To receive apologies for absence from Members of the Committee

54.1    Apologies were received from Councillor Andy Boddington, Mr Mark Hignett, Councillor Kevin Turley and Councillor David Turner.

54.2    Councillor Roger Evans substituted for Councillor Boddington.

54.3    The Chairman informed the meeting that it would be the last meeting Mr Wilson would attend as he had retired as the secondary school governor representative.  She thanked him for all his hard work during his time on the Committee .

Members are reminded they must not participate in the discussion or vote on any matter in which they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and should leave the room prior to the commencement of the debate.

55.2    None were made

The minutes of the last meeting, held on 20 November 2014, are attached for confirmation.

56.1    Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Young People’s Scrutiny Committee held on the 20 November 2014 be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any questions, statements or petitions of which members of the public have given notice.

Deadline for notification is: 5.00pm on Friday 12 December 2014

57.1    There were no questions from members of the public.

To receive any questions of which Members of the Council have given notice.

Deadline for notification: 5.00pm on Friday 12 December 2014

58.1    There were no questions from Members.

59.1    The Chairman made reference to the briefing paper regarding Barnados “Beyond Care” guide for Councillors on care leavers accommodation which had been circulated to Members prior to the meeting.  She thanked Councillor Fraser for bringing the topic to her attention and Officers for preparing the briefing note.

59.2    The Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services advised Members that currently the Portfolio Holder for Housing did not attend the Corporate Parenting Board but that he had been invited to future meetings.

59.3    The 16 Plus Team Manager informed the Committee that information regarding the number of children leaving care and the accommodation that they moved to was not routinely reported to Members but he could bring a report to a future meeting of the Committee if required.

59.4    A Member thanked Officers for the briefing note, and commented on the good work being carried out and asked what support was given to care leavers.  The 16 Plus Team Manager advised that support was given by an assigned adviser who provided continuing support to the age of 24.

This paper set outs the proposals for the Shropshire Schools Funding Formula agreed by the Shropshire Schools Forum

60.1    Members received the report of the Director of Children’s Services which set out the proposals for the Shropshire Schools Funding Formula agreed by the Shropshire Schools Forum.

60.2    The Service Delivery Manager advised that the funding formula proposed by the Schools Forum had been formally ratified by Cabinet at the 10 December meeting.

60.3    The Service Delivery Manager advised that Shropshire had received an extra £10 million funding to address previous underfunding in the schools grant, and this additional funding had led to less schools requiring the minimum funding guarantee.  He added that in the future there would be a National Funding Formula and that work was ongoing to enable Shropshire schools to take the best advantage of this.

60.4    The Service Delivery Manager advised that there were still issues around the sustainability of some schools and that the Schools Forum Task and Finish Group would continue to meet to monitor the situation. He added that work was also being done with schools to address the problem.

60.5    A Member commented that small schools were still not receiving sufficient funding and it was important that they were able to deliver good outcomes for their pupils and that collaborative working may be the way forward.  The Service Delivery Manager commented that there was need for Officers to work proactively with schools to address problems.  The Head of Education Improvement and Efficiency advised the Committee that currently there were 10 primary schools in formal federations and 3 more in the process of federating, and that this would enable 4 of the 13 schools involved to deliver better outcomes as they were more sustainable.  She added that with regard to management of school budgets the deficit protocol was being reviewed and work was being done with schools to address any problems.

60.6    In response to a Member’s query the Head of Education Improvement and Efficiency advised that the formula applied only to maintained schools.  The Director of Children’s Services advised that academies were funded on the same basis as maintained schools in Shropshire although they had more freedom in how they spent the money.

60.7    A Member commented that falling pre-school rolls in rural areas were making them unsustainable.  The Service Delivery Manager commented that the Council was required to assess sufficiency of places in pre-schools. The Director of Children’s Services suggested that a report be brought to a future meeting of the Committee.

60.8    A Member expressed concern that sparsity had not been sufficiently recognised within the formula and that this may affect funding in the future.  The Service Delivery Manager informed the meeting that the Task and Finish Group had fully considered sparsity during its deliberations and had found that some schools which fitted the definition of sparsity did not actually require the extra funding and hence the formula was developed to reflect this.

60.9    A Member thanked the Schools Forum for all the hard work they had undertaken to develop the formula.  This was endorsed by all Members.

60.10  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60.

This report provides an overview of the performance of primary and secondary schools in Shropshire in 2014. 

61.1    Members received the report of the Head of Education Improvement and Efficiency which provided an overview of the performance of primary and secondary schools in Shropshire in 2014.

61.2    The Head of Education Improvement and Efficiency reminded Members that outcomes for pupils in Shropshire over time had been above the national average and also in line with, or above, those of the statistical neighbour group, and this pattern had been repeated in 2014. She made the following points:

·         Over the last 3 years there had been an overall improvement in outcomes at Key Stage 1 and that results in reading, writing and mathematics were at Level 3 in 2014 which placed Shropshire first or second in the statistical neighbour group for all the indicators.

