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 circulated with the agenda.

Councillor Hyman requested that the list of general interests be updated to reflect the fact that he was no longer a governor at Huntington Primary School.

Dr Sellick requested that the list be updated to note that he was the Church of England representative on the Governing Body of Derwent Infant and Junior School.

To approve and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 9 September 2008.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes from the meeting held on 9 September 2008 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

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 Monday 27 October at 5.00pm.

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

This report outlines the proposed methods for carrying out the review of the Extended Schools Agenda and asks Members to formally agree the scope and timetable for completion of the review.

Members considered a report outlining the proposed methods for carrying out the review of the Extended Schools Agenda and were asked to agree the timetable for carrying out the review and the methodology.

It had been proposed that the survey would be sent to all families within the city who have a six-year-old child. Discussion took place as to whether it would be appropriate to extend the survey to include parents of children of other ages in order to ensure that the information received was not focussed solely on childcare issues and suggestions were put forward for how to do this.

Members agreed that the questionnaire should include a question to enable families to give their views on whether the extended schools provision was meeting their needs in respect of other children (of different ages) in the family as well as the 6 year old.

Members questioned whether it was possible to acquire information directly from schools. Officers advised that in most cases the extended schools facilities were coordinated through external partners and there was no requirement for schools to hold specific information on the services although it was agreed that some schools would hold some information.

It was noted that there was a requirement to carry out a childcare sufficiency audit on an annual basis. The Assistant Director of Partnerships and Early Intervention explained that future audits could include questions on extended school provision although this would not be in time for this scrutiny review.

Consideration was given to the questions to be included in the survey and Members agreed that these should focus on the following issues.

·        What services do families require?

·        Does the provision enable those who were not in employment to return to work and does it allow people to work part time/irregular hours.

·        Demographic information in regard to service users and specifically whether it reaches socially disadvantaged people and if not why.

·        Reasons for not taking up the provision which may include, cost or quality of provision

·        Are the services provided sufficiently comprehensive?

·        Whether parents are satisfied with the quality of the provision

Members were asked to consider which (if any) Member of the Committee would be its representative on the Multi-Agency Steering Group. The Assistant Director of Partnerships and Early Intervention explained that a review of the composition and constitution of the Steering Group was taking place to ensure that its functions were fit for purpose in driving forward the Extended Schools Agenda. He reported that one option under consideration was to establish a smaller strategic steering group and for the existing body to be retained as a consultative group. Members agreed that as the scrutiny review was due to be completed by April 2009 it was not suitable for a Member to be appointed as a formal representative on the Group however that it would be beneficial for a Member to attend the next meeting of the Group which was due to take place in November in order to feedback to the Committee.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

This report provides Members with an update on the implementation of recommendations made as a result of two previously completed scrutiny reviews – ‘Inclusion in York Schools’ and ‘Post 16 Inclusion’.

Consideration was given to a report providing Members with an update on the implementation of recommendations made as a result of two previously completed scrutiny reviews – “Inclusion in York Schools” and “Post 16 Inclusion”.

RESOLVED: 

(i)         That recommendations 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 in the previously completed scrutiny review on “Inclusion in York Schools” be signed off as having been fully implemented. ¹

(ii)        That the following recommendations in the previously completed scrutiny review on “Inclusion in York Schools” be brought back to the meeting on 7 April 2009:

Recommendation 1 – statistics requested regarding the take-up of inclusion training by governors

Recommendation 3 – statistics requested regarding the take-up of inclusion training by staff dealing with special needs

(iii)       That recommendations 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13 and 14 in previously completed scrutiny review on “Post 16 Inclusion” be signed off as having been fully implemented. ²

(iv)       That the following recommendations in the previously completed scrutiny review on “Post 16 Inclusion” be brought back to the meeting on 7 April 2009:

Recommendation 4 – more specific information requested regarding work experience for pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties

Recommendation 7 – further information requested on tutoring for all students, but particularly those with emotional or behavioural difficulties and any issues in respect of staff training in this matter.

Recommendation 10 – update requested

REASON: To raise awareness of those recommendations which still have to be implemented.

To consider and agree the updated work plan for the work of the Education Scrutiny Committee and to receive an extract from the Executive Forward Plan of items for the Executive Member for Children and Young People’s Services and Advisory Panel.

Consideration was given to the work plan for Education Scrutiny Committee and to an extract from the Executive Forward Plan of items for the Executive Member for Children and Young People’s Services and Advisory Panel.

The Chair stated that the intention had been to invite the Executive Member from Children’s Services EMAP to the meeting on 3 December 2008. However it was agreed that as the scrutiny review on the Extended Schools Agenda was still in its early stages, it would be more beneficial to postpone her attendance until the January meeting.

Members noted that the incorrect forward plan items had been attached to the agenda. Officers apologised for the error and advised that the relevant forward plan items would be attached to the next agenda.

RESOLVED:             That the Executive Member from Children’s Services EMAP be invited to attend the meeting on 7 January 2009 instead of the meeting on 3 December 2008.

REASON:                  The Committee would have more detailed information by this stage as to issues arising from the review of the Extended Schools Agenda.