Agenda and minutes

In the event the fire alarm sounds attendees will be advised to evacuate the building via the nearest fire exit and assemble at the Bottle of Notes opposite MIMA.

The Chair welcomed all attendees to the meeting and explained the fire evacuation procedures.

Name of Member	Type of Interest	Item / Nature of Business
Cllr E Clynch	Non-Pecuniary	Employed within education setting.
Cllr D Jackson	Non-Pecuniary	School Governor.

 

 

The Director of Children’s Care and the Interim Director for Education and Partnerships will be in attendance to provide the Children’s Scrutiny Panel with an overview of the services provided across their Directorates, and to highlight the strategic and departmental priorities for the coming year.

  

Recommendation: that the Children’s Scrutiny Panel notes the information provided and considers the information when formulating its Work Programme at the next meeting.

The Interim Director for Education and Partnerships and the Head of Safeguarding, Care Planning and Children with Disabilities were in attendance to provide Members with an overview of the services delivered across their directorates, and to highlight the strategic and departmental priorities for the coming year.

 

The officers each delivered a presentation, both of which focused on the following topics:

 

• A list of service areas within the directorate, together with a brief description of the work of each service area.
• Priorities.
• Current projects.
• Challenges.
• Corporate Performance Measures.

 

The Interim Director for Education and Partnerships explained that the service was large and comprised a variety of areas within it.  These were: Access to Education; Achievement; Inclusion and Specialist Support Services; and Youth Justice Team.  Members were provided with a brief description of the work these services carried out.

 

In terms of priorities for the year ahead, these were outlined as follows:

 

•        Reduce the number of permanent exclusions and suspensions across the town.

•        Ensure sufficiency of school places for all children and young people.

•        Improve attendance for all children and young people.

•        Monitor the number of children choosing Elective Home Education (EHE).

•        Increase inclusion within mainstream settings for children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

•        Ensure EHCPs were completed within the 20-week statutory timescale.

•        Support schools and settings to have a skilled workforce.

•        Reduce the number of children and young people accessing out of area specialist provision.

•        Reduce the deficit on the High Needs Budget. 

•        Improve outcomes for all children and young people.

 

Details of several projects currently being undertaken were provided to the Panel, as follows:

 

•        SHiFT Middlesbrough.

•        Adopting a digital support system that embraced, Education, Early Help and Social Care.

•        Improving Attendance.

•        Introduction of a new Resource Allocation System to support children with an EHCP.

•        Review of specialist provision.

•        Family Hubs.

 

Challenges facing the service this year were outlined to Members, as follows:

 

•        Exclusions and suspensions.

•        Funding.

•        Sufficiency of Alternative Provision (AP) placements.

•        Sufficiency of Specialist Placements. 

•        Attendance.

•        The increasing number of EHE children. 

 

A number of Corporate Performance Measures were outlined to the Panel, as follows:

 

•        Permanent exclusions: Currently 88, which was slightly lower than the previous year.

•        Suspensions: Reduction in the days lost per pupil, suspensions rates were slowing.

•        Attendance: 92.5%.  

•        EHE - currently 321.

•        Completion of an EHCP within 20-weeks - 97%.  Comparatively, the figure was 50% nationally.

•        Inclusion within mainstream settings for children with an EHCP - 39.2%.

•        Children currently accessing AP - 377.

 

During the discussion that followed, a Member referred to EHE and queried the qualifications needed to educate children at home.  In response, the Panel was advised that parents were not required to have any formal qualifications, but they would be required to follow the national curriculum.  There were various reasons why parents opted to home educate their children; unannounced visits were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25/3

Recommendation: the Children’s Scrutiny Panel is asked to consider the proposed schedule of meeting dates for 2025/2026 and to agree a finalised schedule.

A proposed schedule of meeting dates for the Children’s Scrutiny Panel for the 2025/2026 Municipal Year was submitted for Members’ consideration.

 

AGREED that the proposed meeting dates for 2025/2026 be approved.

The next meeting of the Children’s Scrutiny Panel had been scheduled for Tuesday, 15 July 2025 at 4.30 p.m. in the Mandela Room, Town Hall.

 

NOTED

None.