Agenda, decisions and minutes

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Hilary Moore be confirmed as the Chair of the Children and Young People Select Committee.

That Councillor Luke Sorba be confirmed as the Vice-Chair of the Children and Young People Select Committee.

That Councillor John Paschoud be formally thanked for his work as the previous Chair of the Children and Young People Select Committee.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Hilary Moore be confirmed as the Chair of the Children and Young People Select Committee.

That Councillor Luke Sorba be confirmed as the Vice-Chair of the Children and Young People Select Committee.

That Councillor John Paschoud and Councillor Brenda Dacres be formally thanked for their work as the previous Chair and Vice-Chair of the Children and Young People Select Committee.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 March 2015 be amended to include Monsignor Nick Rothon and Gail Exon in the list of attendees.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 March 2015 be amended to include Monsignor Nick Rothon and Gail Exon in the list of attendees.

Councillor Jonathan Slater declared a personal interest in items 4 and 5 as he was Chair of the advisory board of Lewisham Pre-School Learning Alliance.

Councillor John Paschoud declared a personal interest in items 4 and 5 as he was a member of the Sydenham and Forest Hill Youth Forum and of the Lewisham Parent and Carers Forum.

Councillor Jacq Paschoud declared a personal interest in items 4 and 5 as she was a member of the Lewisham Parent and Carers Forum.

Monsignor Nick Rothon declared a personal interest in items 4 and 5 as he was Chair of Governors at Christ the King Sixthform College and Chair of Governers at St Matthew Academy.

Lisa Palin declared a personal interest in items 4 and 5 as she was Vice-Chair of Governors at Greenvale School and Chair of the Lewisham Adoption Panel.

Gail Exon declared a personal interest in items 4 and 5 as she was Governor of Trinity School and of Haydon & Waller School.

3.1       Councillor Jonathan Slater declared a personal interest in items 4 and 5 as he was Chair of the advisory board of the Lewisham Pre-School Learning Alliance.

Councillor John Paschoud declared a personal interest in items 4 and 5 as he was a member of the Sydenham and Forest Hill Youth Forum and of the Lewisham Parent and Carers Forum.

Councillor Jacq Paschoud declared a personal interest in items 4 and 5 as she was a member of the Lewisham Parent and Carers Forum.

Monsignor Nick Rothon declared a personal interest in items 4 and 5 as he was Chair of Governors at Christ the King Sixthform College and Chair of Governers at St Matthew Academy.

Lisa Palin declared a personal interest in items 4 and 5 as she was Vice-Chair of Governors at Greenvale School and Chair of the Lewisham Adoption Panel.

Gail Exon declared a personal interest in items 4 and 5 as she was Governor of Trinity School and of Haydon & Waller School.

RESOLVED:

That the work programme be amended as follows:

The report on the “Transition of Children with Complex Needs” be moved to 20 October 2015.

That the report on Schools Capacity Planning be moved to 18^th November 2015.

That an additional item on an “Update on Young Carers following implementation of the Care Act 2014” be considered at the meeting on 23^rd June 2015.

That the Mayoral response to the Children and Young People Select Committee’s referral on Sedgehill, be considered at the meeting on 23^rd June 2015.

That an additional item on “Schools Admission Policy including banding” be considered at the meeting on 18^th November 2015.

4.1       Katie Wood, Scrutiny Manager, introduced the report and the draft work programme for the Children and Young People Select Committee for the 2015/16 municipal year.

·         The report set out the full terms of reference and procedural details for the Children and Young People Select Committee.

·         It included the full draft work programme incorporating suggestions from the committee, standard items, suggestions from officers, items arising from previous scrutiny and issues that the committee was required to consider by virtue of its terms of reference.

4.2       In the discussion that followed, the following key points were made.

·         The item on the Transition of Children with Complex Needs could be heard later in the committee cycle to ensure there was time for the report to be of sufficient depth. There was a potential overlap with Healthier Select Committee and this would be considered at Business Panel on 28 April 2015.

·         The report could incorporate information on the replacement of Statements of Special Educational Needs (SEN) with the Education, Health and Care Plans (EHC).

