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Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Civic Suite

Contact: Benjamin Awkal (Scrutiny Manager)  Email: benjamin.awkal@lewisham.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Minutes of previous meeting pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Decision:

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 12 September 2024 be agreed as an accurate record.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 12 September 2024 be agreed as an accurate record.

 

2.

Declarations of interest pdf icon PDF 82 KB

Decision:

RESOLVED

That the following declarations be noted:

1.    In relation to items 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9, Cllr Jacq Paschoud declared she was a non-council-appointed governor of a school trust.

2.    Sabrina Dixon declared she was employed by Social Inclusion Recovery Group, which worked with the families of children suspended or excluded from school.

 

NB: Cllr Lahai-Taylor later declared she was a council-appointed school governor.

Minutes:

RESOLVED

That the following declarations be noted:

1.    In relation to items 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9, Cllr Jacq Paschoud declared she was a non-council-appointed governor of a school trust.

2.    Sabrina Dixon declared she was employed by Social Inclusion Recovery Group, which worked with the families of children suspended or excluded from school.

 

NB: Cllr Lahai-Taylor later declared she was a council-appointed school governor.

3.

Responses to Referrals to Mayor and Cabinet

 

There are none.

 

Decision:

There were none.

Minutes:

There were none.

4.

Budget Reductions pdf icon PDF 286 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED

To recommend –

1.    That the proposed withdrawal of qualified social worker parking permits under saving proposal CYP05 be reviewed.

2.    That the concerns raised by the Committee in respect of reduction CR07 be considered by officers: the changing needs of young people; the value of professional attendants; and the disadvantages of using more smaller vehicles.

And to refer the following to the Public Accounts Select Committee:

·         The Committee’s view is that the 2026/27 Youth Service saving should not be progressed during the current budget cycle and, if it is to be progressed, should be brought back next year with further information on the year-two plans for youth services.

Minutes:

Witnesses

Chris Barnham, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People

Pinaki Ghoshal, Executive Director for Children and Young People
Nick Penny, Head of Service Finance

 

2.1.    Cllr Lahai-Taylor declared she was a council-appointed school governor.

Key points from discussion

2.2.    Proposal CYP02 entailed no reduction in support for early career teachers; the council was no longer able to provide the function as regulatory change had shifted the responsibility to schools.

2.3.    Proposal CYP03 entailed no reduction in school repairs and maintenance; £50k of Department for Education Capital Grant was to be used rather than General Fund revenue.

2.4.    The 2025/26 recurring £100k youth services back-office saving under CYP06 would not entail a reduction in frontline delivery. However, the £200k recurring saving from 2026/27 risked a reduction in frontline delivery if anticipated additional external funding or provision were not forthcoming in 2025/26.

2.5.    Since Youth First had was established as a mutual in 2016, it had remained almost entirely council funded and created its own back-office infrastructure. That back-office infrastructure existed in the council and presented the opportunity to realise savings without impacting frontline services.

2.6.    Children’s services were a significant contributor of pressure to the council’s budget and Youth Services was one of the few areas Children and Young People’s Services was able to offer savings.

2.7.    Circa £5m of external funding was received by independent youth work providers in the borough, many of whom operated without receiving any council funding. It was hoped that additional activity could be generated by better supporting independent providers operating in Lewisham or interested in operating in Lewisham by providing enabling infrastructure for the youth system. Additional government funding for youth provision was expected, which would be channelled to providers via the proposed youth alliance.

2.8.    The council’s underutilised youth centres were to be made available to independent providers to increase provision. Honor Oak Youth Club had been refurbished recently and Riverside Youth Centre was undergoing a programme of significant refurbishment. Further, the recently recruited Strategic Youth Offer Manager was to support providers to find spaces from which they could deliver.

2.9.    It was noted that some external providers charged for their services and thus may not truly replace the proposed reduction in directly delivered open-access services. A youth services directory was to be created to make it easier to find youth services. The Chair suggested concessionary rates or free access could be introduced for certain cohorts.

2.10. There was an aim to make services more targeted via the Youth Strategy while continuing to provide open-access services.

2.11. The process of transferring services from Youth First into the council had begun recently; the number of staff likely to transfer over was not yet known. By April, staff were likely to have transferred to the council, but this was not expected to affect frontline delivery. Changes to frontline services were likely to begin in the Summer as the initial phases of the proposed Youth Strategy were implemented.

2.12. There were areas, particularly in the south  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Youth Justice Service Inspection Findings pdf icon PDF 249 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED

That the report be noted.

Minutes:

Witnesses

Cllr Chris Barnham, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People

Pinaki Ghoshal, Executive Director for Children and Young People
Sara Rahman, Director of Families, Quality and Commissioning
Maleeka Dachi, Head of Integrated Adolescent Safeguarding Service
Keith Cohen, Youth Justice Service Manager

 

Key points from discussion

5.1.       Work had already commenced in relation to the six areas for improvement identified by the Inspectorate.

5.2.       The number of young people entering custody had reduced significantly. Conditions in the secure estate were challenging for children who experienced imprisonment.

5.3.       The Service had scored highly in respect of planning and implementation. There were improvements to be made regarding the breadth of the information and how it was analysed during assessments. 

5.4.       Risk assessment needed to improve in relation to ensuring victim and public safety post-court.

5.5.       The Service worked with Bromley Youth Court to ensure children were treated with respect, including by having informal discussions with, and providing training to, the Bench Chair and Magistrates.

5.6.       Issues identified by the Inspectorate regarding cross-border information sharing were likely to relate to cases where there were tensions around suspected exploitation and where the Service wanted to ensure that its protocols in respect of manging risk were upheld.

5.7.       The Integrated Adolescent and Youth Justice Partnership Board was only established in January and the new board was at an early stage of its development.

5.8.       The local National Referral Mechanism pilot enabled young people who were victims of exploitation to be diverted from entering the criminal justice system.

5.9.       There was a significant amount of preventative activity. The Youth Justice Service had been supporting schools to be trauma-informed. Contextual Safeguarding Hubs were about to be launched in schools to enable lower-level concerns to be managed earlier. The Youth Justice Service had an education, employment and training panel and links with the Virtual School and was to have a close relationship with Family Hubs and Youth Hubs. Education partners sat on the Youth Justice Board Sub-Group and Multi-Agency Child Exploitation panels.

Standing orders were suspended at 9.29 pm.

 

RESOLVED

That the report be noted.

6.

School Standards (unvalidated) pdf icon PDF 157 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED

That the report be noted.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED

That the report be noted.

 

7.

Attendance and Children Missing Education pdf icon PDF 281 KB

Decision:

RESOLVED

That the report be noted.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED

That the report be noted.

 

8.

Exclusions and Managed Transfers pdf icon PDF 325 KB

Decision:

RESOLVED

That the report be noted.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED

That the report be noted.

 

9.

Admissions and Fair Access Arrangements pdf icon PDF 422 KB

Decision:

RESOLVED

That the report be noted.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED

That the report be noted.

 

10.

Select Committee work programme pdf icon PDF 173 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED

That the report be noted.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED

That the report be noted.