Notice of Meeting
Children’s
Services Scrutiny Committee Tuesday 28 February 2006 at 10.00 am at County
Hall, Oxford
Membership
Chairman – Councillor
Mrs Anda Fitzgerald O’Connor
Deputy Chairman –
Councillor Keith Stone
Councillors:
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Jean Fooks
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Deborah Glass
Woodin
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Sue Haffenden
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Steve Hayward
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Hilary Hibbert-Biles
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Zoe Patrick
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Bill Service
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Val Smith
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Lawrie Stratford
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Melinda Tilley
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David Turner
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Carol Viney
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Co-opted
Members:
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Mr Chris Bevan
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Mr Ben Jackson
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Mrs Sue Matthew
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Ms Bernadine
Spencer
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Notes: Lunch
will be served for all Members at 1.00 pm in Committee Room 3.
What does this Committee
review or scrutinise?
- Services
for children, young people and families; preventative services;
child protection; family support, educational policy
- Primary
& secondary schools; special education; pupil services; school
transport; music service
- Conduct
of best value reviews as specified in Paragraph 9 of Schedule
2 to the Functions Regulations
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How can I have my
say?
We welcome
the views of the community on any issues in relation to the responsibilities
of this Committee. Members of the public may ask to speak for up
to 5 minutes on any item on the agenda or may suggest matters which
they would like the Committee to look at.
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Derek Bishop
Head of Democratic
Services
February 2006
About the County Council
The
Oxfordshire County Council is made up of 74 councillors who are democratically
elected every four years. The Council provides a range of services to
Oxfordshire’s 622,000 people. These include:
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social &
health care
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libraries
and museums
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the fire service
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roads
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trading standards
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land use
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transport
planning
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waste management
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The
Council employs 18,840 people. Each year the Council manages £0.7 billion
of public money in providing these services. Most decisions are taken
by a Cabinet of 10 Councillors, which makes decisions about service priorities
and spending.
About Scrutiny
Scrutiny is about:
- Providing a challenge
to the Cabinet
- Examining how
well the Cabinet and the Authority are performing
- Influencing the
Cabinet on decisions that affect local people
- Helping the Cabinet
to develop Council policies
- Representing the
community in Council decision making
- Promoting joined
up working across the authority’s work
Scrutiny is NOT about:
- Making day to
day service decisions
- Investigating
individual complaints.
Five
Scrutiny committees ‘scrutinise’ or review and challenge decisions made
by the Cabinet and help it develop Council policies. There are Scrutiny
Committees for:
- Corporate Governance
- Children’s Services
- Environment &
Economy
- Community Safety
- Health & Community
Services
There
is also a Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee which brings
together councillors from the County and the five district councils in
Oxfordshire to scrutinise health issues.
What does
this Committee do?
The
Committee meets up to 6 times a year or more. It develops a work programme,
which lists the issues it plans to investigate. These investigations can
include whole committee investigations undertaken during the meeting,
or reviews by a panel of members doing research and talking to lots of
people outside of the meeting. Once an investigation is completed the
Committee provides its advice to the Cabinet, the full Council or other
scrutiny committees. Meetings are open to the public and all reports are
available to the public unless exempt or confidential, when the items
would be considered in closed session.
AGENDA
- Apologies for Absence
and Temporary Appointments
- Declarations of Interest
–
see guidance note
- Minutes
To
approve the minutes of the meeting held on 13 December 2005 (CH3)
and to note for information any matters arising
on them.
- Speaking to or Petitioning
the Committee
- Children & Young
People’s Plan
10:10
Background
Information:
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On 22 June
2005 the Cabinet approved a draft outline CYPP for consultation
and further development. At that meeting the Cabinet Member for
Children & Young People gave an undertaking that the draft
would be referred for comment to this Committee before a revised
draft of the CYPP is presented to Cabinet in October for approval
for wider consultation.
On 22 September 2005, this Committee considered the Children &
Young People’s Plan and forwarded a number of detailed comments
on the consultation document to the Cabinet for consideration.
