The Committee will receive updates from all the Scrutiny Leads in regard to their portfolio’s.  The written updates are attached any verbal updates will be presented at the meeting.

So now moving on very quickly to the end of our meeting, we have received scrutiny lead updates, which I included in the pack alongside the Minutes. Please continue to provide these on a monthly basis and we will just note the updates that have been provided to all Members.

The Committee will receive updates from all the Scrutiny Leads in regard to their portfolio’s.  The written updates are attached any verbal updates will be presented at the meeting.

The Committee received and noted the updates submitted and also received the following verbal update from Councillor Marc Francis on behalf of Councillor Ehtasham Haque (Housing & Regeneration Scrutiny Sub Committee) regarding the Housing & Regeneration Scrutiny Sub Committee – held on Thursday, 2nd December 2021 6.30 p.m.  It was noted that:

The Sub-Committee had (i) considered a report on the performance of social housing landlords; (ii) received representations from the Tenants and Residents Association of Clare House, (as referenced in Minute 7.1 above); (iii) noted that the invitations to Spitalfields Housing Association (SHA) to attend both the 9^th September and this 19^th October meetings of the Sub-Committee had been declined, and that there were SHA residents in attendance who wished to raise concerns with their housing provider. Accordingly, it had been agreed to ask the Mayor what he intended to do about the ongoing situation with SHA and it is hoped that the sub-committee get a quick response on this issue.

The Committee will receive updates from all the Scrutiny Leads in regard to their portfolio’s.  The written updates are attached any verbal updates will be presented at the meeting.

The Committee received and noted the updates submitted and also received the following verbal update from the Chair on behalf of Councillor Faroque Ahmed on the recent parking challenge session which explored the impact of specific influences such as Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) expansion, car free developments, Permit Transfer Scheme, hotspot areas and the switch to electric vehicles as we try to tackle the climate emergency. This challenge session provided an opportunity to scrutinise the sustainability of the council’s approach to parking and traffic management. It is clear from the evidence heard that parking is an integral element of not only the transport strategy but also many of the other council’s priorities and aspirations. The Committee has made seven recommendations and hopes that the Mayor and Cabinet take these forward and work with Overview and Scrutiny to ensure that the council has a robust parking and traffic management policy for years to come.

The Committee will receive updates from all the Scrutiny Leads in regard to their portfolio’s.  The written updates are attached any verbal updates will be presented at the meeting.

The Committee received and noted the updates submitted and also received the following verbal update from Councillor Bex White on the recent SEND inspection.

The Committee:

v  Noted that the Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has been a regular item on the Children’s Sub-Committee agenda throughout including a “deep dive” in October 2019 the Sub-Committee then had an update to the Committee on SEND inspection preparation in February 2021 and James Thomas, Corporate Director, Children and Culture commented that of the three SEND inspections that this will be the most challenging the inspection and the Sub-Committee had a brief update at the September 2021 meeting but the outcome of the inspection was at that point embargoed by Ofsted and it was not possible to be shared at that point. 

v  Noted that Councillor White as the Chair had not been made aware of the outcome of the inspection about point because of the embargo and therefore, limited what could be shared at that time.

v  Noted that the outcome of the inspection was that LBTH is required to produce a written statement of action because of some areas of significant weakness within the SEND service as the outcome letter did highlight a number of strengths and some key areas for development and the written statement of action will cover those areas of significant weakness. Which are the poor quality and oversight of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) plans including annual the process; the lengthy waiting times for assessment and diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD); fragmentation in the provision of speech and language therapy which means too many children and young people do not get the specialist help and support they need; weaknesses in communication between area leaders and parents e.g. misunderstandings for many families are not aware of services they could access and do not have knowledge of the areas plans to improve.

v  Noted that there is a plan for a “deep dive” discussion at the February meeting of the Sub-Committee and we chose this date so LBTH has the opportunity to begin to address the areas of significant weaknesses and so that we can then input into that process as it goes along and there are further plans in place to improve support for children with SEND more generally these are via the SEND improvement plan which is monitored by the multi-agency SEND improvement board which is sub-group of the Health and Wellbeing Board.

v  Noted that work on the return SEND Action Plan has begun and is this would be submitted to the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) and the Department for Education (DfE) by the end of December 2021 Meaning that when the Sub-Committee looks at the issue it will be the first meeting that has had an opportunity to look at that response and Councillor White agreed to keep the Committee updated on this issue as it progresses.