Agenda and minutes

Apologies recieved from Cllr Kanwal Dheer.

Councillor Haggar declared a non pecuinary interest in agenda item 7: Elective Home Education.

None.

It was confirmed that all items were in Part 1 and would be heard in public.

The minutes from the previous meeting indicated that there would be an item on the service improvement plan at the meeting. The Chairman informed the Committee that discussions had taken place with officers regarding the service improvement plan. She explained that following the Ofsted inspections in 2013, 77% of the actions in the service improvement plan were completed. Officers had taken the remaining action into business as usual and had made a decision to the plan. Officers have now been asked to provide the Committee with an update on the current service position and a self evaluation which captures the service developments and improvements since the inspection, as well as the areas which remain a challenge and priority for action. This will be added on to the work programme for the November 2017 meeting.  

The minutes from 27 September 2017 were agreed as an accurate record subject to the following amendments:

·         To change the wording "the Committee needed reassurance that action was being undertaken..." to the Committee "stills needs reassurance" agenda item 6 - Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Update; and

·         To include that the witnesses were asked for their recommendations in addition to their evidence in agenda item 7 - Major Review - Supporting Children with Special Needs and Disabilities in their Early Years.

RESOLVED -

1)    That the update on the service improvement plan be noted; and

2)    That the minutes from 27 September 2017 be confirmed as an accurate record with the amendments.

The Committee welcomed the following witnesses to the major review witness session:

Councillor Simmonds - Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education and Children's Services 

In summary, Councillor Simmonds provided his perspective and commented that the scoping report was comprehensive. He reported that there were four key lines of enquiry which needed to be explored. These lines included (a) ensuring that the resources in this area of children's services provided the best results; (b) the allocation of finances; (c) raising awareness of the support available to children not in a formal setting; and d) focussing on early intervention choices to increase performance and best impact. It was recognised that the effective joint working programmes in the London Borough of Hillingdon and inspection outcomes were amongst the best in the country and it was questioned how this could be improved.

Some Members questioned how levels of early intervention engagement could be improved. It was reported that there were programmes in place which aimed to do this such as early support key working, establishing close links with the child development centre and links with health services. Rolling uot the local child care offer, a service encouraged by government, raised awareness about the resources available to them.

Janna Murphy - Specialist Resource Provision/Assistant Head Hayes Park School and Sarah Blakely - Early Years Foundation Stage Manager

Janna made the following key points during her presentation:

The ability to refer to speech and language therapy services, seek advice and support from the Local Authority Inclusion team and the Early Years Team, links with Charville' Children Centres and improved guidance for emergency funding and exceptional funding, including early access funding were areas that worked well in Hayes Park school. These were all forms of external supports offered to the school.

Internal "raising the concern" process, in class strategy support plans, early identification through Language link screening in Reception for all children, speech screening, information sharing on Behaviour Watch system, and having a family support working and team around the family when required were some of the in school support programmes that well at Hayes Park school.

There were clear processes in place, such as the ability to be able to identify children with SEND, evidence gathering at an early stage. Witnesses explained that the SENDCO at the school had devised a plan saying what was needed and how the action should eb undertaken by the teacher. There were also SEND drop ins which were useful for staff and parents.

Another area that worked well was Nuture Groups which were classes of between six and 12 children or young people in early years. There were six principles of Nurture and as the children learnt academically and socially they developed confidence, became responsive to others, learn self respect and took pride in behaving well and in achieving. Parental engagement was also key to success with morning coffee sessions being offered, support groups parent reading classes and planners being used to communicate and create a home school link.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

Officers provided an overview of the report. The report gave an update on the continuing developments that had taken place and that had been proposed since Elective Home Education (EHE) was last present to the Committee in January 2017.

The Committee considered the report which made the following points on improving communication and engagement with key partners and parents. :

·         Further way was underway to ensure that the School Nursing Service included provisions for children.