On 7 March
2006, the Cabinet will be recommended, subject to consideration
of any comments on the part of this Committee, to make recommendations
to the Council as to the adoption of the Plan.
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Why has
it been included?
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To enable
this Committee to comment on the report prior to consideration
by the Cabinet.
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How and
when is the Committee going to deal with it?
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During a
one meeting session.
The Committee is asked to consider what advice, if any,
to offer to the Cabinet.
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Who is
going to take part in this piece of work?
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All Members
of the Committee.
Ms Gillian Tee, Head of Children’s Services will attend to give
a brief presentation on the outcome of the consultation on the
draft Plan and to answer any questions which the Committee may
wish to ask.
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Work to
be done prior to the meeting:
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Members are
asked to consider the report CH5,
in preparation of the discussion. A copy of the Plan has been
sent to all Members of the Scrutiny Committee under separate cover.
A copy of the Plan will be available for public inspection and
is also available on the County Council’s website www.oxfordshire.gov.uk
or from Deborah Mitchell on (01865) 815463, or
e-mail: deborah.mitchell@oxfordshire.gov.uk
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Documents
Members should bring to the meeting:
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None.
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- Children & Young
People’s Board
10:40
Background
Information:
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By April
2006, most local authorities should have what the government have
termed "Children’s Trust" arrangements in place to improve outcomes
for all children, young people and families through more integrated
services, strategies and processes, including, where appropriate,
joint commissioning and pooling of budgets.
The Best Value Review of Services for Vulnerable Children and
Young People, 2004/05, initially proposed the establishment of
a Children and Young People’s Commissioning Trust by April 2006.
Work to develop
detailed proposals over the past year has included a review of
national guidance, a review of approaches being developed elsewhere
in England, seminars with partner agencies and a series of interviews
with senior officers.
In October
2005, the Cabinet, on the recommendation of the Children’s Services
Scrutiny Committee, agreed broad proposals to take forward the
principle of the Commissioning Trust in the form of a Children
and Young People’s Board, requesting that officers undertake further
detailed work in consultation with partner agencies. This paper
reports back on the work programme.
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Why has
it been included?
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To enable
this Committee to comment on the report prior to consideration
by the Cabinet.
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How is
the Committee going to deal with it?
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During a
one meeting session.
The Committee is asked to consider what advice,
if any, to offer to the Cabinet.
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Who is
going to take part in this piece of work?
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All Members
of the Committee.
Ms Sarah Breton, Children’s Trust Project Manager will attend
to give a brief presentation outlining proposals to establish
a board and answer any questions which the Committee may wish
to ask.
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Work to
be done prior to the meeting:
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Members are
asked to consider the report CH6,
in preparation of the discussion.
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Documents
Members should bring to the meeting:
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None
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- Locality Working and
Integrated Support Services for Children, Young People & Families
11:10
Background
Information:
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DfES guidance
(2004) indicates that "local areas should move towards service
delivery by multi disciplinary teams that bring together relevant
professionals in places easily accessible to children, young people
and families".
In October 2005 the Cabinet received a report outlining proposals
for the development of local, multi-disciplinary teams across
Oxfordshire building on the learning from pilot programmes and
other multi agency work, including the Best Value Review of Services
for Vulnerable Children and Young People completed by the Children’s
Services Scrutiny Committee in September 2005. In line with the
Scrutiny Committee’s recommendation, the Cabinet approved the
proposals for wide consultation, subject to the outcome being
reported to the Scrutiny Committee and the Cabinet in the New
Year.
Feedback
from children, young people and families highlights the need for
more direct support from frontline services working together more
effectively. They highlight the need to reduce the number of different
assessments which they receive and to have a named professional
who can get to know them and develop a relationship with them
over time. Professionals themselves report that they can
feel frustrated that, while services are all working under pressure,
there can be duplication of work and difficulties of communication
between agencies.
It is proposed
that children, young people and families in all areas of the county
should have access to a local, multi-disciplinary team which is
able to provide more direct and co-ordinated support to meet their
needs. Children, young people and families will be involved in
the development of the local teams to ensure that they are customer-focussed
and responsive to needs.
