An opportunity to question Councillor Zena Brabazon, the Cabinet Member for
Children, Schools and Families, on developments within her portfolio.
Minutes:
Councillor Zena Brabazon, the Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Families, reported on key developments within her portfolio. The two most significant ones were the recent Ofsted Inspection of children’s social care and the Safety Valve programme, which were covered in detail elsewhere on the agenda for the meeting. There had been a Member development session on the Safety Valve programme. It was a large and very important programme, which could not afford to fail. The Council would need to work closely with schools and other partners to ensure its success.
A Get Haringey Talking programme to encourage the development of speech and language amongst children under 5 had been launched. She felt that the campaign was long overdue and also needed to be brought to the attention of the Integrated Care Board. She was aiming to secure additional funding for the borough for this.
An inspection of the Youth Justice Service was due in the next few months. She had recently attended an awayday for people in the service which had been very impressive and provided an insight into the very demanding work that the team undertook. The first of the borough’s four Family Hubs was due to be launched on 28th June and the Panel were invited to attend this. The hubs were being funded by £3.8 million of government money and she was optimistic about their prospects. She was also due to attend conferences of Haringey Safeguarding Children’s Board and Haringey Headteachers.
She had recently attended an away afternoon with Haringey Education Partnership (HEP). She noted that recent events had shown the benefits of schools remaining part of their local authority family of schools. There was a national issue that had been identified with school buildings that had been constructed in the 1970s using concrete. The government had asked for local investigations to take place of such buildings. The Council had been able to provide support quickly for schools in the borough that had been affected.
The Chair congratulated the Cabinet Member and officers on the outcome of the recent Ofsted inspection and moving the Council’s social care services to a “good” rating. She also highlighted the Safety Valve programme to reduce the deficit in the high needs block. She asked what were the key challenges in responding to these two issues.
The Cabinet Member stated that there was an action plan that had been developed to respond to the recommendations of the inspection and, in particular, the area identified as requiring improvement. She felt that the inspection process had been fair and even handed. The areas highlighted by the inspection were no surprise. The Action Plan would be submitted to Ofsted and would show where attention would be focused. The service knew what was required to improve and move towards an “outstanding” rating. An Excellence Board would be established in September to provide challenge and this would be independently chaired. In respect of the Safety Valve, the biggest challenge would be to deliver all of the programmes on time and on budget. Families would also need to be supportive of the process. Education, Health and Care plans (EHCPs) were currently the gate keeper for the provision of support for children with SEND and the borough needed to be in a position where this was no longer the case. Schools had to find the first £6,000 to fund support as part of EHCPs and this was hard for schools with several children who had them. It was imperative that the programmes were delivered due to the financial implications. There was also an impact on the Council’s capital programme as residential accommodation needed to be provided if children were to be accommodated within the borough.
Panel Members expressed concern about the financial issues that were facing some schools in the borough arising from falling school rolls and, in particular, the impact that this might have on children with SEND. They felt that there was a need for discussion and collaboration between school governors. The Cabinet Member responded that meetings were starting to be held with governors and there was clarity regarding the challenges that were being faced. The issue of falling rolls was not unique to Haringey and was being faced by other London boroughs, some of which were amalgamating or closing schools. Consideration was being given by officers as to how schools in Haringey could be supported so that they were more sustainable. The issue had been developing for many years and was now starting to filter through to secondary schools. Loans could be provided to maintained schools in financial difficulties if need be, including diocesan schools.
Ann Graham, the Director of Children’s Services, stated that although there was some overlap with the Safety Valve programme, the budget challenges that schools were facing were principally a school place planning issue arising from the falling birth rate. Schools were experiencing a range of challenges from this and the Council was working with cluster groups of headteachers to provide support. In addition, external support had been provided from ISOS. Whilst other boroughs were closing or amalgamating schools, Haringey was seeking to avoid similar action. Chairs of school governors were leading on this matter though, with support from the Council.
A Panel Member commented that there needed to be clarity for parents and carers regarding how the local authority was planning to provide more speech and language therapy. The absence of this could lead to misinformation. The Cabinet Member responded that there was a need to ensure that the system was able to provide speech and language therapy at the earliest stage so that reliance on EHCPs could be avoided. In some local authorities, this was already in place. NHS services were the main providers and work was being undertaken to reconfigure provision so that parents would not need to battle to access it.
Panel Members highlighted the fact that a high proportion of children and young people with SEND did not just need speech and language therapy and had other support needs. EHCPs were not just about speech and language. The Cabinet Member acknowledged that this was the case. It was how that this was achieved that was the issue.
In answer to a question regarding the summer programme for children and young people, she stated that she was awaiting a briefing on the issue. She had every confidence though that a comprehensive programme would be put in place. In respect of the likely non-availability of Park Road pool for the summer, Ms Graham stated that it would not be possible to replace all of the pool sessions. However, there were pools available in other parts of the borough. The summer programme would be full of interesting activities and a large number of these would be free. Every child would be given a booklet of the summer programme events. The programme would also be also be on the Council’s website. It was agreed that the package would be shared with the Panel when it became available.
AGREED:
That the borough’s summer programme for children and young people be circulated to the Panel.