Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Janet Godden who was replaced by Councillor Jenny Hannaby.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 12 July 2011 (CH3) and to note for information any matters arising from them.

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 12 July 2011 were approved and signed with one amendment: the addition of Councillor M. Altaf-Khan to the list of attendees at the meeting.

There were no speakers or petitions.

10:15

Jan Paine, Deputy Director for Education and Early Intervention, will deliver the update on behalf of the Director. 

The Committee is invited to receive the presentation which will be followed by a question and answer session.

The Director’s update was presented by the Deputy Director, Children's Services - Education and Early Intervention. The presentation was followed by questions from the Committee members primarily around issues of funding and early intervention. The Chairman asked that the following information should be provided in a written report to members:

• More information on the Local Authority Central Spend Equivalent Grant (LACSEG) funding methodology
• More information on the items described as “unsure” in the savings programme
• Updates on Early Intervention; Academies, Free Schools and University Technical Colleges (UTCs); the Autistic Spectrum Disorder  (ASD) residential unit and 25 hour provision for children out of school due to illness.

11:00

The Committee will receive a report (CH6) on the outcomes resulting from the Select Committee style review held on the 5^th of July 2011.

Roger Edwards, Senior Scrutiny Officer, and author of the report as well as Creighton Muirhead, 5-11 Standards & Progress Manager CEF will join for the discussion.

The Committee received a draft report on the outcomes resulting from the select committee style review of Key Stage 1 attainment that had taken place in July. A number of amendments to the report were suggested. They will be incorporated into an amended draft that will be returned to the November meeting of the Committee for further discussion.

During the discussion on KS1 attainment reference was made to a new strategy being developed by the Children, Education and Families  Directorate that would incorporate recommendations from the Committee's report and also from a recent seminar held by the City Council. It was agreed that the strategy should be brought to the November 8th meeting of the Committee.

11:30

Jim Leivers, Deputy Director for Children’s Social Care will give an update on referrals, assessments and admissions to care etc. and further developments since November 2010 to include Unaccompanied Children Seeking Asylum, "Somebody Else's Child" and increasing responsibilities/pressures for the Council.

The Deputy Director for Children’s Social Care provided presentation and an update on referrals, assessments and admissions to care etc. and further developments since November 2010. The Deputy Director reported that the budget and performance were both being managed well.

Data showed that there had been improvements in most safeguarding indicators and year-on-year increases in the numbers of contacts, referrals, initial assessments and core assessments since 2007/08. Oxfordshire was performing above the national average for the number of initial assessments completed within 7 working days and core assessments within 35 working days. The number of Oxfordshire children subject to a Child Protection Plan is forecast to have increased by almost 60% between 2006 and the end of 2011.

The number of Child Protection Reviews held on time had reduced slightly (to 98.5%) as had the proportion of initial case conferences held within 15 working days. The number of CP enquiries continued to increase while the numbers of Looked After Children (LAC) remained fairly static.

Timeliness of LAC reviews is slightly below target and numbers of adoptions had fallen since 2006. The number of care leavers in suitable accommodation had fallen below the target level.

The number of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeker Children arriving in Oxfordshire had fallen markedly since 2007 (down from 86 to 20).

Members congratulated the division on the good work being done.

Members asked for more information on what schools Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children were placed in.

12:15

The Committee will discuss existing topics and issues currently on the work programme as well as suggest emerging items they would like to see included as part of the new schedule.  The Committee is invited to determine which items are of highest priority, and the work programme will be refreshed accordingly for the November Meeting (CH8).

It was agreed that a briefing on schools admissions policy should be added to the item on Free Schools and Academies that is already in the work programme.

It was also agreed to hold a seminar on NEETS and Apprenticeships in the Spring of 2012 with emphasis on Sciences and the Business and Skills Team.

Finally, it was agreed that Special Schools and Admissions should be added to the work programme once the Hubs have been functioning for a few months.

12:45

The Committee is asked to suggest items from the current Forward Plan on which it may wish to have an opportunity to offer advice to the Cabinet before any decision is taken, together with details of what it thinks could be achieved by looking at any items.

There were no items on the Forward Plan.

12:55

The meeting closed at 12.50.