There were no apologies for absence.

To note any declarations of interest made by Members, including those restricting Members from voting on the questions detailed in Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act, 1992.  See attached note from the Monitoring Officer.

There were no declarations of pecuniary interests, although Councillor Helal Uddin declared for item 4.1 that his employer, the Bromley by Bow Centre worked closely with Poplar HARCA which was a housing provider in the borough who funded the Spotlight Youth Service.

To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the held on 8^th October 2019.

The minutes of the meeting from the 8^th October 2019 were agreed and approved as an accurate record of the meeting save for the following amendments:

SEND INSPECTION

Page 13 – Following the action point it should be NOTED

Members AGREED further information was required to complete the deep dive into SEND services. The Sub-Committee requested information regarding the financial breakdown, the workforce and the consultation. It requested an updated SEND action plan dashboard and equalities impact study. Members agreed this should be shared with Sub-Committee at a future meeting.

SEND CONSULTATION AND OUTCOMES

Page 13 - Following the second bullet point, a further bullet point be added stating:

·         In response to the issues outlined by the Support for Learning Service, Ms McInnes said the service had not been reviewed for 23 years. The law and practice for SEND had changed. The service had not delivered to all categories of need and was patchy across the borough. Some schools were receiving more input than others. Ms McInnes said it was not an equitable service providing across Early Years to age 25 and only operated during term time. She said this had to change.

Prior to the Sub-Committee receiving a report on Youth Service Provision for Girls, presentations were made by the girls group of Haileybury Youth Centre and the Spotlight Youth Centre.

Haileybury Youth Centre

Kanizah Khan, Zahra Halim and Hannah Hussein informed Members why they got involved with the Haileybury Youth Centre, the types of activities they had undertaken and the benefits of socialising and mixing with other young people.

Points to note from the presentation:

·         Girls encouraged by friends and family to join the Youth Club

·         Has helped improve their confidence  and allows them to be smart with their time

·         Have taken part in experiences, they would never have done. For example, the ADSAN Leadership course and a residential trip to Wales.

·         One day a week is allocated to girls, with approximately 10 attendees.

·         They recommend the Youth Club should be promoted in schools and to parents and there should be a balance of activities for both boys and girls to get involved in.

In response to questions from Members the following was noted:

·         Some of the girls had joined the Youth Club after hearing about it at a summer fayre. They believed the promotion of the Youth Club in schools and to parents would encourage more girls to attend.

·         The girls expressed their gratitude for the Youth Club and said it provided a great opportunity to experience new activities and have something to do with their time in the holidays.

·         In response to if social media would be an appropriate tool to advertise the activities of the youth club, the girls who were of a younger age bracket 11 -14 years, said their preference would be face to face engagement. Youth workers should attend schools and convince parents of the benefits of the Youth Club.

·         The girls said they had developed good relationships with their youth workers. They felt confident in discussing problems they had with their youth worker, who provided them with support and advice.

The Chair, thanked the girls from Haileybury Youth Centre for their presentation.

Spotlight Youth Centre

Cadidjatu Jalo, Ayesha Rafiqul, Leia Wasike-Ginn and Charlie Davis from Spotlight Youth Club gave a presentation on their experiences of being part of a Youth Club and how it had opened doors to activities they would otherwise never have considered.

Points to note from the Presentation:

·         Spotlight Youth Centre had provided them with opportunities to pursue their interests such as music, politics and debating, the environment as well as arts and crafts.

·         They had learnt new skills and had taken part in sports which they may not have tried before, such as boxing. They had been involved in community projects to feed the homeless.

·         The girls said breaking down gender stereotypes was crucial in order to make the Youth Club welcoming for girls. They said it was important to change the mind-sets and behaviours of young people and also parents. Youth Clubs were safe places for young people to engage and grow as citizens of their community.

In response  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.1

Councillor Danny Hassell, Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Young People presented the post inspection update report from Ofsted, relating to Children’s Social Care and Early Help Service.

Councillor Hassell said following the ‘inadequate’ rating Children Services had received in 2017, the Service had worked hard to improve and had developed a detailed improvement plan. The most recent inspection took place in June 2019 and demonstrated significant improvement with Children’s Services, which is now rated as ‘Good’.

