Agenda and minutes

[The Chair to welcome everyone to the meeting.]

Cllr Rita Potter, Chair, welcomed everyone to the meeting and advised it was also being live streamed to the press and public.

[The Chair will explain how the meeting will proceed, how questions are to be asked and any matters of meeting etiquette.]

Cllr Potter explained the process to be followed during the meeting for asking questions.

Apologies were received from the following members of the panel:

Cllr Adam Collinge

Cllr Ellis Turrell (substitute)

Cllr Lovinyer Daley

Cyril Randles

There were no declarations of interest recorded.

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

That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 July 2022 be approved as a correct record.

[Martin Stevens, Senior Governance Manager, to give verbal update on progress]

The Chair invited Martin Stevens, Senior Governance Manager, to give a verbal update on the main discussion points from the recent SEND - Cross Party Scrutiny Review Group meeting.

The Senior Governance Manager commented that the group proposed a recommendation to this panel that the membership be increased by one Labour member. The Senior Governance Manager advised the panel that it had the authority to change the membership of the group.

The panel were invited to comment on the recommendation and vote on the matter.

The panel discussed the reasons for proposing a change to the membership of the group.

The majority members of the panel voted in favour of the proposal to increase the membership of the SEND - Cross Party Scrutiny Review Group by adding a Labour member. The panel agreed that the matter would be referred to the Labour group to nominate a Councillor.

The Senior Governance Manager advised the panel that the group also recommended that two co-opted panel members should be invited to join. Wolverhampton Youth Council agreed to discuss the matter and advise the panel if they would like to join the group.

Resolved:

1.    The panel voted in favour of the proposal to increase the membership of the SEND - Cross Party Scrutiny Review Group by adding an additional Labour group member.

2.    The panel agreed to invite co-opted panels members to consider nominating a representative to the group.

[Andrew Wolverson, Deputy Director of Commissioning and Transformation of Children Services, to present report.]

The Chair invited Andrew Wolverson, Deputy Director of Commissioning and Transformation of Children Services, to present the report. The Deputy Director introduced Jackie Redding, Chief Executive, The Way Youth Zone, to the meeting who would also be contributing to the presentation.

The Deputy Director gave an overview of the universal youth and holiday offer in the City provided by the Council and by other partners such as The Way.

The Deputy Director advised the panel that the Youth Engagement Strategy underpins the approach taken to developing the offer.

The Deputy Director commented on the three key themes of the Youth Engagement Strategy and gave details of progress and successes of the work done to engage with children and young people.

The Deputy Director highlighted the work of the Youth Engagement Participation Board. The members of the Board have allocated grants of £500,000 to local and voluntary organisations to deliver activities for children and young people during the school holidays.

The Deputy Director gave an overview of the activities and opportunities for children and young people during the summer holiday programme and commented on the successes when compared to the summer period of 2021.

The Deputy Director invited Jackie Redding to brief the panel about the work of The Way Wolverhampton Youth Zone during the school summer holidays. The Way is the flagship universal provision offer within Wolverhampton.

The Chief Executive advised the panel that she was appointed five months and commented on the range of activities offered to young people aged from 8 years to 25 years, if they have additional needs, at The Way. The Chief Executive commented on the philosophy of the centre which aims to create a fun, safe and welcoming place for children and young people. The youth workers at the centre encourage and support young people to try the different facilities available at the centre, ranging from football, rock climbing, cooking, and music lessons.

The Chief Executive commented on the increasing numbers of young people who attend the centre but cannot afford to pay the £1 entrance fee. The panel were reassured that young people would not be prevented from either using the centre facilities or having an evening meal in this situation.

The Chief Executive commented on the impact on families of the current cost of living pressures and how this affected the behaviour of young people who attend and highlighted increasing numbers wanting to learn home cooking skills as an example.

The Chief Executive commented on the huge amount of work done to improve the food and catering offer at The Way and to encourage young people to think about healthy food choices. 

The Chief Executive invited panel members to visit the centre to see the activities and meet the young people.

The Deputy Director commented on the plans for supporting and building links with uniformed organisations within the city. The work builds on a project developed by the Lord Lieutenant's office.

The Deputy Director commented on workforce developments and the work done  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

[Andrew Wolverson, Deputy Director Commissioning and Transformation, to present report]

The Chair invited Andrew Wolverson, Deputy Director, to present the report. The Deputy Director advised the transformation for Children’s Services is a five- year programme and the report covers the first two years of the programme.

The Deputy Director advised the panel of changes made to the layout of the report.

The Deputy Director advised the panel that the report Transforming Children’s Service Programme (TCSP) details the key achievements, progress against outcomes and priorities for the next reporting year. The TCSP consists of a collection of projects which are intended to achieve the programme outcomes as outlined in the report.

The Deputy Director commented on the changes made to the governance and oversight of the programme and details of the successes. The recognition by Ofsted about the work of the programme and its contribution to improving outcomes for children and young people was highlighted.

The Deputy Director commented on how the programme has been influenced by young people and shared feedback received when they were asked about what they wanted from the transformation programme.

The Deputy Director commented on the strategic drivers for the programme which have been updated and the vision for the future of the service.

The Deputy Director briefed the panel on the key highlights and the future priorities from the TCSP Annual Report 2021-2022.

The panel were invited to comment on the report and presentation.

The panel queried the vision of the programme and the likely impact of current financial challenges facing the wider economy in the future.

The Deputy Director reassured the panel that the transformation programme looks at different ways of doing things, which is expected to lead to efficiencies in the future.  In addition, projects are piloted to check that will have the desired outcomes before they become part of ‘business as usual’ practices. The Deputy Director advised the panel in response to concerns about future funding for the programme that there are ongoing conversations with strategic partners organisations around joint funding arrangements.

Emma Bennett, Executive Director of Families, commented that the programme is aimed at reducing the demand for specialist support services and the savings have been used to fund other work that supports families. The Executive Director of Families commented on the positive impact of the programme.

The Executive Director commented that any cuts in the level of local authority funding would place non statutory work such as a transformation programme at risk as the focus would be in this situation would be to protect services working directly with families.

The panel discussed the ending of the HeadStart programme and queried what would replace it. The Deputy Director advised the panel that Headstart was a test and learn programme which had now ended and outlined other initiatives which have been developed. The Deputy Director highlighted the funding for mental health support services to build on the legacy of the programme, for example Base 25, Mental Health First Aid training delivered in all schools.

The panel discussed the structure of the report  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

[Earl Piggott-Smith, Scrutiny Officer, to present report]

The Chair invited Earl Piggott-Smith, Scrutiny Officer, to present the report.

The Scrutiny Officer advised the panel of future agenda items detailed in the work programme report. The Scrutiny Officer advised the panel that the work programme will be updated to include actions agreed earlier in the meeting.

The Scrutiny Officer invited the panel to comment on the draft work programme and to suggest future agenda items.

The panel discussed the issue of school admission appeals and it was agreed that the issue should be added to panel work programme for March 2023. The wanted details about the process as there were concerns about inconsistency in the decision-making process and the support offered to parents during the appeal.

The Executive Director supported the proposal.

The panel thanked the presenter for the report.

Resolved:

1.    The panel agreed to note the report.

2.    The topic of school admission appeals to be added to the panel work programme for March 2023.