Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies had been received from:

• Cllr Burton & Cllr Oppenheimer. Cllr Mummalaneni was present as the Conservative group deputy.
• Cllr Malcolm Wade. Cllr Wayne Irish was present as the Liberal Democrat group deputy.
• Cllr Louise Parker-Jones. Cllr Tree was present as the Independent group deputy.
• Robert Sanders, Church of England
• Christie Franklin, Parent Governor for Special Schools

All Members who believe they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting must declare that interest and, having regard to Part 3 Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members’ Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code. Furthermore all Members with a Personal Interest in a matter being considered at the meeting should consider, having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 4 of the Code, whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 of the Code, consider whether it is appropriate to leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter considered at the meeting they must declare that interest at the time of the relevant debate and, having regard to the circumstances described in Part 3, Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members' Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code. Furthermore Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Personal interest in a matter being considered at the meeting they considered whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 of the Code, considered whether it was appropriate to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

No declarations were made.

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting.

The Minutes of the previous meeting were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any deputations notified under Standing Order 12.

The Committee did not receive any deputations.

To receive any announcements the Chairman may wish to make.

The Chairman noted that the Children’s Services Directorate had received an Ofsted inspection since the last meeting and the Outstanding outcome had been announced. The Chairman noted that to be rated outstanding for the second time was a truly exceptional achievement. On behalf of the Committee, the Chairman congratulated all Officers who contributed towards the vital work of the Children’s Services Directorate.

The Chairman also expressed a welcome to the newly co-opted member, Richard Mounfield, Parent Governor Representative for Hampshire’s Secondary Schools.

Finally, the Chairman shared that they believed that a holistic view of transport provided by the authority was required in order to look to address the additional pressure caused by the School Transport Service. The Chairman was aware that work was being undertaken by Officers in this area and noted that they intended to write to fellow Select Committee Chairman to see how a joined up approach could be taken.

To consider a report from cross-party Working Group formed to scrutinise the approach and outcomes of the Stage 2 consultation in relation to Savings Programme 2025 proposals within the remit of the Children and Young People Select Committee.

The Children and Young People Select Committee received a report from the Chairman of the Children’s Services SP25 Working Group. This report outlined the work undertaken by the cross-party Working Group formed to scrutinise the approach and outcomes of the Stage 2 consultation in relation the Savings Programme 2025 proposals within the remit of the Children and Young People Select Committee.

The Working Group Chairman summarised the report and set out the recommendations of the Working Group for the Select Committee to consider when pre-scrutinising the proposals under the Savings Programme 2025 being put forward for decision to Cabinet. The Working Group Chairman also noted their appreciation of the time and effort Officers put in to support the Working Group.

The Director of Children’s Services thanked the members of the Working Group for the diligence and challenging analysis.

In response to questions members heard that:

·         If the financial pressures the Council was currently under was to pass, the Directorate would look at the best way to increase budgets at that point, rather than reversing changes made.

·         Accepting donations from the public was resource intensive, but was being reviewed.

·         As with all areas of Children’s Services, there was a drive to engage with young people throughout the consultation process.

·         Officers were looking into the possibility of engaging with retailers or establishing ‘friends of’ groups in a similar way to some parks.

RESOLVED:

That the Children and Young People Select Committee note:

That the cross party Working Group held three meetings between December 2023 and May 2024 and had the opportunity to discuss the consultation process and the consultation feedback.

That following this scrutiny the Working Group unanimously agreed that the Consultation had been a comprehensive process, which had given residents the information and opportunity to make reasoned responses, and that it provided the County Council with the necessary information to consider the impacts of the proposal on the residents of Hampshire.

That the Working Group agree that due consideration has been given to all consultation responses, that Officers had taken account of consultation feedback within their recommendations, and they support the Officer Recommendation; to reduce stock spend by £200,000 per annum focusing on the following priorities,

·         Reduce spend on a combination of physical and digital stock;

·         Prioritise spending on children’s physical stock;

·         Prioritise spending on paperbacks rather than hardbacks;

·         Prioritise buying a wider range of items, with reduced copies of new titles and prioritise purchasing books over other resources.

If the decision is taken to go ahead with the proposal, the Working Group also made the following recommendations for Officers;

·         To review the current Donations Policy to consider whether a change in approach can realise efficiencies in stock purchasing.

·         To continue to review Income opportunities, taking an innovative and entrepreneurial approach, including a review of Membership charges and consideration to extend the School Library Service offer to include pre-school material.

