Agenda and minutes

No apologies had been received.

(1)        The Committee elected Mrs Game as Chairman of the Committee.

Agreed without a formal vote

(2)        Mrs Game thanked Mr Cooke for his hard work, commitment and valuable contribution to the Committee in his time as Chairman.

(3)        RESOLVED that Mrs Game be elected as Chairman of the Committee.

(1)        Mrs Game proposed, and Mr Manion seconded that Mr Murphy be elected Vice-Chairman of the Committee.

Agreed without a formal vote

(2)        RESOLVED that Mr Murphy be elected Vice-Chairman of the Committee.

(1)        Dr L Sullivan made a declaration of interest as her husband worked as an Early Help Worker for Kent County Council.

(2)        Later in the meeting, the following Committee Members made declaration of interests as governors of schools in Kent:

·         Dr L Sullivan

·         Ida Linfield

·         Mrs P Cole

·         Mr D Brazier

·         Mr D Murphy

·         Ms S Hamilton

·         Mr S Manion

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Children’s, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee held on 01 October 2019 are correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Corporate Parenting Panel held on 25 July 2019 be noted.

(1)        Mr Long (Cabinet Member for Education and Skills) gave a verbal update on the following issues:

a)    National Children and Adults Services Conference 2019:

Mr Long said he would be attending the National Children and Adult Services Conference (NCASC) in Bournemouth from 20^th to 22^nd November.

b)   Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 exam results

Attainment in Kent schools had increased for the third year in a row. The average attainment 8 score per pupil in Kent was above the national average, with strong passes in both English and Mathematics. Mr Long encouraged Members to contact him directly if they had any questions in relation to exam results in Kent.

(2)        Mrs Chandler (Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services) gave a verbal update on the following issues:

a)    Visit to the Integrated Children's Service team in Dover

Mrs Chandler recently visited the Integrated Children's Service Team in Dover with Mr Dunkley, Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education. During the visit, she had conversations with team members in relation to local issues and grasped a better understanding of their training process and how each process affected their team.

(3)        Mr Dunkley (Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education) gave a verbal update on the following issues:

a)    The role of Corporate Parent

Mr Dunkley emphasised the importance of Corporate Parenting and the responsibilities that Members and officers had in seeking to improve the lives of Kent’s looked after children and celebrate their achievements. He had recently attended the Virtual School Kent Awards Ceremony 2019 which honoured the outstanding achievements of Kent’s Children and Young People in Care. He added that invitations to such events would be extended to Members.

(4)        In response to a question, Mr Dunkley explained the rationale behind the term ‘children and young people’ and said that many 16-17-year olds wished to be referred to as young people, not children.

(5)        In response to a question, Mr Long referred to the National Children and Adults Services Conference 2019 which he had attended in November and said that opposition spokesmen could be invited to future conferences.

(6)        In response to a question, Mr Dunkley and Mrs Chandler explained the reasoning behind the Youth Employment item being withdrawn from the agenda prior to publication.

(7)        In response to a question relating to the review of the planned provision of school places within the Thanet area, Mr Dunkley confirmed that the matter would be discussed at Scrutiny Committee on 19^th November 2019.

(8)        RESOLVED that the verbal updates be noted.

Mr Pleace (Revenue and Tax Strategy Manager) was in attendance for this item

(1)        Mr Pleace briefly introduced the report which set out information relating to the proposals to change to the Local Funding Formula (LFF) which were contained within the School Funding Formula Consultation 2020-21.

Officers then responded to comments and questions from Members, including the following: -

a)    Mr Pleace referred to the introduction of the soft National Funding Formula in 2018-19 and highlighted one area of concern that Kent had been able to address in the Local Funding Formula through the continuation of a lump sum of £120k which was paid to all Kent schools. He talked about the concerns that the relatively small increases in funding for smaller primary schools and confirmed that one of the proposals in the consultation is for Kent to continue to pay a lump sum of £120k to Kent primary schools. This would offer protection to Kent’s smaller schools.

b)    Mr Pleace confirmed that further information would be distributed to Committee Members outside of the meeting in relation to the school funding formula consultation and equality impact assessment.

c)    Mr Pleace confirmed that the schools funding formula consultation was live and he provided information which related to the consultation responses that had been received to date.

