Agenda and minutes

To note that Ms Hamilton has replaced Mrs Gent has a Member of the Committee.

The Chairman announced that Ms Hamilton had filled the Committee vacancy that had been left by Mrs Gent and welcomed her to her first meeting of the Committee.

To receive apologies for absence and notification of any substitutes present

Apologies for absence had been received from Mrs Cole, Mr Bartlett attended as her substitute.

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.

Ms S Hamilton made a declaration of interest as she was a Governor of Paddock Wood Primary School.

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 28 March 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.

2.          The Chairman of the Children’s, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee said that all Members of the Children’s, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee were welcome to attend Corporate Parenting Panel meetings.

3.          RESOLVED that the minutes of the Corporate Parenting Panel held on 29 January 2019 be noted.

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

a)    Primary Offer Day

Primary Offer Day took place on 16^th April, and overall, the outcomes in Kent were good. 97% of families secured one of their school preferences, and 89% of families secured their first preference of school. However, there was a slight increase in the number of school allocations.

b)   Elective Home Education

On 2^nd April, the Department for Education published new non-statutory guidance for local authorities in relation to Elective Home Education. The main proposal highlighted the need for a register which would record all families that were electively home educating children and ensure that sufficient education was taking place.

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

a)    Change for Kent Children Programme

The Change for Kent Children Programme had progressed well and was in its second phase. The second phase of the programme included a review of the business support services which were provided to Kent’s Early Help and Social Work services and further examination of the teams which related to adult services in terms of the parents of children that could be at risk, and also children with disabilities.

b)   High Needs Funding

Damian Hinds, Secretary of State for Education, had recently announced that educational funding for children with special needs in England would be reviewed through the creation of a Head Teachers Sounding Board, in response to considerable pressure at recent Teacher’s Trade Union Conferences in relation to high needs funding.

c)    School Exclusions

On 7^th May, Edward Timpson, former Minister of State for Children and Families, had published an exclusion review to ensure that school exclusions were used appropriately.

d)   The funding of Local Authorities’ Children’s Services

On 1^st May, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee within the House of Commons published a report which agreed with the Association of Directors of Children's Services that drastic measures needed to be taken in order to address the national funding gap of local authority funding for children's services.

3.          RESOLVED that the verbal updates be noted.

To receive a report which sets out the proposed decision to agree that the Kent Post-16 Transport Policy Statement be published by 31 May 2019.

Mr Bagshaw (Head of Fair Access) wasin attendance for this item.

1.         Mr Bagshaw introduced the report which set out the Post 16 Transport Policy for 2019-20.

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

a)    Mr Bagshaw talked about the costs associated with the 16+ travel card and said that whilst a full charge was applied by the local authority, schools and colleges in receipt of bursary funding were able to apply that funding for low-income learners.

b)    Mr Bagshaw said that instalment plans would be introduced for the 2019/20 academic year which would alleviate the pressure felt by low-income families when purchasing a 16+ travel card. He explained the introduction of on-line purchasing had made the process more straightforward for the majority of users, although some larger college institutions in Kent had found it difficult to make payments in relation to the 16+ travel card scheme for their bursary learners.

c)    Mr Bagshaw confirmed that he could provide more information to Members of the Committee outside of the meeting in relation to the potential impact of amending the scheme to one with reduced travel benefits at a discounted price.

d)    Mr Bagshaw confirmed that an item could be brought to a future meeting of the Committee to discuss outcomes of communications between Kent County Council and rail operators with a view to discounted rail travel in the future.

e)    Mr Bagshaw confirmed that he could provide more information to Members of the Committee outside of the meeting in relation to the amount of SEND children that had benefited from the 16+ travel card and the amount of SEND children that were in receipt of education, outside of mainstream colleges.

2.         RESOLVED that the proposed decision to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education to agree to the Kent Post-16 Transport Policy Statement to be published by 31 May 2019, be endorsed.

To receive a report which sets out the proposed decision to agree new multi-agency local safeguarding arrangements as a result of the changes to the Children Act 2004.

Mr Whittle (Director of Strategy, Policy, Relationships and Corporate Assurance) and Mr Thomas-Sam (Strategic Business Adviser) were in attendance for this item.

