Issue - meetings

Cabinet Member: Children, Education & Families

Forward Plan Ref: 2015/118

Contact: Jim Leivers, Director for Children’s Services Tel: (01865) 815122

Report of the Director for Children’s Services (CA6)

Children’s Services in Oxfordshire has and continues to be a primary priority for the Council and its partners. In particular, keeping children safe is of critical importance to the Council and as such the Authority has a clear explicit resource commitment to supporting the most vulnerable within the community. There is however significant pressures and challenges facing public sector services that mean the current status quo arrangements are not sustainable. This item comprises an overview report together with a series of three reports which cover in some detail:

• The outcome of public consultation regarding proposals for change to early help services, including, children’s centres and early intervention hubs

• Proposals for the future shape of Education and Learning Services

• Proposals for future safeguarding and Corporate Parenting Services

• Proposals for future Children’s Social Care services.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a) receive the outcome of the consultation exercise on the future of early help services along with the proposed alternative arrangements for Children’s Services as outlined in the Cabinet Advisory Group report of September 2015 along with recommendations from the Director of Children’s Services regarding future organisational arrangements for Children’s Social Care;

(b) approve the proposed arrangements for Safeguarding and Corporate parenting services as outlined in the attached report;

(c)approve the proposed arrangements for Education Services as outlined in the attached report; and

(d) receive a further detailed report on the implementation of the proposed changes.

Approved

Approved

Approved

Approved

The Cabinet had before it an overview report together with a series of three supporting reports covering:

• The outcome of public consultation regarding proposals for change to early help services, including, children’s centres and early intervention hubs

• Proposals for the future shape of Education and Learning Services

• Proposals for future Safeguarding and Corporate Parenting Services

• Proposals for future Children’s Social Care services.

The resolution set out below incorporates the recommendations from Agenda Items 6, 6(a), 6(b) and 6(c).

The Deputy Leader of the Council set out the terms of the decision made by Council on 16 February 2016 to reinstate £2 million from early intervention services, including Children’s Centres and Early Intervention Hubs, originally earmarked as part of the identified budget reductions.  In addition Council further agreed to make available an additional £1million short term funding to develop alternative working arrangements with District Councils and local voluntary groups to allow a number of Children’s Centres to remain open but be funded from sources other than the County Council.  It was agreed that the detail of how the reinstated funding was to be used should be identified at a later date. Consequently, Cabinet would consider at this meeting the recommendations of the Director of Children, Education and Families regarding the future of Children’s Services as laid out in the various reports before it and that in addition the Director be required to provide to a future meeting of Cabinet detailed proposals as to how the additional and retained funding arrangements would be best utilised. 

The Council’s Monitoring Officer drew the Cabinet’s attention to a letter received from Central England Law Centre challenging the Council’s decisions regarding the radical reorganisation of children’s centres in Oxfordshire. The letter stated that the decisions taken had been fundamentally flawed and therefore challengeable. However, he advised that in his view the letter had failed to take into account the terms of the Council’s decision taken in February insofar as a further report would be submitted to Cabinet with proposals as to how the extra £2m might be used whereas the Cabinet, at this meeting, was considering establishment of Hubs for the delivery on intervention services with no decisions scheduled to be taken with regard to specific closures of Children’s Centres. He added that the consultation process, which it had been claimed, was flawed had in his opinion been conducted correctly.

Presenting a paper setting out the comments from the Performance Review Scrutiny Committee regarding proposed future arrangements for children’s services Councillor Liz Brighouse referred to the long scrutiny process which had been carried and thanked officers for the work in developing the proposals and undertaking the extensive consultation.

Speaking on behalf of the Chalgrove/Watlington Children’s Centre and Maple Tree (Wheatley) Children’s Centre Steering Groups David Turner recognised the difficult position the County Council found itself in but a great deal of uncertainty existed with regard to future provision and he was particularly concerned regarding provision in rural areas whose need was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16