Agenda and minutes

County Councillor Azhar Ali replaced County Councillor Nweeda Khan for this meeting.

Also welcomed to the meeting were Ambarin Quadri and Matthew Truongm, representing the Youth Council.

Apologies were received from County Councillor Azhar Ali, County Councillor Stewart Jones, Daniel Ballard, Co-Optee Voting Member representing Church of England Schools, and Simon Smith, Co-Optee Voting Member representing Roman Catholic Schools.

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.

None were disclosed.

Resolved: The minutes from the meeting held on 1 September 2021 were confirmed as an accurate record.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting Andrew Cadman, Interim Head of Early Years, and Julie Bell, Director of Education, Culture and Skills.

The report presented informed the committee that maintained nursery schools in Lancashire possessed a rich source of skills and knowledge. This was reflected in how they were graded in their inspections by Ofsted, with the quality of delivery being highlighted. The maintained nursery schools had served some of the most deprived communities in Lancashire for decades and were integral to the history and cultural make-up of those communities.

The current context was very different from when most of the maintained nursery schools were established, and to ensure their ongoing viability, adjustments needed to be considered, opportunities needed to be seized, with transparency and accountability being key.

The committee was also provided with a presentation on the Maintained Nursey School Consultation Update. Some of the points raised by the presentation were as follows:

·  Maintained nursery schools were controlled by the local authority.

·  They received their funding through the Early Years block. They also received a supplementary funding for the additional costs of deliverance.

·  Lancashire had 24 maintained nursery schools which was the second largest after Birmingham.

·  In January 2020 agreement was obtained from Cabinet to undertake a formal consultation. However, due to significant changes arising as a result of the pandemic, this was not carried out.

·  However, a more comprehensive review was undertaken with responses from all 24 maintained nurseries.

·  As part of the review the long-term financial forecasts of the maintained nurseries were looked at and what their challenges were.

·  Regarding staffing, it was all about sharing information and knowledge to improve services.

·  It was important that the maintained nurseries were providing an offer that worked for their communities.

·  In terms of Ofsted inspections, it was vital that Ofsted had the right support if required.

·  Maintained nurseries in Lancashire had a disproportionate number of children with SEND. The Early Years Team was working closely with the Inclusion Team around SEND.

·  Many of the maintained nurseries had rentable spaces and some had been successful in renting these spaces out and some not so successful.

·  Regarding next steps there would be a sector wide consultation on Early Years Funding Formula Allocation.

·  Cabinet was to consider a further financial report for Maintained Nursery Schools in the new year.

Comments and questions raised were as follows:

·  It was noted that out of the 24 maintained nursey schools in Lancashire, 19 of them were situated in East Lancashire. It was pointed out that Wyre was one of the areas with the largest housing increase in Lancashire. There was concern over the Fleetwood area not having a maintained nursery school. Members were informed that maintained nursery location was historical but it was important to ensure the quality of provision being delivered across the county as a whole.

·  It was important for Lancashire County Council to look at what it could do differently so that costs did not affect the delivery of services which involved  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Committee received a report which provided information on the work programme for the Education and Children's Services Scrutiny Committee.

The topics included in the work programme were identified at the work planning workshop held on 5 July 2021.

Regarding the School place Provision Strategy 2021-26 set for the 5 November meeting the committee would like to discuss the perceived lack of Section 106 funding on planning applications and reviewing needs within new building developments and what the capacity was for every school within each committee member's district.

The committee also wanted to look at the costs around the decreased need for provision and also how Lancashire County Council could become a statutory consultee for planning applications. In addition to this, was the forward planning completed by the local planning authorities and how they work in tandem with health authorities.

Linking to the previous item on maintained nurseries was to consider maintained nursery schools/early years provision and how it sits within school place planning.

The impact of Covid was raised and its impact on attainment in schools across Lancashire. It was agreed that the catch up plans and funding could be included as part of the attainment report due to come to the committee in February.

Another issue raised was about what Lancashire County Council was doing to support children living in poverty and what it was doing to mitigate the situation. This was agreed to be included as part of the future work programme.

Consideration requested to be given around the PSHE curriculum and whether it remains fit for purpose around life planning for young people.

Resolved: That;

  i.  The report presented be noted.

  ii.  Additional topics identified be included in the work programme.

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.

There were no items of Urgent Business.

The next meeting of the Education and Children's Services Scrutiny Committee will be held on Tuesday 9 November 2021 at 10.30am at County Hall, Preston.

The next meeting of the Education and Children's Services Scrutiny Committee will be held on Tuesday 9 November 2021 at 10.30am at County Hall, Preston.