1.          Mr Whittle introduced the report which presented details of the proposed new multi-agency local safeguarding arrangements.

Mr Whittle and Mr Thomas-Sam then responded to comments and questions from Members, including the following: -

a)    Mr Whittle referred to theScrutiny and challenge group within the new partnership arrangements and confirmed that the statutory Director of Children's Services and the Lead Member for Children's Services would be Members of the group. He added that the annual report of the Children’s Safeguarding Board would continue to be submitted to full Council under the new safeguarding partnership arrangement.

b)    Mr Thomas-Sam confirmed that the minutes for KSCB Board meetings were available on the Board website.

c)    Mr Thomas-Sam confirmed that Kent Police and relevant partners would be a part of the Scrutiny and challenge group and consulted to ensure that the appropriate structure and representation for Kent’s partnership groups was being presented. Mr Whittle talked briefly about the discussions that had taken place between Kent County Council and Lead Chief Executives for district councils in Kent in relation to safeguarding responsibilities and role requirement.

d)    Mr Thomas-Sam talked about the number of Serious Case Reviews which had been carried out by The Kent Safeguarding Children Board and said that the numbers continued to vary.

e)    Mr Thomas-Sam referred to the new Child Death Overview arrangements that were in place and said that Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CCG) and local authorities were responsible for the arrangements. He added that as part of the national arrangement, there was a requirement for each area to manage a critical level of numbers in order to be able to take the key learning points from such incidents and as a result, Kent and Medway had agreed to hold Joint Child Death Overview reviews. Mr Whittle added that he could provide further information to Members of the Committee outside of the meeting in relation to Serious Child Death case reviews and the number of cases. He confirmed that the Child Death Overview Panel was predominantly an NHS focused aspect of the safeguarding arrangements relating to the occurrence of child deaths and therefore was led by the NHS and driven by CCG's.

f)     Mr Whittle referred to the 2016 Wood review of local safeguarding children boards and said that the review had led to development of a National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel and Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review (the replacement for serious case review), although it was not absolutely clear the capacity and the number of cases the national panel would handle. He added that the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel was chaired by Mr Timpson.

g)    Mr Whittle talked briefly about the national issues that counties faced in relation to the statutory guidance which provided a broad definition of what should be included in regard to Education safeguarding.

h)    Mr Dunkley referred to the Kent Safeguarding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 103.

The Children’s, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee is asked to consider and endorse, or make recommendations to the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education on the proposed decision to:

(i)         Revise the approval process for school organisation proposals as set out in           Paragraph 3.1

(ii)       Reallocate capital funds within the CYPE capital programme as set out in Paragraph 5.8:

a)      Wilmington Academy - allocate a further £2m (original decision number – 16/00033(e))

b)      Wilmington Grammar School for Girls - allocate a further £2.8m (original decision number 16/00033(d))

c)      St John’s Catholic Primary School, Gravesend - allocate a further £2.2m (original decision number 16/00055)

d)      Seal CE Primary School, Sevenoaks – allocate a further £1.72m (original decision number 15/00093(b))

e)      Trinity School, Sevenoaks - allocate a further £1m (original decision number 18/00006)

f)       Craylands Primary School, Dartford – allocate a further £0.55m (original decision number 15/00093(g))

g)      Harrietsham CEPS – allocate a further £0.6m (original decision number 17/00100)

h)      The Judd School – allocate £0.4m (original decision number 18/00019)

i)       Bennett Memorial Diocesan School - allocate a further £1m (original decision number 17/00104)

j)        St Gregory’s Catholic School - allocate a further £0.8m (original decision number 17/00106)

k)      St Peter’s CEPS, Tunbridge Wells – allocate a further £1.0m (original decision number 18/00020)

l)       Chilmington Green PS, Ashford – allocate a further £1.2m (original decision number 17/00056)

m)     River Mill, Dartford Northern Gateway – allocate £1.9m (new decision)

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

1.         Mr Gough, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education, and Mr Adams introduced the report which set out the proposals for a redesigned approval process for school organisation proposals, having regard to Kent County Council’s governance arrangements and relevant Regulations and the current position of the Children, Young People and Education (CYPE) Basic Need Programme in respect of the current 2019-2022 Medium Term Financial Plan.

