Agenda item

An opportunity to question Councillor Kaushika Amin, the Cabinet Member for Children and Communities, on developments within her portfolio.

Councillor Kaushika Amin, the Cabinet Member for Children and Families, reported on key developments within her portfolio as follows;

·         Children had returned to school following the recent lockdown.   Schools had still been open during lockdown to accommodate vulnerable children, those without access to IT and children of key workers but now all other children were returning.  She had not yet received attendance figures but it was likely that they would follow a similar pattern to previous returns to school after lockdown, with attendance lower initially but picking up once parents and carers felt more confident;

·         Work had been undertaken to look different ways of providing IT support to enable children and families to better access remote learning.  A hardship fund had been developed to fund the purchase of laptops and the amount of equipment was slowly being built up.  Haringey Giving had contributed £24,000 of funding to this.

In answer to a question regarding SEND provision and parent and carer involvement, she reported that an organisation called Amaze had undertaken a review and its report had been published in July last year and shared with parent carers.  There were three key areas where improvements were recommended:

·         Closer working relationships needed to be developed between professionals and parents and carers;

·         A new parent/carer forum needed to be established; and

·         The new parent/carer forum needed to be able to provide information, guidance and support.

Engagement had taken place with parents and carers following the publication of the report by Amaze, facilitated by an independent chair.   Parents and carers had been very supportive of the proposals and opportunities had been provided for them to participate and contribute to their development. This included helping to design the new arrangements and developing the service specification.  Co-production had also taken place on the design of a new after school club for SEND children between 5 and 8 years old.  In addition, work was taking place to develop residential and non-residential respite for parents and carers.

In answer to a question regarding school funding, she stated that individual schools made their own arrangements for raising additional amounts and the Council was not party to information on how much they raised.  She would investigate what figures were available on total income and expenditure of schools and whether it was possible to calculate expenditure per pupil based on this.  Panel Members commented that the ability to raise additional funds was not equal.  Some schools had access to large top ups to their funding whilst others did not and this impacted on the educational experience of children in individual schools. The Cabinet Member acknowledged that there was inequality between schools.  Some were very good at raising additional money.  The ways in which they raised and spent money varied.  Money from fund raising was normally used to purchase things that schools would not otherwise receive.  She would raise the issue with the Assistant Director for Schools and Learning and Headteachers and provide a written response to the Panel in due course.

In answer to a question regarding the reduction in school rolls, she stated that this was an issue across London.   The birth rate had been falling for some time and a lot of families had also moved out of London since the start of the pandemic.  A number of options were currently being considered to address the situation and efforts being made to avoid any school closures.  Panel Members commented that current proposals involved seven schools and there had been very little engagement regarding them.   Getting schools to reduce the number of forms would not necessarily resolve the matter.  The Cabinet Member stated that this was not something that the Council could resolve on its own and it was necessary to find an approach that worked for schools.  Efforts were being made to ensure that what was proposed was sustainable.

A Panel Member reported that when some clinically extremely vulnerable parents had raised concerns about the rapid increase in Covid infection rates during the autumn, they had been informed that they should either send their children to school or withdraw them as they could otherwise face prosecution.  Most parents who had subsequently withdrawn their children had since been vaccinated but had now been told that they would need to re-apply for school places and would not be given any priority.  If their school was oversubscribed, they were unlikely to get a place.  The Cabinet Member stated that home schooling had increased during the pandemic but was now going down.  She agreed to look into this issue and respond to the Panel. 

In respect of safeguarding, a Panel Member reported that Whittington Health had stated in a recent letter on how services were changing due to the pandemic that families who were reluctant to have a healthcare professional visit them at home or attend an appointment would not be seen face-to-face.  Whilst it was important that children and families were kept safe, it was possible that some safeguarding concerns would escape scrutiny and this was therefore a matter of concern.

The Cabinet Member stated that she was very worried that not all children were currently being seen, especially the very young.  She had asked for data relating to this but the extent of engagement by health services with parents and families that had taken place had not been entirely clear from this.  She had asked for a report on health services for children and families to come to the Health and Well-Being Board and would share this with the Panel when it was available.  She understood the concerns and welcomed them being raised by the Panel.

Panel Members welcomed the Cabinet Member’s response.  It was felt that the response to the pandemic had led to an increase in risk levels for some children from their families.  The lack of access to education and a safe place for children to disclose safeguarding matters could have serious long term implications.  It was important that the report to the Health and Well-Being Board did not only cover what health services were currently doing but also looked at where there were risks and contained details of children who had not been seen and why.

In answer to a question regarding how children and young people would be able to catch up on education that had been lost during lockdowns, the Cabinet Member reported that plans were being developed and discussions taking place with headteachers and trade unions.  The government had suggested that longer school terms could be used to enable children to catch up.  This would need to be subject to negotiation though and an approach was required that worked for children and schools.  One option that could be considered was the use of supplementary schools, which had been active in many communities.  She agreed to report back to the Panel when plans had been developed.

AGREED:

1.    That the Cabinet Member be requested to provide a written response to the Panel to the question regarding the total amount of income and expenditure of schools across the borough, including that from fund raising activities, and how this may impact on per pupil expenditure;

2.    That the Cabinet Member be requested to report back to the Panel on the issue of children of clinically extremely vulnerable parents who had withdrawn their children from school due to the pandemic and were now being required to re-apply for school places;

3.    That the concerns of the Panel regarding the safeguarding implications of the reduced face-to-face contact between children at risk and healthcare professionals be noted and that the Cabinet Member be requested to share the forthcoming report to the Health and Well-Being Board on health services for children with Panel Members; and

4.      That a report be submitted to the Panel on plans to enable children and young people to catch up on education missed due to the pandemic once these have been further developed.