Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 3^rd September 2007 having been printed and circulated were signed as a correct record, with one amendment to CYP21 to amend the title to read Key Stage 1 - 4 Results.

            It was confirmed that no public questions had been received.

            (NB: Councillors Fraser and Horabin declared a personal and prejudicial interest in the following item and left the room during the discussion, due to being Governors at Simms Cross Primary School)

The minutes of the Executive Board and the Executive Board Sub Committee relating to the work of the Children and Young People’s Policy and Performance Board were submitted for information.

The Board discussed EXB47: Schools Causing Concern in particular it was noted that there had been a need for urgent action in relation Simms Cross Primary School.

RESOLVED: That

(1)   the minutes be noted; and

(2)   a report on Schools Causing Concern be submitted to the January meeting of the Board.

The Board considered a report regarding the progress against service plan objectives and performance targets, performance trends/comparisons and factors affecting the services during the second quarter for:

·        Specialist Services;

·        Universal & Learning Services;

·        Community Services; and

·        Business Planning & Resources.

It was noted that a Members Seminar was taking place on Monday 3^rd December 2007 in relation to Corporate Parenting.

Arising from the discussion reference was made to the need for careful budget monitoring, how the foundation stage profile would feed through to primary schools and issues surrounding the first point of contact for the foster care service.  

RESOLVED: That

(1)   the report be noted; and

(2)   a report on Corporate Parenting be submitted to the January meeting of the Board.

The Board received a report of the Strategic Director, Children & Young People which outlined the 2007 performance data for Foundation Stage Profile and Key Stages 1 to 4.  The report referred to attainment only and did not indicate the effectiveness of service delivery. It was highlighted that caution was required when interpreting the data and a more detailed report highlighting the story behind the figures would be prepared when a fuller picture was available.

It was noted that there had been some areas of significant improvement that were cause for celebration, particularly at Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4.  An 8.5% increase in the number of children attaining 5 A* to C at GCSE in Halton, the most improved local authority in the country and took the authority up to 61.2% above the national average of 59.3%. Halton also topped the national league table for most improved results for 5 A* to C including English and Maths and achieved an extremely challenging LPSA stretch target.

The Board was advised of the foundation stage profile and updated on the key issues within each of the Key Stages 1, 2, 3 & 4.

Arising from the discussion reference was made to the possible reasons for the Key Stage 1 results and congratulations were extended for the Key Stage 4 results.

A request was made for further information on the breakdown of the levels achieved at individual schools.

RESOLVED: That

(1)         the attainment of children in Halton schools for the 2006-07 academic year be noted; and

(2)         information on the breakdown of the levels achieved at individual schools be provided to the Board.

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Children & Young People which outlined the Children & Young People’s Equality Strategy 2007-10.

            It was noted that a comprehensive legal framework had been implemented in recent years that required Local Authorities to promote equalities between and across groups by recognising the diversity of need across of any given locality.

It was further noted that the Equalities Strategy 2007-10 was a major step in meeting these legal requirements for Children and Young People in Halton.  

            The strategy would also support the corporate aim of Halton being:

            “a place where no-one experiences discrimination or disadvantaged because of race, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, marital status, sexuality, disability, age or any other unjustifiable reason”.

            RESOLVED: That report be noted and the implementation of the Equality Strategy be supported.

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Children & Young People which provided an update on the topics for the 2007/08 Work Programme.

            Following the recent Annual Performance Assessment it was proposed that the following items were subject to inform future policy development:

·        Oral Health;

·        First time entrants to the criminal justice system; and

·        Access to services by young people (this item was raised by the Youth Forum).

RESOLVED: That

(1)       the following be established as topic groups for 2007/08:

·                    Oral Health,

·                    First Time entrants to the criminal justice system; and

·                    Access to services by young people; and

(2)             Members inform the Chairman of the Board of which topic group/s they wished to be a member of.

