Issue - meetings

An opportunity for the Committee to question the Cabinet Member, Councillor Lorna Reith, on the Children’s Services portfolio.

In response to questions put to the Cabinet Member, Cllr Reith, on the Children’s Services portfolio, the following was noted:

• Alexandra Park School had become an academy on 1^st October 2011 and Woodside High School was in the process of also becoming an academy.
• Despite concerns that 19 of Haringey’s underperforming schools were being considered; only two of these schools met the criteria for becoming academies at the government’s intervention. 
• The Cabinet Member agreed to provide a written response to enquiries about Heartlands School increasing its admissions intake for 2012 or 2013 (Action No. 46.1).  She highlighted the importance that any increase in intake did not destabilise the admission figures for other schools in the area.
• A meeting on 12^th October would establish how many allocated school places had not been taken up.  The Council could allocate some of these places to the 144 families who had made late applications for school places.
• There was enormous pressure for school places, particularly in Reception Classes. The Council had established some “bulge” classes and was consulting on the permanent expansion of three schools in Haringey.
• In the next week the Government would announce which local groups had been successful in their applications to become Free Schools, one primary school in Haringey had been accepted in the last round, providing 30 additional school places.
• Particular areas of concern for the Children’s Services department were: keeping inside the budget, academies and working with schools that were not performing and new arrangements for children’s centres in the borough.
• The volume of looked after children, placement costs and the cost of legal proceedings were causing budgetary concerns.  Work was being conducted to keep costs down including comparing with other boroughs.
• The Council had approximately 620 children in care, which was higher than other boroughs but the Council’s thresholds for taking children into care were Ofsted approved.
• New arrangements being considered included alternative care (including special guardianship orders, long term foster placements as well as adoption), reviews of less vulnerable children in care (conducted in conjunction with plans for them to return home or to relatives) and alternative ways to support young people living in the community (where there were no protection issues) as well as a review of children’s homes run by the local authority.
• A briefing on Child Protection Core Assessments will be presented at the next OSC meeting on 12^th December(Action No. 46.2).
• It was explained that the social worker training scheme was not continuing due to large numbers of newly qualified social workers available for employment.  There was a need to recruit experienced social workers at present.  A briefing note on the numbers of permanent and agency social workers employed by the Council would be provided to members (Action No. 46.3).

Clerk’s Note:  17:25 hrs - The Chair, Cllr Bull, arrived and took over chairing the meeting at 17:55hrs.

NOTED.