Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence and temporary appointments.

Apologies were received from Cllr Graham, Cllr Overton (substitute: Cllr Fletcher), and from co-optees, Hana G and Toby Long.

Apologies were also received from Lisa Lyons, Director of Children’s Services, Kate Reynolds, Deputy Director of Education and Inclusion, and Jean Kelly, Deputy Director of Children’s Social Care.

Cllr Dr Izzy Creed and co-optee Peace Nnaji attended virtually with the consent of the Chair.

See guidance note on the back page.

There were none.

The Committee is recommended to APPROVE the minutes of the meeting held on 13 June 2025 and to receive information arising from them.

Subject to correcting the typographical error on page 2 (‘draught’ to become ‘draft’), substituting ‘declined to do so at this stage’ for ‘decided against’ in the tenth paragraph of agenda item No. 8, and inserting ‘now’ between ’Council’ and ‘conducted’ at in the ninth paragraph of  agenda item No.8, the Committee AGREED the minutes for the 13 June 2025 meeting as an accurate record.

Under matters arising, a question was raised as to whether the EOTAS parent-carer guidance would return to the Committee in accordance with the Committee’s recommendation given that it was currently on the Cabinet agenda for approval at its meeting on 15 July 2025.  Later in the course of the meeting, the Cabinet member for Children and Young People stated that it had been erroneously submitted and that an amended recommendation would be moved by Cabinet.

Members of the public who wish to speak on a substantive item on the agenda at this meeting can attend the meeting in person or ‘virtually’ through an online connection.

Requests to speak must be submitted no later than 9.00 a.m. three working days before the meeting, i.e., Tuesday 8 July, 2025.

Requests should be submitted to the Scrutiny Officer at scrutiny@oxfordshire.gov.uk.

If you are speaking ‘virtually’, you may submit a written statement of your presentation to ensure that if the technology fails, then your views can still be taken into account. A written copy of your statement can be provided no later than 9.00 a.m. on the day of the meeting. Written submissions should be no longer than 1 A4 sheet.

Where there are a number of requests from persons wishing to present similar views on the same issue, the Chair may require that the views be put by a single spokesperson. It is expected that only in exceptional circumstances will a person (or organisation) be allowed to address more than one meeting on a particular issue in any period of six months.

The public is reminded that the Committee is not a decision-making body and that it cannot investigate individual complaints.  The Committee requests that no individual children are named when addressing the Committee.

There were none.

The Executive Director of Resources and Section 151 Officer, Lorna Baxter, and the Director of Property and Assets, Vic Kurzeja, have been invited to present a report on proposals for the Council’s school catering service.

The Committee is asked to consider the report and raise any questions, and to AGREE any recommendations it wishes to make to Cabinet arising therefrom.

The annex to the report is exempt from disclosure.  The information in this case is exempt in that it falls within the following prescribed categories: 3. Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and since it is considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, in that a negotiation is ongoing and would prejudice the position of the authority in the process of that negotiation and the Council’s standing generally in relation to such matters in future, to the detriment of the Council’s ability properly to discharge its fiduciary and other duties as a public authority.

The Executive Director of Resources and Section 151 Officer, Lorna Baxter, and the Director of Property and Assets, Vic Kurzeja, have been invited to present a report on proposals for the Council’s cleaning service.

The Committee is asked to consider the report and raise any questions, and to AGREE any recommendations it wishes to make to Cabinet arising therefrom.

The annex to the report is exempt from disclosure.  The information in this case is exempt in that it falls within the following prescribed categories: 3. Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and since it is considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, in that a negotiation is ongoing and would prejudice the position of the authority in the process of that negotiation and the Council’s standing generally in relation to such matters in future, to the detriment of the Council’s ability properly to discharge its fiduciary and other duties as a public authority.

The annex to the report is exempt from disclosure.  The information in this case is exempt in that it falls within the following prescribed categories: 3. Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and since it is considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, in that a negotiation is ongoing and would prejudice the position of the authority in the process of that negotiation and the Council’s standing generally in relation to such matters in future, to the detriment of the Council’s ability properly to discharge its fiduciary and other duties as a public authority.

The Chair stated that items 5 and 6 would be grouped, with reports introduced and discussed separately, since both required parts to be addressed in a private session.

The Committee invited Cllr Dan Levy, Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and Transformation, and Cllr Sean Gaul, Cabinet Member Children and Young People, Stephen Chandler, Executive Director of People,, Lorna Baxter, Executive Director of Resources and Section 151 Officer, Vic Kurzeja, Director of Property and Assets, and Anthony Hulsman, Head of Property Operations, were invited to present a report on proposals for the Council’s school catering service and one on the corporate cleaning service.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and Transformation introduced the items and mentioned the need to discuss these items in a private session owing to commercial sensitivities. The focus was on making efficiencies for financial reasons, ensuring fairness to those involved, and maintaining service quality.

The Director of Property and Assets provided a short presentation on School Catering Services and explained the background and reasons for the proposed changes in the catering services. He highlighted that the current delivery model was not financially sustainable, even after implementing several efficiencies. The service could not break even owing to insufficient volume and the need to increase meal prices to an unreasonable level. The Council needed to consider alternative solutions.

