Issue - meetings

Report of the Chief Legal and Democratic Officer

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Legal and Democratic Officer seeking the views of the Committee on the draft Work Programme for the remainder of 2018/19; requesting the identification of potential topics for scrutiny reviews to be undertaken by any Working Group(s) appointed by the Committee; and identification of any items for pre-scrutiny scrutiny by the Committee from the Key Decision Forward Plan.

A Work Programme for 2018/19 was set out in Appendix A to the report, to be considered, along with any additional items to be included and agreed.

A proposal had been made by the Special Educational Needs and Disability Process of Assessment Working Group to establish a working group to consider post-19 provision. This could be a joint working group with the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regeneration and Skills). At its meeting on 18 September the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regeneration and Skills) had agreed the establishment of a Joint Working Group and appointed Councillors Dowd and Michael O’Brien to the Working Group.

The Final Report of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Process of Assessment Working Group had been submitted to the meeting of the Cabinet held on 26 July 2018 and the recommendations were approved. A six-monthly monitoring report setting out progress made against each of the recommendations was now anticipated to be submitted to the Committee in January 2019.

There was just one Decision within the latest Key Decision Forward Plan, attached to the report at Appendix D that fell under this Committee’s remit, and the Committee was invited to consider items for pre-scrutiny.

Further to Minute No. 102 (7) of the Cabinet meeting of 11 January 2018, the possibility of a site visit to the Dewi Jones Unit in Waterloo was currently being investigated and Members would be advised of arrangements in due course. The Senior Democratic Services Officer would liaise with the Chair of the Committee regarding potential dates for the visits.

Members of the Committee asked questions/raised matters on the following issues:-

·         Regarding the item on the current Key Decision Forward Plan – “Sand Dunes Nursery School -Outcome of the Consultation” – what was the process to be adopted for consideration of the item by the Cabinet?

The outcome of the consultation on Sand Dunes Nursery would be reported to the Cabinet on 1 November 2018 and a final decision by the Cabinet was likely to be made on 10 January 2019. This would allow the Committee to review the outcome of the consultation at its next meeting on 13 November 2018, if necessary.

·         Did Sefton residents attend the Dewi Jones Unit, Waterloo, and if so, how many?

The Unit was a specialist seven bed in-patient mental health facility, commissioned nationally by NHS England through Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, that accepted patients from around the country. The general wards at Alder Hey Children’s had resources for general mental health conditions.

RESOLVED: That

(1)       the Work Programme for 2018/19, as set out in Appendix A to the report,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24