Agenda and minutes

County Councillor P.S. Farley declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest, pursuant to the Members’ Code of Conduct, regarding any matters relating to Chepstow School and the Dell Primary School, as he is a governor of both schools.

The Minutes of the Children and Young People Select Committee dated 7^th July 2016 were confirmed and signed by the Chair subject to the following amendments:

·         County Councillor M. Hickman had registered his apologies for this meeting but it had not been minuted.

·         Minute 4.1, Committee’s Conclusion – The first sentence be amended as follows:

-       The Chair thanked the Officers for bringing the report to the Committee and appreciated that this was the start of a long journey.

·         Minute 4.2, Committee’s Conclusion – The second sentence be amended as follows:

-       It also heightened the need to develop a confident, competent and stable workforce which is fully supported by the Committee.

·         Minute 4.3, Sub heading - Member Scrutiny:

-       First paragraph, first sentence: Replace physiologist with psychologist.

-       Sixth paragraph: Replace Mountain with Mounton.

Context:

To provide information on the forecast revenue outturn position of the Authority at the end of period 1 which represents month 2 financial information for the 2016/17 financial year. 

Recommendations proposed to Cabinet:

(i)            That Cabinet notes the extent of forecast revenue overspend at period 1 of £1.37 million.

(ii)           That Cabinet requires Chief Officers to provide information on how the overspend position will be brought back within budget, including alternative plans to deliver the £301,000 mandated savings reported as not achievable in the next monitoring report.

(iii)         That Cabinet requires Directors to review levels of over and underspends and reallocate budgets to reduce the extent of compensatory positions needing to be reported prior to month 6 reporting.

(iv)         That Cabinet appreciates the extent of predicted schools reserve usage and the anticipation that 13 schools will be in a deficit position by end of 2016-17.

(v)           That Cabinet considers the capital monitoring which exhibits only a small variance to budget as a result of recent Cabinet and Council approval on Caerwent House.

(vi)         That Cabinet recognises the risk associated with having to rely on a use of capital receipts in the year anticipated and the potential for this to have significant revenue pressures should receipts be delayed and temporary borrowing be required.

Member scrutiny:

·         In response to issues raised in respect 13 of Monmouthshire’s schools in a deficit budget, it was noted that of the 13 schools, six of them have a deficit budget below £20,000.  It was considered that a separate report should be presented to a future meeting of the Select Committee outlining the schools in a deficit budget and details of their recovery plans.

·         The Safeguarding and Looked After Children’s budget needs to be increased as it tends to be constantly in deficit due to the fluidity and volatility of the service. However, it was noted that whilst the budget has reduced the service is still being provided efficiently.  The commissioning plan has been in place since July 2016 and needs time to ‘bed in’.  In time, we will have a better understanding of the finances required for this service.

·         In response to a Select Committee Member’s question schools budgets and recovery plans, it was noted that partnership working between the departments is an option for identifying funding. For a school with a deficit budget, a three year recovery plan is established.  A reduction in agency staff is being looked at.  Also, a court improvement plan is in place identifying ways of working with courts more efficiently and identifying ways of reducing legal costs.

·         It was noted that some supply teachers are on the payroll and we encourage schools to use the Authority’s preferred supplier.

·         The Youth Service Manager was asked if there has been an adverse impact on the Youth Service because staff have been engaged in the income generation work that the Authority has asked for.  The Youth Service Manager stated that the financial burden has been lifted for this financial year.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Context:

We received the Annual Report on progress and achievements made by Monmouthshire’s Integrated Youth Offer group.

Key Issues:

·         Maintained quarterly monitoring and scrutiny of subgroup work programmes ensuring that the Performance Indicators of the Single Integrated Plan are being met.

·         The Integrated Youth Offer (IYO) has clear governance and reporting structures in place through the Local Service Board (LSB) Programme Board.

·         The IYO has clear Safeguarding protocols and holds a database of all members of IYO group for DBS clearance, training and policies worked to, and is current and valid.

·         Sustained and grown membership of the IYO to stimulate momentum. The full group and sub groups are well represented by all partners which enables the workload to be shared and to implement the vision of the LSB and priorities of the Single Integrated Plan.

·         The continued work of the Integrated Youth Offer group has led to reduced duplication and improved focused delivery of services to young people.