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

a)    Mr Adams explained the reasoning behind the proposed decision to allocate a further £1.2m to Chilmington Green Primary School in Ashford and said that costs were regularly reviewed by Kent County Council’s Education and Property officers, together with GEN2. Mr Gough added that each individual project had an impact on costs and talked briefly about the impact that the ever-increasing population in Kent had had on schools.

b)    Mr Adams said that whilst schools had a list of desired developments to be made within the school, Kent County Council always prioritised statutory duties and what was required to provide the “basic needs” accommodation in efforts to ensured that schemes were delivered within allocated budgets and timescales.

c)    Mr Adams talked about the communications that had taken place between Kent County Council and developers and highlighted the significance of always providing clear and concise information to developers in relation to expected project costs.

d)    Mr Abbott talked briefly about private finance initiative schemes within schools and the costs associated with the schemes.

e)    Mr Abbott confirmed that Kent County Council’s Education officers had liaised with senior colleagues in the Highways department in relation to addressing school transport issues and travel plans.

f)     Ms White explained the reasoning behind the proposed decision to allocate a further £0.6m to Harrietsham Church of England Primary School in Maidstone.

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

(i)       Revise the approval process for school organisation proposals as set out in Paragraph 3.1;

(ii)     Reallocate capital funds within the CYPE capital programme as set out in Paragraph 5.8;

(iii)   Wilmington Academy - allocate a further £2m (original decision number – 16/00033(e));

(iv)   Wilmington Grammar School for Girls - allocate a further £2.8m (original decision number 16/00033(d));

(v)      St John’s Catholic Primary School, Gravesend - allocate a further £2.2m (original decision number 16/00055);

(vi)    Seal CE Primary School, Sevenoaks – allocate a further £1.72m (original decision number 15/00093(b));

(vii)        Trinity School, Sevenoaks - allocate a further £1m (original decision number 18/00006);

(viii)       Craylands Primary School, Dartford – allocate a further £0.55m (original decision number 15/00093(g));

(ix)      Harrietsham CEPS – allocate a further £0.6m (original decision number          17/00100);

(x)        The Judd School – allocate £0.4m (original decision number 18/00019);

(xi) Bennett Memorial Diocesan  ...  view the full minutes text for item 104.

To receive a report which sets out the approach being taken to manage adolescent risk in Kent through the Change for Kent Children programme. The Committee is asked to comment on and note the report.

Mr Genoni (Project Director, Change for Kent Children) was in attendance for this item.

1.          Mr Genoni introduced the report which set out the changing profile of adolescent risk nationally, putting this within the Kent context.

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

a)    Mr Genoni talked about the current measures that were in place which sought to address issues relating to youth gangs and knife crime in Kent, the measures that were in place included closer working relationships between services and improving the communication between services.

b)    Mr Collins briefly touched upon the staffing arrangements that were in place within the new service.

c)    Mr Collins emphasised the importance of close working relationships between services in relation to mitigating risks and talked about the extensive work that Kent County Council had undertaken with the University of Bedfordshire in regard to contextual safeguarding and early intervention.

d)    Mr Genoni confirmed that the number of serious youth violence offences in Kent had not been increasing.

e)    Mr Genoni talked about the financial impacts that could arise from managing adolescent risk in Kent and referred the successful bid money which had been received to the support families of young people that had been involved in youth crime.

f)     Mr Collins emphasised the importance of reducing key indicators such as children that were missing and children that were missing education.

g)    Mr Collins confirmed that Kent County Council were working closely with Kent Police to reduce the number of children that were missing and stop child exploitation.

h)    Mr Collins briefly talked about the creation of the Violence Reduction Unit in Glasgow which had been created in a bid to reduce knife crime. He added that the work that Kent County Council had undertaken with the University of Bedfordshire in relation to addressing youth violence had been beneficial to services and referred to a pilot WhatsApp group that had been set up for parents in Ashford to use to communicate and ensure that their children remained safe.

i)     Mr Collins said that the work that had been undertaken in relation to contextual safeguarding included the safeguarding of young people with special educational needs.

j)     Mr Collins explained the different ways in which knife crime could be reported.