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Health & Community and the Strategic Director, Children & Young People  which  provided an overview of the requirement to produce a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) in Iine with Department of Health guidance. The process and subsequent JSNA documentation would be managed jointly by the Local Authority and the PCT and would describe the future health, care and well-being needs of local populations and the strategic direction of service delivery to meet those needs, over 3 – 5 years. A strong and effective JSNA would:-

• Show health status of the local community;
• Define what inequalities exist;
• Contain social and healthcare data that was well analysed and presented effectively;
• Define improvements and equality for the community;
• Send signals to current or potential providers, who could have other relevant information or proposals for meeting needs;
• Supporting better health and well-being outcomes; and
• Aid decision-making and stages of the commissioning cycle, esp. to use resources to maximise outcomes at minimum cost.

            The process of producing and subsequently utilising the JSNA was a systematic one and was outlined in the report. A three phase process was proposed with Phase 1 – Information Gathering, Phase 2 – Secondary Analysis and JSNA Production; and Phase 3 – Outputs and Commissioning Improvement.

            The guidance from the Department of Health stipulated that the Director of Adult Social Services, Director of Children and Young People Services, Director of Public Health and Director of Commissioning from the PCT had a responsibility for co-ordinating the production of the document. Discussions had already commenced with a range of key stakeholders and the timetable and process for completion was outlined in the report.

            In addition, the Department of Health had stressed the importance of the direct links with Elected Members, Local Strategic Partnerships and key people including Local Authority Chief Executives, Environmental Health staff and staff involved in Research and Intelligence. Consequently, the Local Strategic Partnership had already received a similar report to own and understand the requirement to produce a JSNA. The Health Specialist Strategic Partnership would thereafter be the responsible and accountable group to ensure that the JSNA was produced. As the Health SSP already had key people on its membership, it was suggested that a small working group would be tasked with producing a draft JSNA in the timescales identified.

            Regular update reports to the Executive Board, Local Strategic Partnership, PCT Board and Healthy Halton Policy and Performance Board would be produced which appraised individuals and groups of progress. The Healthy Halton PPB would scrutinise the process and ensure that effective community consultation was undertaken. However, a similar report to every PPB would be presented to ensure they were aware of this matter and provided them with an opportunity to be engaged.

            It was noted that some financial costs to cover public consultation may be required and these would be determined at a later date.

            RESOLVED: That the process as outlined in the proposed co-ordination section be supported and a draft Joint Strategic  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

The Board received a presentation from Mr I. Grady which outlined the strategic progress of implementing the Council’s Corporate Plan (2006-11), in particular it focused on the state of Halton, the scale of the task, performance at various educational attainment levels, from Key Stage 2 to GCSE, along with NEET’s performance, the impact of new style LAA’s and key issues.

            It was noted that the overall policy direction for the Borough was captured in the Corporate Plan and Community Strategy. These were adopted by Council in May 2006 and have a timeframe of five years.  The Corporate Plan set out the Council contribution towards achieving social, economic and environmental well being for the people of Halton. It set out the Council’s priorities, 40 key areas of focus and 70 indicators through which strategic progress could be monitored.

Since the plan was adopted, the Council had also set in place a Local Area Agreement (LAA). This was an agreement with Central Government that spells out the priorities and targets for local well being, based on outcomes which reflect local and national priorities. It was an important part of the delivery chain for the Community Strategy and Corporate Plan. Arising out of the new Local Government Act all local authorities were required to develop with their partners a new Local Area Agreement for next year. The new LAAs would be part of a whole performance system for local government.  It included LAAs, a new Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) to replace Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) as well as sweeping away most existing performance indicators and reporting systems and replacing them with a new, single set of performance indicators. It was vital that members play a key part in developing the new Agreement which would need to be agreed with Government by June 2008.

            It was further reported that a part of the changes that would be wrought by the new local Government Bill was the need for any Council to develop new relationships with partners and partnerships in its area. Local authorities were expected to take a leading role on LSPs with involvement of Members on both LSPs and thematic partnerships. In advance of this Halton had already taken steps to increase representation of members from the Executive and PPBs on the Halton Strategic Partnership Board and the Specialsit Strategic Partnerships. Council’s must prepare a LAA as the delivery plan for the community strategy and partners (named in the Bill) would have a duty to cooperate. The Council’s overview and scrutiny role would be extended to cover the partners with a duty to cooperate in the delivery of the LAA. Hence the nature of relationships between members and the LSP in Halton becomes of ever increasing significance.

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.