Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Helal Uddin.

Members are reminded to consider the categories of interest, identified in the Code of Conduct for Members to determine: whether they have an interest in any agenda item and any action they should take. For further details, see the attached note from the Monitoring Officer.

Members are also reminded to declare the nature of the interest at the earliest opportunity and the agenda item it relates to. Please note that ultimately it is the Members’ responsibility to identify any interests and also update their register of interest form as required by the Code.

If in doubt as to the nature of an interest, you are advised to seek advice prior the meeting by contacting the Monitoring Officer or Democratic Services.

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests were made by the members.

To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the held on 2^nd September 2021.

The minutes of the previous meeting of 2^nd September 2021 were agreed to be an accurate record of the meeting and were approved by the Sub-Committee.

Variation in the order of Business

The Chair Councillor Bex White, stated that she’d like to vary the order of business taking item 4.1 and then item 5, Any other business, before returning to the remaining items on the agenda. She explained there were two updates’ Officers needed to provide the Sub-Committee, however due to Officers having to leave the meeting early, the AOB items would be dealt with after the first substantive item.

Members of the Sub-Committee AGREED to the variation of the business for the meeting.

A presentation to be made at the meeting.

The Sub-Committee received a verbal update on the continued impact Covid-19 was having on secondary school education, in particular on older young people who had missed exams due to the lockdown.

Councillor Asma Begum, Cabinet Member for Children, Youth Services, Education and Equalities introduced the item saying schools had played a pivotal role in providing educational support to young people and their families as well as acting as a community hub during the lockdown. She said schools had continued to operate in difficult circumstances, playing a huge role in safeguarding and addressing the wider needs of young people.

The Sub-Committee then heard from Mr Daniel Burton, Director of Secondary Education and Partnerships, at THEP (Tower Hamlets Education Partnership) who gave a presentation on the impact Covid-19 had had on pupils who had not taken exams. Mr Burton presented the national and local perspective and made the following points:

• A survey by the Social Mobility Foundation in January 2021, showed that 73% of young people were anxious about exam cancellations, with 64% saying school closures had negatively impacted on their mental health and 73% being worried about being able to study during the lockdown.
• There was considerable uncertainty around school exams however the exam assessments and results show an increase in attainment nationally as well as locally, in 2019/20 and 2020/21.
• Year 13’s and year 12 cohorts had different experiences of exam cancellation. The centre assessed grades that were to be moderated by the algorithm, were abandoned in favour of teacher assessments.
• When young people returned to school in Autumn 2020 they still had to contend with self-isolation and bubble systems, and this impacted on their learning.
• The current year 13’s had experienced disruption to the GCSE’s and post 16 education, whereas the current year 12’s experience had been different because they were not sitting their terminal exams. Their exams for 2021, were cancelled and at that stage there was much more rigour and clarity in terms of expectations of schools.
• Mr Burton said schools in Tower Hamlets were more concerned about the current Year 13’s who were more a concern than year 12’s, due to stress, anxiety and preparedness for their post 16 courses and exams. Their confidence and resilience had been affected as they had not sat exams previously.
• To help support students’ schools were establishing clear routines and expectations and were intervening earlier. Students were being mentored, offered extra-curricular classes with greater emphasis on health and mental well-being, as well as test and exam practise.

The Sub-Committee then heard from Mr Jon Ryder, Headteacher at George Green’s School and Ms Asiya Abdulkadir, a Year 12 student at the school.

The main points made by Mr Ryder were:

• He concurred with Mr Burton the most affected cohort were the Year 13 students who had been most affected by non-exams.
• The school had a programme of study support which they provided to students at exam times, however the current Year 13 students had not experienced this, due to the pandemic  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.1

A presentation to be made at the meeting.

Councillor Asma Begum, Cabinet Member for Children, Youth Services, Education and Equalities introduced the items stating there were longstanding national pressures on Children and Young People services, particularly funding in relation to SEND. She said they continued to lobby government for funding especially as the service was demand-led and therefore if the demand increased, more pressure was placed on the finance budget.

The Sub-Committee then heard for Ms Kay Goodacre, Head of Strategic Finance for Children and Culture who gave a presentation on the issue. Ms Goodacre made the following points:

• High End Needs continued to be a pressure however the lobbying of government had led to an 8% in funding in 2021/22.
• There was a requirement to produce a high-end needs management plan for the DfE, which was previously known as the recovery plan. The nuance in wording from ‘recovery’ to ‘management’ plan shows the Government recognises the demand will not decrease but will need to be managed in the long term.
• School budgets were also under pressure. School Balances increased from £27m to £35m in 2020/21.
• Work on transparency and compliance had been undertaken with schools in relation with the Statement of Accounts. Headteachers and Business Managers within schools had been provided with training.
• A refreshed policy for schools with in-year budget deficits and cash advances had been introduced.
• Falling school roles, school closures and amalgamations continued to be an issue.
• The budget headlines were schools to receive a 2% increase in their minimum funding guarantee, High End Needs would increase by 8% however there would be a reduction in the Dedicated School Grant by 10.5%.
• In relation to future pressures the budget may face, Ms Goodacre said this related to supporting families, such as the recruitment and retention of Social Workers, greater number of families with no access to public funds, children in need of placements and reorganisation of the Youth and Early Years’ service.

