Agenda item - Member Involvement

To consider the following matters raised by Councillors:

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

(b)           Written Questions: to consider any written questions;

(c)           Letters: to consider any letters;

(d)           Notices of Motion: to consider any Notices of Motion referred from Council or submitted directly to the Committee.

Referred from Full Council held on 17 December 2020:

(i)             Power of Youth Charter

New Notice of Motion:

(ii)            Supporting Schools through the Pandemic

          (a)  Petitions

56.1    There were none

(b)  Written Questions

56.2    There were none

 (c) Letters

56.3    There were none

Notices of Motion

(i)             Power of Youth Charter

56.4    The Notice of Motion had been proposed and debated at Full Council on 17 December 2020 and had then been referred to this Committee.

56.5    The Chair noted that Item 59 ‘Power of Youth Charter’ related to this matter and therefore suggested that the Notice of Motion and issues agreed by Full Council be noted.

56.6    RESOLVED: That the Committee agreed to note the Notice of Motion and the issues agreed by Full Council.

(ii)           Supporting Schools Through the Pandemic

56.7    The Chair stated that they had agreed to accept a late Notice of Motion and asked Councillor Nield to present it.

56.8    Councillor Nield introduced the Notion of Motion which stated:

          This committee welcomes the Government’s

· announcement on Monday 4 January that schools would move to remote learning for a further lockdown period, for all except vulnerable children and the children of critical workers

· decision to cancel SATs, GCSEs and A Level examinations this year and commitment to a different method of assessment from last year’s widely criticised algorithm

The committee notes the:

· Government have allowed individual providers to make decisions on how they will assess BTECs

· impact of moving education online which brings significant challenges for learning and the wellbeing of pupils

Therefore, this committee requests:

1. A report at the March committee detailing how the Council, schools and other providers are responding to the pandemic, including through supporting home learning, and access to food and devices

2. That the Director of Families, Children and Learning writes to the Secretary of State and the Shadow Secretary of State for Education requesting that:

o School and nursery staff are prioritised for vaccination, along with critical workers who support children and young people, such as social workers and youth workers

o Schools receive additional funding to address increased costs from the pandemic such as increased cleaning costs, which they can currently only claim under strict criteria for the last lockdown period and increased use of supply staff

o BTEC exams are cancelled in line with GCSE and A-Levels, and other forms of safe and fair assessment are considered

o Additional funding is issued to NHS trusts to increase mental health and wellbeing support

56.9    Councillor Allcock seconded the Notice of Motion.

56.10  RESOLVED: That the Committee agreed to the requests as set out in the Notice of Motion.