Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed members and officers to the meeting.

Cllr Walker had submitted his apologies.

There were none.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 30 March 2023 and to receive information arising from them.

The Committee is recommended to AGREE the minutes as an accurate record having raised any necessary amendments.

It was requested that it be checked whether Cllr Walker had attended the meeting on 30 March.

An amendment was agreed to 7/22 to include “and all educational data.”  The Interim Executive Director: People, Transformation, and Performance, advised the Committee that it would be preferable for the Committee to consider the data in public at the earliest opportunity.  The Committee agreed to DELEGATE to the working group to make recommendations, in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair, directly to Cabinet if necessary and that it should report to the Committee as soon as was practicable.

The Cabinet Member for Children, Education, and Young People’s Services advised the Committee that, in previous years, verified results data had been considered in an all-member session in January.  The Committee agreed that such a member session seminar should also be organised at that point.

An amendment to 8/22 was agreed to include “including the option of a moratorium being considered by the Committee” before “the Committee resolved to AGREE” in the second paragraph.

With these amendments, the Committee resolved to AGREE the minutes of 30 March 2023.

To approve the minutes of the extraordinary meeting held on 30 June 2023 and to receive information arising from them.

The Committee is recommended to AGREE the minutes as an accurate record having raised any necessary amendments.

The Committee resolved to AGREE the minutes of 30 June 2023.  Arising from its discussion at the extraordinary meeting on 30 June, the Committee resolved to AGREE the following recommendation to Cabinet arising from its discussion at its meeting on 30 June 2023:

That the Council, insofar as it can within any potential restrictions relating to confidentiality, provides assurance to local parents and carers that the Council has taken significant steps to address its underperformance around SEND via a press statement detailing the recent changes within Children’s Services.

Members of the public who wish to speak at this meeting can attend the meeting in person or ‘virtually’ through an online connection. To facilitate ‘hybrid’ meetings we are asking that requests to speak are submitted by no later than 9.00 a.m. four working days before the meeting, i.e., 9.00 a.m. on Friday 7 July 2023. Requests to speak should be sent to 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, your views can still be taken into account. A written copy of your statement can be provided no later than 9.00 a.m. two working days before the meeting. Written submissions should be no longer than one A4 sheet.

There were none.

The Committee requested a report so that it could understand placements for Children in Care, including what the Council is doing to ensure good value for money, placements near home and, also, how the Council’s actions are improving outcomes for Children in Care.

Cllr Liz Brighouse, Cabinet Member for Children, Education, and Young People’s Services, Anne Coyle, Interim Corporate Director for Children’s Services, have been invited to present the report and to answer the Committee’s questions.

The Committee is recommended to consider the report, to ask any questions and to AGREE any recommendations it wishes to make to Cabinet arising from the report and discussion.

Report to follow.

Cllr Liz Brighouse, Cabinet Member for Children, Education, and Young People’s Services, Stephen Chandler, Interim Executive Director: People, Transformation, and Performance, Anne Coyle, Interim Corporate Director for Children’s Services, and Jean Kelly, Deputy Director Children’s Social Care, attended the meeting to speak to the report the Committee had requested on children’s social care placement sufficiency as well as market management and fostering.

The Interim Corporate Director for Children’s Services gave an overview of the report and introduced the Deputy Director Children’s Social Care and the Lead Commissioner to the Committee and commended them for their work.

The number of Children We Care For (CWCF) in Oxfordshire had been rising and that corresponded with what had happened in other areas of the country.  There were challenges across the system and Oxfordshire had not been immune from them.  However, the Committee’s attention was drawn to the numbers having reduced and the successful targeting of the service’s work.

The report sought to demonstrate that the right strategic and operational approach was in place to ensure that the Council has the right number of CWCF in the right placements at the right time.  It reported on the numbers over the past 12 months. There was a project supported by the Department for Education regarding hubs.

The number of children had been rising which corresponded what happened in other areas of the country.  There were challenges throughout the system on how children were supported from a partnership perspective but that was strengthening.  The Council had been looking very closely at the children it supported ensure that they only became CWCF where that was personally appropriate.  The numbers had reduced as a result of purposeful activity. 

There had been increased oversight and scrutiny from senior officers to ensure the best child-centred decisions were made.  Work was to continue but there was a commitment to consider each child carefully as an individual. 

Support for the workforce was key and building its confidence to work best in a child-focused approach was essential. 

In discussion with the Committee, the following points were noted:

·       That excellent outcomes for children were essential and that the Council needed to ensure that the leadership was supported in the work that was necessary to arrive at those outcomes;

·       That the Workforce Development Board was considering the wellness of staff and recognised there was a national challenge around children’s social work.  It was important to have sensible caseloads for social workers so that effective work was possible.  Because of the work undertaken in 2022 to reduce the number of children in the system, the average is approximately 18 or 19 per social worker.  Newly qualified social workers have a maximum of 12 and Heads of Service are alerted when a social worker reaches 20 to manage that.  Consistent progress had been made in the past 10 months.

·       The end of year figures for agency social care staff was 10% which was lower than south-east statistical neighbours.  The Council’s turnover was 12% compared to an average  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7/23

The terms of reference for the SEND Task and Finish Group were approved by the Committee at its meeting on 30 June 2023.  Cllr Povolotsky and the Scrutiny Officer will provide an update to the Committee on preparation for its meetings.

Cllr Povolotsky advised the Committee that the group had created a Teams channel to enable easy collaboration between its members as they prepared to undertake evidence-gathering over the summer amongst practitioners, parents, and carers.

To consider an updated on previously agreed actions and recommendations.

The Committee is recommended to NOTE the status of current actions and recommendations having raised any questions on their contents.

Report to follow

The Scrutiny Officer advised the Committee that he would seek to update the action and recommendation tracker as far as possible before the Committee next met.

The Committee is asked to consider the proposed work programme.  In deciding its work programme, the Committee is also asked to consider the relevance of any items on the Cabinet’s Forward Plan.

The Committee is recommended to AGREE its work programme.

The Committee resolved to AGREE the proposed work programme.

The Committee is asked to NOTE Cabinet’s response to the report of the Home to School Transport Working Group

The Committee resolved to NOTE the response from Cabinet to the recommendations in the report of the Home to School Transport Working Group and requested an update on recommendation 5 on whether legal advice had been received and what the outcome had been.  The Chair of the Working Group, Cllr Graham, expressed his thanks to the parents who had helped the Council make such significant progress on its journey.

The Committee agreed that it should seek an update on how the scheme was operating on its work programme in January and later in the academic year.