·         Shropshire was in the top 3 within the Statistical Neighbour Group for all subjects at Key Stage 2  and that there had been a marked improvement in the Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling assessment with Shropshire moving to 2^nd place in the Statistical Neighbour Group.

·         Levels of progress from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2 showed an improvement between 2013 and 2014.

·         Attainment of pupils entitled to free school meals continued to improve and in 2014 was within 1% of the national average and a sharp focus was maintained on “closing the gap” including through the effective use of pupil premium.

61.3    The Head of Education Improvement and Efficiency advised Members that School Improvement Advisers (SIAs) regularly reviewed school performance including an annual risk assessment. She added that a school performance monitoring process was undertaken twice a year which identified the level of support and challenge required and enabled the local authority to take pre-emptive action and target school support accordingly.

61.4    The Head of Education Improvement and Efficiency informed the meeting that good levels of achievement being reached were not reflected in Ofsted judgements. In 2013 these judgements showed a lower than national proportion of schools being judged good or outstanding, and that outcomes had improved significantly since then. In November 2014 one secondary school and three primary schools had been assessed as inadequate and in special measures; it was noted that these schools received a large amount of targeted support from the local authority.

61.5    A Member asked what progress was being made with the schools which were in special measures and how many schools “required improvement”.  The Head of Education Improvement and Efficiency advised that of the 4 schools currently in special measures, 3 would shortly become sponsored academies leaving 1 school in special measures and that, since the report was written, 1 additional school had been placed in special measures.  She informed Members that 3 secondary schools were currently graded as ‘requiring improvement’ and these would shortly be re-inspected and it was hoped that they would move to a ‘good’ rating.

61.6    A Member asked whether the difference in progress at Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 was due to problems with transition between primary and secondary school.  The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61.

Report is to follow

62.1    Members received the report of the Head of Children’s Social Care and Safeguarding which set out the draft business case for the redesign of the provision of residential care in Shropshire.

62.2    The Head of Children’s Social Care and Safeguarding advised Members that the redesign of residential services was part of the larger redesign of Children’s Services.  She added that the redesign aimed to ensure best value for money whilst ensuring the best outcomes for looked after children (LAC).

62.3    The Director of Children’s Services advised Members that the costs of LAC were the largest cost within the children’s social care budget and there was a constant overspend on the budget. It was recognised that there was need to balance reducing costs against a growing demand for services.

63.3    The Head of Children’s Social Care and Safeguarding reminded Members of the current provision which consisted of 3 homes – Chelmaren, Havenbrook and The Rowans and the proposals for future provision which included the closure of The Rowans and increasing the number of places at Chelmaren and renegotiation of the external block contract.

64.3    A Member asked how many places were in the block contract and how many of the settings had a "good" Ofsted rating.  The Head of Children’s Social Care and Safeguarding advised her that there were currently 20 beds in the block contract, and that currently one of the settings had a “requires improvement” rating however the Council was satisfied that the reasons for this rating being given was not relevant to the core activity of the setting.  She further advised that the Ofsted rating was always considered when spot purchasing places.

64.4    A Member suggested that, given that monthly internal costs would be lower than the costs for the external block contract, the use of more internal provision may provide a better solution.  The Head of Children’s Social Care and Safeguarding stated that the building at the Rowans was not fit for purpose and would present too many challenges.  She added that the LAC Strategy looked at other solutions such as foster care provision for teenagers rather than admission into care.

64.5    The Head of Children’s Social Care and Safeguarding advised Members that a further report regarding the proposals would be prepared in advance of a Portfolio Holder decision.

64.6    The Chairman thanked Officers for the report and Members for their comments.

The current Scrutiny Work Programme and Cabinet Forward Plan are attached

63.1    The meeting received copies of the Committee’s Work Programme and the Cabinet Forward Plan.

63.2    Mr Evans asked whether the Committee would get further chance to discuss the financial information given that it had changed since the Committee had considered it at its last meeting.  The Chairman commented that this may be considered by the Performance Management Scrutiny Committee, and that she would check and report back to Councillors.

63.3    The Chairman stated that, following concerns raised by the Chair of the Shropshire Safeguarding Children’s Board, a report on taxi driver licensing would be brought to the next meeting.

63.4    The Chairman asked Members to let her know of any other topics they would like added to the Committee’s Work Programme.

Members are reminded that the next scheduled meeting will take place on Wednesday 4 February 2015 at 10.00am at the Shirehall

64.1    Members were reminded that the next meeting of the Young People’s Scrutiny Committee would be held on Wednesday 4 February 2014 at the earlier start time of 9.00am.