Agenda and minutes

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Items
No. Item

5.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Morris, Mr Taye and Ms Denny.

6.

Items of Urgent Business

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).

Minutes:

None.

7.

Declarations of interest

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.

Minutes:

Councillor Mallett stated that she was a governor of Broadwaters and Chair of its Community Services Committee.  Councillor Wright stated that he was Chair of Governors at Highgate Wood School.

8.

Deputations/Petitions/Presentations/Questions

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

Minutes:

None.

9.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 2 MB

To approve the minutes of the meeting of 9 July 2015.

Minutes:

It was noted that the incorrect set of minutes had been included in the agenda pack and therefore agreed to defer approval of the minutes of the meeting of 9 July 2015 until the next meeting of the Panel.

 

10.

School Places pdf icon PDF 407 KB

To receive a report on planning arrangements for school places.    

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Eveleen Riordan, the Joint Interim Head of Education Services, reported that the birth rate in London had stabilised and was now predicted to fall.  This would have an impact on future demand for school places and had been reflected in projections of demand for primary school places, especially in the Crouch End and Muswell Hill areas.  However, there was still likely to be additional demand in areas of the borough where regeneration was taking place and there was also currently a need for additional capacity at secondary level. 

 

Due to legislative changes, the only way that it was now possible for the Council to increase the supply of school places was through expansion of maintained schools or by facilitating the establishment of new free schools.  In terms of post 16 provision, there were currently enough places to meet demand despite the increase in the participation age to 18.  Following recent changes in the relationship between schools and local authorities, the majority of Haringey schools had chosen to maintain close ties with the Council.  There were a number of different potential options for models of future provision.  The most likely future model for Haringey would be a mix of maintained schools, academies, free schools, colleges and multi academy trusts. 

 

It was noted that if a higher percentage of Haringey young people stayed within the borough for post 16 provision it would be difficult for the borough to meet demand.  It was considered that there were sufficient places to meet current and projected demand, although not all settings were currently operating at the optimum level.  In respect of apprenticeships, it was felt that the potential of these had not yet been realised fully and the Council would be looking at how they could be better supported and supplemented.  The quality and number of them needed to be improved and work was being undertaken in conjunction with colleagues in Regeneration to address how this might happen.  It was important that there were more quality pathways available. 

 

In response to a question on diagnosing autism, should a diagnosis be required it would be carried out by agencies outside of the school but with the school supporting the process and seeking an ECHP (Education and Health Care Plan) as required. There was a process for identifying special educational needs and determining any need for support.   Of particular note was the current and future provision for autism that was being developed at Heartlands High.  Numbers of children with special educational needs had increased, although some of this could be attributed to improved diagnosis. SEN numbers were on the rise across the capital.

 

It was noted that there were currently sufficient school places across all year groups and phases, including provision to meet demand from in year applications.  Placements via primary and secondary were made to ensure that hard to place children were not all placed at the same schools but were shared equitably. 

 

A Panel Member expressed concern that there were currently no schools with sixth  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

11.

Child Obesity pdf icon PDF 169 KB

To report on what is being done locally to address the issue of child obesity.

Minutes:

The Panel received a report outlining measures to address child obesity within the borough.  In answer to questions, they noted the following;

 

·         The target that had been set by partners who were addressing the issue was to halt the increase in obesity;

 

·         Levels of child obesity were 23% in reception but for children in Year 6 the figure was nearly 37%;

 

·         There were a wide range of causes of obesity.  These included children having the money to buy snacks and participating in lower levels of physical activity;

 

·         Data on levels of obesity was not kept for children in secondary schools.  However, action was still being taken to address the issue amongst older children such as improving access to healthy food and providing a range of exercise choices.  Action was being taken in line with current evidence but there was no single thing that was likely to make a difference on its own. 

 

·         Local plans were intended to complement London wide and national programmes.  Work was being undertaken with local communities and groups of parents.  It was being approached in a structured way, with regular reviews being built into the process. 

 

·         The Obesity Alliance reported to the Health and Well Being Board and was one of three priorities in its current strategy.  It was chaired by the Councillor Morton, the Cabinet Member for Health and Well-Being.  Its plans for addressing the issue were currently in the process of being developed and were expected to be completed early in the new year.

