Brighton & Hove City Council
Children, Young People & Skills Committee
4.00pm13 June 2022
Council Chamber, Hove Town Hall
Minutes
Present: Councillor Clare (Chair) John (Deputy Chair), O'Quinn (Opposition Spokesperson), Brown (Group Spokesperson), Grimshaw, Hamilton, Lloyd, McNair, Meadows and Nield
Other Members present: Councillors
Part One
78 Procedural Business
(a) Declarations of Substitutes
78.1 There were none
(b) Declarations of Interest
78.2 There were none
(c) Exclusion of Press and Public
78.3 There were no Part Two Items and so the press and public were not excluded from the meeting.
79 Minutes
79.1 RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meetings held on 31 January 2022 and 7 March 2022 be agreed as correct records.
80 Chair's Communications
80.1 The Chair gave the following communication:
I want to start by saying well done to Natasha Watson, who is our committee lawyer. She was recently awarded the significant contribution to Local Government Award at the National Local Government Lawyers award. The comments about Natasha were deservingly gushing and I would like to add in my gushing praise too. We are incredibly lucky to have Natasha supporting our committee and I can’t think of anyone who should have received this award more.
Government reviews & consultations
There are a number of important topics on the agenda today including the schools white paper (which the government kindly published on my birthday in March). Officers have already been looking at the ramifications of this but we thought it was important that councillors had a chance to have a political discussion first today.
Officers are also reviewing the SEND Green Paper which was published in March also and the Social Care review published at the end of May. We will be intending to submit a consultation to the SEND green paper and we expect the social care review will mean some changes to us as a local authority – which makes the early help review on the agenda today ever more urgent.
We know already that we offer good services and I was delighted to visit Roundabout Children’s Centre last week to see the brilliant work they do last week. I would encourage all councillors to try and visit our children’s centres if they can just to see what is on offer.
Corporate Parenting Board
I am pleased following a decision at Policy & Resources committee in May that the Corporate Parenting Board will now report to this committee rather than P&R. I would encourage all councillors to attend these meetings whether they are on CYPS or not – they are not only expertly co-chaired by young people but they are also a real insight into the challenges that our children in care and care leavers face.
As my colleague Cllr Zoe John announced at the meeting last week, we are hoping to find a new name for the board – so please do let us know if you have any suggestions.
The next meeting will be held in September, which I sadly can’t attend as I will be on my honeymoon. But I do hope to hear from those who have attended about what happened at the meeting.
Environmental Education
Councillors will remember that this committee has previously discussed the importance of environmental education. That’s why I’m really pleased that more than 50 school leaders recently attended a sustainability event organised by Brighton & Hove environmental education (BHee).
The day-long ‘Our City, Our World’ conference was held at Varndean School and brought together headteachers, governors, and sustainability leads from local schools across Brighton & Hove.
Coming together gave us an important opportunity to discuss pressing topics for schools such as climate literacy and leadership for sustainability.
As ever, I’m really impressed by the work that goes on in education settings in the city on the climate crisis. I want to pay particular thanks to the 10 schools currently engaging in our pilot project which councillors will receive more information on at a future meeting of this committee.
Pupil admission numbers
I thought it was worth updating that there will be two meetings held in the coming weeks which councillors on the School Organisation Working Group are invited to. One for primary phase and one for secondary phase schools, to discuss the ongoing challenges we have with pupil admission numbers.
These events will give councillors the chance to hear from heads directly and I hope to see you there.
Power of Youth
Finally, last week we celebrated power of youth day and I just wanted to reiterate how much I value the contribution of young people in decision making. Since the last meeting, I was pleased to attend a ‘Youth Manifesto’ event at BYC, where I encouraged young people to get in touch with councillors of all colour rosettes to let them know what matters to them.
In a few weeks time, we will be hosting Youthwise at BMECP centre and I hope to see some councillors this event too to hear directly from our city’s young people.
81 Call Over
81.1 All items were reserved for discussion.
82 Public Involvement
82.1 There were no Petitions, Written Questions or Deputations.
83 Member Involvement
83.1 There were no Petitions, Written Questions or Letters but there were two Notices of Motion.
83.2 The first Notice of Motion was ‘Make Your Mark’ which had been referred from Council held on 7 April 2022.
83.3 RESOLVED: That the Committee agreed to undertake the actions as set out in that Notice of Motion.
83.4 The second Notice of Motion was ‘White Paper and Academisation’. Councillor Nield proposed the Notice of Motion as set out in the agenda. Councillor John formally seconded.
