Agenda and minutes

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Venue: Committee Room 'C' - The Duke of Lancaster Room, County Hall, Preston. View directions

Contact: Garth Harbison  Tel: 01772 530596, Email  garth.harbison@lancashire.gov.uk

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Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

Minutes:

Apologies were received from County Councillor Andrea Kay, County Councillor, Sandra Perkins and Dr Sam Johnson.

 

County Councillor Liz Collinge was welcomed to the Committee replacing County Councillor Misfar Hassan.

 

The Chair welcomed the following speakers to the meeting:

Bob Stott, Director for Education, Schools and Care

Alison Kenny, Early Education and Learning Improvement Team Leader

Mel Ormesher, Head of Service Asset Management

Kathy Ashworth, Senior Manager, Wellbeing, Prevention and Early Help

Andrew Good, Head of Service Financial Management (Development and Schools)

 

2.

Disclosure of Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests

Members are asked to consider any Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the Agenda.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest in relation to matters appearing on the agenda.

3.

Minutes of the meeting held on 19 July 2016 pdf icon PDF 84 KB

Minutes:

Resolved: That the minutes from the meeting held on the 19 July 2016 be confirmed as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

4.

Funding changes as a result of the White Paper

Presented by: Bob Stott

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Bob Stott, Director for Education, Schools and Care provided the Committee with an update on the funding changes as a result of the White Paper with a summary on the five briefing sessions held with schools across Lancashire in relation to these proposed changes (information appended to the minutes).

 

It was confirmed that the White Paper has not been taken forward by the Government at this time.  However, members were advised that the stated intention of the Government continued for schools to become academies by 2022.  One of the potential key drivers for this may be the funding changes although information has yet to be received on the consultation around this.  It was confirmed that the submission to the consultation when completed would be circulated to members.

 

Members were advised that further work continued on the potential local partnership models which includes district maps of schools, children's centres and PRU's and information on the governance around these possible partnership models to be made available to schools.

 

Members were informed that there will be three conferences in the spring (north, east and central).

 

Members of the Committee were invited to comment and raise questions and a summary of the discussion is set out below:

 

It was confirmed that examples from other authorities on the different types of partnerships would be explored and it was agreed that there was a need to identify suitable partnership models in Lancashire.

 

The Committee was provided with feedback from the schools following the five briefing sessions. It was reported that nursery schools raised concerns around the introduction of the 30 hours free childcare and possible impact on their services and a meeting would be arranged with all nursery heads to discuss this further. 

 

Resolved: That;

  1. Update and comments from the Committee be noted
  2. Further information on the consultation be circulated to members when available
  3. Member briefing on the proposed financial changes be considered

 

5.

Early Education and Early Years School Improvement Service Update pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Presented by: Alison Kenny

Minutes:

Alison Kenny, Early Education and Learning Improvement Lead was welcomed to the meeting to discuss the Early Education and Early Years School Improvement Service report which provided an update on the work of the Early Education and Early Years teams following on from the initial report to the Committee on the 19 July 2016.

 

The Committee conveyed their thanks to Alison and the team on a very encouraging report.

 

Members of the Committee were invited to comment and raise questions and a summary of the discussion is set out below:

 

A query was raised in relation to the 30 hours free childcare entitlement and how it would impact on childcare providers.  It was confirmed that due to the criteria set out, this would almost be a universal entitlement.  It was unclear at this time how the market would respond but historically it has successfully managed any changes.  It was highlighted that as it was unclear as to what the rate of funding would be, childcare providers were unable to make any decisions at this time. 

Members were informed that there is currently no date as to when that will be.

 

In relation to the Special Educational Needs support for childminders, it was reported that training resources would be provided to support childminders.

 

Members were advised that although there was no grant available to assist with any property concerns, the team were working closely with the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities team to identify resources to support childminders. 

 

Resolved: That;

  1. The report and comments from the Committee be noted
  2. Further information on the funding rates to childcare providers for the 30 hours free childcare be provided to members when available

 

6.