Officers
were asked to consult on the proposed framework for multi-disciplinary
teams. The report sets out the outcome of the consultation and
next steps.
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Why has
it been included?
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To enable
this Committee to comment on the report prior to consideration
by the Cabinet.
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How is
the Committee going to deal with it?
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During a
one meeting session.
The Committee is asked to consider what advice,
if any, to offer to the Cabinet.
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Who is
going to take part in this piece of work?
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All Members
of the Committee.
Ms Sandra Bingham, Assistant Head of Service (Children & Young
People) will attend to give a brief presentation outlining proposals
to develop local, multi-disciplinary teams across Oxfordshire
and answer any questions which the Committee may wish to ask.
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Work to
be done prior to the meeting:
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Members are
asked to consider the report CH7,
in preparation of the discussion.
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Documents
Members should bring to the meeting:
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None
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- Stability of Placements
for Children Looked After Scrutiny Review
11:40
Background
Information:
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The former
Social & Health Care Scrutiny Committee undertook a Review of
the Stability of Foster Care Placements. The purpose of the Review
was to:
- establish
the current situation in Oxfordshire and the Council’s policies
on placement;
- establish
the statistics concerning the breakdown of placements;
- establish
whether there was any way of improving the likelihood of successful
foster care placements;
- ensure that
adequate support was available and given to support foster carers
and the children being fostered and to ensure that inappropriate
placements were not being made to foster care;
- make comparisons
with best policy and practice in other local authorities and to
incorporate these into Oxfordshire’s policy and practice so that
"looked after children" had the best chances of stable placements
which should improve their life chances.
The Review
was prompted in the knowledge that the service for "Looked after
children" was good but that it could be even better. The Review
was informed by a range of evidence outlined in the Executive summary
to the report.
The main findings
were around the need for more and/or better:
- Recruitment
of foster carers.
- Training
& payment for skills of foster carers.
- Placement
choice.
- Support
for foster carers and the children.
- Involvement
& consultation with the children themselves.
- "Specialised"
foster care.
- Supported
lodgings and leaving care housing provision.
- Financial
remuneration for foster carers.
The recommendations
focus on these main findings.
The Scrutiny
Committee was keen that the Review should be completed in sufficient
time to have an impact on the implementation plan for the Social
& Health Care Directorate’s "Placement Matters" strategy. The
timing of this work coming before the Cabinet means that it will
be able to do so.
On 12 July
2005, this Scrutiny Committee agreed the report of the review group
as submitted and referred it to the cabinet for consideration.
On 19 July,
the Cabinet resolved to endorse the response of the Cabinet Member
for Children and Young People (attached at CH8) (download
as .doc file)
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Why has
it been included?
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At its Meeting
on 3 November 2005, this Committee agreed to ask the Cabinet Member
for Children & Young People to report back on the progress thus
far in implementing the Review’s recommendations.
The Committee
is asked to question the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People
& Families in relation to the progress of implementing the Review
recommendations that the (then) Executive endorsed.
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How is the
Committee going to deal with it?
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By means of
a question and answer session.
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When are
they going to do it?
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During this
meeting.
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Who is going
to take part in this piece of work?
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All Members
of this Committee and the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People
& Families.
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Work to
be done prior to the meeting:
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Members are
asked to consider the response attached at CH8 (download
as .doc file)
in preparation for the discussion.
A copy of the
full Scrutiny Review has been sent out to all Members of this Committee.
A copy of this report will be available for public inspection and
is also available on the County Council’s website www.oxfordshire.gov.uk
or from Deborah Mitchell on (01865) 815463, or
e-mail: deborah.mitchell@oxfordshire.gov.uk
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Documents
Members should bring to the meeting:
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Members may
wish to bring their copy of the full Scrutiny Review to the meeting.