·         To improve direct engagement with residents, there was an option of sending out an evidence request to every parent annually. Letetrs could be personalised on children's needs and parents could be called in advance of letters to discuss evidence requests.

·         To allow the Council to provide informat6ion relevant to individual needs, the Council could request for schools to complete an EHE notification providing relevant details about the pupil.

·         Cross referencing information could be used to identify children living int he Borough who did appear on consensus or school records.

·         Further work was planned to find out if it was possible to check social are record of all pupils receiving EHE.

·         Training and sharing information should be accessible by all professionals who work with children receiving EHE.

In summary, officers also confirmed that the number using EHE was growing with an increase of 35% from the last year of 232 to 300 children now using the service. The changes in social media networks also allowed officers to record trends.

RESOLVED -

1)    That the report be noted.

Officers provided an overview of the report. The paper provided an update on planning for primary and secondary school places in Hillingdon.

Members considered the report which reported that the demand for school places was being driven by a number of factors including birth rates, new residential development and families moving into the Borough. The key points in the report were:

Primary

·         The need for primary school places in most areas had been met through the primary school expansion programme and the provision of three new primary schools.

·         Reception demand is forecasted to reduce reflecting thr recent reduction in birth-rate although the demand will increase where there is significant housing development.

·         In the south of the Borough, some localised excess demand is forecast, particularly in the Uxbridge area. I

·         In the Hayes area, changes to the housing trajectory mean that a deficit is no longer forecast in the short-term.

Secondary

·         In the north of the Borough, ten additional forms of entry are forecast to be needed over the next five years. Plans are well underway for the expansions of Ruislip High School and Vyners and will provide three forms of entry.

·         In the South of the Borough it is forecasted that there will be sufficienct school places over the next two years. This is being kept under review.

Members questioned the capacity for current year 7 pupils and whether there was enough capacity in the system. Officers reported to the Committee that they were confident with the current projector and that there was enough space.

RESOLVED -

1)    That officers be thanked for the detailed report; and

2)    That the report be noted.

Officers gave an oral update on the impact of the implementation of the Schools National Funding Formula 2018/19. The report gave an update on the local authority DSG allocations, the impact on Hillingdon's schools and an update on the approach that Schools Forum are taking to set an in year balanced budget for 2018/19.

Members considered the report, which looked at the following points:

·         In August 2017, the Department for Education (DfE) confirmed that the National Funding Formula (NFF) would be implemented in 2018/19.

·         On 14 September 2017 the DfE issued the baseline Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Budgets for 2018/19 along with the individual schools national funding formulae for 2018/19 and 2019/20.

·         The DSG started the year with a deficit carry forward of £1.1 million, the latest budget monitoring position indicates that the DSG will overspend by £1.1 million in 2017/18, increasing the DSG deficit to £2.2 million by the end of the 2017/18 financial year. It is anticipated that this trend will continue in 2018/19, resulting in a projected 2018/19 in year DSG deficit of £3 million.

·         Based on published data. The DSG for Hillingdon will see a significant increase of £6.19 million for 2018/19, the majority of which falls in the Schools Funding Block.

·         The Hillingdon Schools Forum had been reviewing the DSG budget since 1 April 2017 and recognised that savings would need to be found in order to set a balanced DSG budget for 2018/19.

·         The Schools Forum agreed a range of proposals to be consulted on with all stakeholders that would deliver an in year balanced budget and towards reducing the cumulative DSG deficit carry forward.

Following the Committee's questions, Officers confirmed that the scholls will know the budgets set in February /March 2018.

RESOLVED -

1.    That the contents of the report be noted.

RESOLVED -

(1)  The Cabinet Forward Plan was noted.

RESOLVED-

That the work programme be noted with the following additions:

1)    That the additional information received relating to the major review be place don the work programme for the November 2017 meeting; and

2)    The school place planning update be placed on the work programme for another update; and

3)    The service improvement plan be added to the work programme for the November 2017 meeting.