Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from any members of the Committee.

Apologies were received from Elaine Jones (Voting Diocesan Representative (Catholic Diocese)), Josephine Copeland (Non-voting Teacher representative), Councillors Holly Ramsey and Manju Shahul-Hameed.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 18^th April 2023 as an accurate record.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on the 18 April 2023 were approved as an accurate record.

Members are invited to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) and other registrable and non-registrable interests they may have in relation to any item(s) of business on today’s agenda.

In relation to the item concerning Maintained Nursery Schools, Councillor Henson declared that they had attended, and had formerly been a governor at, a Croydon Maintained Nursery School.

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.

There was none.

For the Sub-Committee to receive an update on the Health Visiting Service, and to reflect on a recent meeting between Members and frontline Health Visitors.

The Sub-Committee considered a report set out on pages 15 to 32 of the agenda, which provided an update on the Health Visiting service in Croydon. Chris Terrahe (Deputy Director of Nursing at Croydon Health Services (CHS)) introduced the item and went through the presentation provided in the agenda to the Sub-Committee.

Matthew Kershaw (Chief Executive of CHS and Place Based Lead for Health) explained that the context for Health Visiting was tough nationally, but that it was the job of the service to respond to this challenge. The Sub-Committee heard that the systems and processes of the service were being reviewed, as well as the way that staff were being looked after and the ways in which leadership was working or needed improvement and support. Work was being undertaken with the commissioning team and Public Health, looking at the roles of senior staff, and a new operational manager was now in place; it was hoped that this would provide significant help in the short term. It was acknowledged that whilst some areas of the service were performing better, there were some areas where improvement had not happened. The Director of Public Health highlighted that changes were beginning to happen in the Health Visiting service, and that senior leadership were committed to making improvements. Andrea Cuff (Associate Director of Operations CHS) explained that the workforce would be vital to the improvement journey, and that recruitment and retention were a large element of this as well as the health and wellbeing of staff. Members heard that staff input into the improvement journey was important, and Team Leaders were feeding into all of the workstreams of the improvement plan.

The Chair explained that Members of the Sub-Committee had met with Health Visitors on the 13^th June to speak with them about their experiences of working in the service, and that these discussions had helped to inform the lines of questioning for this item. Members noted that the move to ‘One Front Door’ had been highlighted in the report as an improvement to the service, but had been raised by staff as something that was making aspects of their jobs more difficult. The Chief Executive of CHS and Place Based Lead for Health explained that the service was in the middle of a change programme and that there were advantages and disadvantages to individual elements of this; the change programme needed to be evaluated in its totality, but it was acknowledged that this was difficult as it was still in progress. The Associate Director of Operations CHS added that ‘One Front Door’ had provided improvements for service users, but agreed that there needed to be a balance between the benefits that improvements provided for service users, the best use of limited resources, and the quality of life for staff.

It was highlighted that when Health Visiting reports were written up post-visit, staff were under the impression that this could be done anywhere except their own homes. The Deputy Director of Nursing at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34/23

For the Sub-Committee to receive and comment on the upcoming June Cabinet Report outlining the current position in relation to Maintained Nursery Schools and options for the future provision of this in Croydon. (To Follow)

The Sub-Committee considered a paper set out on pages 33 to 34 of the agenda, and in the supplementary agenda, which provided the report due for decision by the Executive Mayor at Cabinet on the 28^th June 2023 concerning Maintained Nursery Schools (MNS) in Croydon. The Director of Education introduced and summarised the report, highlighting the national context with other authorities already having taken decisions in this area. Members heard that this report had been brought because of the financial position of MNS over a number of years, and due to a declining birth rate. It was highlighted that the recommendations in the report were to move to a consultation on reducing the provision of MNS, and that no decisions had yet been made. The Director of Education explained that this report was important in setting a strategic direction in relation to MNS, and drew the attention of Members to the recently approved Early Years Strategy; the Sub-Committee heard that the Council understood the great importance of supporting the education of the youngest children in the borough. The Director of Education explained that it was important that parental choice for Early Years provision was still available, and that MNS was just one aspect of this provision.

