A regular update by the Director of Children, Education and Families. This time the update will cover:
The Committee is invited to receive the presentation which will be followed by a question & answer session.
Minutes:
The Director of Children, Education and Families provided her regular update on the latest issues affecting the Directorate. These were:
The Director reported that following the most recent inspection of the Looked After Children and Safeguarding service the Council had been given the second highest rating of “Good”. Good in this context means that the service is “exceeding statutory minimum requirements”. This judgement is an improvement on previous inspections and means the Council compares very favourably with other authorities in the country.
Inspectors examined the services relating to safeguarding children and young people and also looked at the quality of support for children while they are in children's homes, foster care or adopted. They interviewed parents, children and young people themselves as well as all of those working with children and young people across all agencies. The report commented that "a well-trained, stable and experienced workforce in Oxfordshire ensures that children, young people and their families receive a consistent service from those who work with them".
Following a short question and answer session the Committee congratulated the Directorate on the excellent findings and paid tribute to the staff working in the field.
The Director reported that work on the Organisational Redesign of the Directorate was continuing. Most new posts in Children’s Social care and Education and Early Intervention have now been filled down to and including the third tier level. This will enable the development of the new early intervention service to go ahead more rapidly.
Members of the Committee made a number of comments and asked questions.
The importance of evaluation was stressed and the need for a benchmark of the present position to compare with how the new set up works. It was agreed that the Committee should have a role in that evaluation.
The importance of communication of the new structures was also stressed. There was a lot of uncertainty about just what the future of what the youth service would look like in the future. The Chairman asked that the Director should bring the Committee up to date at the July and subsequent meetings. Also, if anything important were to arise, updates between meetings would be welcomed.
The service would be provided across 7 hubs, 6 satellites and 43 children’s centres. There would be a mix of in-house and outreach services as most appropriate to the needs of young people. All members will be provided with a map of where the sites would be.
A member raised the issue of consultation with schools over the new structure for early intervention. There was concern over the lack of information being provided so far. The Director stressed the objective of providing an integrated early intervention strategy across the County by September 2011. This date created a number of difficulties with regard to consultation with schools in view of schools closing for the summer holiday in July. However it was accepted that there was an urgent need to consult with schools and communication will now be stepped up.
A question was asked about future funding for the Oxfordshire Association for Young People (OAYP). The Director reported that the OYAP would continue to receive funding for 2011/12 but that all grants and SLAs for 2012/13 would be reviewed in line with the agreed Business Strategy. It was AGREED that the Committee should have the opportunity to see and comment on the review.
A question was asked about funding for Disabled Children’s Respite Care and whether any decision had yet been made on levying a charge based on the ability to pay, as referred to in the Business Strategy. The Director replied that no decision had been taken and that such a decision would require a change in policy. Proposals for such a change would have to brought before the Committee.
Following comments about the future of the Equality and Diversity Achievement Service it was agreed that a report would come to a future meeting explaining how the service was now performing in the light of the changes spelt out in the Business Strategy.
The Committee thanked the Director for once again producing a helpful and informative report.