Agreed that Councillor Mrs Bowie is appointed as vice-chair for this meeting.

Members will be asked to make any declarations of interest in respect of items on this agenda.

In accordance with the Code of Conduct, the following declarations of interest were made, as follows –

The panel will be asked to confirm the minutes of the meeting on 8 September 2011.

Agreed that the minutes of the meeting held on 8 September 2011 were approved as a correct record.

Regarding  –

            a.         Little Teds Enquiry.  It was raised at the last meeting that the Little Teds recommendations had been reviewed by the panel.  On further investigation Little Teds had not been looked at previously by the panel;

b.                  minute 3 (3) Parent Governor elections.  The Parent Governor Elections had taken place and no nominations were received.  A further election process commenced on the 9 November 2011;

c.                   minute 20 In-year admissions.  It was reported that the School Admissions Forum were scheduled to meet next week.  This meeting had been delayed to allow the forum to digest the new School Admissions and School Admission Appeal Code.

Agreed that –

1.                  the Little Teds  recommendations are submitted to the panel for review;

2.                  panel members raise the current election process of parent governor representatives onto the Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny panel with fellow governors.

To receive reports on business that, in the opinion of the Chair, should be brought forward for urgent consideration.

There were no items of Chair’s Urgent Business.

The panel will monitor progress on previous resolutions and receive feedback from the management board.

The panel considered the tracking resolutions and those present commented as follows –

• regarding minute 3 (1), Appointment of co-opted representation.  The panel were informed that Jenny Evans and Kerry Whittlesea had completed their time on the panel.  The Chair proposed that Matthew Currie is appointed to the  next meeting of the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny panel;
• regarding minute 3 (4), Faith representatives.  Councillor Stark had made contact with the Bishop and would raise the matter again when they next meet.  The panel also considered co-opting other faith representatives onto the panel;
• regarding minute 29 (2), Vacant posts and agency staff.  It was reported that there were currently 125 Pertemp staff employed and 429 vacancies within Children Services;
• regarding minute 29 (3), Private hire and licensed Hackney carriage drivers.   The panel were informed that no local policy changes had been made and anyone working with children were still required to have a full CRB check;
• regarding Appendix 3, Munro recommendations.  It was reported that Plymouth does have a definition of neglect which covers all forms of abuse.  Social workers have a clear framework to work against.  Four Ofsted inspections had taken place this year and Plymouth received 2 outstanding judgements.  Ofsted were sharing Plymouth’s best practice with other local authorities.

Agreed that –

1.                  Matthew Currie is invited to be a Young Person Co-opted Representative on the Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Panel;

2.                  Councillor Stark to raise the matter of Faith Representation on the panel with the Bishop;

3.                  contact is made with the Plymouth Centre of Faith and Cultural Diversity to explore other opportunities for faith representation  on the panel;

4.                  further information is provided to the panel on the current vacancy and Pertemps position within Children Services to include a comparison with previous years figures.

The panel to note updates received from -

Joy Howick, Head of Service for Children in the Community presented the report to the panel.   It was reported that the recent fostering inspection, Plymouth achieved an outstanding judgement across all domains.

Maggie Carter, Assistant Director (Learner and Family Support) presented the report to the panel.  It was reported that Plymouth is one of 28 authorities judged to be performing excellently.  The Ofsted Annual Performance Assessment looked at safeguarding, fostering, advice and assessment, schools and early year settings.

Agreed that the Ofsted Annual Performance Letter is circulated to the panel.

The panel to receive an update from the Children’s Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Task and Finish Group.

The Chair gave an update to the panel on the findings of the recent Task and Finish on Children’s Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health.  It was reported that –

a.                   the meeting attracted good press coverage;

b.                  it highlighted long waiting lists for children to be seen.

In response to questions raised, it was reported that -

c.                   the Chair and Vice-Chair attended a Summit Meeting with Plymouth Community Healthcare, Plymouth NHS and Plymouth City Council to address the issues raised from the task and finish group;

d.                  that Duncan Currall, Chair of Plymouth Community Healthcare Board gave assurances that this is a top priority.

Agreed that the Children and Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health task and finish report is submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board on 30 November 2011.

To receive a report on Integrated Youth Support Service.

