To receive apologies for absence and notification of any substitute members

47.1    Apologies for absence were received from Kevin Turley and Austin Atkinson.  The Chair informed the meeting that Heather Kidd and David Turner had advised that they might be late as they were attending a meeting in Craven Arms prior to this one.

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.

48.1    None were disclosed.

The minutes of the last meeting, held on 26 March 2014, are attached for confirmation.

49.1    RESOLVED

That, the minutes of the meeting held in 26 March 2014 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record

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

Deadline for notification is: 25 April 2014

50.1    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: 25 April 2014

51.1    There were no questions from Members

To receive a presentation from the Area Commissioner on changes to the provision of Youth Services

52.1    The Committee received a presentation from the Area Commissioner (North) updating them on proposed changes to Youth Services.  A new commissioning approach was to be adopted with a new service model involving local governance through local youth boards who would procure services from local providers.  Work had been carried out into current provision and young people’s requirements in order to identify any improvements that could be made in the future.  The Area Commissioner emphasised the importance of involving the young people throughout the whole of the process.

52.2    The Area Commissioner advised that two consultations had been held, with one consultation into interim proposals for the financial year 2014 – 15 following reductions in budget and staffing resources and one consultation on future models for delivery from 2015 – 16 onwards. Officers were currently evaluating and validating the responses and no decisions had been taken at this stage.  The response to the consultations had been very good with over 1,000 responses being received for the consultation into the interim proposals, 81% of these coming from young people between the ages of 10 and 19 years.

52.3    The Area Commissioner then outlined the time table for future work in order for the new arrangements to be in place in April 2015.

52.4    During the discussion a Member commented that she felt that it was short-sighted to reduce the funding for youth provision.  She queried how the Council would ensure that a good quality service was provided going forward and whether there would be any growth in provision.  The Area Commissioner stated that provision of a quality service would be a key part of the contract awarded.  However he could not give any guarantees regarding growth in provisions as decisions would be made at a local level, local boards would be in a good position to know the sources of additional funding available in their area, and whether extra services were needed.

52.5    A member also commented that as the Council was keen to involve young people in the development of the new services it might have been appropriate to have invited representatives such as the Shropshire MYPs to be present at the meeting.  In response the Chairman indicated that the Shropshire MYPs had a standing invitation to all meetings of the Committee.  In turn the Member advised her that the MYPs had not been aware of this meeting.

52.6    A further Member commented that with the reduction in the Council’s budget more reliance would fall upon voluntary provision and finding funding from elsewhere and that she had concerns regarding where this funding might be found especially given that funding had been removed from Local Joint Committees.  In response several Members gave examples where funding had been secured from other organisations in their areas.  A Member questioned how sustainable this would be going forward and also commented that this might lead to various levels of service being available in different areas.  She also asked how the Council would ensure that it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

This report provides Young People’s Scrutiny with information relating to how the introduction of universal free school meals for all state funded infant school children (ie those in reception, year 1 and year 2) will impact on schools in Shropshire and the work being undertaken by Shire Services to ensure schools are prepared for the increase in meals served from September 2014.

The report of the Shire Services Manager is attached

53.1     The Committee received the report of the Shire Services Manager on information relating to how the introduction of universal free school meals for all state funded infant school children would impact on schools in Shropshire together with the work being undertaken by Shire Services to ensure schools were prepared for the increase in meals to be served from September 2014.

53.2     The Shire Services Manager reminded members that the Coalition Government had announced that from September 2014 all state funded infant school children would be eligible to receive a free school meal and that legislation would place a legal duty on schools to deliver this commitment. This legislation would also include powers to extend the duty to additional year groups in the future. 

53.3     The Shire Services Manager also informed the meeting  that capital funding of £150 million was available nationally in 2014-15 to upgrade kitchens and to increase dining capacity where required. Shropshire would receive £662,822 of this money, the distribution of which had been agreed at a meeting of the Schools Forum. Transitional funding of £22.5 million was also being made available nationally in 2014-15 to support small schools in addressing the particular challenges they faced and that 79 schools in Shropshire would be eligible for this funding. Revenue funding of £1 billion would be made available in the 2014/15 and 2015/16 academic years to provide a flat rate of £2.30 per meal taken based on actual take-up by newly eligible infant pupils.

53.4     The Shire Services Manager advised the meeting that Shire Services currently provided catering services to 112 primary schools in Shropshire and it was anticipated that there would be an increase of approximately 40% in the number of meals served per day.  The team was currently working with schools in order to develop their plan which would identify requirements and they would continue to meet with schools individually to advise them of any issues which needed to be addressed and to check out any concerns. She commented that the majority of schools in the county were well placed to provide the extra meals.

53.5     A Member enquired as to whether the grant for the capital expenditure was sufficient.  In reply the Shire Service Manager assured him that it was considered sufficient as there was no major building work required unlike in some other areas where provision was undertaken by Shire Services.

53.6     A Member commented that it might be difficult to know what the uptake of the free meals would be and asked what provisions were being put in place to ensure that there was not too much waste.  The Shire Services Manager stated that there was a need to ensure schools had procedures in place to accurately assess the number of meals required.

53.5     A Member also commented that there would be many schools having to adjust to serving larger numbers and asked what provision was being made for the sharing of good practice.  The Shire Services Manager advised that good practice was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

Members are reminded that the next meeting will be held on Wednesday 18 June 2014 at The Shirehall at 10.00am

54.1    It was noted that the next meeting would be held at 10.00am on Wednesday 18 June 2014