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- Evaluation of Use of
School Premises for Community Purposes Scrutiny Review ("Room at School")
12:10
Background
Information:
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The former
Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committee undertook a scrutiny review
into The Use of School Premises for Community Purposes. The Review
Group had been appointed to identify local community needs for access
to school facilities, assess the degree of non-school usage and
report back on key findings.
The Scrutiny
Review Panel comprised of Councillors Andrew Brown, Mrs Anda Fitzgerald-O’Connor
and Dr Athene Reiss.
On 1 June 2004,
the Executive considered the review report and resolved to ask the
Director for Learning & Culture to arrange for the report to
be considered by the Extended Schools Strategy Group and to report
back to the Executive at the earliest opportunity with a prioritised
action plan.
On 7 September
2004, the Executive considered a report (EX13) which commented on
each of the review's 18 recommendations in the light of consideration
by the Extended Schools Strategy Group and set out an overall
action plan in response. A second group of actions would be taken
forward through the Capital Programme and Asset Management Plan
Steering Group.
The Executive
resolved: to:
- welcome
the recommendations of the Scrutiny Review Report "Room at School"
and thank the members of the Review Group and the officers supporting
them for the work they have done on the Review;
- endorse
the action plan in response to the Review set out in the report
and Annex 1 subject to the resources identified in paragraph 8
of the report being forthcoming.
On 3 November
2005 this Committee AGREED to ask officers to produce a briefing
note for the Cabinet Member for Schools Improvement for their meeting
in February on the 29 Actions set out in the Action Plan, outlining
against each action: the progress in implementing the action; what
the action had achieved; and what had improved as a result of implementing
the action.
The Committee
further asked officers to comment on how the changes had impacted
on the Adult Learning Service.
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Why has
it been included?
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It has now
been over a year since the (then) Executive agreed the recommendations
of this Scrutiny Review.
The Committee
is asked to question the Cabinet Member in relation to the progress
of implementing the Review recommendations that the Executive endorsed.
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How is the
Committee going to deal with it?
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By means of
a question and answer session. A report by the Director for Children,
Young People & Families outlining progress against the 29 Actions
is attached at CH9.
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When is
the Committee going to do this piece of work?
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During this
meeting.
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Who is going
to take part in this piece of work?
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All Members
of this Committee and the Cabinet Member for Schools Improvement.
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Work to
be done prior to the meeting:
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A copy of the
full scrutiny review has been sent to all members of this Committee.
A copy of this report will be available for public inspection and
is also available on the County Council’s Web site www.oxfordshire.gov.uk
or from Deborah Mitchell on (01865) 815463,
e-mail: deborah.mitchell@oxfordshire.gov.uk
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Documents
Members should bring to the meeting:
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Members may
wish to bring their copy of the full scrutiny review to the meeting.
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- Scrutiny Review : Gifted
Children
12:40
Background
Information:
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On 27 September,
this Committee agreed as part of their work programme to undertake
a scrutiny review of ‘gifted children’ and appointed Councillors
Deborah Glass-Woodin, Hilary Hibbert-Biles, Val Smith and Melinda
Tilley to the Lead Member Review Group.
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Why has
it been included?
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To
inform the Committee of current progress on this review and to
enable members to ask questions on areas of interest.
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When are
they going to do it?
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During this
meeting and at future meetings.
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Who is
going to take part in this piece of work?
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All members
of this Committee.
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Work to
be done prior to the meeting:
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None.
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Documents
Members should bring to the meeting:
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None.
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1.00
– 2.00 Lunch for Members.
- White Paper : Higher
Standards, Better Schools for All
2:00
Background
Information:
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The Schools
White Paper "Higher Standards, Better Schools for All - more choice
for parents and pupils" was published by the DfES on the 25 October
2005. As a White Paper it is not a consultative document although
this does not preclude views on the contents being sent to the
Secretary of State. Its publication precedes the drawing up of
a Bill, the timing of which is at present uncertain.
The purpose of the report is to provide an overview of the contents
of the White Paper and then to focus on those proposals which
indicate a change in the role of local authorities. Those proposals
are primarily associated with the provision of school places in
response to parental wishes; the establishment of Trust Schools;
and admissions arrangements. An indication is given as to how
these proposals may impact in Oxfordshire.
