Agenda item - Public Involvement

To consider the following matters raised by members of the public:

(a)     Petitions: to receive any petitions presented to the full council or at the meeting itself;

(b)     Written Questions: to receive any questions submitted by the due date of 12 noon on the 29 February 2016;

(c)     Deputations: to receive any deputations submitted by the due date of 12 noon on the 29 February 2016.

67(a)   Petitions

67.1   There were none.

67(b)   Written Questions

67.2    The Chair stated:

 We have received a number of questions relating to the details of the sensory needs service going forward. This is the service that provides support to children with hearing and visual impairment and will form part of the new integrated Learning Support Service. I do not propose to answer these individually this evening. This is because they refer to very precise details of service structure and capacity. I will say however that we have stated a commitment to retain the frontline support children with sensory needs at current capacity.  We are also committed to ensure there is adequate professional leadership for this specialist area. Beyond this, the precise details of how this support will be delivered and managed will be the responsibility of the leadership of the integrated service working in partnership with parents, schools and other partners. In addition I would draw attention to the fact I have commissioned an independent review of proposals to ensure and that report is here this evening alongside final proposals. I have asked officers to provide a written response to each of the questioners outside of this meeting.

67.3    A member of the public was concerned that the Chair was denying the public their right to ask a question. The solicitor for the Committee stated that the Chair had used his discretion to answer the questions in the way that he felt appropriate, and that a written response would be sent to all those who submitted a question and those responses would be included in the minutes.

(i)        Learning Support Services – Ms A Jenkins

67.4Ms Jenkins submitted the following question:

Given that there is a reduction of at least  0.3 FTE specialist management time in  relation to deaf children, can the Council confirm what will be the skills, knowledge and experience required of the 2 FTE Senior Specialist Teaching posts and to what extent this will include specialist expertise in relation to the needs of deaf children and young people.

67.5The following response was provided in writing to Ms Jenkins:

The council is committed to ensuring that the leadership and management of the learning and communication strand of the restructured service is of the highest quality. The arrangement for the appointment to the two Senior Specialist Teaching posts has yet to be finalised and communicated to the staff concerned. However, the council recognises the need to continue to ensure professional leadership for the SEN Specialist Teachers who are supporting either deaf or visually impaired children. If this professional leadership is not available from staff appointed to the role of Senior Specialist Teacher then the council will be seeking to provide an alternative arrangement.

67.6     Ms Jenkins had provided the following supplementary question:

Should a qualified ToD be appointed to one of the 2 FTE Senior Specialist Teaching posts, please can you confirm your commitment to retaining at least 3.6 specialist teaching posts for deaf children.

67.7    The following response was provided in writing to Ms Jenkins:

As previously stated, there is a commitment to maintain frontline support at its current level for children with sensory needs.

(ii)          Learning Support Services – Ms J Gonciarz

67.8Ms J Gonciarz submitted the following question:

We understand that the qualified Teachers of the Visually Impaired will have their job title changed to advisory teachers, which implies that they would not undertake direct work with visually impaired children. Currently they do work directly with visually impaired children for example, through giving them essential one to one Braille training, which we understand is part of their job description. Could the Lead Councillor please verify that visually impaired children will still gain the essential direct work from qualified Teachers of the Visually Impaired?

67.9    The following response was provided in writing to Ms Gonciarz:

      There is no intention that the work of the qualified teachers of the visually impaired will change substantially and we will ensure that job titles reflect the expertise in this area. We have stated there is no intent to reduce frontline support for sensory impaired children in these proposals.

67.10  Ms Gonciarz had provided the following supplementary question:

Will children not learning braille still receive the same amount of support from Teachers of the Visually Impaired as they receive now?

67.11  The following response was provided in writing to Ms Gonciarz:

I would reiterate my comments to your main question and refer you again to the revised proposals which state “there is no reduction to frontline support for sensory impaired children in these proposals”.

(iii)         Learning Support Service – Ms L Thompson

67.12  Ms Thompson submitted the following question:

We understand that there is no intention to reduce the hours of the Sensory Needs Service’s mobility instructor for visually impaired children. However, given the high level of need that visually impaired children have for this service, which teaches them basic independence skills and navigation, we feel that more hours should be available for this service. Furthermore, there is only one mobility instructor, and there is no one else to cover this role, when on any kind of leave. Please would the Lead Councillor confirm if the council would consider increasing the hours and staffing for this role?

67.13  The following response was provided in writing to Ms Thompson:

            I am pleased that you have recognised that the Council has no intention to reduce the working hours of the Habilitation Officer attached to the Sensory Needs Service. Whilst I recognise that you consider that more hours should be available I would ask that you consider the widespread pressures on Children’s Services at this time and appreciate that to increase provision in one area we would need to identify savings elsewhere. However we regularly review provision and where there is evidence of an unmet need in any area, we take action to redress that.

67(c)    Deputations

67.14  There were none.