Outcomes of the Property Strategy - Children's Centres pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Presented by:

Kathy Ashworth, Senior Manager, Wellbeing, Prevention and Early Help

Mel Ormesher, Head of Asset Management

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Mel Ormesher, Head of Asset Management, Kathy Ashworth, Senior Manager, Wellbeing, Prevention and Early Help and Andrew Good, Head of Service Financial Management, were welcomed to the meeting to provide further detail on the outcomes to the County Council's Property Strategy for children's centres across Lancashire following the decision originally taken by Cabinet on the 8 September and endorsed on the 26 September 2016.

 

The following information was reported to the Committee:

 

·  Going forward there would be 53 children's centres with seven linked centres.

·  Meetings were taking place regarding the transition.

·  Work with Schools Forum to look at impact on schools finances on a school by school basis.

·  The service delivery detail will inform the conversations with schools.

·  Outreach support will be provided from Neighbourhood Centres to more rural/sparse areas and were reported to be building in capacity to outreach services to assist with this

 

Members of the Committee were invited to comment and raise questions and a summary of the discussion is set out below:

 

Concerns were raised in relation to outreach services and it was acknowledged that services would no longer have the capacity to operate the same level of provision.  However, it was confirmed that it would be a more targeted service to those families in more need of help and support.

 

Members highlighted the need for councillors to be well informed to support communities through these changes and were assured that information would be made available particularly around who they can signpost to for further advice and guidance.

 

In relation to children's centres currently based on a school site, it was reported that talks were taking place with the schools to identify potential property use.  In addition, it was confirmed that childcare providers would be supported through the Estates Service to negotiate the lease arrangements.  All of this work will take place on a case by case basis.

 

It was confirmed that public transport was considered in relation to proximity to bus stop and train stations for accessibility to children's centres.

 

The Committee were advised that there continued to be multi-agency commitment through the Continuum of Need (CoN) pathways which identifies those families requiring support.  The Wellbeing, Prevention and Early Help Service responds to Level 2 requests for support through the CoN.  Members were assured that there were well embedded assessment and processes in place with a comprehensive step up/step down arrangement.

 

Resolved: That the report and comments from the Committee be noted.

 

7.

A summary of the provisional results at the end of Key Stage 4 at Lancashire and District level pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Presented by: Bob Stott

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report which set out the overall attainment in Lancashire schools at the end of Key Stage 4 in 2016 based on provisional data not yet validated. The results have been analysed at district level and showed progress over the past three years.

 

It was confirmed that the published information would be mapped against the indices of deprivation and free school meals (FSM) data. 

 

It was highlighted to members that the reporting on performance would be changing this year to the new measures: 'Attainment 8' and 'Progress 8'. The results tables included information based on Lancashire against the North West and the total from state-funded schools nationally.

 

A general discussion took place on the new measures outlined in the report.  Concerns were expressed around the skills agenda and pathways to work.  But members felt that this was also an opportunity for an open discussion to be held. 

 

Resolved: That;

  1. The report and comments from the Committee be noted
  2. A further report be presented to Committee in March on the new Key Stage 4 reporting model and potential impact on the curriculum

 

8.

Update from the Chair

Presented by: CC Cynthia Dereli

Minutes:

County Councillor Cynthia Dereli provided an update to the Committee on the working group set up to look at the Government proposals for multi academy trusts.  The working group have been tasked to look at authorities across country on this subject and will pull comments together into a report.

 

Resolved: That a report be presented to the Committee at the March meeting

 

9.

Work Plan pdf icon PDF 82 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Wendy Broadley, Senior Democratic Services Officer, presented the report on the work plan to the Committee which had been updated to included current and future topics for scrutiny. 

 

Members confirmed the following topics to be included:

·  Transport to Schools

·  Key Stage 4 Report models to come back to the March meeting

·  Property Strategy update post May

 

Resolved: That;

  1. The work plan be noted
  2. The work plan be updated to include the agreed topics

 

10.

Urgent Business

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the Minutes, the Chair of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.  Wherever possible, the Chief Executive should be given advance warning of any Member’s intention to raise a matter under this heading.

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

11.

Date of the Next Meeting

The next scheduled meeting of the Committee is due to be held at 10.30am on the 28 March 2017 in Cabinet Room 'C' at County Hall, Preston.

 

Minutes:

The next meeting of the Education Scrutiny Committee is due to be held on Tuesday 28 March 2017 at 10.30am, Cabinet Room C, County Hall, Preston.