Agenda and minutes

At this point, Members are asked to declare:

·        any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests,

·        any prejudicial interests or

·        any disclosable pecuniary interests

which they may have in respect of business on this agenda.

At this point in the meeting Members were asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in relation to the business on the agenda or any other general interests they might have within the remit of the Board. None were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 13 February 2017.

Resolved: That the minutes of the last meeting of the Corporate Parenting Board held on 13 February 2017 be approved and then signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Board’s remit can do so. The deadline for registering is 5pm the working day before the meeting, in this case 5pm on  Friday 7 April 2017.

Filming or Recording Meetings

Residents are welcome to photograph, film or record Councillors and Officers at all meetings open to the press and public. This includes the use of social media reporting, i.e. tweeting.  Anyone wishing to film, record or take photos at any public meeting should contact the Democracy Officers (whose contact details are at the foot of this agenda) in advance of the meeting.

The Council’s protocol on Webcasting, Filming & Recording of Meetings ensures that these practices are carried out in a manner both respectful to the conduct of the meeting and all those present.  It can be viewed at

http://www.york.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/11406/protocol_for_webcasting_filming_and_recording_of_council_meetings_20160809.pdf

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

This report informs Members about the activities of the Virtual School Head teacher, the Virtual School and the 2015/16 educational outcomes of York’s children and young people in care.

Any Board Member whose area of interest relates to the issues raised in this report will have the opportunity to give an update under this item.

The Board considered a report that informed them of the activities of the Virtual School Head teacher, the Virtual School and the 2015/16 educational outcomes of York’s children and young people in care.

The Assistant Director of Education and Skills gave an update and highlighted the contents of the 2015/16 Annual Report of the Virtual School. She made reference to the:

·        role of the virtual school.

·        schools roll and characteristics

·        educational outcomes for York’s Looked After Children

·        excellent school attendance figures

·        interventions in place to improve outcomes for Looked After Children.

The Board discussed the attainment gaps between York’s Looked After Children and the national and the national Children in Care data. Officers confirmed that with such a small cohort of children in care the data was currently statistically insignificant and that a new benchmarking tool, due to go live in the Autumn, would have the capacity to isolate data to look at variables and benchmark each individual Looked After Child’s progress from their starting point.

Members noted that a focus on improving teaching and learning in maths, reading and writing would continue and that the Virtual School would continually support and advise  the School Effectiveness and Achievement Advisers and Head teachers about the outcomes for York’s children in care.

Following comments and questions from the Board, officers were requested to thank the Virtual Head teacher for her comprehensive report that gave a logistic view and they agreed that the excellent attendance figures would enhance a child’s learning to maximise their progression.

Resolved:  (i)      That the contents of the annual report be noted and commented on to aid the development of the 2016-17 annual report.

(ii)       That an update report be received in the Autumn

Reason:   To keep Board Members updated on the Virtual School and the 2015/16 educational outcomes of York’s children and young people in care.

This paper provides an update on the implementation of Local Area Teams following their launch in January 2017. Local Area Teams bring together a range of pre-existing services to form a new set of preventative arrangements for families from pregnancy through to adult hood.

Any Board Member whose area of interest relates to the issues raised in this report will have the opportunity to give an update under this item.

Members considered a report that updated them on the implementation of Local Area Teams (LATs) following their launch in January 2017.

The Head of Early Help and Local Area Teams gave an update and highlighted the background to the service, including the key elements and confirmed LAT’s were a multi agency that brought together a range of partners and pre-existing services in local areas to form a new set of preventive arrangements for families from pregnancy through to adult hood.

The Board noted that by tackling issues as they emerged there was a significant chance of preventing long term poor outcomes and the need for more specialised and high cost services at a later stage.

Following questions from the Board officers confirmed:

·        the LAT’s were communicating with a variety of partners to raise service awareness and develop partnership working.

·        they would brief all Ward Councillors to ensure they were aware of and fully understood the service. 

·        they would use performance indicators to measure the objectives.

·        they would verify if a translator would be present at the parenting course for parents of toddlers.¹

The Board thanked officers for their work and noted the supportive feedback they had already received from schools. They welcomed an update at a future Board meeting.

Resolved:  That the report be noted and an update be received at a future Corporate Parenting Board meeting.

Reason: To keep Members updated on implementation of Local Area Teams.

To consider the Board’s work plan for the current municipal year and proposed work plan for 2017-18 and to receive any updates Members may wish to give on their agreed areas of interest relating to the work of the Board.

Members considered the Boards work plan for the 2016/17 and 2017/18 municipal year.

Following discussions it was agreed:

Resolved: (i)      That the work plan be noted.

(ii)     That the relevant Members be briefed by officers before their visits to Wenlock Terrace and The Glen and then updates be received at future Corporate Parenting Board meetings.

(iii)  That SMTIM be invited to present their Annual report to the Corporate Parenting Board.

(iv)    That Staying Put be invited to present an update to the Corporate Parenting Board.

(v)     That the next Virtual School annual report be considered at the November Corporate Parenting Board.

Reason: To keep the Board’s work plan updated.