k)    Mr Collins said that the Governor at the Juvenile Prison and Young Offenders Institution, Cookham Wood in Rochester, regularly attended the County Youth Justice Board, he confirmed that the reports that were submitted to the Board could be made available to Members. He added that training opportunities were available to staff of Kent County Council at the Medway secure training centre.

l)  Mr Genoni said that the new adolescent service developed a more coherent service for all adolescents.

m)  Mr Dunkley reminded Members of the Committee that the report was evidence-based and highlighted the positive direction of travel in relation to mitigating risks and closer working relationships between services.

n)    Mr Genoni and Mr  ...  view the full minutes text for item 105.

To receive an update report on the HeadStart Kent (HSK) programme and its implementation.

Mr Weiss (Head of HeadStart Kent) and Ms Ford (HeadStart Kent programme Manager) were in attendance for this item.

1.          Mr Weiss introduced the report which updated the Committee on the progress of the implementation of the HeadStart Programme in Kent.

a)    Mr Weiss said that work had been undertaken with digital providers to redesign the HeadStart Kent website and confirmed that an updated version of the website would go live in Autumn 2019.

b)    Mr Weiss talked about the communications that had taken place between Kent County Council and its partners in relation to the sustainability strategy within the HeadStart Kent programme and the benefits of identifying both the effective and non-effective aspects of the programme.

c)    Mr Weiss referred to the investment which had been awarded to the HeadStart Kent programme by the National Lottery Community Fund in 2016 to improve the mental wellbeing of young people between the ages of 10 to 16 in Kent who were at risk of emotional and mental health difficulties and explained how each of the districts in Kent were supported.

d)    Mr Weiss talked about the training and support services offered to schools and people that worked with young people that were at risk of emotional and mental health difficulties in Kent and said that the training and support services were always gratefully received.

e)    Ms Ford said that the HeadStart Kent programme had been designed in a sustainable way and talked briefly about the work that had been undertaken with Kent’s Public Health colleagues in relation to the development of the programme.

f)     Ms Ford talked about the ‘whole school approach’ toolkit which had been developed in Kent which allowed schools to monitor their own school environment, the support that was in place for children, and make continuous improvements.

g)    Mr Weiss talked about the creation of safe spaces for children and young people and said that each safe space was chosen by the individual. He added that work in relation to developing the resilience questionnaire to ensure that it was as user-friendly as possible, was ongoing.

2.          A Member of the Committee said that Kent Youth County Council met once a month in Sessions House and all Members were welcome to attend their meetings.

3.          RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To receive a report which provides an update on the actions taking place in response to the Kent SEND Local Area Inspection by Ofsted/CQC.

1.          Mr Gough, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education and Mr Dunkley introduced the report which provided an update on the actions taking place in response to the Kent SEND Local Area Inspection by Ofsted/Care Quality Commission (CQC).

2.          Mr Dunkley drew Committee Member’s attention to a statistical error within the report and said that point 2.3 within the report stated that some 80% of local areas inspected over the past year by Ofsted/CQC had resulted in a Written Statement of Action (WSoA). However, as local areas were regularly inspected, the percentage changed constantly. Whilst it remained a majority of local authorities with a WSoA, it was not accurate to state that it was 80% of local authorities.

3.          The Chairman suggested that the item be brought back to the Cabinet Committee in March 2020 and that the written statement of action be circulated to Committee Members when it had been sent. He added that an informal Member’s group would be established to ensure that the issue could be monitored regularly.

4.          Mr Dunkley confirmed that the written statement of action was monitored quarterly by the CQC and Ofsted and briefly talked about the external accountability arrangements that were in place.

a)    In response to a question, Mr Gough commented on the current position between special and mainstream schools in Kent and said that Kent County Council had invested in expanding provision within special schools and specialist resource provision. He added that in Kent, there were a greater proportion of children attending special schools as opposed to mainstream schools. He reassured the Committee that plans were in place to ensure a culture of inclusiveness and that children in Kent were receiving the appropriate level education which met individual needs.

b)    In response to a question, Mr Gough briefly talked about the national fragmentation issues in relation to the NHS within the Sustainability and Transformation Plan.

