Agenda and minutes

Mrs Gent has resigned from the Committee.

The Chairman announced that Mrs Gent had resigned from the Committee and from the County Council and he thanked her for her contribution to the Children’s, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee.

To receive apologies for absence and notification of any substitutes present

Apologies for absence had been received from Mrs Chandler, Miss Dawson, Mrs Game, Ida Linfield and Mr Murphy.

Ms Hamilton attended as a substitute for Mrs Chandler, Mr Brazier attended as a substitute for Miss Dawson, and Mr Daley attended as a substitute for Ida Linfield.

To receive any declarations of interest made by Members in relation to any matter on the agenda.  Members are reminded to specify the agenda item number to which it refers and the nature of the interest being declared

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

To consider and approve the minutes as a correct record.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Children’s, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee held on 11 January 2019 are correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman

To note the minutes.

1.          Mrs Allen (Chairman of the Corporate Parenting Panel) provided a brief update on the positive progress that had been made by the Corporate Parenting Panel over recent months and talked about upcoming Corporate Parenting events that would be taking place in Kent in the future.

2.          RESOLVED that the minutes of the Corporate Parenting Panel held on 1 November 2018 be noted.

1.          Mr Gough (Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education) gave a verbal update on the following issues:

a)    National Offer Day 2019

National Offer Day for all Local Authorities for children moving up to secondary school in September 2019 took place on 1 March 2019. The number of children moving into secondary education continued to increase in Kent, with the number of applicants increasing by 517 in 2019 when compared to the previous year. Kent had continued to maintain a high level of delivery in relation to parental preference, with over 95% of children having received an offer from one of their four preferences, and almost 80% of children having received their first preference. Whilst the number of children in Kent that were not offered one of their four preferences had increased slightly, Kent County Council were working with schools to support families whose children were not offered one of their four preferences and to remind families that a second round of offers would be put forward on 24 April 2019, and that the Kent appeals process was also an option.

b)   Brexit Preparedness

Kent County Council had been undertaking an extensive amount of work to prepare in the event of a no-deal Brexit, which included providing guidance to Kent schools publishing further guidance and information on the KELSI website, and generally seeking to manage the potential issues that could arise under conditions of a disorderly Brexit.

c)    Isle of Sheppey New Special Free School

A new special free school for pupils of secondary school age was in the pipeline for the former Danley Middle School Site. The new school would allow children with SEN to access suitable provision within their local community, enhancing their opportunities to develop social links and become more independent.

d)   High Needs Funding update

Mr Gough and Mr Dunkley met with Nadhim Zahawi, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families, on 25 March 2019 to discuss specific issues affecting councils and areas across England relating to High Needs Funding and to seek ways in which government could assist local authorities to tackle High Needs Funding issues.

2.          In response to a question, Mr Gough explained the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficit recovery plan process and said that local authorities with a DSG deficit of 1% or more needed to submit a recovery plan to the Education and Skills Funding Agency which would show how they proposed to bring the deficit into balance within a three-year time frame. He talked about the DSG deficit recovery plan that was in place for Kent County Council and the plans that were in place to reduce the outstanding deficit.

3.          In response to a question, Mr Gough talked about the Free School Transport scheme and the eligibility criteria which needed to be met in order to qualify for the scheme.

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

a)    Brexit Preparedness – Guidance available for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 82.

To receive a report which provides the background to the focused visit to the Front Door in January 2019.

Ms Ademuyiwa (Assistant Director- Front Door) and Mr Collins (Director of Integrated Children's Services (West Kent and Early Help and Preventative Services Lead)) were in attendance for this item.

1.          Ms Hammond introduced the report which provided background information to the focused visit to the Front Door in January 2019 and talked about the letter that was sent to Kent County Council from Ofsted.

