Agenda and minutes

The Minutes of the meeting held on 1 September 2014 were taken as read and signed as a correct record.

The Board was advised that no public questions had been received.

The minutes relating to the Children, Young People and Families Portfolio which had been considered by the Executive Board since the last meeting of the PPB were attached at Appendix 1 for information.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes be noted.

The minutes of the Halton Children’s Trust Meetings held on 26 June 2014 and 5 August 2014 were submitted to the Board for information.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes be noted.

The Strategic Director, Children and Enterprise, presented an overview of safeguarding compliance across schools in Halton, as reported to the Halton Safeguarding Children Board.

The Board was advised that Section 175/157 of the Education Act 2002 outlined a school’s duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.  The organisational responsibilities for schools in relation to safeguarding children were set out in Working Together to Safeguard Children: a guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children (2013).   

Keeping Children Safe in Education (2014) contained statutory guidance for schools, including the role of the staff body, and specifically the Senior Designated Person, regarding safeguarding, safer recruitment and allegations management. 

It was reported that one of the objectives of Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) was to ensure the effectiveness of what was done by each person or body represented on the Board for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in the area.  It was noted that schools were required to complete Section 175/157 Audits to provide information to the Board on the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements in their settings.  This included maintained schools (nursery schools, academies, independent and free schools).  Additionally, the Safeguarding Children in Education Officer offered a limited number of two day on-site safeguarding audits to schools, the findings of which were reported to the school and the LSCB. The LSCB also received performance information from the Safeguarding Unit and the Local Authority’s Children’s Services Performance Team in relation to schools’ engagement in safeguarding processes from early intervention to child protection.

The report went on to explain that the Section 175/157 was a self-evaluation audit for schools to evidence their compliance against statutory safeguarding requirements and explained what the sections within the Audit document related to.

The Board was advised that following completion of the S175/157 Audits, the schools were issued with an action plan.  Progress against the action plan was reported in the following year.  The LSCB received a report on the findings from the audits which were shared with the Local Authority who had agreed to support the process by reminding schools of the submission requirements and supporting oversight of the action plans via the Cross Service Monitoring Group and School Improvement Team.

In addition to the S175/157 Audits, it was noted that the LSCB had received assurances from the Local Authority in relation to oversight of safeguarding arrangements across schools in Halton, and were listed in the report. 

RESOLVED:  That the report be received.

The Board received an update from the Strategic Director, Children and Enterprise, on recent development and the current position in Halton with regards to the SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) Reform Programme.

The Board were reminded that the Children and Families Act received Royal Assent on 13 March 2014 and that several aspects had now come into force as of 1 September 2014.  The priorities for 1 September 2014, and the current status of each aspect were outlined in the report. 

The Policy Implications for the SEND Reform Programme were also presented, in relation to:

·       Education, Health and Care Plans / Process;

·       The Local Offer;

·       Advocacy and mediation;

·       The next steps; and

·       Financial implications (Budgets and Governance).

RESOLVED:  That

1)    the report be noted; and

2)    the continuing actions be endorsed.

The Board received a presentation on the latest developments within Halton’s Early Intervention model.  Members were advised of the ‘Shared Vision’ in Halton which was:

·       that all children and families thrived, achieved and were kept safe;

·       that those children and families who needed extra help and support to thrive and achieve well were able to get that help quickly and easily; and

·       that all of those working with children and families worked well together to support families who needed the extra help.

The Board was advised of the overall aims of the Locality Early Intervention Teams and provided details of the three teams operating within the Borough and the areas that they covered.  Additional responsibilities remaining within the remit of Early Intervention were reported as being:-

·       disability short breaks service;

·       young carers;

·       parenting support programmes; and

·       CAF coordination, training and support, monitoring and quality assurance. 

It was further reported that CART (Contact and Referral Team) was the single front door for access to all Children’s Social Care services and advice, and for new referrals to early intervention.

Members were also advised of the current new developments:

·       Schools Project – linked early intervention workers working with schools;

·       Early Years Project – linked early intervention workers working with children’s centres and early years settings;

·       Health Engagement Officers – working with GP practices to provide easy access to early intervention;

·       Inspiring Families work embedded within the locality early intervention teams; and

·       Family Assessments rolled out to more families with multiple complex needs at the top end of level 2 on the levels of need framework.

RESOLVED:  That

1)    the presentation be noted; and

2)    the next steps for the service be endorsed.

The Board received a report of the Strategic Director, Children and Enterprise, which provided an update on schools that had been scrutinised by the School Development Panel (SDP) in the 2013/14 academic year.

It was noted that as part of Halton’s Learning and Achievement Strategy, the Schools Development Panel held schools to account following their most recent Ofsted inspection.

It was reported that during the 2013-14 academic year the School Development Panel, which was chaired by the Lead Member for Children, Young People and Families, met on five occasions, to discuss the inspection outcomes of 23 schools.  Members noted the list of schools as set out in sections 5-1 to 5.6 of the report.   It was also noted that overall, as at the end of August 2014, 82% of all schools in Halton were judged as good or outstanding compared to 80% nationally.

RESOLVED: That the Board noted the report and the quality of educational provision in the schools inspected during this period.

The Board was presented with Halton’s Neglect Strategy for Children and Young People (the Strategy), which outlined the pattern and nature of neglect, an analysis of the prevalence of neglect in Halton by ward and recommendations supported by an action plan for the years 2014-16.

It was noted that the Strategy had been endorsed by Halton Children’s Safeguarding Board and by Halton Children’s Trust and that the Safeguarding Board would be responsible for the accountability and monitoring of the Strategy as part of its statutory duties.

RESOLVED:  That Halton’s Neglect Strategy 2014-16 be endorsed.

The Strategic Director, Children and Enterprise, presented headline data to Members on Halton’s 2014 school performance data for Early Years Foundation Stage Profile and Key Stages 1 to 4.

It was noted however that the 2014 data remained un-validated until publication of performance tables later in the Autumn and Spring terms.  It was noted that a full suite of national data was not yet available to enable comparisons with national performance.  Headline data related to the Local Authority’s performance. Members were advised that a more detailed report, including gender analysis, FSM, CiC and national comparisons, would be presented at a future meeting once further data became available.

RESOLVED:  That the attainment of the children and young people in Halton schools for the 2013/14 academic year be noted.