However, the Service continues to face several issues and challenges such as financial pressures, the recruitment and retention of staff, the levels of demand and ensuring that improvements in the quality of practice are sustained.

Councillor Hassell said the budget for the Service would need to be right sized, as part of the budget process, to ensure it had the right level of funding for the levels of demand the service was experiencing. Regarding the recruitment and retention of staff, good progress had been made, with a reduction of agency staff by fifty percent. Levels of demand remains high which is to be expected in an inner London borough with our demographics. Ofsted had concurred that the level of demand that is experienced was to be expected.

Councillor Hassell said it was vital the Service continued on this trajectory of improvement.

In response to questions from Members of the Sub-Committee the following was noted:

·         In reference to the table on page 33, Members of the sub-committee enquired why there had been a big increase in the number of Looked after Children whose assessments needed to be reviewed - referencing 5.10 in the table. Councillor Hassell said the increase was due to the fact that a large number of assessments were due to be reviewed at the same time; however a significant effort had been made to ensure that this figure was addressed. He said considerable data sat behind the spreadsheet which he would further enquire about and report back to the Sub-Committee.

·         In response to what had been learnt from the past and how the service would be protected against budget cuts, Councillor Hassell said the knowledge and practice of social workers had improved and developed and this had a significant impact on the services provided. Regarding the budget, Councillor Hassell said a case would be made as part of the budget process.

·         Ms Debbie Jones added it was important not to become complacent and take the foot off the pedal. She said the Service could not afford to go backwards and had to continue of this path of improvement.

·         Councillor Perry commended the Service for what it had achieved and said she feared the transformation would stall if funding was not adequate. She asked if the Service had enough money to deliver the improvements it wanted. Councillor Alam echoed this, asking what approach had been taken to right size the budget. Ms Debbie Jones said there is an overspend, in the Children’s Directorate. It was not possible to know in 2017,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.2

Councillor Danny Hassell, Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Young People introduced the report stating this had been added to the agenda in response to a number of Member Enquiries relating to the closure of the Victoria Park One O’clock Club building and the scope for continued use of the building and activities provided for early years children within Victoria Park.

Councillor Hassell said the report outlined the history of the use of the building, the rationale for the decisions made and the collected record of the decision making process including information provided through responses to member enquiries.

Councillor Hassell said there were a number of issues regarding the suitability of the building for an Early Years setting. He referred to page 52 of the agenda which provided the history behind the stay and play sessions, the restructure and consultation process from 2011 onwards. Councillor Hassell said the decision to close the facility was taken after consultation with residents and service users. The building was not a value for money investment for further capital expenditure and as such it was agreed to be surplus to requirement.

Councillor Hassell referred to Appendix 15 and said outcomes for children had improved significantly with the Early Year offer being taken up by hard to reach families in more settings.

Ms Christine McInnes, Service Head for Education and Partnership referred to page 93 of the agenda pack and said it was important to understand the wider context of how the decision was made and the rationale behind it. She said the take up for early learning for 2, 3, and 4 year olds was relatively low and therefore money was invested to improve the Children Centres and the quality of service provided therein.

Information regarding the changes being proposed was in the public domain and pages 105 to 109 show the purpose of the consultation. Ms McInnes said there was no attempt to mislead the public. The key features on page 107 and the map on page 109 clearly show the impact the changes would have. She said as far back as 2016, the Victoria Park facility was at risk of closure. The briefing from the 14^th September 2016 at pages 167-180, shows the feedback from the consultation and how Olga School (Overland Children Centre) had come on stream. At that stage, it was clear there were insufficient number of staff to deliver early year provision through both Victoria Park and the Olga School sites. Appendix 7 and 8, pages 183 to 193 provide further information which was considered before a decision to close the Victoria Park facility was made.

Ms McInnes said the restructure of the Early Year Service had been successful, with improved quality of provision and better outreach to families. She said having Health Visitors in each Children Centre meant services were coordinated and accessible to more people. The decision to close the Victoria Park One O’clock Club was absolutely the right decision. She said no complaints had been received  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.3

The Chair reminded Members the next meeting of the Children and Education Scrutiny Sub-Committee was scheduled for Tuesday, 11^th February 2020.