Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 05 November 2024.

The Minutes (copies of which had been circulated) of the meeting held on 5 November 2024 were approved as a correct record.

Councillors and officers to declare any interests which they have in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

Councillors and officers to declare any interest which they have in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

No interests were declared.

To consider a report of the Executive Director Children’s Services.

The report outlines the proposed scope for reviewing the offer of support to children in their early years and their families to ensure enough is being done to provide accessible and effective help at the earliest opportunity.

The Review Panel is requested to:

a)    determine the scope of the review, and outline any areas which the panel may wish to scrutinise further; and

b)   consider and agree the proposed outline review plan, including future meeting dates.

Officer contact: Heidi Shaw | 07800618320 | heidi.shaw@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Executive Director Children’s Services submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) outlining the proposed scope and brief for the review including aims and objectives.

Members welcomed the report and the opportunity to contribute to the proposed scope of the review and thanked officers for the details in the report.

The following comments were made/issues raised:

·       Members requested that it would be good to visit a family hub and observe the staff and attendees.

·       There was a request for a copy of the workflow of the decisions and process to be followed regarding early years support, the offer, access and how it worked.

·       It was stated that case studies and impact stories could be shared with the review panel to evidence journeys.

RESOLVED – (1) That the report be noted.

(2) That consideration be given to a site visit being arranged to a family hub to observe staff and attendees.

(3) That a copy of the workflow of decisions and process to be followed for early years support, the offer, access and how it works be shared with the review panel.

(4) That case studies and impact stories be shared with the review panel.

To consider an update of the Executive Director for Children’s Services.

The update will provide details relating to the strategies for working towards school readiness in early years; especially social development and personal care which would give the young children an excellent start to their school life by reducing embarrassment and negative experiences.

The Review Panel is requested to consider and to note the update.

Officer contact: LJ Woodward | lj.woodward@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Executive Director for Children’s Services submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) providing information relating to review the offer of support to children in their early years and their families to ensure enough is being done to provide accessible and effective help at the earliest opportunity as follows:-

·       Startwell Strategy 2024-27

·       What does best start in life and school ready mean

·       Value of developing personal, social and emotional development

·       Championing infant – parent/carer relationships

·       Key strategies and offer

The following comments were made/issues raised:-

·       Members welcomed the report and complimented the officer team for the level of detail and knowledge being shared.

·       It was commented that the Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED) was a good basis for a better education, but enquired about disadvantaged children and their reliance on support. In response, it was stated that there was currently a project involving 40 schools in the schools setting called ‘poverty proofing’ and some of the findings meant that expectations were lower for children living in poverty, but there were also factors that put some limitations on children with opportunities within the settings.

·       Clarification was sought regarding the early years children and starting school without the ability to complete sentences and not being toilet trained. It was stated that, there was a challenging changing pattern for groups of children and from a school’s perspective there was an opportunity to plot a pathway with individual children from where they are when they arrive for the first time to where they should be.

·       It was commented that children who are now coming up to school age and coming from disadvantaged homes where they would not be nurtured properly with the language development we really need to do everything we can to help those children and provide them with the best opportunities possible.

·       Members enquired about how people were able to access the information and the support in place that related to the ‘whole system promotes mental health in early childhood’ slide. In response, it was noted that there was a toolkit that underlined the social, ecological and wellbeing of the child’s whole life and this support was built into the process and identified the various strategies and projects that parents and children could be directed to.

·       It was noted that there were a number of key projects and strategies from the Startwell & Family Hub Strategies that promoted access for parents to support families to maximise their opportunities and this work continued in the wider communities to obtain the voice of parents and children which was essential.

The Chair invited the Committee to consider whether to exclude the public and press for the remainder of the meeting as it contained information that ‘would likely reveal the identity of an individual’.

RESOLVED – That the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting as it contained information ‘that would likely reveal the identity of an individual’ by virtue of Category 2 ‘Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual’ as set out in the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

Invited guests were invited to share their experiences with the review panel.

Members thanked the invited guests for sharing their personal experiences.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

The Scrutiny Review Panel is asked to consider the next steps for the review.

The Scrutiny Review Panel were informed that going forward the following needed to be taken into account: -

·       Third meeting of the Review Panel should be held in January/February 2025

·       Draft final report to be submitted to the Scrutiny Committee being held on Wednesday 5 March 2025

·       Final report to be submitted to Cabinet for approval on Tuesday 18 March 2025.

RESOLVED - That the verbal update be noted.