·         To regularly review the Stock budget, to ensure a comprehensive and efficient service is maintained, and considering the prospect of increasing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 152.

To pre-scrutinise the SP25 savings proposals in relation to Library Stock ahead of their consideration by Cabinet.

The Children and Young People Select Committee received a report from the Director of Children’s Services setting out the Savings Programme proposals for Cabinet in relation to Children’s Services.

The Select Committee noted the County Council undertook an open public consultation which sought to understand the views on, and potential impacts of, 13 proposals which would deliver savings contributing toward the Savings

Programme 2025. Following analysis of the consultation responses, final

recommendations had been prepared by the Children’s Services Directorate in relation to these proposals.

Members noted that Cabinet was due to consider these recommendations at their meeting on 14 October 2024, alongside the savings proposed by other Directorates. The Draft Report to Cabinet and proposals prepared by Officers, were scrutinised by the Children and Young People Select Committee.

Officers assured members that the proposals did not have a significant detrimental impact on the Library Service, noting that Libraries are more than books and have adapted their role to remain relevant to communities.

The Executive Lead Member for Children’s Services thanked the Committee for their thorough examination of the proposals.

RESOLVED:

That the Select Committee:

Supported the recommendations made by officers to the Cabinet set out in Appendix 13 of the Draft Report to Cabinet as detailed below:

·         Appendix 13 – Library Stock

To reduce stock spend by £200,000 per annum focusing on the following priorities, identified from feedback through the Future Services Consultation, outlined from paragraph 31;

·         Reduce spend on a combination of physical and digital stock;

·         Prioritise spending on children’s physical stock;

·         Prioritise spending on paperbacks rather than hardbacks;

·         Prioritise buying a wider range of items, with reduced copies of new titles and prioritise purchasing books over other resources.

To receive a report from the Director of Children’s Services presenting the Hampshire Youth Justice Service Youth Justice Plan 2024 for pre-scrutiny ahead of the Executive Lead Member of Children’s Services Decision Day.

The Children and Young People Select Committee received a report providing an update on the Youth Justice Service alongside the opportunity to scrutinise the Youth Justice Plan 2024/25 prior to consideration by Executive Lead Member.

Officers set out that the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act required the Head of Service to produce an annual Youth Justice Plan, overseen by the Youth Justice Board. Full Council approval of the plan is required in accordance with ‘Regulation 4 of the Local Authorities (Functions and Responsibilities)

(England) Regulations 2000.

Members noted the team’s current workload, performance and the progress made against last year’s plan, before receiving an overview of the new plan. The Committee heard how the plan would contain:

·         a continued focus on disproportionality and participation,

·         the implementation of a new case record system, and

·         reapplying for grants which end in March 2025.

It was noted that an inspection was due from January 2025 and so there was a need to ensure:

·         the new assessment tool for out of court cases had been implemented,

·         the service was benchmarking against the new criteria,

·         an audit of victim work had been completed, and

·         the new communication process had been embedded.

In response to questions members heard that:

·         efforts were being made to raise the profile of the Youth Justice Service to ensure the public were aware of the work being undertaken. This included hubs in the community.

·         work was done to divert young people from the criminal justice service, including teamwork and community programmes such as summer school or the Football Project.

·         An increased focus on reducing the disparity between cautions provided to ethnic minorities had led to a 25% reduction.

·         An increased number of young people with an EHCP entering the criminal justice system could be as a result of the general increase in the number of young people with EHCPs.

RESOLVED:

That the Children and Young People Select Committee considered the report and plan and recommended to the Executive Lead Member for Children’s Services to submit the Hampshire Youth Justice Service’s Youth Justice Plan2024/25 to full council for approval.

To receive a regular information update (written only) on Autism Services Commissioning for Children and Young People in Hampshire, from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Partnership of Clinical Commissioning Groups.

The committee received a regular information update (written only) on Autism Services Commissioning for Children and Young People in Hampshire, from the Mental Health, Learning Disabilities & Autism and Children’s Care Directorate, NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight.

The Select Committee noted their continued dissatisfaction with the contents of the update provided and the lack of progress being made.

RESOLVED:

That the Children and Young People Select Committee noted the contents of the report.

To consider and approve the Children and Young People Select Committee Work Programme.

The Director of People and Organisation presented the Committee’s work programme.

RESOLVED:

That the Children and Young People Select Committee discussed and agreed potential items for the work programme that can be prioritised and allocated by the Chairman of the Children and Young People Select Committee in consultation with the Director of Children’s Services.