Mr Collins and Ms Ademuyiwa then responded to comments and questions from Members, including the following: -

a)    Mr Collins confirmed that Ofsted had not raised any concerns following the focused visit which took place on 14^th and 15^th January 2019 and good progress had been made.

b)    Ms Ademuyiwa talked about the list of improvements to be made within the letter that Kent County Council had received from Ofsted following the focused visit.

c)    Mr Dunkley talked about the new Ofsted inspection framework and explained that authorities that received a ‘good’ rating would receive one or two focused visits as an alternative to a monitoring visit, the number of visits depended on the risk assessment of the authority during the period before the next inspection. During the visits, Ofsted would focus on inspecting specific areas which were typically agreed with the authority where there was a need for development. If Ofsted identified an area for priority or urgent action, this would be an indicator of concern and Ofsted would return to ensure that appropriate action had been taken to address the area of concern. Mr Dunkley highlighted the positive outcome that had been received in relation to the focused visit from Ofsted in January 2019 and said that Kent County Council’s ambition was to be recognised as an outstanding authority by Ofsted. He thanked colleagues within the Front Door team for their professional approach to the recent Ofsted inspection.

2.          RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To receive a report which sets out the proposed decision to agreethe school term dates for Kent County Council’s community and voluntary controlled schools for the school years 2020-21 and 2021-22.

Mr Adams (Area Education Officer (South Kent)) was in attendance for this item.

1.          Mr Adams introduced the report which set out the proposed decision to agree the school term dates for Kent County Council’s community and voluntary controlled schools for the school years 2020-21 and 2021-22.

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

a)    Mr Adams said that a significant number of schools in Kent were their own admissions authority and could therefore set their own term dates.

b)    Mr Adams talked about the support that was in place in Kent for teachers in terms of managing the relationship between work and health.

2.          RESOLVED that the proposed decision to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education to agree the school term dates for Kent County Council’s community and voluntary controlled schools for the school years 2020-21 and 2021-22, be endorsed.

To receive a report which sets out the proposed revision to the rates payable and charges levied for children’s services within Kent for the 2019-20 financial year.

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

1.          Mr Pleace introduced the report which set out the proposed revision to the rates payable and charges levied for children’s services within Kent for the 2019-20 financial year.

Mr Pleace and Ms Hammond then responded to comments and questions from Members, including the following: -

a)    Mr Pleace referred to the Adoption Service Charges figures within the report and explained that the charges related to children that were placed for adoption in local authority areas outside of Kent. Ms Hammond added that adoption charges for children that were placed for adoption outside of Kent were set nationally and agreed with the appropriate host authorities.

b)    Ms Hammond talked about the weekly Essential Living Allowance payment which was paid to Care Leavers including Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC). Ms Hammond added that the payment was not generally paid to citizen 18+ care leavers as they were able to access Universal Welfare Benefits, but that in circumstances of undetermined status, the payment was still made to a number of over 18 UASC care leavers.

c)    Mr Pleace talked about the Foster Carer Mileage rate and confirmed that the increase was in line with the mileage rate that was paid to staff within Kent County Council. He added that the mileage rate of 45p per mile was limited to 10,000 miles.

d)    Mr Pleace referred to the Other Local Authority Charges points within the report and said that the proposed rate for social work support and assessment had increased by 2.8% which was the average pay increase for Kent County Council’s social workers.

e)    Mr Pleace said that the administration fee associated with social work support and assessment was £20 per invoice which was the same amount as the previous year. Ms Hammond said that the overall activity in relation to administration associated with social work support and assessment was very limited.

f)     Mr Pleace talked about other local authority charges within the Residential Respite Service and said that the charge made to other local authorities who placed children in Kent’s in-house respite residential beds was mandatory.

2.          RESOLVED that the proposed decision to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education to:

(i)        approve the proposed changes to the rates payable and charges levied for Children’s Services in 2019-20 as detailed in section 2 of this report;

(ii)       note both the changes to the rates that are set by the Government/external agencies: Inter-agency charges and Essential Living Allowance and; any charges to other Local Authorities for use of in-house respite residential beds are to be calculated on a full cost recovery basis; and

(iii)      delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education, or other nominated officer, to undertake the necessary actions to implement the decision,

be endorsed.

