Agenda and minutes

Councillor Adele Williams – Personal Reasons

None.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 30 November 2023

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 November were confirmed as a true record, with the addition of apologies received from Councillor Maria Watson. The minutes were signed by the Chair.

Report of the Statutory Scrutiny Officer

Councillor Cheryl Barnard, Portfolio Holder for Children, Young People and Education attended the meeting to update the Committee on the programme of work to improve outcomes for children and young people through delivery of the Children’s Integrated Services Improvement Plan. Catherine Underwood, Corporate Director for People Services, and Ailsa Barr, Director for Children’s Integrated Services, and Sam Morris, Head of Children’s Strategy and Improvement gave a presentation detailing the work done to date. Lou Williams, Chair of the Independent Improvement Board was also in attendance. The following points were highlighted:

a)  In July 2022 Ofsted visited Nottingham City Council and inspected Children’s services. In the subsequent report issued they gave a rating of Requires Improvement to be Good. Since this rating was received the Council has been on an improvement journey focusing on improving services.

b)  Since the initial inspection in July 2022 there have been three subsequent visits by Ofsted, looking at three different themes, the Front Door, Children in Need and Children with a Child Protection Plan, and Care Leavers. The Council expects another 3 monitoring visits by Ofsted indicating that the programme is approximately at its mid-point.

c)  The narrative reports published following the second and third monitoring visit highlighted a number of improvements. They recognised the clear link between improvement and transformation and how that linked to staff morale. The reports highlighted that investment in frontline and management capacity has helped manage workloads and increased management oversight all leading to improved moral. They also note that this has allowed children to make meaningful connections with workers allowing staff to offer good support and care. The workforce report feeling supported by managers and the reduced caseload allows them to focus on delivering best practice.

d)  Additionally, the narrative reports highlight that the senior leadership team within the service have good knowledge and a good level of oversight of performance, supported by a quality assurance framework that has been strengthened and is embedded. This has allowed senior leaders to predict trends and implement additional support and training to strengthen practice.

e)  The narrative reports also highlight areas in need of ongoing development. Although there had been improvement there is still some inconsistency in plans. Some children still experience too many changes of social worker, particularly those in long term care or care leavers. The reports highlight an inconsistency in some areas of supervision, as front-line staff numbers increased but manager numbers were still low. This has now been addressed and improvements will be seen. The reports have also highlighted that there is additional work to be done with partners to reduce delays and ensure that children get the specialist support they need in a timely way.

f)  As a result of the Improvement plan and transformation work there has been a significant decrease in the number of Child Protection Plans and the duration which they are active for. This focus on progressing plans, collaborative working and reducing harm has led to more positive outcomes for children with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

Report of the Statutory Scrutiny Officer

Councillor Cheryl Barnard, Portfolio Holder for Children, Young People and Education, Catherine Underwood, Corporate Director for People Services, Ailsa Barr, Director for Children’s Integrated Services and Nick Lee, Director of Education presented a report on the development context of the Council’s 2024/25 budget proposals and their anticipated impacts on the services delivered by the Children’s integrated Services and Education. The following points were highlighted:

a)  The 2024/25 budget proposals have been developed in the context of very challenging circumstances both locally and nationally. There are significant pressures in a number of service areas, by December 2023, growing inflationary and demand pressures indicated a requirement to make savings of £53.7 million to achieve a balanced budget for 2024/25. As a result, a strict ‘Duties and Powers’ approach has had to be taken to the development of the new budget, identifying potential savings of £20.5 million.

b)  The ‘Duties and Powers’ methodology assesses where the Council has a legal obligation to deliver a function and where it can exercise functions on a discretionary basis. It is a recognised approach in the Local Authority sector and is used to create a focus on the Council’s core statutory activity and identify work areas where savings can be made. As a result, the current budget proposals have been developed on the basis of establishing all service options in the context of delivering the legal minimum as the base position. Although the current proposals have been discussed between senior officers and Executive Councillors, and been subject to a formal public consultation process where required, a number have not been agreed by the Council’s Executive.

c)  It is proposed that around £5.4 million in savings will be made from within the Children’s Integrated Services and Education Budget over the next two years, with the majority to be delivered within 2024/25. The identification of these savings has been an extremely challenging piece of work. In making the proposals, full regard has been given to the written guidance on the required standards of statutory services. Equality Impact Assessments (EIA) have been produced for all relevant proposals and work is taking place to mitigate service impacts wherever possible.

During the discussion the Committee asked a series of questions. The following points were highlighted:

d)  Members were concerned that information around risk was not included within the report, and that Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) were also not included. Papers were produced in liaison with the Chair and papers have contained slightly different information for all the Scrutiny committees. The EIAs are available on the Council’s website.

e)  Members of the Committee raised a number of concerns about the proposed closure of the Ridge Adventure Centre. Members were concerned about the impact that this would have on antisocial behaviour in the area, and the lack of consultation with Ward Councillors around the proposals. Discussions are still ongoing about this proposal with additional work being done to establish the best proposal. Liaison with Ward Members would take place as part of these additional  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

Report of the Statutory Scrutiny Officer

The Chair introduced the Work Programme, highlighting that the meeting in April was cancelled due to its proximity with the Mayoral and Police and Crime Commissioner elections.  

The Committee noted the Work Programme.