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)             after notifying the Chair at the start of the meeting.

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

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from all Members present.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of interests made by Members in relation to the business transacted at this meeting.

To consider whether any of the items listed on the agenda should be considered with the press and public excluded on the grounds that it is thought likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, that there would be disclosure of confidential information in breach of an obligation of confidence or of exempt information as defined in the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985.

Members agreed that item 12 of the agenda be considered as the first substantive item of business.  This would be followed by item 10, after which the original running order would resume.

RESOLVED:  That (1) the above be noted; and

(2) all items be considered with the press and public present.

To appoint a Vice-Chair of the Sub-Committee for the 2004/2005 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED: To appoint Councillor Janet Mote as Vice-Chair of the Sub-Committee for the 2004/2005 Municipal Year.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 22 April 2004, having been circulated, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 22 April 2004, having been circulated, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

Arising from Minute 138 of the Sub-Committee meeting held on 22 April 2004, it was noted that Councillor Ismail was no longer a member of the Lifelong Learning Scrutiny Sub-Committee.  As a result it was agreed that Councillor Kinsey replace Councillor Ismail as a member of the Cultural Strategy Action Plan Working Group.

RESOLVED: To appoint Councillor Kinsey as a member of the Cultural Strategy Action Plan Working Group, in place of Councillor Ismail.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents/organisations under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 8.

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were put at the meeting under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 8.

To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 9.

RESOLVED:  To note that no petitions were received at the meeting under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 9.

To receive deputations (if any) under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 10.

RESOLVED:  To note that no deputations were received at the meeting under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 10.

To receive any references from Council and/or other Committees.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no references received from Council and or other Committees/Panels.

Report of the Director of Learning and Community Development.

The Sub-Committee received a report from the Director of Learning and Community Development, which provided Members with a progress report on the Post Inspection Action Plan submitted to the London West Learning & Skills Council and the Adult Learning Inspectorate.  Members were reminded that Harrow’s provision of Adult and Community Learning had been inspected in March 2003.  It was noted that the inspection had produced pleasing results with the exception of Hospitality, Sport, Leisure and Travel.  Subsequently a re-inspection of Hospitality, Sport, Leisure and Travel was conducted in March 2004.  The re-inspection gave Harrow a Grade 3 (satisfactory) outcome.  It was added that there was no further inspection until 2007.  A Quality Assurance Officer had also been appointed in order to improve the level and quality of service.  The Chair asked that, when available, a copy of the revised Action Plan be distributed to Members of the Sub-Committee.

RESOLVED: To note the progress made against the Post-Inspection Action Plan for Adult & Community Learning.

Report of the Director of Organisational Performance.

The Sub-Committee received the final report on the Scrutiny Review of Special Educational Needs (SEN) processes and a report from the Director of Organisational Performance.  Given that the review had formed the main work of the Sub-Committee in the previous year and following consultation with the Vice Chair and the Portfolio Holder for Education and Lifelong Learning, Members agreed that the outcome of the review should be referred to Cabinet.

The Sub-Committee was referred to Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 15 (Part 4F of the Constitution), which detailed the conditions under which the Overview and Scrutiny Committee or Scrutiny Sub-Committee could submit a report to the Executive.  The legal representative advised the Sub-Committee that it was not clear that the report satisfied these criteria.  Members were advised that it would be at the discretion of Cabinet as to whether the report was considered.  It was further agreed that a reference be made to the Constitutional Review Working Group to consider Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 15 and determine whether this remained appropriate given the role and purpose of the scrutiny function.

Members requested that a reference be made to the Publications Advisory Panel asking them to consider ways to widen the availability of the report.

The Chair thanked the officers for attending the meeting and their work throughout the duration of the review.

RESOLVED:  That (1) the report of the review group be noted and endorsed by the Sub-Committee;

(2) the Scrutiny Review of SEN Processes be submitted to Cabinet for consideration;

(3) recommendation 2 paragraph 7 be referred to the Publications Advisory Panel for consideration once the parental guidance document has been produced;

(4) the Publications Advisory Panel be asked to consider ways to publicise the review group’s report; and

(5) the Constitutional Review Working Group be asked to review Rule 15 in the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules to consider widening the opportunities for reviews undertaken by scrutiny to be referred to Cabinet.

Report of the Executive Director (People First).

The Sub-Committee received a report from the Executive Director (People First), which provided Members with a second annual update on the implementation of the SEN Strategy.  Members were referred to section 5.4 of the report, which noted that recent statistics from Ofsted demonstrated that, in terms of progress shown by children with SEN and overall provision for SEN, Harrow schools had performed consistently well, both in comparison to local and national standards.  An officer noted that key stage level 1, 2, 3 and 4 statistics had recently been made available and had shown an upward trend in terms of attainment for children with SEN.

It was agreed that the Sub-Committee would receive a report at the meeting on 13 October 2004, detailing key stage level 1, 2, 3 and 4 statistics for children with SEN, including a break down of those statistics by gender and ethnicity.  It was noted that the statistics relating to ethnicity could prove to be difficult to interpret owing to the change in classifying ethnic groups.

RESOLVED:  That (1) the Sub-Committee receive a report at its meeting on 13 October 2004, detailing key stage 1, 2, 3 and 4 statistics for children with SEN and including a breakdown of those statistics in terms of gender and ethnicity; and

(2) the report be noted.

Update from officers.

A paper was distributed at meeting, providing Members with an internet link and an update on the progress made on establishing a separate web page for governors.  The Chair requested that a report be made to the Sub-Committee at its meeting on 13 October 2004 on the progress made on establishing a separate web page for governors.  Members also agreed that a link to the Lifelong Learning Scrutiny Sub-Committee should be made available on the governors’ web page.

RESOLVED:  That the Sub-Committee receive an update report on the progress made on establishing a separate web page for governors at the meeting on 13 October 2004.

Which the Chair has decided is urgent and cannot otherwise be dealt with.

(i)         Phase 3 Funding for SEN Review Group

It was agreed that the review group on the Phase 3 Delegated Funding for SEN would comprise the following Members of the Sub-Committee:

·         Councillor Mitzi Green

·         Councillor Janet Mote

·         Councillor Marie-Louise Nolan

·         Councillor John Nickolay

·         Councillor Lent

·         Humphrie Epie (Co-opted Member)

(ii)             Exclusions Review Group

It was further agreed that a review group on exclusions would comprise the following Members/Reserve Members of the Sub-Committee:

·         Councillor Mitzi Green

·         Councillor Janet Mote

·         Councillor Nana Asante

·         Councillor Vina Mithani

·         Humphrie Epie (Co-opted Member)

The Chair asked that a letter be written to the Co-opted Members of the Sub-Committee not present at the meeting to invite them to serve on the exclusions review group.  It was confirmed that no substantive work on exclusions would be undertaken until the Phase 3 Delegated Funding for SEN was complete.

(iii)        Change of Meeting Date

The Chair advised that following consultation with the Vice Chair it had been agreed to re-schedule the meeting due to take place on 21 September 2004 to 13 October 2004.  It was added that after consultation with Co-opted Members of the Sub-Committee, written confirmation would be circulated to Members advising them of the change of date.

RESOLVED:  That the above be noted.