To receive a report which sets out the current position in relation to performance against the contract and the new North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) contract monitoring arrangements.

Mr Collins (Director of Integrated Children's Services (West Kent and Early Help and Preventative Services Lead)) was in attendance for this item.

1.          Mr Collins introduced the report which set out the current position in relation to performance against the contract and the new North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) contract monitoring arrangements.

a)    Mr Collins referred to the letter that Kent County Council had sent to NELFT in February 2019 which related to the proposed changes to the Section 76 agreement and said that a response had not been received as of yet.

b)    Mr Collins talked about the challenges in the delivery of the new model including a significantly greater demand to the service. He referred specifically to Early Help caseloads within the service and said that NELFT would’ve needed to accept a minimum of 108 new cases per month to meet the caseloads that were expected in the Early Help stream, although NELFT had not met that request.

c)    Mr Collins confirmed that self-harm cases were considered to be a tier three to tier four issue.

d)    Mr Collins said that when the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services were developed, there was an expectation that the age range for the contract would increase to ensure that young people were better supported through service transitions.

e)    Ms Hammond talked about the money that Kent County Council had invested into the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services contract and said that the investment was for supporting Early Help Mental Health services, Looked After Children, and children and young people who had experienced sexual abuse.

f)     Mr Collins said that Kent County Council would meet with NELFT on 11^th April 2019 to discuss the financial aspects of the Children, Young People’s and Mental Health Services contract.

g)    Mr Gough (Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education) said that that Kent County Council were focused on contract monitoring in relation to the Children, Young People’s and Mental Health Services contract to ensure that improvements were being made to the service. He emphasised the importance of close working relationships between Kent County Council, contract partners and the NHS.

h)    The Chairman suggested that a briefing note be submitted to Members of the Committee outlining the outcome of Kent County Council’s meeting with NELFT on 11^th April 2019, and that a further report be submitted to the Children’s, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee in June 2019.

2.          RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To receive a report which sets out the Strategic Delivery Plan which will be the strategic business plan for Kent County Council, which supports the delivery of the outcomes in the Strategic Statement.

Mr Whittle (Director of Strategy, Policy, Relationships and Corporate Assurance) was in attendance for this item.

1.          Mr Whittle introduced the report which set out the Strategic Delivery Plan (SDP) which would become the strategic business plan for Kent County Council, which supported the delivery of the outcomes in the Strategic Statement.

a)    Mr Whittle referred to the new approach for Business Planning for 2019/20, for which a report was submitted to the Policy and Resources Cabinet Committee in June 2018 and said that elected Members had been actively engaged in the development of the SDP through the Commissioning Advisory Board, Political Group meetings and Member’s briefings.

b)    Mr Whittle confirmed that he would provide further information to Committee Members outside of the meeting in relation to the amount of money that Kent County Council commissioned.

c)    Mr Whittle reminded Members of the Committee that the SDP had been drafted by Cabinet Members and Corporate Directors, and information that Members felt should be included within the SDP needed to be approved by the Cabinet Member and Corporate Director within the relevant directorate.

d)    Mr Whittle talked about activity within Kent County Council’s services and the need to focus predominately on delivering positive outcomes to Kent residents and delivering a clearer focus for Kent County Council’s corporate management team and the Cabinet in relation to that SDP. Mr Whittle confirmed that appropriate business monitoring arrangements were in place in relation to the SDP and a further report would be submitted to future Cabinet Committee meetings concerning the business monitoring arrangements.

2.          RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To receive a report which sets out information relating to Kent County Council’s Community Learning and Skills Service (CLS).

Mr Burgess (Head of Community Learning and Skills) was in attendance for this item.

