Agenda item

Report of the Chief Legal and Democratic Officer

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Legal and Democratic Officer seeking to:

·       review the Committee’s Work Programme for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2022/23;

·       identify any items for pre-scrutiny by the Committee from the Key Decision Forward Plan;

·       note the informal meetings and site visits to be undertaken in 2023-24

·       note and agree the recommendations from the informal meeting on home education held on 10^th January 2024.

·       receive an update on the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Overview and Scrutiny Committee; and

Members of the committee raised the following questions/issues:

·       The issue of school meal provision and the budget implications and whether the committee could receive a report on the subject to a future meeting. Councillor Diane Roscoe confirmed she was aware of the issue and would include an update in her next Cabinet Member Update to the committee in March.

RESOLVED: That

(1)  the Work Programme for 2022/23, as set out at Appendix A to the report, be noted, along with the additional items agreed during this meeting as follows:

(a)  A report on Team Around the School

(b)  A further report in six months time on the Serious Crime Duty

(c)  Councillor Roscoe to include an update on school meal provision in her next Cabinet Member Update.

(2)  there were no items for pre-scrutiny from the Key Decision Forward Plan that fall under the remit of the Committee on this occasion

(3)  note the informal meetings of Committee Members and site visits to be undertaken during 2023

(4)  the following recommendations arising from the informal meeting on home education were approved as follows:

                                 I.         Officers be recommended to record and report data on the whole process of elective home education, to include data on the number of enquiries made, how many parents are encouraged to keep their child in a school setting, how many children return to school after a period of time being home schooled and how many children are successfully home schooled long term, in order for the full picture to be known.

                               II.         The Committee recommends that all Members who have contact with parents who are considering home schooling, encourage those parents to seek further support and guidance on the issues their child is experiencing before a formal request to home school is made in writing to the Local Authority/School, and Members be encouraged to inform the Attendance and Welfare Team Manager about any such contact with parents.

                              III.         The Committee fully supports the North West regional response to the to the open consultation from the Department for Education on revisions to the non-statutory Elective Home Education (EHE) guidance for local authorities and parents.

(5)  the topic of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) be approved for in-depth scrutiny by Members of the Committee during 2023/24 and relevant activities be included in the schedule of the informal meetings of Committee Members and site visits to be undertaken during 2023/24, as set out at Appendix B; and

(6)  the update on the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Overview and Scrutiny Committee be noted; and