John Miller, Head of Integrated Youth Support presented the report to the panel.  In response to questions raised, it was reported that -

a.                   the youth service was set up to work with 25 percent of the youth population, 42 percent of young people were directly involved with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) came into contact with the youth service.  There were a number of young people with mental health issues;

b.                  the Youth Service were requested to undertake an analysis of youth provision in Ham and were currently working with Ward Councillors.  It was also reported that the youth service had a 22 percent reduction in funding which had a knock on effect on the voluntary and community sector and support they give to the youth service;

c.                   with the right people and partnerships young people with emotional problems can be identified.  Through locality working we can work in a more preventative way and some of the targeted work to starting to reap the benefits;

d.                  street based work is a vehicle to engage young people that would not necessarily come into a youth centre.

Agreed that the panel undertake a task and finish on the Youth Service subject to approval from the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board.

The panel to receive a report on the University Technical College (UTC).

Maggie Carter, Assistant Director (Learner and Family Support) presented the report to the panel.  It was reported that the figure of 65 percent contained in the report should read 6.5 percent.  In response to questions raised, it was reported that -

a.                   in relation to our neighbours the Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETS) Plymouth’s figure look higher;

b.                  the University Technical College (UTC) is aimed at 14 to 19 year olds to provide specialist opportunities for young people from across the city;

c.                   the main driver for a UTC is the University of Plymouth but a steering group would  be set up and would include the local authority to have an input into the UTC;

d.                  No indication on admission criteria – concern with the dates do not tally up change from doc – 2013 – it will take young people away from school – the detail on how operate had not yet been articulated – driver UoP – the local authorities have not been involved – steering group clear that has LA input and look at the policies.

Agreed that information is provided on NEETS to the panel on Plymouth’s comparitors.

The panel to receive an update on academies buyback and school funding.

The Chair reported that a recent meeting took place between members of this panel and Support Services Overview and Scrutiny Panel to discuss issues around academies and which panel should scrutinise work on academies.  A proposal is being worked on with regard to which panel will scrutinise topics to be agreed by Management Board.

The panel to receive the Child Poverty Action Plan.

William Woyka, Chief Executive, Routeways and Candice Sainsbury, Senior Policy, Performance and Partnership Advisor presented the report to the panel.

In response to questions raised, it was reported that -

a.         it has been acknowledged nationally that lone parents are the ones to target.  A working group has been set up with worklessness to properly review that and establish the needs and how we address this as a city;

b.         there were no real figures on the number of children and young people affected by child poverty.  The background information and needs analysis provided the data to enable us to write this action plan;

            c.         It was hoped the city would tackle child poverty by 2020;

            d.         the Government were working on a basket of indicators in response to the Graham Allen Review and Frank Fields Review.  Waiting for those indicators from Government to link to.  By the time we get to 2020 it will be a much broader indicator.

The panel to receive the Youth Justice Plan.

Joy Howick, Head of Service, Children in the Community and Theresa Nally, Team Manager, Youth Offending Team presented the report to the panel.

In response to questions raised, it was reported that -

a.                   race and hate crimes would come under the category of public order and figures for race and crimes come from the police;

b.                  the youth offending team had a 20 percent cut in budget and as a result managers were reduced and services re-aligned.  Changes were made to Case Management and Restorative Justice Team looking at what services needed to be delivered which led to a reduction in Social Workers and increase in Case Workers;

c.                   the Alternative Complementary Education (ACE) Service has had some significant success in engaging young people to 25 hours of education.  The challenge is with the over 16’s due to the range of providers available;

d.                  there is a high risk of reoffending when a young offender is released from custody.  To reduce the risk the Youth Offending Team is working in an enhanced way with Children’s Social Care, housing and the Integrated Resettlement Support (IRS).

(Councillor Mrs Beer declared a personal and prejudicial interest and left the meeting for this item)

The panel will consider its work programme for 2010/11.

Claire Oatway, Lead Officer raised with the panel the opportunity to undertake scrutiny training at the next meeting.

Agreed that scrutiny training takes place at the next panel meeting on 5 January 2012 subject to feedback from training undertaken by the other scrutiny panels.

To consider passing a resolution under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the press and public from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that it (they) involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph(s) … of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

There were no items of exempt business.