Children’s Services Cabinet Member – minutes – 30 May 2008

51 DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL OR PERSONAL AND PREJUDICAL INTERESTS – The Cabinet Member declared a personal interest in minute number 53, as he was a governor of Berkeley Infant and Junior schools.

52 (1) HOME SAFETY EQUIPMENT HELP FOR VULNERABLE FAMILIES –The Service Directors Neighbourhood and Environment and Children, Strategy and Partnerships submitted a joint report seeking to advise the Cabinet Member of new funding provided by the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) for home safety equipment for families on low incomes and to determine how this would be managed.

In December 2007, The Children’s Plan: Building Brighter Futures was published by the DCSF. One of its proposals was to fund a new home safety equipment scheme to prevent accidents to young children in the home. Children of parents of lower income backgrounds were at a higher risk of accidental injury and children under the age of five were particularly vulnerable to everyday accidents at home. The funding would be distributed to local Children’s Services authorities.

As the council already employed a Home Safety Officer who had operated a successful subsidised home safety equipment for sale scheme for many years, it was proposed that the funding be transferred to the Home Safety section of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services who would administer the scheme.

Resolved – That the administration of the funding from the Department of Children, Schools and Families for home safety equipment, as detailed in the report, be approved.

53 (2) OFSTED INSPECTIONS – The Service Director Learning, Schools and Communities submitted a report on the outcome of Ofsted inspections at the following schools:

  • Priory Lane Infants School
  • Bottesford Junior School
  • Berkeley Infant School
  • Frederick Gough School
  • Wootton St Andrew’s C of E Primary School, and
  • Wroot Travis Charity Church of England Primary School

The schools had been inspected as part of the routine Ofsted inspection cycle of schools. Full copies of the reports had been placed in the political group offices.

Resolved – (a) That approval be given to continue supporting improvements in the schools inspected above, and (b) that the Cabinet Member writes to the schools and makes suitable comments on the reports.

54 (3) APPOINTMENT OF LOCAL AUTHORITY SCHOOL GOVERNORS – The Service Director Children, Strategy and Partnerships submitted a report seeking approval of the appointment of Local Education Authority (LEA) School Governors.

Resolved – (a) That the following persons be appointed LEA School Governors on the schools listed, subject to the relevant CRB checks:

Berkeley Infant Miss N Boyd
Bottesford Junior Mr D Thomson
Bottesford Junior Cllr J Dickinson
Brumby Engineering College Mrs T Cryer
Brumby Junior Mr T Davey
Darley Centre Management Group Cllr H Osborne
East Halton Primary Mrs J Blanshard
Gunness and Burringham CE Primary Cllr D Oldfield
Goxhill Primary Mr J P Teasdale
Goxhill Primary Mrs T Bruce
Grange Lane Infant Mr R Inman
John Harrison CE Primary Mrs K Sargeant
Messingham Primary Mr K Crampton
Priory Lane Infant Mrs J Fletcher
Priory Lane Junior Mr M Smith
Priory Lane Junior Cllr A Ellerby
St Hugh’s Communication and Interaction College Cllr C O’Sullivan
St Luke’s Primary Mr C M Reeves
St Luke’s Primary Mrs P Taylor
Saint Mary’s Catholic Primary Ms P Smith
Ulceby St Nicholas’ CE Primary Mrs E L Meldrum
Winteringham Primary Mr A Holmes
Winterton Junior Mr I Barkley

The following items contain exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

55 (4) INFORMATION OFFICER (DATA) – RESEARCH AND INFORMATION SERVICES – The Service Director Learning, Schools and Communities submitted a report seeking approval for the regrading of the post of Information Officer in the Research and Information Services team.

The job description of the Information Officer (Data) had been reviewed in order to meet the changing needs of schools and the School Improvement Service as a whole. The workload of the team had increased significantly over the past two years and showed no signs of diminishing. This had led to a gradual change in roles and responsibilities as more detailed analysis of statistical data and the monitoring of strategies were required as a result of government and council policies and initiatives.

Resolved – (a) That the regrading outlined in the report be supported, and (b) that the report be forwarded to the Corporate Services Cabinet Member for approval.

56 (5) REDESIGNATION OF POST – The Service Director Learning, Schools and Communities submitted a report seeking approval for the regrading and redesignation of the post of Secretary in the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) team.

The first post to be established in the BSF team was that of Project Director in December 2005, a member of the council’s staff was seconded into the post and the secretary assigned to that role continued to support the officer in their BSF role. The BSF team was supported by project assistants, working across the whole project and in particular supporting the procurement process extending into later phases.

The current secretary to the Project Director was included in the consolidation of the team in December 2007. An analysis of duties and working practices had shown that the duties of the secretary and the role of project assistant had become closely aligned. To reflect this, it was proposed that the existing role of secretary be redesignated into that of project assistant.

