Agenda and minutes

Please note that this meeting may be filmed or recorded by the Council for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council’s internet site or by anyone attending the meeting using any communication method. Although we ask members of the public recording, filming or reporting on the meeting not to include the public seating areas, members of the public attending the meeting should be aware that we cannot guarantee that they will not be filmed or recorded by others attending the meeting. Members of the public participating in the meeting (e.g. making deputations, asking questions, making oral protests) should be aware that they are likely to be filmed, recorded or reported on. 

By entering the meeting room and using the public seating area, you are consenting to being filmed and to the possible use of those images and sound recordings.

The chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

The Chair referred Members present to agenda Item 1 as shown on the agenda in respect of filming at this meeting, and Members noted the information contained therein’.

There were no apologies for absence.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business (late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items will be dealt with as noted below).

None.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting on Monday 29^th July were agreed as a correct record.

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and

(ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

There were no declarions of interest

To consider any requests received in accordance with Part 4, Section B, Paragraph 29 of the Council’s Constitution.

None.

Verbal update

The panel received a short verbal update from Cllr Zena Brabazon, the Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Families on recent developments within her portfolio. This was followed by a question and answer session with the Cabinet Member. The key developments within her portfolio were summarised as:

·         The Cabinet Member advised that in relation to school exam results:

o   A-Level results were at the national average, with good outcomes for young people. This extended to both A-Levels and more vocational courses like BTECs.

o   GCSE results were also at the national average, again good outcomes were achieved.

o   Primary school SATs were at the national average. Early years provision and phonics scores were above the national average.

·         The Cabinet Member advised that Haringey had featured in  a Sky news article in relation to the alternative provision it provided for children excluded from school for behavioural issues. Following this clip, the Council had been contacted by a number of authorities wanting to know how Haringey had achieved this. It was noted that the success of this scheme was down to the success of the HLP, the leadership of the unit, and the decision to insource the service providing an opportunity to do things differently.

·         It was noted that two more schools had achieved an outstanding Ofsted rating; St Aidan’s and Bounds Green. 98% of Haringey schools were rated either ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’.

The following arose as part of the Q&A part of this agenda item:

a.    The Panel sought clarification about whether organisations such as fire cadets reported their additional qualifications through to the Council. In response, officers advised that there was no formal reporting mechanism for third sector organisations to report this to the Council. Any arrangements that were put in place would be bespoke and were outside of the local authority statutory framework for things like GCSE results.

b.    The Panel sought clarification about the extent to which the Haringey Learning Partnership (HLP) model differed from the model used by other boroughs. In response, the Cabinet Member advised that the model in Haringey was very different and that it was a high quality, inclusive educational based provision that emphasised learning, rather than disciplining children. The Director added that she had not done any benchmarking to know whether the model had been replicated elsewhere, but stressed that the model was right for Haringey. The Director emphasised the fact that when she started in 2017, no one wanted to send their child to the Octagon and no educational professional wanted to send a pupil there either. The DCS set out that the service put in place a vision for a pupil referral unit that was best in class and one that supported every pupil. It was added that they were very fortunate to have such an experienced head teacher running the unit.

c.    The Panel questioned whether there was exam data on outcomes for home schooled children and looked after children. In response, officers advised that they didn’t have detailed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 74.

The Panel received a report which outlined the progress made in delivering the Haringey SEND and Alternative Provision Local Plan during the period April-July 2024. The Panel received an update on the outcome of the CQC/Ofsted SEND inspection at its last meeting. This report was a further update to the Panel, and provided an opportunity to ask questions. It was noted that Haringey Ofsted/CQC SEND inspection took place in January 2024 and resulted in Haringey achieving the highest grade for SEND service. The report was introduced by Mary Jarrett, Head of Integrated SEND as set out in the agenda pack at pages 7-32. The Director of Children’s Services was also present for this item, along with the Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Families. The following arose during the discussion of this item:

a.    The Panel sought clarification about the liquid logic system and what the costs were of procuring it. In response officers advised that Liquid Logic was a recording system, which provided a more modern way of recording cases and was an upgrade from the previous Mosaic system. The system was used by both Children and Adults. Officers advised that the cost would be set out in the Cabinet report. Philip agreed to circulate the Cabinet report to the Panel. (Action: Philip).