·         Continued to develop ‘community projects’ in areas where specialist targeted projects support young people, in particular around issues of anti-social behaviour, criminal activity and bullying.

·         Continued to contribute towards the increase in attainment and attendance of those in Key Stages 3, 4 and 5 across Monmouthshire and to continue providing services that decrease NEET figures – currently at 1.7%.

·         Collectively, all youth support services, as part of the IYO, have worked with 6907 individual young people between the ages of 11-25 in 2015/16 (39.9% of 11-25 population).

·         The IYO has gathered intelligence from partners to feed into the Single Integrated Plan to provide clear evidence on outcomes achieved.

·         Both Chief Officer and Cabinet Member for Children and Young People attend and receive information quarterly on the work of the Integrated Youth Offer.

The Youth Service Manager provided the Select Committee with the following information regarding the positive outcomes achieved by the Youth Service over the previous year:

·         Continued to develop and collaborate to ensure that the services available to young people are maintained.

·         Increased community projects through partnership working.

·         Have run a road safety awareness event in the summer which was held in Abergavenny which was well attended by the public and public service bodies.

·         Held a multi-agency volunteering event in April 2016 in Chepstow Leisure Centre where there were 31 organisations working with young people. As a result, 97 volunteers expressed an interest in working with young people.

·         Continue to provide specialist services to the most vulnerable young people in Monmouthshire.

·         The positive futures programme is a collaboration between Leisure Services, the Youth Offending Service and the Youth Service. This has been delivered in the four comprehensive schools and Mounton House School over the previous 12 months.  This programme has now ended.  The project is available for schools if they want it but they will have to pay for this programme.  Other funding has been secured to provide this service in primary schools, particularly working with year 6 students with a view to helping them during this transition period from primary  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

We received the Children and Young People Select Committee forward work plan.  In doing so, the following points were noted:

·         The Chair informed the Select Committee that she, the Vice-Chair of the Select Committee, the Head of Achievement and Attainment, The Finance Manager, the Head of Governance, Engagement and Improvement and the Cabinet Member had met with the Head Teacher of Mounton House School regarding concerns that had been previously raised.  The Head Teacher had expressed concerns regarding the cut in the school’s budget.  The meeting had been very positive and the Head Teacher had indicated that she was receiving a tremendous amount of support from the local Authority.  Measures had been put in place which were helping the school to go forward in a positive way.  The school’s budget had been organised to better suit the schools needs.  However, it was noted that a review of the school was still ongoing and when this is complete, a report will be presented to the Select Committee for scrutiny.

·         The Finance Manager informed the Select Committee that the recovery plan for Mounton House School is four years and for this year, the school will not increase the deficit.  There are a number of issues at the school that the Head Teacher is working through with the relevant County Council officers.  It is anticipated that the school will make a saving of £50,000 for 2018/19 budget. The recovery plan will be brought back to the Select Committee when it is completed.

·         The Head of Achievement and Attainment informed the Select Committee that with regard to the wider review there were still some areas that officers were investigating. Therefore, information regarding the review will be presented to the Select Committee in due course.

·         The Children and Young People Select Committee Chief Officer Report will be presented to the Special Joint Meeting of the Children and Young People Select Committee and the Adults Select Committee on 22^nd November 2016, which is being held at 10.00am.

·         Social Services and Wellbeing Act - An invitation was extended to Select Committee Members to attend a visit to the Prison Service with Adults Select Committee Members in advance of receiving this item at the Special Joint Select Committee meeting on 22^nd November 2016.

·         Children and Young People Select Committee meeting – 8^th December 2016.  Currently, this agenda few items.  The Scrutiny Manager will investigate whether it will be feasible to move some of the agenda items from the 3^rd November 2016 Select Committee meeting to the December meeting.

·         It is unlikely that there will be a need to arrange any further special meetings this year.

·         The Chair informed the Select Committee that she and the Head of Governance, Engagement and Improvement had received a presentation on the change in qualifications.  Therefore, it was considered that the Select Committee required an expert in this matter to come to a future Select Committee meeting to update Members on the proposed changes.

We resolved to receive the Council and Cabinet Business Forward Work Plan and noted its content. 

In doing so, it was noted that the Cabinet work programme for March 2016 referred to the proposed closure of Deri View Primary School.  The wording should be amended as follows:

·         Review of the proposed closure of Deri View Primary School.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday 3^rd November 2016 at 10.00am.