83.5 Councillor Brown said that whilst the Conservative Group agreed with learning more about the intentions of the White Paper and the possibility of local authorities setting up their own academy trusts, it did not agree with the rhetoric in the Notice of Motion and would therefore abstain on the vote.
83.6 Councillor O’Quinn confirmed that the Labour Group would support the Notice of Motion.
83.7 RESOLVED: That the Committee agreed to undertake the actions as set out in the Notice of Motion.
84 Presentation - Young People at Risk of Exploitation
84.1 The Head of Service (Adolescents and YOS), Exploitation Coordinator and Team Manager, Adolescent Services who provided a presentation on Young People at Risk of Exploitation.
84.2 The presentation provided an overview of child exploitation in the city and the wider Sussex area.
84.3 Cllr Lloyd noted that work was being done with the police to ensure youths did not get criminal records and asked if there had been much success with that. Officers advised that it was a work in progress, but it was proving to be successful. The Council had a good relationship with the police which helped. It was important to look at what had triggered the behaviour and why it was felt that the young people were vulnerable.
84.4 Cllr Lloyd asked if using children as ‘runners’ was a recent thing. Officers said that children had been involved for many years, but there had been a change of language used, and it appeared that this activity was much more organised than it had been previously.
84.5 Cllr O’Quinn agreed that it was important not to criminalise young people, and asked what happened with those who were not identified as being vulnerable? Officers advised that they worked with all the children not just their families. Sometimes the young people get involved in the distribution of drugs thinking it was a good thing to do and they can make money, but staff were there to support them when they realised that what they were doing was wrong.
84.6 Cllr Grimshaw asked where parents should go if they felt that their children were being exploited. Officers advised that ‘Front Door for Families’, which was on the Council’s website, should be the first point on contact and could be accessed via the following link: https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/frontdoorforfamilies. Cllr Grimshaw suggested that information be publicised, maybe on bus stops etc. Officers said that was something they would look into.
84.7 Ms Boyd asked how the officers were working with other teams to ensure that there was a solid understanding of those with neurodiversity, and those with speech and language issues, and what training were staff receiving and was there preventative work with schools around exclusions and keeping children in schools to keep them safe. Officers there was an Adolescent Service and they had education workers who worked alongside professional to put together the best package to support young people. Speech and language was important and some young people had undiagnosed issues, particularly those who had missed some of their education, and that could impact on their behaviour. There was funding available for speech and language therapists but there was currently a national shortage and the council had not been able to recruit to those posts. With regard to preventative steps, staff did link in with the Early Help Strategy and worked closely with colleagues in the voluntary sector and offered consultancy and guidance where appropriate.
84.8 RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the presentation.
85 Proposal to expand Hill Park Special School by establishing a satellite site at the Cedar Centre
85.1 The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director Families Children & Learning regarding the review of Special Educations Needs and Disability in the city with focus on the proposal to expand Hill Park Special School and the establishment of a satellite site at the former Cedar Centre. The report was introduced by the Assistant Director, Health, SEN and Disabilities and Ms Burstow the Head Teacher of Hill Park School.
85.2 Cllr O’Quinn asked if there was a way of expanding the provision further if needed, what the previous intended project was and how that money was going to be spent. Officers advised that they had been looking carefully at possible future demand and said that the expansion was only part of what they were doing and there were also a number of places that officers were looking to develop for neurodiverse children in the city. The funding had been allocated when Homewood School was going to be relocated to the Cedar Centre, but as the school was now an academy a report had gone to Policy & Resources Committee about the change of funding.
85.3 Cllr Brown said that there had been a large increase in children diagnosed with Autism, and the Conservative Group fully supported the proposals.
85.4 Cllr Hamilton noted that there would be a Year 12 and asked if there would be a Year 13 to allow for full Sixth Form provision. Officers said that staff were currently focusing on Primary and Secondary provision but would be reviewing the need for post 16 and post 19 provision.
85.5 Cllr Nield noted that the Head Teacher of Hill Park School said that they were trying to make the setting unlike a school environment and asked in what way. Officers said it would have small informal areas, seating areas, café, allotment, corridors would would be wider and there would be fewer children so it would be more informal than a mainstream school.
85.6 Cllr Nield noted that a Local Authority was required to demonstrate that the new provision was genuinely a change to an existing school and asked for more information on the integration of the two sites. Officers advised that there would be integration between the two sites and students at Hill Park students would use some of the facilities such as a hairdresser, café, pond, allotments etc
85.7 Cllr Grimshaw asked if the number of pupils attending would impact on home to school travel budget. Officers advised that was being discussed at the next governance board, and would depend on each child’s needs and staff were currently piloting a scheme on individual travel.