1.          Mr Burgess introduced the report which set out information relating to Kent County Council’s Community Learning and Skills Services.

a)    Mr Burgess explained the difference between learners and enrolments, he said that a learner was an individual person learning a subject or skill and an enrolment was an individual enrolled on more than one course.

b)    Mr Burgess said that Further Education (FE) Colleges were not part of Kent County Council, they were freestanding incorporated institutions. He referred to the FE Area Review process which had taken place in 2017 and talked about the ways in which the process had allowed Kent County Council to work more collaboratively with FE colleges in Kent and map the provision against FE college provisions.

2.          RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To receive a report which provides an update on progress in relation to the priorities set out within Kent’s Strategy for Vulnerable Learners 2017-2020 and apprises Members of progress in relation to the Pupil Premium Select Committee recommendations.

Mr Roberts (Chief Executive Officer – The Education People) was in attendance for this item.

1.          Mr Abbott and Mr Roberts introduced the report which set out an update on progress in relation to the priorities set out within Kent’s Strategy for Vulnerable Learners 2017-2020 and apprises Members of progress in relation to the Pupil Premium Select Committee recommendation.

Mr Abbott, Mr Dunkley and Mr Roberts then responded to comments and questions from Members, including the following: -

a)    Mr Abbott talked about the national increase in demand in relation to high needs funding and Kent County Council’s intention to continue to lobby with government in a bid to tackle high needs funding issues in Kent.

b)    Mr Gough talked about the wide-range of provision that was available in Kent and the intention to reduce out-of-county independent sector placements and meet the needs within Kent’s maintained sector and reiterated Mr Abbott’s comments in relation to the increase in demand for high needs funding and Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP).

c)    Mr Dunkley highlighted the advantages and disadvantages of school performance tables (league tables) and the different ways in which performance within a school could be judged. He talked about the performance measures that were in place within Kent secondary schools at Key Stage 4 and how best to address performance gaps.

d)    Mr Roberts talked about the positive partnership working arrangements that were in place between TEP and Kent Teaching Alliances and sub-groups to seek to address school performance gaps.

e)    Mr Dunkley talked about school performance in relation to vulnerable learners and the strategies that were in place to support vulnerable learners and gather data relating to the performance of vulnerable learners. He said that Kent had hoped to work more closely with the Education Endowment Foundation to analyse and gather data relating to vulnerable learners more effectively.

f)     Mr Roberts talked about the good level of development that had taken place in 2018 in relation to the Early Years Foundation Stage and Free School Meal eligibility.

g)    Mr Dunkley referred to the take up of Pupil Premium and said that it was extremely difficult for Kent County Council to support families in relation to Pupil Premium eligibility unless they self-identified.

h)    Mr Dunkley talked about the range of offers that were available in relation to receiving an education if a child had been excluded from school.

i)     Mr Collins referred to the pilot programme that was being carried out in the North of the county to help families who were vulnerable to the effects of knife crime and gang culture which was funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and said that the programme was not part of The Troubled Families programme.

j)     Mr Roberts said that an interdependent approach was being taken with Kent County Council, children centres and nurseries in Kent to address the variety in take -up in relation to the Free for Two scheme across Kent.

k)    Mr Roberts talked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89.

To note a parcel of school alterations which will shortly be subject to key decisions. The Children’s, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee is asked to endorse or make recommendations to the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education on the proposed decisions. The proposed decisions are as follows:

·         19/00023 – Proposal to enlarge The Maplesden Noakes Schoolby increasing the published admission number (PAN) from 180 places to 240 places from September 2021

·         19/00024 – The proposed change of age range of Stone Bay (Community Special) School from 8-19 years to 5-19 years

·         19/00025 – Proposal to increase the designated number of The Beacon Folkestone to 380 places and to open a satellite classroom at Castle Hill Community Primary School

·         19/00026 – Proposal to permanently expand the Secondary provision at Saint George’s Church of England School, Gravesend, from a PAN of 180 to 210

·         19/00029 – Expansion of Sellindge Primary School

·         19/00032 – Revocation of the decision to expand Deal Parochial CE Primary School by 1FE

·         19/00033 – Proposal to increase the designated number of the Aspen Specialist Resource Provision at Whitfield Aspen Primary School from 96 to 112 places

Mr Adams (Area Education Officer (South Kent)), Ms White (Area Education Officer (East Kent)) and Mr Watts (Area Education Officer (North Kent)) were in attendance for this item.

