Agenda item

5.3       RESOLVED: That

1.    An additional report on the Children’s Social Care Workforce Strategy be added to the work programme.

2.    The report on attendance and exclusions going to Committee in June should be entitled “Annual report on attendance and exclusions” on the work programme.

3.    That the Chair consider the proposals listed by the Committee and propose an amended work programme for consideration by Business Panel. The Committee would be able to review this at its next meeting.

5.1       Katie Wood, Scrutiny Manager introduced the item, during the presentation to Committee the following key points were highlighted:

·         The Committee should consider and agree the provisional work programme and make comments and suggestions as necessary.

·         The draft work programme incorporated items already suggested by the Committee, suggestions from officers and suggestions by virtue of the Committee’s terms of reference.

·         In light of the recent Ofsted inspection in Autumn 2015 and the subsequent action plan; the work programme included regular updates on the Ofsted Action Plan.

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

·         The report for the Committee’s review into Independent Advice and Guidance would come to the Committee’s meeting in June.

·         The Chair of Children and Young People Select Committee had recently attended the Young Advisors Group and discussed topics for the Committee’s in-depth review. From these discussions, the proposal of a review into the transition from primary to secondary schools was raised.

·         A review into childcare provision in Lewisham could be a topic for an in-depth review. This could include changes to legislation such as the increase in hours to 30 free hours for 3 year olds from 2017. The Council currently didn’t have a childcare strategy and therefore this review could be timely in helping to shape policy in this area.

·         Although, the Committee had undertaken a review into childcare provision which was published in December 2013, there had been a number of legislative and provisional changes meaning it could still be a timely and relevant topic for an in-depth review.

·         A one-off report looking at further education provision in the borough was put forward as a proposal, this was thought to be particular important in the light of the ongoing area reviews and the implications for future provision in the borough.

·         A proposal of a report on Academisation was put forward. The Education Commission would be looking into this and the report to Committee in June would include their findings prior to going to Mayor and Cabinet.

·         The possibility of having a report to Committee on best practice for Pupil Premium Grant spend was put forward. It was agreed that a copy of the recent review into this by London Borough of Brent would be circulated to Committee members.

·         It was important that reviews and reports were timely and focused on areas where the Committee’s intervention could make a difference. Transition from primary to secondary could feed into good practice work being undertaken. The nursery provision was also a relevant topic as the Council needed to produce a childcare strategy and this review would therefore be timely.

·         An additional report on the children’s social care workforce strategy should be added to the 2016/17 work programme as a one-off report for the Committee.

·         The report on attendance and exclusions going to Committee in June should be entitled “Annual report on attendance and exclusions” on the work programme.

5.3       RESOLVED: That

1.    An additional report on the Children’s Social Care Workforce Strategy be added to the work programme.

2.    The report on attendance and exclusions going to Committee in June should be entitled “Annual report on attendance and exclusions” on the work programme.

3.    That the Chair consider the proposals listed by the Committee and propose an amended work programme for consideration by Business Panel. The Committee would be able to review this at its next meeting.