In response to comments and questions from members the following was noted:

• The school balances increase of £8M was not focussed on a few schools but was spread over the sector both primary and secondary schools. The impact of Covid and schools being cautious had led to this.
• In response to if the Council was exploiting all the available funding streams/ grants for vulnerable learning, Ms Goodacre said they did their utmost to access funding however sometimes it was for the schools to apply for the funding, as illustrated by the Covid Recovery and Tuition funding. Ms Goodacre said this came with conditions and was difficult to access. She said they assisted and signposted schools accordingly.
• In relation to the School Forum, Councillor Salva-Macallan asked if the agenda and minutes from the meetings were available online. Councillor Salva-Macallan requested the dates of the meetings be noted on the Corporate Calendar, so Members were aware when meetings were taking place. Ms Goodacre responded stating the Schools forum meetings were public meetings and the agenda and minutes were published online.

• ACTION: The Children & Culture  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.2

A presentation to be made at the meeting.

Councillor Kahar Chowdhury, Cabinet Member for Highways and Public Realm introduced this item saying that as part of the Mayor’s manifesto, the Council was committed to deliver fifty school streets by 2022. He said the concept was to reduce congestion at drop off and pick up times and introduce safer walking and cycling as well as reduce pollution.

The Sub-Committee then received a presentation from Mr Dan Jones, Director of Public Realm and Mr Tom Rawlings, Transport and Highways Manager.

The main points from the presentation were:

• 21 Schools Street projects had been completed, with 9 beginning construction this year. The remaining were programmed next year.
• Mr Dan Jones explained what a street school was and said this could be physical changes to the street or restrictions on vehicle access times.
• The changes being made concentrated on primary school sites however going forward would like to include secondary schools.
• Mr Jones explained the process used to consult with parents, schools and neighbours in the area.
• Two examples of schools that had been converted to School Streets were talked through in detail, with pictures showing the before and after look.
• Mr Rawlings said some of the factors taken into consideration were the number of residents who would be impacted, to offering public realm improvements such as greening and closing off roads, if this was required. Other considerations were the loss of parking, when a new zebra crossing is introduced as well as cost and timing implications such as camera installation.
• The Pandemic had impacted on the delivery of the school streets programme. Consultation with schools had been delayed due to the schools being closed. Consultation with the first tranche of schools was effective however the second tranche was affected due to the pandemic.

In response to comments and questions the following was noted:

• Councillor White asked if Public Realm had consulted with other colleagues in respect to the design materials used to engage with schools and children. Mr Rawlings stated the standard method of consultation had been used, with schools being contacted and information being disseminated via the school to parents plus leafletting of local residents asking them to respond to the consultation. 
• In response to how the School Streets programme fitted into the Liveable Streets initiative, Mr Jones stated they were making sure they did not do things twice. They were working together with the communications team to ensure residents were fully aware of the schemes and were consulted. Mr Jones said the aim of School Streets was to limit vehicles at certain times of the day but were open to residents for access.
• Councillor Wood questioned if School Streets were really working, in terms of reduction in drivers. He stated that in his neighbourhood the number of vehicles had increased and said some of the changes made, had made it more dangerous rather than safer, with parents dropping off children on a busy A road rather than parking up in the side street, where the school is located. He  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.3

The Chair, Councillor Bex White stated the Sub-Committee would receive two updates’, one relating to the SEND Inspection and the other to why a Serious Case Review had not been undertaken in relation to the girls who went off to Syria.

SEND Inspection – outcome and next steps

Mr James Thomas, Corporate Director for Children & Culture, stated that at the last meeting of the Sub-Committee the outcome of the inspection was embargoed and as such the findings could not be shared with the Sub-Committee. However, the report relating to the SEND Inspection was published by the DfE on the 27^th September 2021. A copy of the report had been emailed to Members. He said the report set out the strengths and weaknesses relating to SEND and it was fair to say that the DfE considered the self-evaluation completed by the Council and its partners to be an honest assessment of the areas that required improvement.

Mr Thomas stated that not all aspects of local provision across the partnership was good.  He said the four weaknesses highlighted - quality of education, health and care plans, waiting times for speech and language therapy provision, waiting times for ASD assessment and comprehensive engagement and communication with parents and carers were going to be the areas where the partners would be focussing their efforts. He said in terms of what happened next, the Council and the CCG would draw up a written statement of action, looking at these areas, which they had to submit by the 24^th December 2021 deadline. Mr Thomas said they would be working with the DfE and NHS England to ensure government oversight, support, and challenge. Mr Thomas added that the inspection of Tower Hamlets was towards the end of a five -year cycle of inspection and usually a re-inspection would occur after 2 years. However due to the interruption caused by Covid-19, this was not going to happen. Mr Thomas said the government was introducing a new framework of inspection and any follow up inspection would likely be part of the new framework.

Mr Thomas said the sub-committee was to deep dive the issue at its February meeting, where further scrutiny of the SEND Inspection would take place.

The Chair, Councillor Bex White confirmed the update on the actions taken, following the SEND inspection was scheduled for the February 2022 meeting.

Serious Case Review -Syria

In respect to the questions raised about why a serious case review was not undertaken in relation to the girls from Bethnal Green who had left for Syria, Mr Thomas confirmed he was in receipt of the letter from Members and said further information about the previous decision was being gathered. He explained a serious case review was undertaken by the Local Safeguarding Board however due to changes made by Government in 2019, the Local Safeguarding Board had evolved into the Local Safeguarding Partnership, where the onus of responsibility is shared equally between the Council, CCG and Police. He said the Partnership  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.