Agenda and minutes

Children's, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee - Thursday, 21st November, 2024 2.00 pm

Venue: Council Chamber, Sessions House, County Hall, Maidstone. View directions

Contact: James Clapson  03000 417387

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies and Substitutes

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Mrs Meade for whom Mr Lewis was present and Mr Manion for whom Sir Paul Carter was present.

 

Mrs McArthur, Mr Dendor and Mrs Game were in virtual attendance.

2.

Declarations of Interest

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Mr Stepto declared an interest in agenda item 10, as a school governor at Nexus Foundation Special School. Sir Paul Carter declared an interest in agenda item 10, as a director of the Leigh Academy Trust.

3.

Minutes of the meeting held on 24 September 2024 pdf icon PDF 120 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 24 September 2024 were a correct record.

4.

Draft Revenue Budget 2025-26 and Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) 2025-28 pdf icon PDF 130 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

1) Mr Oakford introduced the report.

 

2) Mrs Chandler and Mr Love outlined the areas of the report specific to their portfolios.

 

3) Further to questions and comments from Members, it was noted that:

 

·       It was likely that funding would be extended for those authorities currently funded for the Family Hub offer. However, it was not clear how much funding would be coming forward.

·       There were fewer children in care (LACs) but those children currently in the care of the local authority had more complex needs. Savings were proposed to made through expansion of kinship care.

·       The final settlement for the Dedicated Schools Grant would be outlined once this was received from government but it could not be forecast.

·       School Rebuilding Programme bids would be subject to priority and in addition to this, there was High Needs capital funding allocation. Requirements to make mainstream schools more inclusive for special needs would need to come from this funding allocation.

 

4) RESOLVED to note the report.

5.

24/00093 - Commissioned Family Hub Contracts pdf icon PDF 249 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

1) Mrs Chandler introduced the report.

 

2) Mrs Binks addressed the committee.

 

3) Mr Whiting addressed the committee.

 

4) Further to debate, it was noted that:

 

·       There were concerns that the building that houses Millmead Family Hub would close. However, this had not been confirmed at the time of the committee meeting.

·       The area around Millmead Family Hub was statistically, not considered the most deprived area in Thanet.

·       The next closest Family Hub to Millmead (based in the Cliftonville area of Margate) was not well used and concerns were raised that service users would not necessarily start to use this other provision.

·       Seashells Family Hub’s contract value had been reduced previously. It was asserted that if the centre closed, it would not be a relocation and there would be a reduction in the number of services available.

·       It was only under very limited circumstances that contracts could be extended for a limited period and clarification would be sought on this point.

·       The outreach model that was in place was due to be extended. The network was providing the family hub services from designated hubs and from other community buildings.

·       The current contracts were not funded from the Family Hub Grant. The local authorities who were in receipt of the grant also had to deliver other public health services. The current contracts were funded separately from this grant through Children’s Services budgets.

·       The two centres had been used as pilot hubs

 

It was proposed by Mr Lewis and seconded by Mrs Dean that:

 

The committee recommends that the decision be delayed until the new government funding is confirmed and that there be a temporary extension of contract, subject to it being legally viable;

 

That a valuation of the buildings be undertaken;

 

And, that an update be brought to the next meeting.

 

5) Upon being put to the vote, the motion was declared CARRIED.

 

 

 

6.

Verbal Update by Cabinet Members

Additional documents:

Minutes:

1) Mr Love said he attended the opening of the new sport and teaching block at Borden Grammar School in Sittingbourne on 27 September 2024. Around 100 people attended the event and it was anticipated that the facility would be much used by all of the students. Mr Love was pleased to hear from the head teacher about some of the great work being done in the school.

 

The newly appointed headteacher welcome event was held on 3 October, run jointly by KCC and the Kent Association of Leaders in Education (KALE).  This was a good opportunity to share what was being done well including the Outstanding Ofsted grade for social services, significant progress with SEND, the good student level outcomes and above national levels of schools who Ofsted deemed to be ‘taking effective action’.  Kent’s headteachers played a vital part in schools and the wider system. Mr Love expressed gratitude for the headteachers’ dedication and support to Kent’s children, young people and parents.   

 

Mr Love had attended the KALE annual conference in the morning before the committee meeting. He endorsed school leaders’ commitment to share good practice and learn fresh insights from guest speakers.