d)    Mr Pleace explained the reasons behind the proposals set out in the consultation to repeat the 1% transfer to high needs in 2020-21 and discussed plans to use the transfer to incentivise inclusion of children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans into mainstream settings. In addition, he added that the Schools’ Funding Forum needed to agree whether a Falling Roll Fund should be introduced from 2020-21, taking into consideration the views of the schools through the consultation. Mr Dunkley explained the decision-making process and confirmed that the proposed decision to repeat the 1% transfer to high needs would be taken by the Lead Member, not the Schools’ Funding Forum.

e)    Mr Pleace referred to the consultation document and provided further information in relation to local areas of concern and each of the scenarios and their estimated funding rates. He added that one of the scenarios (number three in the consultation document) would require approval from the Secretary of State.

f)     Mr Pleace confirmed that he could provide further information to Committee Members at a later date in relation to the discussions that would take place at the Schools’ Funding Forum on 29^th November 2019, once the consultation had closed.

g)    Mr Long (Cabinet Member for Education and Skills) and Mr Dunkley confirmed that as the consultation had not yet closed, Members could submit their comments and views in relation to the consultation by 29^th November 2019.

(2)        RESOLVED that the proposed decision to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills in December 2019, following engagement with the Schools’ Funding Forum, to agree to the proposals set out within the Kent Schools’ Local Funding Formula  ...  view the full minutes text for item 137.

Mr Holman (Associate Director of Mental Health, Children’s and Maternity Commissioning (NHS West Kent CCG)), Ms Bamblett (Lead Co-ordinator, Kent Enablement and Prevention Service) and Ms Pearson (Transforming Care Accelerator Pilot Lead, Kent Enablement and Prevention Service) were in attendance for this item.

(1)        Mr Collins briefly introduced the report which set out information relating to the Children and Young Person’s Mental Health Service (CYPMHS) and the recommendation that some Kent County Council (KCC) investment be re-focused to address the challenges outlined within the report.

Officers then responded to comments and questions from Members, including the following: -

a)    Mr Collins referred to the challenges faced by KCC and the NHS within the KCC early intervention elements of the contract said that the contract’s issues and challenges had been consistently reported to the Service Commissioning Board, Commissioning Advisory Board and Children’s, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee.He briefly outlined the options available within the report and the need to review the section 76 arrangement through which KCC worked with West Kent CCG as the Lead Commissioner for the contract with North East London Foundation Trust (NELFT), and the need to change the funding arrangement for the Early Help element of the contract. He added that KCC’s public health specialists had recently undertaken a review of the offer for mild to moderate needs in order to understand the effect of the current services and what more could be done to address needs. He briefly referred to the increased demand for specialist interventions, and NELFT’s increase in waiting times and Neurodevelopmental referrals. He emphasised the importance of addressing concerns before they needed to be escalated and working collaboratively with partners.

b)    Mr Holman reiterated Mr Collins’ comments and the importance of working collaboratively to reach desired outcomes. He said that despite the current challenges faced within NELFT’s Neurodevelopmental pathway, NELFT were performing adequately as a service in the context of workforce demands and demands for children requiring support and met their Referral to Treatment (RTT) standards across five CCG's. He explained the reasons behind these challenges and emphasised the significant need to ensure that children's needs were met in a universal manner. He referred to the positive work being undertaken in relation to improving the Neurodevelopmental pathway and reducing waiting times.

c)    Mrs Chandler (Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services) reiterated comments made by Mr Collins and Mr Holman and emphasised the importance in ensuring that children received early intervention which would benefit them and their families instead of having to wait for long periods of time for a more clinical diagnosis.

d)    Mr Collins provided more information in relation to section 2.6 of the report and said that the target of 300 was for children and young people who were involved in the Early Help intensive elements.

e)    Ms Bamblett referred to the training which was undertaken by all staff within NELFT and stated that the Kent Enablement and Prevention Service (KEPS  ...  view the full minutes text for item 138.

Mr Firth (Policy Adviser) and Ms Atkinson (Assistant Director - Management Information & Intelligence) were in attendance for this item

(1)        It was agreed by the Chairman to take item 14 (Performance Monitoring) alongside item 11 as there were connected issues and questions arising.

(2)        Mr Firth introduced the report which provided an overview of the Council’s Strategic Delivery Plan Monitoring arrangements and the analysis and emerging themes from Quarter 2 2019/20 Strategic Outcome 1 activity submissions.

a)    In response to a question, Mr Dunkley referred to the delivery of the Commissioning Strategy for Disabled Children’s Services and said that it coincided with the SEND Written Statement of Action and was being undertaken jointly alongside our health partners.

b)    Mr Firth confirmed that a progress report relating to the Strategic Delivery Plan would be submitted to the Committee in 6 months’ time.