c)    In response to a question, Mr Dunkley informed the Committee of the measures that Kent County Council had put into place to ensure that Special Education Need (SEN) staff and Education Psychologists were supported during periods of significantly high workloads, whilst continuing to ensure that a child-centred approach was taken.

d)    In response to a question, Mr Gough emphasised the importance of ensuring that the parents and families of children with SEN were receiving the essential services and had confidence in the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) process. He added that the level of demand nationally for EHCP’s was ever-increasing and Kent County Council had sought to address the high levels of demand through measures within the Special Educational Needs and Disability action plan. Mr Dunkley added that the promotion of EHCP’s within the health sector had contributed to the significant rise in the level of demand for EHCP’s.

e)    In response to a question, Mr Dunkley said that whilst the amount of High Needs funding allocated to local authorities had increased, the demand for EHCP’s continued to increase  ...  view the full minutes text for item 107.

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:

Mr Adams (Area Education Officer - South 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 set out the proposed decisions to expand or alter the following schools: St James’ Church of England Voluntary Aided Infant School and St James' Church of England Junior School, establishing a new Special Free School on the Isle of Sheppey, Grange Park School, and the new St Andrew’s Primary Free School.

2.          RESOLVED that the decision (19/00015) proposed to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education to amalgamate St James' Church of England Voluntary Aided Infant School and St James' Church of England Junior School, Sandrock Road, Tunbridge Wells, TN2 3PR from 1 September 2019, be endorsed.

3.          RESOLVED that the decision (19/00034) proposed to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education to:

a)    support the DfE competition process to select a sponsor to establish a new special free school on the Isle of Sheppey; and

b)    commit to the conditions of the bid as set out in Appendix A to the report of the DfE letter of the 11 March 2019 in particular:

(i)    provide a site on a 125-year lease

(ii)  meet any abnormal costs relating to access works or any section 278 costs which may be imposed,

be endorsed.

4.            In response to a question, Mr Watts confirmed that the new provision at the former Stansted Church of England Primary School site would accommodate key stage 2 pupils and talked about the costs associated with the proposed decision.

5.            RESOLVED that the decision (19/00036) proposed to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education to:

a)    increase the designated number of places offered at Grange Park School from 100 to 150;

b)    alter the lower age range of Grange Park School from 11 to 8 (11-19 to 8-19 years); and

c)    establish a 36 place Key Stage 2 satellite provision of Grange Park School at the former Stansted CE Primary School site at Malthouse Road, Stansted, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN15 7PH,

be endorsed.

6.            RESOLVED that the decision (19/00036) proposed to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education to:

a)    authorise the Director of Infrastructure, in consultation with General Counsel, to enter into any necessary contracts/agreements on behalf of the County Council;

b)    authorise the Director of Infrastructure to ensure that the appropriate level of funding is received from the Education and Skills Funding Agency to cover the costs of these projects to ensure the Kent County Council does not incur any unforeseen costs; and

c)    authorise the Director of Infrastructure to be the nominated Authority Representative within the relevant contracts/agreements and to enter into variations as envisaged under the contract terms,

be endorsed.

To receive a report that sets out the newly formatted CYPE directorate scorecard to support the scrutiny and challenge of CYPE performance.

Ms Atkinson (Assistant Director – Management Information and Intelligence) was in attendance for this item.

1.          Ms Atkinson introduced the report which set out information relating to the development of the new Children, Young People and Education Directorate scorecard.

a)    Ms Atkinson talked about Members’ involvement in the development of the new directorate scorecard which covered performance across the entire Children, Young People and Education directorate.

b)    Ms Atkinson confirmed that Members would continue to have access to district data relating to Children, Young People and Education.

c)    Ms Atkinson said that a new data visualisation tool called ‘Microsoft power BI’ would be introduced in coming months which sought to present data in a more visually accessible way.

2.          RESOLVED that the report be noted.

The Committee is asked to note an information item setting out data on Ofsted inspection results.

The information within the agenda was noted without discussion.

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.

1.          RESOLVED that the Work Programme for 2019/20 be noted, subject to the inclusion of:

• Adolescent Risk Management in Kent
• An update on Kent SEND Local Area Inspection by Ofsted/CQC