 

The School Funding Forum took place on 11 October and Ben Cooper, from Swalecliffe Primary School was elected as the new chair. Mr Love said that he looked forward to working with Mr Cooper.

 

Congratulations were given to Michelle Bramble, a dedicated member of the Community Learning Services workforce, for achieving a remarkable honour.  Michelle had recently been awarded the prestigious Local Government Association award in recognition of her outstanding efforts as an Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Champion within KCC.  Michelle had played a pivotal role in influencing, changing, and enhancing the way KCC operated by promoting equality and inclusivity in our workplace.  Mr Love said that it was fantastic to see the contributions of KCC staff members celebrated in this way, highlighting the importance of leadership within the organisation.

 

Mr Love said that a number of reforms had been made to the special educational needs services and the aim was to set the services on a sustainable financial footing. The work was also about quality of service. Over the preceding 18 months, it was noted that Members had held him to account over issues. He said that he had not pursued a quick fix but was working to make underlying changes. It was reported that the performance for the issuing of EHCPs within 20 weeks had improved with 197 being issued in September, with 64.0% within 20 weeks and in October, 118 had been issued, with 76.9% within 20 weeks. The results illustrated the start of the journey. No cases were over 26 weeks, which was down from 107 weeks being the oldest case at the start of the year.

 

2) Mrs Chandler said the Department for Education (DfE) published the long awaited policy paper on children’s social care reform:  Keeping children safe, helping families thrive. The Secretary of State made an oral statement  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Performance Monitoring pdf icon PDF 1 MB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

1.     Ms Atkinson introduced the Performance Monitoring report and highlighted that the number of EHCPs done within the 20 week timescale had continued to rise and was above the national average. Children’s social work caseloads had reduced.

 

2.     Further to questions and comments from Members, it was noted that:

 

·       Timeliness of EHCPs being issue had improved considerably and the quality of the work was not being compromised. There were four methodologies for the quality assurance on EHCPs. The Department for Education (DfE) had taken six samples of EHCPs and found that five of six deemed to be very good.

 

3.  RESOLVED to note the update.

 

8.

24/00099 Funding of Services to Schools 2025-26 pdf icon PDF 220 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

1) Mr Adams introduced the report.

 

2) Mr Love said the decision he was proposing was as shown on pages 167 and 168 of the agenda pack.

 

3) Further to questions, it was noted that:

 

·       The services were not provided free of charge to maintained schools and had been paid for through council tax income and also through the national funding formula.

·       The cost of ‘de-delegation’ was detailed on table 8, on page 184 of the agenda pack.

·       There had not been many responses from schools to the consultation on this proposed change.

 

4) RESOLVED to endorse the recommendations as outlined in the report.

9.

24/00097 Special School Review pdf icon PDF 232 KB

Report to follow.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

1) Mr Love introduced the report.

 

2) Further to questions from Members, it was noted that:

 

·       There were concerns about High Needs Funding and support for children with EHCPs.

·       It was felt that there was support for what was being done in mainstream schools and change was welcomed. However, it was felt there were barriers relating to communication with special school settings.

 

3) RESOLVED to endorse the recommendations outlined in the report and proposed decision as outlined in appendix 5.

10.

24/00098 Westmeads Infant School Expansion pdf icon PDF 109 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

1) Mr Veale introduced the report.

 

2) Further to a question from a Member, it was noted that:

 

·       There had been an announcement of government capital funding to increase the number of nursery places and schools were coming forward expressing interest and seeking advice on nursery provision.

 

2) RESOLVED to endorse the recommendations as outlined in the report.

11.

24/00096 Kent Commissioning Plan Update pdf icon PDF 86 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

1) Mr Abrahams introduced the report.

 

2) RESOLVED to endorse the report.

12.

Kent Safeguarding Children Multi-Agency Partnership Annual Report pdf icon PDF 104 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

1) Ms Maiden-Brooks introduced the report.

 

2) RESOLVED to note the report.

13.

Kent County Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) Service Annual Report 2023-2024 pdf icon PDF 85 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

1) Mr Kasaven introduced the report.

 

2) RESOLVED to note the report.

14.

Private Fostering Annual Report 2024 pdf icon PDF 108 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

1) Mr Kasaven introduced the report.

 

2) RESOLVED to note the report.

 

15.

Complaints and Representations 2023-24 pdf icon PDF 281 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

1) Ms Thomson introduced the report.

 

2) RESOLVED to note the report.

 

16.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 104 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

1.    RESOLVED to note the work programme.