The report
also provides a basis for the Cabinet to consider how to respond
to the three motions relating to the White Paper (reproduced in
Annex 1) which the Council on 10 January referred to the Cabinet,
via the Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee, to advise the
Council at its 4 April meeting. A draft of the report is to be
considered by the Children’s Services Scrutiny
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Committee
on 28 February and their comments will be reported to the Cabinet.
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Why has
it been included?
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To enable
the Committee to comment on the White Paper : Higher Standards,
Better Schools for All and to advise Cabinet on the three motions
relating to the White Paper.
The Committee is asked to determine its advice
on the motions set out in Annex 1 to the report CH11.
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How is
the Committee going to deal with it?
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During a
one meeting session.
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Who is
going to take part in this piece of work?
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All Members
of this Committee.
Mr Geoff Jones has been invited to attend in order to answer any
questions may wish to ask.
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Work to
be done prior to the meeting:
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Members are
asked to consider the response attached at
CH11 in preparation for the
discussion.
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Documents
Members should bring to the meeting:
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Members are
asked to bring their copy of the White Paper (circulated under
separate cover on 24 January 2006 to the meeting.
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- Scrutiny Work Programme
2005/06
3:00
To
review and update the Scrutiny Committee’s Work Programme 2005/06.*
*Members
are asked to bring their copy of the Work Programme to the meeting.
- Tracking Scrutiny Items
3:15
Report
back on advice by this Committee to the Cabinet or Council.
- ‘Select Committee
style’ Investigation for Achieving Education for Children with Learning
Disabilities.
A
copy of the report ‘Delegating the Statementing Budget to Schools’
is attached at CH13 (download as. doc
file)
On
20 December 2005 the Cabinet considered the proposal to delegate
the Statement to Schools. Councillor Mrs Fitzgerald-O’Connor,
speaking as Chairman of the Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee,
stated that the Committee had questioned a number of witnesses
to glean their views on the proposals. The witnesses had expressed
reservations about delegation to primary schools but had supported
delegation to secondary schools. She drew the Cabinet’s attention
to the comments made by the Scrutiny Committee, who had agreed
to support the proposals in the report, subject as stated in the
schedule of addenda.
Councillor
Waine accepted the Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee comments,
noting that those which entailed recommendations to schools could
not be insisted upon by the Local Education Authority.
RESOLVED:
- to approve
the introduction of a scheme of delegation from April 2006 using
the SEN Index formula, on the following basis:
- all of the
statementing budget for secondary schools should be delegated;
- for primary
schools, funding equivalent to the first 15 hours of provision
should be delegated;
- introduction
should be phased over two years.
- exceptional
arrangements should be made for the hundred primary schools with
the smallest whole school budgets and other exceptional circumstances,
on a basis agreed by the Director for Children, Young People &
Families;
- a contingency
fund should be retained for exceptional arrangements, ring-fenced
within the school’s block so that any surplus is re-distributed
to schools at the end of the year;
- that the Director
for Children, Young People & Families be asked to:
- review the
implementation within the first year for consideration by the
Schools Forum and Cabinet;
- produce
a full review of the scheme within the first two years, in time
for any changes to be made for April 2008;
- report to
the Cabinet in Summer 2007 on the use of "additional funding"
and any proposals for its redistribution from 2008;
- work on
extending the scope of ‘School Action Plus’ in the hundred primary
schools with the smallest whole school budgets to enable, where
appropriate, further centrally agreed funding for specified pupils.
- Forward Plan
3:25
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.
(Please
bring along to the meeting the latest copy of the Forward Plan which,
at the time of writing covers February 2006 to May 2006).
(Members
are asked to contact the Chairman, Deputy Chairman and/or the Committee
Officer at least 3 days before the meeting should they wish to raise
an item on the Forward Plan for possible consideration).
If
you have any special requirements (such as a large print version
of these papers or special access facilities) please contact the
officer named on the front page, but please give as much notice
as possible before the meeting
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