85.8 Cllr Grimshaw asked if there would be the possibility of weekend provision. Officers advised that there would be a flat to learn life skills and it was possible that that could be used.
85.9 RESOLVED: That the Committee –
(i) Noted the outcome of the recent consultation to expand Hill Park School by establishing a satellite site at the former Cedar Centre for autistic children and young people who have anxiety and mental health issues but not a learning disability attached at Appendix 1;
(ii) Agreed that the Local Authority should now proceed to publish Statutory Notices to progress this proposal.
86 Youth Investment Fund Update
86.1 The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director Families Children & Learning which provided an update of the Youth Investment Fund and the revised proposal to bid for funding in partnership with the Brighton Youth Centre and neighbourhood, commissioned youth providers in the east, west and north of the city. The report was introduced by the Integrated Team for Families Manager.
86.2 Cllr Brown was concerned that the Brighton Youth Centre (BYC) would have precedence for any funding, and asked for assurance that if only a proportion of the funding requested was available that some would still go the neighbourhood providers. Officers said that BYC did need a lot of financial support to get it into a reasonable state, and it was not known if the bid would just be for one building or an option to support other buildings. Discussions on this would be held shortly.
86.3 Ms Boyd said that it was important to include activities for disabled young people and asked if that would be done. Officers said that all providers needed to look at their inclusion policies and that would be monitored.
86.4 Cllr Hamilton said that it could take young people who lived in Portslade up to an hour by bus to get to the BYC and so asked officers to look at buildings the Council may have across the city which could also be used. Officers said that there was a potential New Homes for Neighbourhoods project in Portslade which would see the development of a new community space.
86.5 Cllr Grimshaw asked if it would be possible to look at providing respite provision at the BYC. Officers said it would depend on funding, and if we could get match funding from private donations it could be looked into.
86.6 RESOLVED: That the Committee –
(i) Noted the imminent launch of the Department of Culture, Media, and Sports (DCMS) Phase 2 of the Youth Investment Fund;
(ii) Agreed to the Council forming a partnership with BYC and neighbourhood, commissioned youth providers in the East, West, and North of the city, to consult and agree a submission to bid for Phase 2 YIF funding.
87 Early Help Transformation and development of 'A Fairer Brighton & Hove', a Framework to support those at risk of disadvantage
87.1 The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director Families Children & Learning which provided an update on the City’s Early Help Review, provided a suggested model of delivery of Family Hubs for the City and launch of ‘A Fairer Brighton & Hove’, which was a framework to support those at risk of disadvantage. The report was introduced by the Head of Service Early Years & Early help Strategy and the Service Manager - Directorate Policy & Business Support.
87.2 Cllr O’Quinn asked if there were any councillors were on the Early Help Partnership Board. Officers confirmed that there weren’t.
87.3 Cllr Nield referred to Tell Us Once and was concerned that people would only had one opportunity to provide the correct information. Officers said the information provided would be an evolving document and so could be changed.
87.4 RESOLVED: That the Committee –
(i) Agreed the ‘A Fairer Brighton & Hove’ Framework proposed in Appendix 1;
(ii) Agreed to the principles for Early Help transformation set out in this report, and that these principles should inform the further development of a Family Hub model
88 SACRE Annual Report
88.1 The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director Families Children & Learning which which outlined the work of SACRE from September 2021 – March 2022.
88.2 Councillor McNair noted that there had been a low response rate from schools to the survey on collective workshop and asked what support SACRE could provide to increase that. The Senior Advisor - Education Partnerships said that the low response rate could be due to the pressure schools were currently under after the pandemic, but things were now improving and hoped that the response rates going forward would improve.
88.3 Councillor Grimshaw noted that only six school had responded to the survey and asked which ones had not. The Senior Advisor - Education Partnerships said they didn’t have that information with them and would provide it after the meeting.
88.4 RESOLVED: That the Committee –
(i) Noted the SACRE report;
(ii) Continued to support the profile of the teaching of RE in Brighton & Hove schools through cross party attendance at the meetings.
89 School OFSTED Presentation
89.1 The Head of Education Standards & Achievements and the Head of Service, Early Years provided an update on the latest Ofsted inspections for schools in the city.
89.2 Cllr Hamilton said that both Brackenbury Primary and St Peter’s Community Primary were schools within his Ward. Both schools now only had one form of entry and both had spare places. This had reduced the school’s income which may have impacted on the Ofsted ratings.
89.3 RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the report
90 Items Referred For Council
90.1 No items were referred to the next meeting of Council.
The meeting concluded at 6.50pm
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