Agenda and draft minutes

No apologies for absence were received.

There were no declarations of interest.

[To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record.]

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 April 2014 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

[To consider any matters arising from the minutes.]

There were no matters arising.

[To review the outstanding minutes.]

Resolved:

To note the schedule.

[To consider progress against the review recommendations and decide whether to formally close the review.]

Haroon Ravat presented the report recommending that the Prevent Scrutiny review should be formally closed. He assured the Board that all the actions recommended by the review, and agreed by Cabinet, had been implemented or were underway.

Cllr Rowley highlighted differential levels of response from and engagement with children, which was emphasised by the review. He asked whether sufficient progress had been made in this area. Cllr Angus underlined this, noting a number of schools had declined to contribute to the review explaining that Prevent was not a priority for them.

The recent ‘Trojan Horse’ issues in Birmingham were highlighted as cause for concern.

Haroon Ravat advised that he had addressed primary headteachers in the last few days, and had received a small number of requests for training from both primary and secondary schools. He also noted that Prevent now formed part of the Ofsted assessment framework.

Cllr Simkins called for increased briefing for all Councillors, noting that Prevent was now included in the Councillor induction programme but that perhaps it should be included in more regular briefings for all Councillors.

Cllr O’Neill proposed, Cllr Brookfield seconded, and it was

Resolved:

That a further update should be submitted to the Board in six months’ time.

[To review output from Scrutiny planning sessions and determine the work programme for the coming year.]

Adam Hadley outlined the process that had led to the tabled paper, which detailed proposals for the Scrutiny work programme for the coming year.

The Board discussed the three proposals for cross-cutting Scrutiny reviews, specifically:

·         Infant mortality.

·         Employability and skills.

·         Channel shift.

The Board discussed the proposals for outline work programmes for each of the Scrutiny Panels, which were derived from the Scrutiny planning event. Adam Hadley explained the proposals were recommendations from the event for Panels to consider.

Resolved:

(1)  That cross-cutting reviews should be conducted into infant mortality, employability and skills, and channel shift, over the coming months.

(2)  That the work programme proposals should be reported to the Panels for consideration, noting the discretion of each Panel to agree the specific agenda items for its meetings and that progress and work undertaken would be reported back to the Scrutiny Board.