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 that there were no Reserve Members in attendance at this meeting.

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.

RESOLVED:  That (1) in accordance with the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, the following agenda items be admitted late to the agenda by virtue of the special circumstances and grounds for urgency detailed below:-

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

That the minutes of the meeting held on 12 January 2005, having been circulated, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That (1) the minutes of the meeting held on 8 December 2004, having been circulated, be taken as read and signed as a correct record subject to the amendment of the attendance list to reflect that Mrs J. Rammelt had sent apologies for absence;

(2)  the minutes of the meeting held on 12 January 2005, having been circulated, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

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.

Members received a reference from the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Sub?Committee meeting held on 10 March 2005, which requested that the Lifelong Learning Scrutiny Sub?Committee consider and comment on the part of the draft Local Implementation Plan which referred to school travel.

Members welcomed the sentiment of the School Travel Plan Strategy. Members agreed that although the Council had aspirations for safe transport for all school travel, full implementation of the safe routes to school element of the school travel plan would be very expensive, and its effectiveness would depend on enforcement (in terms of ensuring that schools were able to deliver school travel plans). Members felt that the travel plan should reflect (a) the difficulties and give an indication of the costs of implementation; (b) resources available to deliver on developments to infrastructure; and (c) realistic targets relating to what the Council believed it was able to achieve.

The Chair advised the meeting that the Chairs and Vice-Chairs of three of the Scrutiny Sub?Committees had received a briefing on the changes being made to the SEN transport policy, which would feed into this document. Officers advised that they had received further information on the policy from the relevant officer and that this would be incorporated.

RESOLVED:  That the above be noted and submitted as part of the consultation process.

Report of the Group Manager, Lifelong Learning Services.

The Sub-Committee considered an officer report which provided an update on the financial position of the Teachers’ Centre.

An officer outlined some of the difficulties that Harrow Teachers’ Centre had faced and explained that the figures would not give a true reflection of the outturn position due to the figures being based on period 11, plus predictions for period 12.

A Member asked if savings could be made through procurement. An officer explained that gas and electric meters were being shared with Whitefriars School and that the Centre benefited from Council procurement arrangements.

The Sub-Committee accepted that the centre was still trying to overcome difficulties and that some innovative methods were being adopted to increase usage. However, the final figures could not be reported as figures for period 12 were not yet available and the Sub-Committee agreed to monitor the situation to make sure problems were being addressed.

RESOLVED: That (1) the Sub-Committee receive a further update at its meeting in September;

(2)  the report be noted.

Report of the Director of Learning and Community Development.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Director of Learning and Community Development which provided an update on the development of a strategy to deal with the shortfall of qualified librarians.

An officer reported that there had been a recent improvement in the recruitment of trainees aided by broadening the pool of qualified librarians to include non-graduates. It was explained that time would be needed to see if this recent improvement would be sustained. The Chair enquired at what stage it would be identified if there were a serious problem that would require a strategy to be introduced. An officer explained that in Autumn 2005, it would be possible to judge whether the improvements had been satisfactory.

In response to a Member’s question about what qualifications non-graduates were required to possess, an officer reported that A-Levels were not a pre-requisite.

A Member asked the officer for a gender and ethnicity breakdown of those employed in Harrow’s libraries. An officer said that approximately 80% of Harrow’s librarians were female. The officer did not have the figures for ethnicity but would circulate them to Members.

RESOLVED: That (1) the report be noted;

(2)  the Sub-Committee receive an update report in Autumn 2005;

(3)  Members of the Sub-Committee be provided with information on the ethnicity of librarians in Harrow.

Report of the Director of Organisational Performance.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Director of Organisational Performance which summarised the work of the Sub-Committee during 2004/05. It was reported that the full Annual Report of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee would be submitted to that Committee at its next meeting, to be held on 26 April.

RESOLVED:  That the draft Chair’s report on the work of the Lifelong Learning Scrutiny Sub?Committee 2004/05 be included in the Annual Report of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee 2004/05, without amendment.

Members received a report of the Director of Legal Services outlining action taken following consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair, since the last meeting of the Sub-Committee on 12 January 2005, under the Urgent Non-Executive Action Procedure.

RESOLVED:  To note the following action, taken under the Urgent Non-Executive Action Procedure:

Subject:  Scrutiny Review of ‘Phase 3’ delegated funding for pupils with SEN statements in mainstream schools.

Action Proposed:  Approval was given to the report of the Scrutiny Review of ‘Phase 3’ delegated funding for pupils with SEN statements in mainstream schools, in order that it could be submitted to Cabinet on 17 February 2005.

Reason for urgency:  The next meeting of the Lifelong Learning Scrutiny Sub?Committee was not until 19 April 2005.