1.          The Chairman set out the proposed decisions to expand or alter the following schools: The Maplesden Noakes School, Stone Bay Community Special School, The Beacon Folkestone, Saint George’s Church of England School, Sellindge Primary School, Deal Parochial Church of England Primary School and Whitfield Aspen Primary School.

2.          In response to a question relating to the proposed decision to expand The Maplesden Noakes School, Ms White said that a pre-planning consultation would be undertaken to address any transport and highways issues concerning the decision.

3.          In response to a question relating to the proposed decision to expand Saint George’s Church of England School, Mr Watts talked about the positive working relationship between Kent County Council and Aletheia Anglican Academies Trust and explained that Saint George’s Church of England School were their own admissions authority.

4.    In response to a question relating to the proposed decision to expand Saint George’s Church of England School, Mr Watts talked about the communications that had been made to communities in relation to the proposal and the ‘drop-in’ session. He added that although Kent County Council were funding the proposed expansion, the planning application would be dealt with by the borough council.

5.          In response to a question relating to the proposed decision to expand Saint George’s Church of England School, Mr Watts talked about the positive impacts that the proposed school expansion would bring, including school places being made available to students with and without faith-based backgrounds.

6.          In response to a question relating to the proposed decision to expand Saint George’s Church of England School, Mr Watts said that as part of the planning application process, a full consultation would take place which would seek to address any highway issues.

7.          RESOLVED that

a)    the decision (19/00023) proposed to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education to allocate £6.0 million from the Basic Need budget to fund the permanent expansion of The Maplesden Noakes School, authorise the Director of Infrastructure in consultation with General Counsel to enter into any necessary contracts/ agreements on behalf of the County Council, and authorise the Director of Infrastructure to be the nominated Authority Representative within the relevant agreements and to enter into variations as envisaged under the contracts, be endorsed.

b)    the decision (19/00024) proposed to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education to issue a public notice to permanently change the age range of Stone Bay (Community Special) School and subject to no objections being received to the public notice, and to change the age range from 8-19 years to 5-19 years in order to provide KS1 places to help with the demand for specialist places for pupils at KS1, be endorsed.

c)    the decision (19/00025) proposed to be taken by the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 90.

To receive a report which provides an update on Kent Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE).

Ms Smith-Orr (Consultant Advisor) was in attendance for this item.

1.          Mr Manion introduced the report and commented on the work that has been undertaken by SACRE in 2017/18 and said that SACRE had continued to make efforts to engage with all schools across Kent, to ensure compliance with requirements to provide high quality Religious Education and opportunities for Collective Worship. Mr Manion expressed his thanks to Mr Gough (Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education), Nikki Younosi (Vice-Chairman of SACRE), Penny Smith-Orr (Consultant Advisor), Virginia Corbyn, Michael Papadopoullos for their involvement in supporting SACRE meetings.

2.          Ms Smith-Orr talked about the launch of the new Kent Agreed Syllabus and said that the Agreed Syllabus and the training days that were offered had been well received and attended by schools. She said that the changes to the Ofsted Inspection Framework incorporated increasing focus on religious education and collective worship in schools.

a)    In response to a question, Ms Smith-Orr talked about the broad role of SACRE and SACRE’s monitoring role in inspecting reports on Religious Education, Collective Worship and Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development. She said that Members of SACRE had been researching many of Kent’s school websites to see how many websites contained information relating to religious education or collective worship activities within the school.