b.    The Panel asked how children with speech and language needs were identified and where they get referred to. In response, officers advised that speech and language needs tended to get picked up either through early years settings, through the two-year health visitor check or parents would refer their child themselves. The speech and language service screened any referrals and offered pathways of support to that child. The service also offered outreach speech and language therapy at family hubs.  

c.    A co-opted member of the panel welcomed the progress that had been made around SEND provision over the last two years and advised that she had previously spoken to the Panel about her concerns in this area. It was commented that whilst there had been improvements in a number of areas, some parents may feel that their experience was not reflected in the outcome of the inspection report. It was commented that the key factor in achieving this improvement was the concerted effort made to co-production and parent/family involvement. The co-opted member praised the role of SEND stakeholder groups and the Haringey Education Partnership in helping to achieve an improvement.

d.    In response to a question, officers advised that under priority 5 of the SEND strategy, there was a supported internship programme. Following on from the safety Valve programme, it was hoped that the number of internships could be raised to 97. It was acknowledged that there was a lot of work to do get there and that a key facet of the offer had to be that there was a job available at the end of it.

e.    In response to a question about children who suffered from emotionally based school avoidance, officers responded that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75.

*Clerk’s note – 20:24: Cllr Adamou let the meeting at this point*

The Panel received a report that set out the overarching picture of Housing Demand and Homelessness in Haringey, as well as providing on overview of the key issues affecting children and families in temporary accommodation and social housing. The report was introduced by Sara Sutton, AD Partnerships and Communities and Darren Fairclough, Head of Lettings and Rehousing as set out in the agenda pack at pages 33-66. Cllr Brabazon was also present for this agenda item. The following arose during the discussion of this report:

a.    The Panel sought assurances around bespoken adaptions for families with SEND and commented that they had seen a recent example and were very impressed. It was commented that there needed to be more of these. In response, officers acknowledged that the adaptations were transformational and assurances were provided that there was a pipeline in place.

b.    In response to a questions about how to rehouse families in an emergency, such as a fire, officers advised that there were emerging planning processes in place along with an out-of-hours rota of staff who would be responsible for responding in an emergency situation.

c.    In relation to specialist adaptations in private rented sector accommodation, officers advised that funding was available through the Disability Support Grant in the first instance, however landlords may not wish to have adaptations carried out in their property. Depending on the unsuitability of the accommodation, it may be necessary to find alternative accommodation and the Council may have a homelessness duty to that person and need to prioritise them on the housing register.

d.    In response to a question, officers advised that there was no statutory limit to the amount of time that somebody could be placed in Temporary Accommodation. The only limits were around being place in bed and breakfast type accommodation, which was six weeks.

e.    The Panel sought assurances around the prioritisation process for families with children with SEND and keeping them in the borough. In response, officers advised that under Priority four there was specific criteria for SEND children and a placement being detrimental to their wellbeing, however the paucity of large family homes meant that some families were sent out of borough. There was a transfer list which identified families living in unsuitable accommodation, however this had around 300 families on it.

f.     The Chair queried how the process of finding families with a disability suitable housing could be made quicker. In response, officers advised that ultimately there was no easy answer due to the fact that demand far outstripped supply. In relation to new-build accommodation, it was noted that things like the Neighbourhood Moves scheme offered a degree of flexibility for priority need.

g.    In response to a number of questions around nightly paid and bed & breakfast accommodation, officers clarified that the two were slightly different. The nightly paid accommodation was self-contained units, whilst B&Bs were more emergency provision and done for shorter periods.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 76.

Verbal update.

The Panel noted a verbal update on the process and timescales for developing the work programme. The Panel noted that outcomes from the Scrutiny Café on 20^th September would feed into the work programme development process.

To consider any items admitted at item 3 above.

N/A

·         19^th November 2024

·         13^th January 2025

·         13^th February 2025

·         19^th November 2024

·         13^th January 2025

·         13^th February 2025