·         The report could consider the transition of children and young people to education and employment up to the age of 25 and employment post 25 years of age.

·         It would be important to ensure the report considered the interface between services for children and services for adults with learning difficulties or disabilities and that officers from both teams attended the committee meeting to present the report.

·         The schools capacity planning report could be brought forward to January and could include information on need for places for children with special educational needs, including identifying whether there had been a change in the nature of these needs.

·         The Schools Capacity Planning report would also consider any changes to the provision of childcare arising after the general election. The two main political parties had both made expansion of Early Years Provision part of their manifesto commitments.

·         A report on schools admission policies could be considered by the committee in light of some local authorities changing their policies on sibling preference. Depending on the timing, the report could also look at the impact of the removal of banding. Legal Services should clarify the relationship with the Lewisham Schools Admission Forum if the Children and Young People Select Committee considered this item.

·         Information on changes affecting young carers in light of the 2014 Care Act could be considered by the committee.

4.3       RESOLVED:

That the work programme be amended as follows:

The report on the “Transition of Children with Complex Needs” be moved to 20 October 2015.

That the report on Schools Capacity Planning be moved to 12 January 2016.

That an additional item on an “Update on Young Carers following implementation of the Care Act 2014” be considered at the meeting on 23 June 2015.

That the Mayoral response to the Children and Young People Select Committee’s referral on Sedgehill, be considered at the meeting on 23 June 2015.

That an additional item on “Schools Admission Policy including banding” be considered at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

RESOLVED

That the report be noted.

That all Councillors on the Children and Young People Select Committee be invited to attend the proposed for the Children and Young People’s Plan stakeholder day.

5.1       Warwick Tomsett, Head of Targeted Services and Joint Commissioning and Catherine Bunten, Service Manager, Commissioning and Strategy, presented the report to the committee and highlighted the following key points:

·         The report highlighted the current proposals for the Lewisham Children and Young People Plan 2015-18. As part of the stakeholder engagement, comments and suggestions from members of the committee were being requested.

·         The approach to the plan was to outline the aim for the underlying culture across the service. There was a strong emphasis on everybody needing to take personal responsibility to integrate and share information and that there needed to be a “no wrong door” philosophy, ensuring that whoever was contacted in the first instance would take responsibility to ensure the welfare of the individual, rather than referring on to a different service or team.

·         The approach taken to influence the culture was to focus on outcomes such as: using predicted patterns; being proactive at first signs of a problem; tailoring approaches to ensure they actually helped; and forming solid partnerships and relationships with families that worked for them.

·         Shared ownership of the plan and engagement with stakeholders was an essential part of the plan and would help to shape the key areas of impact.

5.2       In the discussion that followed the following key points were raised:

·         Quality of housing was an important issue which could have direct impact on young people’s well-being. It would be useful to ensure engagement and consultation strategies included contacting strategic housing suppliers.

·         It was important for schools to be engaged in the process and to work in partnership with other agencies. Primary Schools in Lewisham had embraced this agenda and the philosophy of it being “everybody’s business”, but there would be additional challenges over the next decade with the increasingly difficult financial situation.

·         There was an increasing number of children in Lewisham who were subject to a child protection plan and the number currently stood at 370 compared to approximately 200 in 2007. The increase was more significant than purely as a result of population growth and the exact reasons were not fully known. Other London Boroughs were experiencing similar trends and historically numbers had often risen during recessions and period of financial hardship.

·         More emphasis in the plan on raising attainment at key stage 4 would be useful.

·         The final plan would be likely to have an increased focus on outcomes including raising secondary school results by 10%.

·         The final plan would include an overview of the key changes in Lewisham over the last five years (in the needs assessment section).

·         The focus of the plan on the proposed priorities of: stay safe; healthy and active; and build resilience was welcomed by the committee.

·         The final plan would be presented digitally and have its own “mini website” with hyperlinks.

RESOLVED

1)    That the report be noted.

2)    That all Councillors on the Children and Young People Select Committee be invited to attend the Children and Young People’s Plan stakeholder day.

RESOLVED

There were no referrals to Mayor and Cabinet.

RESOLVED

There were no referrals to Mayor and Cabinet.