Agenda and minutes

County Councillor Andrew Gardiner replaced County Councillor Barrie Yates and County Councillor Jenny Purcell replaced County Councillor Stephen Clarke for this meeting only.

Apologies were received from Mr John Withington.

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.

County Councillors Cheetham, Khan, Malik, and Mein declared non-pecuniary interests in item 4, as they were governors of schools in Lancashire.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 January 2022 be confirmed as an accurate record.

The committee received a presentation and a report from Delyth Mathieson, Head of Service Education Improvement and Kevin Smith, Head of Service Schools Finance, which provided an overview of the context of education provision and the COVID-19 pandemic, the steps taken to improve outcomes across Lancashire, proposed strategies to improve outcomes including COVID catch up, Ofsted inspection outcomes in Lancashire schools and settings since the start of the 2021-22 school year, and an overview of attainment and progress.

Comments and queries from the committee were as follows:

·  It was noted that all Lancashire schools had received funding. They were looking at how to use the funding and how to evidence how it was used.

·  With regards to the catch-up funding, members were informed that schools were required to keep evidence for match-funding, but it was not known exactly what evidence was needed. It was felt that the lack of clarity would impact on full utilisation of the grant. Officers were in the process of resolving these concerns but could not provide a definitive answer as the Department for Education (DfE) had not provided the set criteria on evidence collation.

·  It was explained that large-scale schools have more experience at
match-funding and required less support. Smaller schools required support from Lancashire County Council's finance or education teams. The
county council embraced the diversity in each school across Lancashire and recognised that a 'one size fits all' approach was not appropriate.

·  It was highlighted that schools collaborated on ideas and shared best working practice through the Lancashire Schools Forum. Best practice methods were also shared by the county council's education officers through the school's portal and a weekly bulletin.

·  Lancashire County Council worked with other north-west authorities, as it was national funding and a national issue. Officers and schools were in regular contact with the DfE, and schools were encouraged to feed directly into the DfE. Officers worked closely with head teacher representative groups and from this, strong feedback was given during calls with the DfE of good engagement.

·  It was clarified that the Lancashire Education Partnership Board was a group of head teacher and health representatives, along with various other services from Lancashire which worked in a multi-agency way. The five locality groups were in the process of being established and included constituents and officers to address local challenges. Information would be circulated to the committee.

·  A request was made for officers to share regular updates with members regarding which and how schools were progressing spending the funding, to reduce the risk of any un-used money being taken back by the government.

·  The National Tutoring Programme was most accessed in areas of deprivation. Of the 75 schools accessing the subsidised EAL tuition, in 70% there was higher than average number of pupils claiming Pupil Premium. All the pupils undergoing the tuition had English as an additional language. The programme continued in 2021-22 and the pupil's progress was tracked by a nationally recognised EAL assessment framework. Additional support was put in place  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The committee considered 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 and at subsequent scrutiny committee meetings.

It was noted: That;

·  Andy Pratt, Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner be invited to the
Education and Children's Services Scrutiny Committee on 16 March 2022, as part of the Road Safety rapporteur's presentation.

·  Members requested for 'Child Poverty' to be moved from the additional topics on to the work programme.

Resolved: That the Education and Children's Services Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2021/22 be noted.

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 Wednesday 16 March 2022 at 10.30am in Committee Room C – The Duke of Lancaster Room, County Hall, Preston.

It was noted the next meeting of the Education and Children's Services Scrutiny Committee would take place on Wednesday 16 March 2022 at 10:30am in
Committee Room 'C' – The Duke of Lancaster Room, County Hall, Preston.