Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 31 July 2013.

The Minutes (copies of which had been circulated) of the meeting held on 31 July 2013 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

No declarations of interest were made.

There were no call in items to consider.

To consider a report of the Corporate Director, Service for People.

The report provides the first quarterly update reports for 2013/2014.

The Scrutiny Committee is requested to consider the first update Portfolio Performance and Resource Reports for the Children and Young People Portfolio and the Lifelong Learning and Achievement Portfolio.

Officer Contact: Michael Henry on Tel: 474 3830 or email: michael.henry@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director, Services to People submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) providing the first quarterly update reports for 2013/2014 for the Children and Young People portfolio and the Lifelong Learning and Achievement portfolio. The Executive Councillor (Lifelong Learning and Achievement) attended the meeting and answered Councillors questions.

The following comments were made/issues raised:-

·         The Scrutiny Committee noted that the twenty recommendations made in respect to the Scrutiny Review on the Council’s relationship with private children’s care homes had all been approved by the Executive. The recommendations would be delivered during the next few months and an update would be included in the second quarter report.

·         A new Ofsted framework would be implemented from November 2013.

·         The first year of the Supporting Families project had now concluded. 153 Stockport families had achieved positive results in relation to worklessness, attendance and crime. Officers were currently in the process of identifying families to engage as part of the second year of the programme.

·         The length of time a family spends in the programme was heavily dependent on the intensity of the support they required and how they reacted to the intervention.

·         The Scrutiny Committee noted that there had been increases in the number of domestic abuse referrals and the number of children running away from home and care. This can be attributed to improved recognition of domestic abuse and better pathways for dealing with domestic abuse. Councillors questioned how resources were being utilised to deal with this increase.

·         As a consequence of the increase in domestic abuse referrals, there had been an associated increase in the number of children subject to a child protection plan. At the end of June 2013, 337 children were the subject of a child protection plan compared to 309 at the end of March 2013.

·         There had been an increase in the number of alcohol related hospital admissions for 16-19 year olds within priority area. The Committee noted that MOSAIC worked with vulnerable young people and families in the priority areas and that schools had a significant role to play in educating young people as to the dangers of alcohol abuse. Councillors commented that there were no quick fixes to address this issue and that realistically it would be 2016/2017 before it would be possible to ascertain if current interventions now had been a success or otherwise.

·         The Committee noted that Stockport Schools far exceeded national and regional comparisons for overall effectiveness in Ofsted inspection.

·         Councillors queried what work had been undertaken in schools to respond to the new requirements of the updated version of the National Curriculum framework

·         Officers commented that the examination system was turbulent at the present time and that results would improve as schools became more familiar with the tests.

·         Councillors welcomed the report that Stockport has the highest apprenticeship participation in Greater Manchester and the fourth highest percentage of 16-17 year olds participating in apprenticeships in England.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for People.

The report advised the Scrutiny Committee on the impact of Children’s Centres and on improved child development and school readiness.

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

Officer Contact: Viki Packman on Tel:474 5753 or email viki.packman@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director Services to People submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) advising the Scrutiny Committee on the impact of Children’s Centres on improved child development and school readiness.

The following comments were made/issues raised:-

·         Councillors noted the current Children’s Centres provision in Stockport, the national context, an outline of performance measures which were used nationally and locally and details of differing service delivery models.

·         The Greater Manchester Early Years Delivery Model had recommended a key set of evidence based interventions and of these 60% had been implemented in Stockport. These included Webster Stratton Parenting Groups, the 0-5 Healthy Child Programme and the Solihull approach.

·         Councillors acknowledged that Children’s Centres played a critical role in achieving successful engagement with parents to take up two year old Early Learning entitlement for eligible two year olds.

·         Councillors requested that officers seek confirmation in relation to the statistic published by the Department for Education which indicated that Stockport had 550 two year olds which were eligible for Early Learning entitlement from September 2013. There were currently 320 eligible two year olds taking up their free place.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To consider a report of the Democratic Services Manager.

The reports 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 put forward any agenda items for future meetings of the 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 Forward Plan items which fell within the remit of the Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.