Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

Councillor Catherine Dann declared a general Personal Interest as she was a Governor of Newham Junior School and Bishop Ramsay C of E School. She remained in the room during the meeting and took part in the discussion.

Councillor Judith Cooper general Personal Interest as she was a Governor of Charville & St Andrews Schools . She remained in the room during the meeting and took part in the discussion.

Councillor Susan O’Brien declared a general Personal Interest as she was a Governor at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic School.  She remained in the room during the meeting and took part in the discussion.

Councillor David Benson declared general Personal Interest as he was a Governor of Uxbridge High School. He remained in the room during the meeting and took part in the discussion.

Councillor John Riley declared a general Personal Interest as he was a Governor of Field End Infant School. He remained in the room during the meeting and took part in the discussion.

Councillor Peter Curling declared a general Personal Interest as he was a Governor of Mellow Lane School and Harefield Academy. He remained in the room during the meeting and took part in the discussion.

Councillor Lindsay Bliss declared a general Personal Interest as she was a Governor of Brookside Primary School. She remained in the room during the meeting and took part in the discussion.

Tony Little declared a general Personal Interest as he was a Governor at Pinkwell & Harlington School. He remained in the room during the meeting and took part in the discussion.

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

There have been no items notified as urgent.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 June were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Officers introduced the report advising the committee that this was the first opportunity for the Policy Overview Committee to discuss the current stage of development of budget planning work with regard to Education and Children’s Service budget for 2012/13. 

The report gave a general overview of the corporate issues that the Council was currently facing and set out a timetable for the Medium Term Financial Forecast.  Proposals for consideration by the Cabinet would be put forward in October, with a further report coming to the Policy Overview Committee in January 2012. 

Officers advised that an update on the council’s performance and risk management arrangements was attached as an appendix to the report.

The committee asked a number of questions of officers before noting the information contained in the report.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

The committee received 3 draft scoping reports for consideration to enable them to decide, which topic they wished to undertake as their major review for 2011/12.  Officers gave a brief overview of each scoping report and the committee asked a number of points as follows:-

Elective Home Education in Hillingdon

• The committee asked for consideration to be given to including the following Terms of Reference:-

                                                        i.            To look at the Psychological Development of a home educated child.

                                                      ii.            To look at partnership working and how this worked.

                                                    iii.            To look at how a young persons attainment progress was measured.

                                                     iv.            To look at the transition back to formal education (if and when this transition was made)

Officers agreed that it may be useful to include the issues raised above in the Terms of Reference.

Members asked a number of questions:

• Were the unannounced visits random or was there a reason for them taking place?

Officers advised that unannounced visits were carried out on an ad hoc basis and were not undertaken for a specific reason. 

• Does the authority know the outcomes for home educated children?

Officers advised that the outcomes for home educated children were received by the Local Authority in relation to GCSE level.  There was no information on the milestones that they had met to reach GCSE level.

• Should the title of the review be Elective Home Education in Hillingdon, and did Hillingdon take part in an internet pilot in relation to home schooling.

Officers informed the committee that Elective Home Education was a general term and used nationally.  The internet pilot, which looked at the use of ICT to allow learning at home was used for the following situations.

There was already provision for young people who were out of school long term. This provision was currently  being reviewe as part of the Early intervention review.

• What support and guidance was given to parents who home educated and were there any groups within Hillingdon where parents met to exchange ideas?

Officers reported that there was a range of reasons why parents decided to home education.  Parents were offered assistance and practical support once they had made the decision to home educate and would help them move forward in the right direction.  Officers welcomed the suggestion of a support group being set up as this would help with the concern in regard to intervention and would be an important part of the review.

The committee felt that there needed to be a strong message coming out of the review about access for voluntary or professional organisations for children that were home educated.  It may mean that the committee needed to consider lobbying for a change to the current legislation to ensure that a child was seen by a voluntary of professional organisation.   

Risky Behaviour amongst Young People

Officers introduced  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

The committee received a report setting out the Education items on the Forward Plan for July to September.

Resolved  - That the information in the report was noted.

The work programme was to be amended to change the date for the receipt  of a report on the Inclusion Strategy Green Paper from October/November to early in 2011.

The change was noted by the committee.

Resolved – That the report was noted and be amended to incorporate the change to the date of the report on the Inclusion Strategy Green Paper was to be submitted.