Members asked about competitors and it was established that the main competitor was the Oxford Lunch Company, which had been bought out, although there were several other competitors.

The number of rural schools serviced was highlighted, with a focus on small village schools that could not sustain on-site catering facilities. The implications of contracting out services for these rural schools were discussed, emphasising the need to support them through delivery services.

Members were keen to confirm that the quality of food would be guaranteed by engaging leading catering services that adhere to the same standards of quality and nutrition. The Committee was given that assurance.

The Director of Property and Assets provided a short presentation on the Corporate Cleaning Service. He explained that the Council had previously outsourced 50% of its cleaning services, which had resulted in significant savings and maintained high service quality. The proposal was to extend this outsourcing to the remaining cleaning services, including several schools, to further reduce costs and improve efficiency.

Following the overview of corporate cleaning services, it was confirmed that several schools would be affected by the proposed contract and that a number of these schools were small rural schools.

After the introductions, the Committee resolved to exclude the public for the duration of the items under discussion as the information provided in Annex 1 to each report were deemed to contain exempt information and the public interest was weighted in favour of considering the information in private as the information related to a current commercial negotiation. 

In discussion about the School Catering Service, the Committee explored the following areas:

• It was confirmed that there would be no redundancies, as all staff would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39/25

The Committee is recommended to AGREE its work programme for forthcoming meetings, having heard any changes from previous iterations, and taking account of the Cabinet Forward Plan and of the Budget Management Monitoring Report.

In order to inform its work planning, the Committee has requested a data pack and has invited officers to advise as it devises its plan.

The Cabinet Forward Plan can be found here: https://mycouncil.oxfordshire.gov.uk/mgListPlanItems.aspx?PlanId=448&RP=115

The most recent BMMR, submitted to Cabinet in March 2025, can be found here: https://mycouncil.oxfordshire.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=115&MId=7477&Ver=4

In order to inform its work planning, the Committee had invited officers from across Children’s Services to advise and invited the Cabinet member for Children and Young People and the Cabinet member for Finance to take part in the discussion.  The following officers attended

• Stephen Chandler, Executive Director for People;
• Charlotte Davey, Assistant Director for County Services;
• Delia Mann, Assistant Director of Early Help & Prevention;
• Senay Nidai, Assistant Director Safeguarding;
• Deborah Smit, Assistant Director for SEND and Inclusion;
• Kim Wilson, Assistant Director for Schools and Settings - Standards, Effectiveness and Performance.

The Chair opened by stressing the need to prioritise children in the Council’s plans, given the 150,000 children and young people in Oxfordshire. The Committee had requested a comprehensive data pack, setting out information relating to children’s social care and to education, and the Chair recommended a structured review of the data to clearly understand what it shows about this group.

The Assistant Directors were invited to give an overview of key points relating to their respective service area.

The new Assistant Director for Schools and Settings stressed the need to improve literacy and numeracy in primary schools, particularly for vulnerable groups such as white British boys on free school meals and she announced an upcoming year-long reading initiative.

The Assistant Director of Early Help & Prevention highlighted attendance as key, especially for children under child protection plans, and called for joint work between social care and education. She reported a 17% drop in child protection plans and a 5% reduction in children in need plans, crediting multi-agency collaboration, whilst noting stable demand at the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub.

The Assistant Director for SEND and Inclusion noted that the number of Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs) had risen above national averages, with over 8,000 expected in Oxfordshire, and stressed the importance of early interventions like special school outreach and SENCO support to improve outcomes.

The Assistant Director for County Services emphasised reducing out-of-county placements and increasing local foster carers, given a national decline of 4,000 Council carers. The steady number of children in care and fewer child protection plans signalled successful prevention.

The Assistant Director Safeguarding echoed the need to improve attendance for vulnerable children, starting in nurseries, and underscored the value of early help strategies to prevent statutory interventions by identifying needs sooner.

Members noted that the data relating to complaints to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman did not set out clearly that, of the complaints investigated, all had been upheld.  The Executive Director of People committed to feeding back to the committee full data of complaints and compliments the council received.

The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People mentioned that the Independent Chair of the SEND Improvement Assurance Board, had been taken aback by the disproportionality in the percentage of school-age children with SEND support in Oxfordshire. This highlighted a significant concern regarding the higher number of children requiring SEND support in Oxfordshire.

The Committee discussed attendance; Local Authority influence with academy schools; the School  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40/25

The Committee is recommended to NOTE the progress of previous recommendations and actions arising from previous meetings, having raised any questions on the contents.

The Committee NOTED the action and recommendation tracker.

Attached is the draft Cabinet response to the Education and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee report on The Virtual School, expected to be approved at the 15 July 2025 cabinet meeting. The Committee is asked to NOTE the response.

The Committee NOTED the Cabinet response to the report on The Virtual School.

Before the Chair closed the meeting, the Executive Director of People explained that Fridays were consistently difficult for senior officers and requested that the Committee consider moving its meetings to another weekday.  The Committee AGREED to this in principle and DELEGATED to the Scrutiny Officer, in consultation with the Chair and the Deputy Chair, to engage with officers to identify potential alternatives.