3.          RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To receive a report which sets out the strategic risks relating to the Children’s, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee, comprising of four risks featuring on the Corporate Risk Register for which the Corporate Director is the designated “Risk Owner” on behalf of the Corporate Management Team; plus, a summary of key risks within the directorate.

Mr Scrivener (Corporate Risk Manager and Interim Corporate Assurance Manager) was in attendance for this item.

1.          Mr Scrivener introduced the report which set out the strategic risks relating to the Children’s, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee, comprising of four risks featuring on the Corporate Risk Register for which the Corporate Director is the designated “Risk Owner” on behalf of the Corporate Management Team; plus, a summary of key risks within the directorate.

a)    Mr Abbott talked about the rating within the report which related to children not in full-time education and talked about the comprehensive work that staff within the School Admissions, Children Missing Education and Elective Home Education Teams had continued to undertake to ensure that all children in Kent received a suitable education.

b)    Mr Collins talked about children that were excluded from school and the restrictions associated with school exclusions and elective home education.

c)    Mr Gough (Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education) referred to the national position in relation to children missing education and talked about Kent County Council’s powers in relation to the matter.

2.          RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To receive a report which sets out the Children, Young People and Education performance management framework which is the monitoring tool for the targets and the milestones for each year up to 2020, set out in the Strategic Priority Statement, Vision and Priorities for Improvement, and service business plans.

Mr Collins (Director of Integrated Children's Services (West Kent and Early Help and Preventative Services Lead)) was in attendance for this item.

1.          Mr Dunkley introduced the report which set out the Children, Young People and Education performance management framework and the targets and milestones for each year up to 2020, set out in the Strategic Priority Statement, Vision and Priorities for Improvement, and service business plans.

a)    Mr Dunkley referred to the figures within the report and said that the percentage of case-holding posts filled by permanent qualified social workers had continued to improve. He said that Kent County Council had over-recruited newly qualified social workers (NQSW) which would significantly reduce the amount of agency workers, once the NQSW’s became case-holding permanent qualified social workers.

b)    Mr Collins reported a typographical error within the report and said that the final line of paragraph 3.17 should state ‘has increased from 333.5 to 380.1’, as opposed to ‘has increased from 380.1 to 333.5’.

c)    Mr Collins talked about the percentage of assessments completed in the given month, with 6 weeks of allocation rating within the performance scorecard and said that there continued to be a significant increase in the quality of the assessments and a regular audit process took place to review the quality of the assessments.

2.          Mr Collins talked about the work that had taken place to develop a new directorate scorecard to cover performance across the whole of the Children, Young People and Education directorate, including indicators appropriate to the new Integrated Children’s Service.

3.          RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To receive a report which outlines the proposed changes to the Ofsted Inspection Framework for maintained schools, academies, non-association independent schools, further education and skills providers and registered early years settings and how this will affect schools in Kent.

Mr Roberts (Chief Executive Officer – The Education People) was in attendance for this item.

1.          Mr Roberts introduced the report which set out the proposed changes to the Ofsted Inspection Framework for maintained schools, academies, non-association independent schools, further education and skills providers and registered early years settings and how this would affect schools in Kent.

a)    Mr Roberts talked about the responses that had been received in relation to the consultation regarding the new Ofsted inspection framework and the support programmes that had been put in place for schools across Kent in order to help them to prepare for the changes to the framework.

b)    Mr Roberts talked about the key changes to the framework and said that The Education People (TEP) had engaged with Ofsted in relation to the proposed changes. TEP would visit schools in Kent whilst pilot testing was being carried out to assess how the new framework had been interpreted by the schools.

2.          RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To receive the report from General Counsel that gives details of the proposed Work Programme for the Children’s, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee.

RESOLVED that the work programme be noted, subject to the inclusion of the following item: -

• PRU Update (Following the recent consultation)