Resolved – (a) That the regrading and redesignation of the post of Secretary be supported, and (b) that the report be forwarded to the Corporate Services Cabinet Member for approval.

57 (6) REGRADING OF PROJECT AND STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT OFFICER – The Service Director Learning, Schools and Communities submitted a report seeking approval for the regrading of the post of Project and Strategic Development Officer.

The range and demands of the work undertaken in the post had grown recently due to the merging of Inclusion Services into Learning Services, the increase in demand for larger and more frequent conferences for schools and the growth of the international school links. The skills, knowledge and understanding of the postholder were now much more demanding. The officer was required to take a more strategic lead in planning and reporting performance against the service plans at corporate and team level, linking with a wider range of services and professionals than before.

Resolved – (a) That the regrading of the post of Project and Strategic Development Officer be supported, and (b) that the report be referred to the Corporate Services Cabinet Member for approval, subject to Trade Union consultation outcomes.

58 (7) REGRADING OF SECRETARY TO SERVICE DIRECTOR CHILDREN, STRATEGY AND PARTNERSHIPS – The Service Director Children, Strategy and Partnerships submitted a report seeking approval for the regrading and redesignation of the post of Secretary to the Service Director Children, Strategy and Partnerships.

One of the outcomes of the review of Learning, Development and Support (LDS) was that secretaries within ‘Directorate Support’ who provided services to the Children’s Services Management Team, were realigned to Children, Strategy and Partnerships (CSP).

A further outcome of the review was that the post of Secretary to the Service Director CSP was given line management responsibilities for the CSP Management support team, and as such the duties and responsibilities of the post had now increased.

Resolved – (a) That the regrading and redesignation of the post of Secretary to the Service Director Children, Strategy and Partnerships be supported, with effect from 1 May 2007, and (b) that the report be forwarded to the Corporate Services Cabinet Member for approval.

59 (8) REGRADING OF LOCAL SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN’S BOARD OPERATIONAL SUPPORT CLERK – The Service Director Children, Strategy and Partnerships submitted a report seeking approval for the regrading of the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB) Operational Support Clerk.

The LSCB had been established in line with The Children Act 2004. The Board replaced the Area Children Protection Committee and had a much wider remit. The Board had key statutory functions, which established a complex, sensitive and high priority working context for the operational support.

The work that the Operational Support Clerk had undertaken over the past year had increased in responsibility and complexity, over and above that of the post’s current grade.

Resolved – (a) That the regrading of the Operational Support Clerk be supported, and be backdated to 1 October 2007, and (b) that the report be referred to the Corporate Services Cabinet Member for approval.

60 (9) PROPOSED RESTRUCTURE OF SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE CAREFIRST AND EDUCATION IT SERVICE TEAMS TO ESTABLISH A SINGLE SUPPORT SERVICE FOR THE CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S AND ADULT SOCIAL CARE SERVICES – The Service Directors Children, Strategy and Partnerships and Learning, Schools and Communities submitted a joint report seeking approval for the restructure of the CareFirst and Education IT Services teams into a single service for the support of solutions to services and practitioners supporting children and young people.

In December 2006, Cabinet approved the establishment of a single service for children and young people. In April 2007, as part of the Learning, Development and Support Review, it was agreed by the Corporate Services Cabinet Member that the CareFirst Team, which provided support to Children and Young People’s Services and Adult Social Care, be transferred to Children and Young People’s Services, where it would be managed within the Resources Section (minute 545 refers).

In March 2008, the Corporate Services Cabinet Member approved the second phase of service realignment (minute 119 refers). It was also agreed that the next stage was the subsequent realignment of personnel and resources across Children, Strategy and Partnerships and Learning, Schools and Communities.

A review of the ICT and CareFirst teams had been completed and recommended a restructure of the current services to meet the needs of the Children and Young People’s Service.

Full details of the proposals, including financial implications, were included in the report and accompanying appendices.

Resolved – (a) That the proposed restructure be supported, and (b) that the report be forwarded to the Corporate Services Cabinet Member for approval.

61 (10) REVIEW OF CHILDCARE DEVELOPMENT SERVICE AND FAMILY INFORMATION SERVICE – The Service Directors Children, Strategy and Partnerships and Learning, Schools and Communities submitted a joint report seeking approval for the review of the Childcare Development Service (CDS) and Family Information Service (FIS).

A review of the CDS and FIS was undertaken in March and April 2008; it aimed to ensure that changes of staff structures and reporting lines could be met within the existing budget of Surestart grant funding.

Current arrangements no longer met government expectations of external communications for childcare services and the wider range of support services for children, nor new standards for childcare market management and quality control.

Full details of the proposals were included in the report and accompanying appendices.

Resolved – (a) That the proposals set out in the report be endorsed, and (b) that the report be forwarded to the Corporate Services Cabinet Member for approval.

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Where there is no report this is because it is exempt, as it contains information which is considered to be of a confidential nature, as detailed in the Local Government (Access to Information) Act.