 

·         In answer to a question, it was noted that there was a link with ethnicity.  However, a focussed piece of research involving boroughs with similar demographics would be required to determine the extent of this. 

 

Panel Members raised the issue of the lack of play space that there was in some areas of the borough, particularly in some regeneration areas.  It was noted that partners wished to promote safe play.  As part of this, play streets were being established within the borough.  Work was also being undertaken with regeneration teams to ensure that there was provision for play within new developments.  The planning and regulatory process also had the potential to assist the Council in ensuring that play was taken into account and efforts were being made to influence developers accordingly.

 

It was noted that the evidence suggested that food was a bigger factor in obesity than lack of physical activity.  However, action to address obesity normally focussed on both issues.  There were also other benefits to be gained from physical activity, aside from weight control, including improved mental health and well-being. 

 

AGREED:

 

That an update on progress with the work being undertaken be provided to the Panel when relevant performance information becomes available.

 

 

 

12.

Cabinet Members Questions

 

To consider and question the Cabinet Member for Children and Families on key issues arising from Corporate Priority 1 – Best Start in Life and, in particular;

·         Finance issues;

·         Looked After Children; and

·         Plans for Children’s Centres.

 

Minutes:

Councillor Waters, the Cabinet Member for Children and Families, reported that there was still an overspend within Children and Young People’s services.  This was, to a large extent, demand led.  Savings were now being made and there was now a better grip on expenditure.  There would still be an overspend at the end of the year but it would be lower than previously anticipated.  The service was still spending less than the amount that was in the budget for last year.  The anticipated overspend would be £5 million without management action.  The action that was being taken would reduce this to £4 million.  There were 439 Looked After Children (LAC) at the moment, which was the lowest number since 2011.  This compared with a number of 514 at the end of last year. 

 

Jon Abbey, the Director of Children’s Services reported that the cost of provision for LAC varied depending on the requirements of individual children.  Moving young people out of placements could not be done without proper planning and all cases were gone through thoroughly with a very clear plan developed for each of them.  Haringey had challenging demographics and OFSTED would challenge the local authority if budgetary levels were deemed unsafe.  It was not currently possible to recruit permanent staff for the First Response team and agency staff made up 10% of the workforce at the moment. 

 

Neelam Bhardwaja, Assistant Director for Children’s Services (Safeguarding and Support), reported that these were common issues across local authorities.  The overall reduction in the number of LAC was very positive.  In particular, some young people were being adopted whilst a number had turned 18.  Although there were lower numbers, there were still significant costs associated with LAC.  There were a number of ways that young people were referred to them and these were often not possible to control. 

 

Mr Abbey commented that the overall overspend this year was lower than last year and the service had better control over the number of LAC.  They were nevertheless challenged by reduced financial resources and high levels of demand.  The budget had been £112 million 4 years ago and was £50 million now.  The pressures on the service were caused by demand compounded by austerity. 

 

In answer to a question, the Cabinet Member reported that it was too early for interventions by the new Early Help service to have made an impact on the numbers of LAC. 

 

A Panel Member commented that there needed to be a balanced approach to risk.  It was preferable to have an overspend than compromise on quality and safety. 

In answer to a question, the Cabinet Member stated that permanence was the best outcome for children and young people.   Outcomes for LAC were not as good as for other children and young people.  90% of LAC went back to their family of origin and the service tried to support young people in families and communities.  The quality of staff was very important and continuity with social workers assisted with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

13.

Work Programme Update pdf icon PDF 141 KB

To consider the future work plan of the Panel.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel noted that although it had been agreed previously that reviews would be undertaken on Early Years and Early Help, there were issues with the timing of these which meant that it would be preferable to defer their start.  In the meantime, it had been proposed that the Panel undertake a short piece of in-depth work on the issue of disproportionality in the youth justice system.  It was agreed that this would be prioritised and that work be undertaken to develop its scope and terms of reference.

 

AGREED:

 

1.    That an in-depth piece of work be commissioned by the Panel into disproportionality within the youth justice system and that work on this be prioritised ahead of the previously agreed reviews on Early Help and Early Years; and

 

2.    That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be requested to endorse the above-mentioned amendment.