10:15
The Director of Children, Education and Families will give an update on the current activity and priorities of the directorate.
The Committee is invited to receive the presentation which will be followed by a question & answer session.
Minutes:
MeeraSpillet provided her regular update on the latest issues affecting the Directorate.
At several points during the presentation, the committee had discussions on items.
The topic of commissioning was discussed amongst the committee. Cllr Seale stated that the term commissioning can be confusing as it means different things to different people in different contexts. The Director defined it as a map of services and matching those services to purchasing. She emphasised the benefit of data led decisions. She went on to say that in a climate of limited resources it became increasingly important to use research and evidence to focus resources on achieving results.
The Director relayed some themes that emerged from a recent national conference she attended with other children’s services directors. She related that there were national themes around culture change that were relevant to Oxfordshire. That the discussion pertained to shifting officers’ thinking towards:
Outcomes not Targets
Evidence not Ideology
Culture not Structure
Cllr Godden voiced concern that this ‘culture change’ was meant to have taken place with the splitting of services several years ago, and that this does not seem to have happened.
The Director consented and stated that a change in structure does not necessarily bring desired culture change.
Cllr Waine stated that after 20 years of topdown directives from government, the shift is to local decisions. He asked about the interface between evidence based local decisions and funding decisions that are made nationally.
The Director acquiesced that this was a big question and that it was still unclear how this would play out nationally.
Sue Matthew commented that she had recently heard that Oxford University is partnering with the Children’s Trust and that this was an exciting development.
Cllr Waine confirmed that it had taken place and that it had been in the works for a while.
Cllr Fitzgerald-O’Connor asked about the Sure Start Programme evaluation. Was it true that this evaluation did not have the expected outcomes?
The Director stated that the directorate was in the process of developing guidance on this evaluation. There are issues when trying to make a direct comparison as the levels of resource vary. Funding levels were scaled back in subsequent waves. She acknowledged that there was a need to better focus provision and the directorate is about to do a review for the county.
There was a discussion on the new provision of families approaching schools directly for admittance mid-year. There was a concern that families might not understand their rights if schools did not admit their child or understand the appeal process. There was also a concern regarding the ongoing consultation to increase the time allowed to file an appeal from 10 to 30 days. This could amount to a considerable amount of time for a child to be out of school. While the specific reason for this proposed increase was unknown, it was suggested by Cllr Fitzgerald-O’Connor that it could address some time pressures on parents to build an appeal.
The Director gave an update on the new Hub provision model. She confirmed to the chairman that the plan was on0020track for a timely delivery.
Cllr Godden voiced concerns that it was possible that confidence in the hub has not been high and that more outreach was necessary.
Cllr Waine commented that it was the ongoing involvement of councillors which was the crucial element.
Brenda Williams expressed anxiety that with only 7 hubs access could be difficult for some young people.
The director clarified that there will be 7 hubs and 6 satellites. She insisted that the directorate would ensure that young people would be made known of the activities and programmes and that it was designed to maximise access and utilisation in a restricted resource environment.