Agenda and minutes
Venue: This meeting is being held remotely; to view the meeting, please click here
Contact: Stephanie Davis
02087266000 x84384
Email: stephanie.davis@croydon.gov.uk
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Apologies for absence To receive any apologies for absence from any members of the Committee.
Minutes: Apologies received from Councillor Sue Bennett.
Apologies received from Dave Harvey who confirmed that his term on the Sub-Committee had ended and that the teacher unions’ joint committee has nominated Josephine Copeland as the teacher representative on Scrutiny.
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Disclosures of interest In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that it is a requirement to register disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) and gifts and hospitality to the value of which exceeds £50 or multiple gifts and/or instances of hospitality with a cumulative value of £50 or more when received from a single donor within a rolling twelve month period. In addition, Members and co-opted Members are reminded that unless their disclosable pecuniary interest is registered on the register of interests or is the subject of a pending notification to the Monitoring Officer, they are required to disclose those disclosable pecuniary interests at the meeting. This should be done by completing the Disclosure of Interest form and handing it to the Democratic Services representative at the start of the meeting. The Chair will then invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3. Completed disclosure forms will be provided to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion on the Register of Members’ Interests.
Minutes: There were no disclosures of interest |
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Urgent Business (if any) To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency. |
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Action list update Discussion on the actions arising from previous meetings. Minutes: The Chair provided a brief update on the action list and it was noted that all priority actions were up to date. There were a small number of rolling actions which remained opened and would be resolved as soon as possible.
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Update Report: Early Help and Children's Social Care PDF 618 KB To receive an update on the measures and provision in place to support Croydon’s vulnerable children following lifting of Covid-19 lockdown. Minutes: The Director for Early Help and Children’s Social Care presented the report and the following was noted:
Following the presentation, the Chair and the Sub-Committee thanked officers for all the work they had done in serving the needs of Croydon’s children, and in particular recognised the role of Robert Henderson as well as Nick Pendry in bringing the service forward and driving improved standards of professionalism.
A Member questioned how the department was managing the difficulties of protecting children at serious risk during the lockdown period. Officers said that as soon as the lockdown had been announced they reassessed all Child Protection (CP) and Child in Need (CIN) cases and appointed priority numbers. All Priority 1 children continued to have direct visits from social workers in full PPE and officers were confident in ensuring the safety of the most vulnerable children identified. There was reasonable confidence that the safety of children on CIN plans was maintained as best as possible, although visits for those children could only be maintained through virtual means. The risk was that these children may have become more at risk during the Covid period and this may not have been identified due to a lack of face to face visits. There had been a spike since the end of lock down in referrals of adolescent children due to the impact of issues as a result of Covid.
Additionally since the end of restrictions there had been an increase in gang activity, exploitation of adolescents and knife crime which had not been present during the lockdown period.
It was asked how the department was securing permanent placements for the considerable number of children ordered by the courts and with children awaiting adoption. Officers advised that there had ... view the full minutes text for item 35/20 |
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Children's Social Care and Education Dashboards PDF 1 MB Minutes: The Chair explained that several meetings had taken place between himself and the Programme Director for the Improvement Journey to finalise what the dashboards should look like and the data required.
The Chair requested a set of diagnostic indicators to be presented at each meeting which would enable Members to be able to identify areas that required in depth discussion and scrutiny. It was suggested that the Sub-Committee use this version for a few months before adding any other parameters.
The Director of Early Help and Children’s Social Care presented the Children’s social care dashboard report and the following was noted:
The Interim Director of Education presented the Education dashboard and the following was noted:
Following presentations, the Sub-Committee took the opportunity to ask questions.
In response to a question on the percentages of cases audited in Children’s services and the quality of those audits, Officers said that each round of audits demonstrated that the quality of cases was improving. In the last audit one case was rated as inadequate. More work needed to be done on how the data was presented to the Sub-Committee as reporting on a monthly basis did not provide a true reflection. Further work would be done with the performance team to ensure that statistically accurate data would be presented to Members on a quarterly basis.
Member’s sought reassurance that the dashboard format and presentation of data would remain the same to ensure consistency of metrics and comparison to enable appropriate scrutiny and officers agreed to this.
A Member commented that the department was leading in the use of KPIs and performance measures and that this was reassuring, as this has not been the case for a number of years. The Chair was also commended for all his work with officers in pushing forward better access and sharing of information with the Sub-Committee.
It was suggested that the Croydon Digital Service could assist in ensuring that information was transparent and easily assessable to the public as well as Councillors. Additionally that comparative information could be accessed through the LGA Inform. Although Croydon was not a member of LGA Inform it was agreed that it would be beneficial for Councillors and officers to have membership ... view the full minutes text for item 36/20 |
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Update on Reopening of Schools following Covid 19 Lockdown PDF 654 KB Report to follow Minutes: The Interim Director of Education and the Interim Head of Education, Standards Safeguarding and Inclusion presented the report and the following was noted:
Following the presentation of the report, Members were given the opportunity to ask questions.
A Member asked a question on what measures were being taken in case of future lockdown measures to support the education of children as a result of school closures, in particular disadvantaged children. Officers said that schools were working to improve their blended learning offer which included virtual learning for children who had to isolate at home to ensure minimum disruption in their education when not able to attend school and learning from the experience of this during the lockdown assisted with preparation.
Concerns were raised about children not having access to equipment when working at home, with it advised that conversations were taking place with regional schools director to address this. Schools were currently reviewing the requirements to deliver blended learning including identifying the families that did not have access to Wi-Fi and how best to support them.
In response to a question on what support was in place to address challenges arising from the physical constraints of school buildings in order to maintain Covid compliance, officers said that schools worked together closely to assist one another during lockdown when there ... view the full minutes text for item 37/20 |
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Update on Task and Finish Group:Removal from Roll and Off Rolling in Croydon Schools Chair of the Task and Finish Group, Councillor Jerry Fitzpatrick to provide a progress update. Minutes: The Chair of the Task and Finish Group, Councillor Jerry Fitzpatrick gave an update of the trajectory of the review and informed the sub-committee that the final report would be presented in April 2021.
There had been 2 interim reports presented to date. The final report would pull together all the findings and would demonstrate the voice of various sections of the community which had been captured over the course of the review.
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What difference has this meeting made to Croydon's children To discuss the findings from this meeting and the expectations for Croydon’s Children.
Minutes:
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Work programme 2020/21 PDF 110 KB To note the work programme for the remainder of 2020/2021 municipal year.
Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair confirmed that as well as statutory items for upcoming meetings, the Sub-Committee would continue to focus on Covid 19 response, service and budget impact.
The Chair took the opportunity to thank Councillor Gareth Streeter for all his support and contribution with the Sub-Committee and wished him well in the new roles he had been assigned to. |