To note report that went to Cabinet in March and receive a verbal update from the Portfolio Holder for Education and Lifelong Learning.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Director of Children’s Services which had been circulated on the March Cabinet Information Circular. The report set out an action plan for responding to the Sub-Committee’s review of Phase 3 delegated funding for pupils with SEN statements in mainstream schools. The action plan was discussed and the following comments were made:

·                     The Sub-Committee agreed that the leaflet designed for parents entitled ‘Funding for pupils with a statement in Harrow’ needed to be simplified. It was also suggested that a glossary be added.

·                     The issue of monitoring and accountability of SEN activity funding had been highlighted by the review group. Consultation with officers had taken place and it had been recommended that data from schools be used to integrate the inclusion agenda, and that all schools use the provision map. An officer explained that 13 schools were piloting this but due to its high cost the outcomes for the children would need to be carefully considered.

·                     Regarding formula funding, there would be a move away from deprivation and proxy indicators towards real measures of SEN. Prior attainment would be used as a real measure but due to there being no reliable measure of children’s needs when entering into the education system, retrospective data would be used. Key Stage 1 SATs results would then be used as part of the formula for the next stage.

RESOLVED:  That (1) the ‘Funding for pupils with a statement in Harrow’ leaflet be submitted to the Publications Panel to be signed off by the Portfolio Holder for Communications, Partnership and Human Resources before being published;

(2)  officers be requested to arrange a Phase 3 delegation seminar;

(3)  the Sub-Committee revisit developments at its meeting in September.

Report of the Director of Children’s Services.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Director of Children’s Services which provided further details of the actions to be taken in response to the recommendations of the Sub?Committee’s review of Phase 3 delegated funding for pupils with SEN in mainstream schools completed in January 2005.

The Portfolio Holder for Education and Lifelong Learning, who was in attendance, explained that Cabinet had requested that a Working Group draw up the action plan. He explained that the only outstanding item on the action plan was the formula and a legal document had been drawn up to support this.

The action plan having already been discussed in detail under the previous agenda item (Minute 211 above refers), it was

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Director of Organisational Performance.

Members considered a report of the Director of Organisational Performance which outlined the Sub-Committee’s provisional work programme for 2005/06.

Discussion took place on the identification of topics for prioritisation for in-depth review by the Sub-Committee. It was reported that exclusions was no longer a potential area for in-depth review as the consultant’s recommendations were comprehensive and likely to be implemented quickly. Members requested that a one-off informal meeting be held to examine the consultant’s report in full when it was in the public domain. It was noted that the Action Plan would be monitored by the Sub-Committee.

The Portfolio Holder suggested that the Sub-Committee consider the youth service and/or tourism. The Chair responded that the Strengthening Communities Scrutiny Sub-Committee had a watching brief on youth diversionary activity and the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Sub-Committee had agreed to undertake a review of tourism. However, there was potential for Members of the Sub-Committee to be engaged in either of these topics because of the cross-cutting implications.

Single Status was suggested as a topic for review by a member, in addition to those listed in the officer report. The Sub-Committee agreed to discuss the impact of single status on schools at the next meeting and to refer questions to the 19 July meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Members agreed to undertake a review of Adult and Community Learning. It was reported that a scoping report would need to be presented to the Sub-Committee in June 2005 and that the in-depth review would need to be completed by the end of 2005/06.

It was explained that the Better Education for Children in Care report would rely on a GCSE report that would not be available until October. In light of this it was proposed that the Sub-Committee’s September meeting be moved to 19 October 2005.

Members were informed that they would receive the Education Service Review in its traditional form at the September meeting, and it was anticipated that the document would be re-worked next year. Members agreed to invite the Portfolio Holder to attend the same meeting for a Question and Answer session.

The content of the rest of the work programme was debated and officers advised that detailed discussions would take place with the Chair and Vice-Chair outside the meeting and that the full work programme would be reported to the next meeting of the Sub-Committee.

RESOLVED:  That (1) Adult and Community Learning be selected for an in-depth review and that a scoping report be presented to the Sub-Committee in June 2005;

(2)  a pre-scoping report meeting be held and the whole Sub-Committee be invited to contribute;

(3)  no decision be taken on a reserve topic until the Cultural Services Action Plan and inspection report had been seen;

(4)  the meeting of the Sub-Committee scheduled to take place on 20 September 2005 be arranged for 19 October 2005 and all business to be considered at the meeting on 20 September be considered on 19 October.

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

(i)                   Jill Travers

The Chair advised that this was the last meeting at which Jill Travers, the legal advisor, would be present, as she had been appointed to the position of Group Manager - Legal Services Manager: Corporate Services. The Portfolio Holder for Education and Lifelong Learning joined the Chair and Members in thanking Jill Travers for all her hard work over the last 3 years.