Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Hands, Mr. D. McCaughrean and Fr. D. Seddon.

Members are requested to give notice of any disclosable pecuniary interest which is not already included in their Register of Members' Interests and the nature of that interest, relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the Members Code of Conduct, before leaving the meeting room during the discussion on that particular item.

Minutes of the meeting held on 18 November 2014.

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 November 2014 be confirmed as a correct record.

Report of the Director of Corporate Services

Further to Minute No. 8 of 23 September 2014, the Committee considered the report of the Director of Corporate Services in relation to the Corporate Parenting Board Annual Report 2014/15.

Members of the Committee commented on various aspects of the Annual Report, including the current status of the Knowsley Road Children’s Home, Southport; the breadth of traineeships offered to young people; the scrutiny of care services for looked-after children; and changes to the requirement to conduct Regulation 33 visits. The Director of Young People and Families, Mr. Colin Pettigrew, responded to comments made.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

Report of the Director of Young People and Families

Further to Minute No. 17 of 24 September 2013, the Committee considered the report of the Director of Young People and Families setting out the latest information on school organisation and school places, following the publication of the school Organisation Data Book 2014/15 to 2018/19.

The report indicated that Sefton had some excellent schools and an above- average number of good and outstanding schools.  The Council wished to have a proactive role in ensuring that this continued and that schools in Sefton were helping all children and young people in Sefton to fulfil their potential.  However, managing pupil places was a complex matter and the report highlighted the range and variety of factors which needed to be considered. This was complicated further by the Government’s education reforms, which were changing the way schools were funded and governed as well as encouraging a broader range of school provision. The demand for school places was reviewed annually and proposals were developed to meet local pressure points as they arose. The implications of any pressures in respect of Local Plan developments were not included, because they were not yet developed in terms of timescales and impact. The report also indicated that, within the parameters and constraints detailed in the report, officers were working with schools and other stakeholders to ensure that schools were viable, that there were sufficient places and that schools provided the standard of education which was expected.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

Report attached. The Director of Young People and Families will comment on the report.

The Committee considered a presentation by Mr. Mike McSorley, Head of Learning Support, on the recently-published Ofsted report on education in the North West region for 2013/14. The presentation highlighted a number of issues arising from the regional report which affected Sefton schools, including:-

·       Boys were not making similar progress to girls in the early education phases

·       Key Stage 2 figures were generally very good

·       The very best of our school leaders improved the performance of pupils irrespective of the levels previously achieved

·       Sharing better primary/secondary transition policies is one of the adopted improvement strategies

·       There were significant changes last year in the way vocational courses and course work were reported

·       Ofsted had stated that national outcomes were currently “very volatile”

·       Schools in which the Authority had made interventions actually improved their outcomes

·       Efforts were being made to narrow the gap between the performance of pupils in receipt of free school meals and those who were not, but there was a particular weakness in the performance in mathematics

·       Data which the DFE would be publishing on individual schools at the end of this month would be carefully analysed, particularly with a view to promoting collaboration between schools who perform best in specific subjects

·       The NW Association of District Councils has a self-improvement group which was providing constructive support

·       Ofsted had a range of support for weaker schools including helping similar schools with the same challenges and one to one sessions for schools which were due for inspection

·       The percentage of pupils attending good or outstanding secondary schools was still not good enough.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted and Mike McSorley be thanked for making his presentation.

Report of the Director of Corporate Services.

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Corporate Services submitting the most recent report of the Cabinet Member for Children, Schools, Families and Leisure for the January 2015 period.

The Cabinet Member Update Report outlined information on the following:-

·       Hillside and Litherland High Schools – Conversion to Sponsored Academies.

·       King George Vth College Performance.

·       Education and Skills Strategy.

·       North West Regional Ofsted Report.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

Report of the Director of Corporate Services.

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Corporate Services in relation to the Committee’s programme of work and submitting the latest Key Decision Forward Plan. There was one Key Decision within the current Forward Plan which fell under the remit of the Committee on this occasion.

The report referred to a number of proposed Joint Working Protocols between the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Health and Social Care) and other local health bodies and a request from that Committee for this Committee to indicate whether it wished Alder Hey Children’s Hospital NHS Trust to be included in the proposed protocol with NHS organisations in Sefton.

The report also referred to the membership of the School Performance Working Group.

The report also set out the current Work Programme for 2014/15.

RESOLVED:             That

(1)       the Key Decision Forward Plan for the period 1 February to 31 May 2015 be noted;

(2)        the School Performance Working Group be disbanded with immediate effect and the Sefton Association of Secondary Heads be requested to respond to the list of key questions previously supplied to that Association and approved by this Committee at its meeting held on 18 November 2014, to enable the response to be considered by this Committee;

(3)       the submitted work programme for this Committee be agreed subject to the following items being included on the work programme for report to the meeting of the Committee on 24 March 2015:-

·         Universal Infant Free School Meals;

·         Ofsted Inspection – Early Years Provision and Day Nursery Provision;

·         An explanation of the process and level of Inspection of registered and unregistered homes and hostels;

·         The nomination and assessment process undertaken in the identification of a Troubled Family; and

(4)       in relation to the possible inclusion of Alder Hey Children’s Hospital NHS Trust in the proposed joint working protocol, the Senior Democratic Services Officer be requested to arrange for a copy of the draft protocol to be supplied to this Committee, to enable it to express an opinion to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Health and Social Care).