Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Members:-

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Committee;

(b)               all other Members present.

RESOLVED:  To note that the following interest was declared during the course of the meeting:

Agenda Item 7 – Post Ofsted Improvement Plan

Councillor Barry Macleod-Cullinane declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he was employed by London Councils.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 24 October 2012 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

The Committee agreed to consider the minutes as a matter of urgency for the reasons set out on the supplemental agenda.  In considering the minutes, Members reminded officers that they were expecting copies of the answers to residents unanswered questions in relation to Vaughan School.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 24 October 2012, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents/organisations under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 17 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were received.

To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 15 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no petitions had been received.

(if any).

The Committee agreed to consider the reference from Cabinet as a matter of urgency for the reasons set out on the supplemental agenda.  The Chair advised that the scrutiny report on Private Rented Sector Housing in Harrow had been well received by Cabinet and that all of the recommendations had been taken on board.  He expressed his thanks to the Chair of the review group and the other participants for their work.

RESOLVED:  That Cabinet’s response be noted.

Report of the Corporate Director of Children and Families

The Chair welcomed the Portfolio Holder for Children, Schools and Families, the Chief Executive and the Corporate Director of Children and Families and officers to the meeting.

The Committee received a report which set out the key issues arising from the Ofsted Inspection of Safeguarding and Looked After Children’s Services carried out in May 2012.  The report advised that the Corporate Director of Children and Families had convened an Improvement Board to secure rapid improvements through an Improvement Plan agreed by all partners.

The Chief Executive stated that safeguarding was a priority and that a rating of ‘adequate’ was not good enough and that the report before Members would be used as a catalyst to raise the bar.  He stated that he would welcome Members thoughts and advice on the improvement plan.

The Corporate Director of Children and Families endorsed the sentiments expressed by the Chief Executive and advised that the inspection was also a judgement on the partnership between the Council and Health.  She advised that there was now a Looked After Children Doctor in place and that the new Safeguarding Chair met regularly with the Chief Executive, the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Children, Schools and Families as well as herself.  There were, however, still major challenges ahead and she outlined the changes to her team and the work currently being carried.

Having considered the report, Members asked questions and made the following comments:

·                     Members expressed their concern and disappointment that the action plan did not include any data and was therefore not informative.  There appeared to be issues with poor assessments and a Member made particular reference to N160.  An officer advised that the report had been prepared in the context of one of the most regulated areas of local government and if all the available data had been included it would have taken up the entire report.  The Corporate Director added that Ofsted had recommended that the ‘front door’ thresholds had been too high.  There had been an increase in the number of children going back and forth through the system but that they were now receiving a long term allocation.  The Interim Divisional Director advised that there had been 100% staff turnover and, with the exception of two newly qualified social workers, all staff were currently agency although there were plans to recruit permanent staff in the ‘front door’ and introduce a new role of advanced practitioner.

·                     A Member commented that the N160 appeared to be worse than it had been several years ago and, following the response from the Corporate Director that she had concerns about the robustness of the historic figures, he expressed concern that problems with performance data may be more widespread.  He stated that he had been informed twice that day that data was incorrect in two areas of Children’s Services.  As the former Portfolio Holder for Performance he had been assured that data was accurate and he therefore was not confident in taking the data on face  ...  view the full minutes text for item 334.

Report of the Divisional Director of Strategic Commissioning

The Committee received a report which outlined proposals for inclusion in the scrutiny project programme for the remainder of the current administration and it also provides a brief update on projects currently underway.

Members considered the appropriateness of using diabetes as the case study investigation of how effectively public health / preventative / early intervention services were delivered with differing views expressed.  A Member suggested that COPD, a congested terminal condition, might be a more beneficial subject.

RESOLVED: That

(1)               the proposed projects and the proposal to complete all projects by January 2014 be agreed;

(2)               the subject of the early intervention case study be discussed at the scoping meeting.

Report of the Divisional Director of Strategic Commissioning

The Committee agreed to consider a report, Standing Scrutiny Review of the Budget – Self Financing of the Housing Revenue Account, as a matter of urgency for the reasons set out on the supplemental agenda.

The Chair of the review group introduced the report and outlined its contents.  He advised that the repayment of the self financing loan would be over 50 yearsand for this reason it was important to get the decisions right now.  The report presented the review group’s findings and set out some useful ideas for consideration.  He thanked members of the review group, experts, the Divisional Director of Housing and officers for their participation.

An officer advised that the Corporate Director of Resources had advised that some minor amendments were required to the report.

The Chair stated that this was a good piece of work and it was

RESOLVED:  That, subject to making some minor amendments, the report of the Standing Scrutiny Review of the Budget be referred to Cabinet in December 2012 for consideration.