Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 17 September 2014.

The Minutes (copies of which had been circulated) of the meeting held on 17 September 2014 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Councillors and officers were invited to declare any interests they had in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

The following interests were declared:-

Personal Interests

There were no call-in items to consider.

To consider a report of the Leader of the Council and the Deputy Leader (Executive Councillor for Corporate, Customer and Community Services)

In September, Scrutiny Committees received a report on the Investing in Stockport business case working papers brought forward at the August Executive. At its meeting on 30 September the Executive brought forward a set of Draft Business Cases for those proposals with implications for the Council’s budget in 2015/16. A number of Draft Business Cases contain only minor changes to those original business case working papers.

The Executive agreed that there should be a further report to all scrutiny committees in the October cycle, sharing the Draft Business Cases, and providing scrutiny committees with an opportunity to provide final comments on those proposals relating to their committee’s remit.  The Draft Business Cases that were made available to the Executive Councillors therefore accompany this report. Confirmation of which proposals fall within the remit of which Committee is provided at Appendix 1.

The Scrutiny Committee is invited to provide final comments upon the specific Draft Business Cases in the accompanying papers.

Officer contact: Steve Skelton, 0161 474 3174, steve.skelton@stockport.gov.uk

The Executive Councillors (Children & Young People) and (Lifelong Learning & Achievement) submitted a report Leader of the Council and the Executive Councillor (Corporate, Customer & Community Services) (copies of which had been circulated) containing the Investing in Stockport 2015/16 Draft Business Cases approved for consultation by the Executive on 30 September 2014 and providing the Scrutiny Committee with an opportunity to make further comment on the proposals.

The Draft Business Cases in the report provided further detail on the following Investing In Stockport proposals:-

·         Preventative Commissioning Strategy

·         Integrated Prevention and Safeguarding Children and Family Service

·         0-25 SEND Review

·         Learning Disability Review

The following comments were made/issues raised in relation to the following Proposals:-

Integrated Prevention and Safeguarding Children and Family Service

·         In light of a recent television programme about ‘Baby P’, comments were made about the need to ensure effective communication between agencies and professionals, and the taking of appropriate action in response. The importance of this to the development of this service, along with workforce development and SLAs with schools was also highlighted.

·         Concerns were expressed about the renegotiation of SLAs with schools around advice and guidance and ensuring that arrangements were in place for schools to deliver these services should they need to.

0-25 SEND Review

·         Comment was made in relation to the greater detail included in the Equality Impact Assessment for this Business Case, and that this better reflected the concerns raised at the last Scrutiny Committee meeting.

·         Concerns were expressed about the impact of the changes to short breaks on the siblings of those young people with a personal budget, and about ensuring that sufficient support was available to those on low incomes seeking to arrange their own short breaks. In response it was stated that the experience of personal budgets within adult social care had led to the development of brokerage services to assist service users to make appropriate use of their budgets. It was also stated that the impact of these proposals would be closely monitored to ensure that more costly interventions were not being taken because of difficulties in accessing short breaks.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted and the comments of the Scrutiny Committee be forwarded to the Scrutiny Co-ordination for consideration.

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for People.

The report outlines the pre-consultation work undertaken by officers with key stakeholders for Children’s Centres.

The Scrutiny Committee are requested to consider and comment on the report.

Officer Contact: Viki Packman on Tel: 474 5709 or email: viki.packman.stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for People submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) detailing the arrangements for the consultation on the proposed changes to Children’s Centres as part of the Investing in Stockport Proposals, and the outcome of pre-consultation engagement with Children Centres users.

The Executive Councillor (Children & Young People) was also in attendance to answer questions from the Scrutiny Committee.

It was reported that initial feedback had indicated a high level of support overall for the proposals. Other feedback had indicated that there was uncertainty of the impact of the proposals so additional information had been provided as part of the consultation material to ensure clarity.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

·         Concerns were raised about the impact of changes in the operation of Children’s Centres for those living in pockets of deprivation outside of Priority Areas, particularly if they were then required to travel to larger centres to access services. In response it was stated that the proposed changes to Centres were to provide greater flexibility in the use of the spaces and that established provision would continue. It was also stressed that the Integrated Prevention and Safeguarding Service would seek to target those children and families in need regardless of location and to provide assistance with travel if needed.

·         Further clarification was sought on the implications of the changes to the Department for Education requirements in relation to the capital spend on Centres. It was stated that the requirements related to the provision of Children Centre services, and that these would be continuing, so it was the view of the People Directorate that its obligations were being fulfilled.

·         In response to questions about discussions with schools on Children’s Centres embedded within these facilities it was stated that feedback to the proposals from Head Teachers had been positive.

·         Some councillors expressed board support for the principal of the proposals.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for People.

The report advises the Committee on the Local Authorities strategy for improving outcomes for those pupils eligible for pupil premium and the 2014/2015 action plan to support narrowing the disadvantage gap.

The Scrutiny Committee are invited to consider and comment on the report.

Officer Contact: Alan Beswick on Tel: 474 3918 or email: alan.beswick@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for People submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) advising the Scrutiny Committee of the Local Authority’s strategy for improving outcomes for pupils eligible for Pupil Premium funding, and setting out the 2014-15 action plan to support narrowing the gap in achievement between the most disadvantaged and the least.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

·         It was likely that the impact of pupil premium investment may take many years to become measurable thorough GCSE achievement, but it was important to ensure some measures were in place to allow the Local Authority to monitor its short term effectiveness and the appropriateness of its usage.

·         Annual reporting to the Scrutiny Committee on performance in relation to narrowing the gap would be welcomed.

·         Governors had a key role in ensuring their school was making effective use of the Pupil Premium.

·         Ensuring high quality teaching could only achieve so much if pupils did not attend school. The Pupil Premium provided an opportunity for schools, either collectively or individually, to invest in tackling wider determinants of achievement, such as attendance.

·         Stockport’s population, while ‘average’ demographically, achieved higher than the average that would be expected from the population profile. This meant that those achieving least had to make much more progress to gain parity, but it was important that the narrowing of the gap in attainment was achieved by raising those at the bottom rather than by depressing achievement at the top. It needed to be recognised that the gap would never be eliminated.

·         Stockport had lower than average levels of Free School Meals (FSM) generally and as a proportion of any given school, which would make the gap more pronounced than in a school with high levels of FSM.

·         The new SEN Code of Practice had been positively received by schools who hoped this would better equip them to respond to additional needs of some pupils and this would in turn contribute toward narrowing the gap.

RESOLED – That the report be noted.

To consider a report of the Democratic Services Manager.

The report sets out planned agenda items for the Scrutiny Committee’s next meeting and Forward Plan items that fall within the remit of the Scrutiny Committee.

The Scrutiny Committee is invited to consider the information in the report and suggest any items for consideration at future meetings of the Scrutiny Committee.

Officer Contact: Stephen Fox on Tel: 474 3206 or email:stephen.fox@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Democratic Services Manager submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) setting out planned agenda items for the Scrutiny Committee’s next meeting and any Forward Plan items that fell within the remit of the Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED – (1) That the report be noted.

(2) That Councillor Colin Foster be appointed to the ‘Integrated Prevention Services: Developing Partnership Working’ Scrutiny Review.