(3)        RESOLVED that the report be noted.

Ms Bride (Assistant Director, Adolescents and Open Access) was in attendance for this item

(1)        Mr Collins briefly introduced the report which set out information relating to the transformation within Integrated Children’s Services in April 2019, which established a new structure for Adolescent Services.

Officers then responded to comments and questions from Members, including the following: -

a)    Mr Dunkley emphasised the importance of maintaining a graduated and preventative approach to meeting a continuum of need and confirmed that services were not being taken away from lower levels of need to be put into the higher levels of need. He added that the core offer had placed greater emphasis on targeted group-work and evidenced-based programmes of intervention which supported statutory plans for the most vulnerable families and strengthen preventative measures.

b)    Ms Bride referred to a Serious Youth Violence project which was launched in August 2019 and funded by The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. The project would run for two years and its core purpose was to drive systemic change and to better share intelligence. She emphasised the importance of establishing strategic relationships with Kent Police and better tackling situations before they became problematic. She added that the project in terms of its deliverables would be in North Kent and Medway, but the intention was to use the learning from the project to apply it across the whole of the county.

(2)        RESOLVED that the report be noted.

·         19/00081 – Kings Hill School alteration of lower age range to enable establishment of a nursery class

·         19/00082 – Proposal to make prescribed alterations to St Nicholas (Community Special) School from September 2020

·         19/00083 – Proposal to expand Gravesend Grammar School from 174 places to 210 places in September 2021

·         19/00084 – Proposal to expand West Hill Primary Academy from 72 places to 90 places in September 2020

Mr Abrahams (Area Education Officer – West Kent), Mr Watts (Area Education Officer – North Kent) and Ms White (Area Education Officer – East Kent) were in attendance for this item

(1)        The Chairman stated that decision number 19/00084 (proposal to expand West Hill Primary Academy, Dartford, by increasing the Published Admission Number (PAN) from 72 places to 90 places from September 2020) had been withdrawn, with approval from the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills.

(2)        The Chairman set out the proposed decisions to expand or alter the following schools: Kings Hill School (Kings Hill), St Nicholas Community Special School (Canterbury) and Gravesend Grammar School (Gravesend).

Mr Balfour (County Councillor for Malling Rural East) was in attendance for this item

(1)       The local Member attended and supported the proposal.

(2)       In response to a question, Mr Abrahams confirmed that the revenue funding received by the School from the County Council would be received through the funding formula and was part of the early years funding. Mr Dunkley added that the government’s early years funding was claimable on a per child basis.

(3)       RESOLVED that the proposed decision to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills to:

(i)            alter the lower age range of Kings Hill School from 4-11 years to 2-11 years; and

(ii)          to enable the school to establish a nursery class from September 2020,

be endorsed.

(1)        In response to a question, Ms White briefly explained the proposals to establish the satellite provisions at St John’s C.E. Primary School and Canterbury Academy in more detail and stated that whilst options were limited, all options had been considered in detail to ensure best value for money.

(2)        In response to a question, Ms White touched upon the progress that had been made on site over the most recent half term and confirmed that she would provide a site plan to the County Councillor for Canterbury City South, Ida Linfield. She added that the proposal was submitted to Canterbury City Council’s Planning Committee for consideration.

(3)        RESOLVED that the proposed decision to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills to publish a Public Notice on the proposal to:

               (i)        Establish an 8 place Primary satellite provision at St Johns Primary School Canterbury;

             (ii)        Establish a 32 place Secondary satellite provision at Canterbury Academy; and

            (iii)         subject to no objections being received to the public notice, implement the proposed changes,

be endorsed.

(1)        RESOLVED that the proposed decision to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills to expand Gravesend Grammar School, Church Walk, Gravesend, Kent, DA12 2PR increasing the Published Admission Number (PAN) from 174 places to 210 places from September 2021, be endorsed.

Ms Atkinson (Assistant Director - Management Information & Intelligence) was in attendance for this item

(1)        In response to a question, Ms Atkinsonconfirmed that the targets within the Performance Scorecard would soon be reviewed to ensure that concerns and expectations in relation to performance were accurate and clear.

(2)        RESOLVED that the Performance Scorecard be noted.

The information within the agenda was noted without discussion.

(1)        RESOLVED that the work programme for 2020/21 be noted, subject to the inclusion of the following items:

·         Children and Young Person’s Emotional and Mental Health Service update (March 2020 and October 2020)

·         Strategic Delivery Plan Monitoring (bi-annual report)