanent governing body at York High School.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to:

·        Appoint Local Authority Governors to the new York High School governing body to fill vacant seats as proposed in Annex 1 to the report.

Decision of the Executive Member

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

REASON:                  To ensure that Local Authority places on school governing bodies continue to be effectively filled.

This paper is to present the first Childcare Sufficiency Assessment for York. The aim of the Childcare Sufficiency Assessment is to identify any areas where childcare does not match families’ needs. This assessment can then be used to form an action plan of how these gaps can be filled in partnership with a range of teams, agencies and childcare providers.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to:

·        Note the contents of the report and the comments made by Members at the meeting.

Decision of the Executive Member

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

REASON:                  To ensure that actions arising from completing this assessment are considered and acted upon.

Members considered a report that informed them of the first Childcare Sufficiency Assessment for York. The Children’s Information Service Manager gave a short presentation to Members of the Committee; this covered the following points:

o       Drivers – local and national

o       Defining sufficiency

o       York’s Approach

o       Key findings

o       Next steps

Members welcomed this report and presentation and made the following observations:                               

o       Small businesses needed to be encouraged to offer the ‘salary sacrifice’ scheme and awareness of the scheme needed to be raised in general.

o       The affordability of childcare in low income groups needed to be explored as there had been more responses to the consultation from those in the higher income groups.

o       There was a need to ensure that there was a more balanced response across the various social groups in future consultations.

o       The reliance on responses received via the internet should not be too heavy as this could be excluding certain social groups.

o       There should be an annual report back to the Committee.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to:

·        Note the contents of the report and the comments made by Members at the meeting.

Decision of the Executive Member

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

REASON:                  To ensure that actions arising from completing this assessment are considered and acted upon.

The Director of Learning, Culture and Children’s Services updated the Committee on the building work delays at Danesgate. He reported that there had been further delays to the construction process and this had led to there being implications for the young people due to start courses there. It was now hoped that the new buildings would be opened on 7^th January 2008 and that the young people would still be able to access the same courses as originally planned.  At the moment the prospective students were in mainstream schools and every effort was being made to try and keep them informed of the situation.