Members asked why it had not been specified which nurseries were in deficit, and of the ones in deficit, which of these were in this position as a result of remaining open during COVID. The Director of Education explained that they would not be commenting on these kinds of details in order to avoid the appearance of any predetermination before a consultation had taken place; it was confirmed that nurseries had remained open during COVID, but that the deficit had accrued over a longer period that predated this. Members heard that COVID would have reduced the number of families accessing Early Years provision with some parents and carers working from home. The Sub-Committee highlighted that two of the nurseries were federated, but that this was not acknowledged in the report; the Director of Education explained that this was only an initial report that recommended moving to a consultation, at which point this kind of detail would be looked at in the context of the views of parents, families, partners and young people. It was highlighted that Early Years provision was extremely important, and that MNS was one aspect of this; should the recommendations of the report be accepted by Cabinet, there would be a further report on the results of the consultation that considered all of the views gathered. The Director of Education stated that the consultation was open to hearing any alternative MNS operating models that could deliver provision without further increasing the deficit.

Members raised concerns that, should MNS provision be reduced, that there would be less children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision. The Director of Education explained that should Cabinet decide to move to consultation, then this would be a focus, and that a detailed Equality Impact  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35/23

To receive the Early Help, Children’s Social Care and Education Dashboard.

The Sub-Committee considered a report set out on pages 35 to 38 of the agenda, which provided the Early Help, Children’s Social Care and Education Dashboard.

Members of the Sub-Committee expressed their approval that there were no ‘Red’ items on the dashboard, and asked whether if OFSTED were to inspect the Council whether officers were confident that a ‘Good’ or better rating would be achieved. The Corporate Director for Children, Young People & Education responded that they did not want to pre-empt any inspection results, but that preparation for inspections was underway through producing self-assessments. Members heard that considerable work had gone into improving performance, but this was only one aspect that would be considered, and that the significant pressures on services needed to be taken into account. The Sub-Committee asked if the Corporate Director for Children, Young People & Education was confident, and Members heard that she was confident in her team and staff to work to the best of their ability and to rise to the challenges in Croydon.

Members asked how performance was across all of the departmental KPIs, not just the ones contained in the Dashboard. The Director of Quality, Commissioning & Performance responded that there were 84 indicators across CYPE on their departmental scorecard; in April 2023, 40 were Green, 22 were Red and 22 were Amber.

The Sub-Committee asked about the Amber indicators and heard that there were actions behind all of these indicators with a view to improving these numbers, which were scrutinised in a number of different internal meetings monthly. The narrative for all indicators were written by the relevant Heads of Service, and received regular challenge and updates.

The Sub-Committee asked if in future there could be some explanation of where certain indicators were interdependent on others, and to provide more celebration of where the department was doing well. On CYPE 24, requested more detail on the mitigations being implemented in future versions of the report.

Conclusions

The Sub-Committee welcomed the positive movement in the dashboard, and the absence of red indicators.

The Sub-Committee concluded that for the next meeting an additional appendix would be added to this item, which provided a list of currently ‘Red’ indicators across the CYPE directorate KPIs to discuss with the relevant directors.

Recommendation

The Sub-Committee recommended that the narrative on future versions of the report looked to identify where indicators were linked or interdependent, to provide Members with a fuller understanding.

The Sub-Committee is asked to:

a)    Note the draft work programme for 2023-24, as set out in Appendix 1 of the report.

b)    Consider whether there are any changes to the work programme that should be considered.

The Sub-Committee confirmed their desire to include the Cabinet paper responding to the results of the consultation regarding Maintained Nursery Schools on its Work Programme for 2023/24.

This item is an opportunity for the Children & Young People Sub-Committee, at the conclusion of the meeting, to review the difference made to Croydon’s children from the meeting.

The Chair commented on the work the Sub-Committee were doing to monitor and engage with the Health Visiting service on their improvement journey, and the positive impact that this would hopefully have on the future lives of Croydon’s children.