Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been received from Alderman Sir Paul Judge, Alderman Robert Howard, Deputy Stephen Haines, Deputy Henry Jones, Emma Price, Revd Dr William Campbell-Taylor, Deputy Catherine McGuiness and Deputy Elizabeth Rogula.

The Committee sent their best wishes to Deputy Jones for a speedy recovery and hoped he would be back in good health soon.

Mr Gareth Moore declared an interested in all housing related matters as he was a tenant on the Golden Lane Estate.

To agree the minutes of the previous Committee meeting.

Resolved – that the minutes be agreed an accurate record.

The Committee are invited to appoint 1Member on Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, for a three year term expiring in October 2019 in the room of Emma Price, who is standing down from the organisation.

The Committee were invited to appoint 1 Member on Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, for a three year term expiring in October 2019 in the room of Emma Price, who was standing down from the organisation.

Resolved – as no Member expressed an interest in serving the Committee agreed to open the position up to all Common Councilmen and that a Member be appointed on to the Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust at the meeting of the Court of Common Council in December 2016.

The Committee received a presentation from Lee Hutchings, Operations Director of Packguard Ltd. Members noted that levels of crime and anti-social behaviour issues remained low in the City. The main area of work for Parkguard centred around welfare, homelessness and, to an extent, drug abuse. Officers recently dealt with a case of homelessness on the Barbican Estate which was successfully resolved. Feedback from City residents remained very positive and some residents reported that they liked seeing Officers on patrol. 300+ people had been spoken to by Officers on patrol regarding low level nuisance issues and Officers were encouraged to retain high levels of community engagement.

In response to a query the Committee were informed that the scheme had been extended for a further two years. Members were very pleased with this and commended Officers on a job well done.

Resolved – that the update be received.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Committee received an update regarding the publication of the new Ofsted/CQC Inspection Framework for the provision of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) which was published in May 2016. This inspection framework prompted an internal review of the current SEND Strategy and Policy (2013–17) which was ratified at Community and Children’s Services Committee in July 2013.

The new inspection framework was an ‘area’ inspection with the local authority as the hub of each area. The Draft SEND Strategy was aligned to the themes for inspection articulated within the newly published framework. The recently published SEND inspection framework has three main themes for inspection:

· early identification of need;

· assessing and meeting needs;

· impact of services on life outcomes.

Resolved – that the report be received.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

Members noted that the report fulfillled the statutory duty of officers to provide an annual report to Members on the sufficiency of childcare in the City of London.

Under section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, all English local authorities were required

to ensure (as far as is ‘reasonably practicable ’) that working parents in their area were able to access the childcare they need. In order to inform this, local authorities must conduct regular assessments of the childcare provision in their area and the extent to which it meets local demand.

In the City of London, this duty sits with the Education and Early Years Service. An

in-depth Childcare Sufficiency Assessment (CSA) was commissioned by the service

in 2014, and a smaller update of this report was conducted in the winter of 2015/16.

The 2016 update found that there is currently sufficient provision of early years

childcare, although the tendency of parents to move in and out of the City’s borders

to access childcare makes it difficult to pin down a true figure for local demand. The

supply of childcare for over-fives during the school holidays is an area where there

would seem to be an under-supply, and more research is required into how this

sector could be developed.

There is healthy uptake of the various types of financial support offered to parents

towards the cost of childcare. The two-year-old offer of 15 hours is currently being

accessed by 100% of eligible families, and the City’s own Childcare Affordability

Scheme is now offered at five nurseries in and around the City.

Resolved – that the report be received.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

Members received an update on an audit of the Department of Community and Children’s Services (DCCS) departmental processes for:

· business planning

· monitoring of the business plan activities, risks and budgets

· identification and challenge of risk.

As part of the Internal Audit team’s ongoing cycle of independent reviews of

departmental processes and procedures, a review of the DCCS business planning

process commenced in February 2016. The final report of this review, with

recommendations, was issued by Internal Audit in July 2016.

The overall aim of the audit was to ‘provide assurance that corporate plans are

linked to budgets, risks and KPIs [key performance indicators], to provide assurance

to Chief Officers that the plan is being delivered within budget and what is being

reported is consistent with other reporting mechanisms.’

The findings of the audit showed that there was substantial assurance around the

DCCS processes and procedures in the areas examined. Internal Audit concluded:

‘There is a sound control environment with risks to system objectives being

reasonably managed. Any deficiencies identified are not major causes for concern.’

DCCS has had the opportunity to develop a management response to Internal

Audit’s findings and has put in place an action plan to address the issues identified.

Internal Audit will be providing a briefing on the outcome of this review for Members

of the Audit and Risk Management Committee.

Resolved – that the update be reeived.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

Members were provided with a summary of the outcome of the Ofsted

inspection of the City of London’s services for children in need of help and

protection, children looked after and care leavers in July 2016, carried out under

section 136 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006.

The effectiveness of children’s services in the City of London was judged overall to

be „Good? with a number of “Outstanding? features. The individual judgements were

as follows:

· The experience and progress of children who need help and protection is

„Good?.

· The experience and progress of children looked after and achieving

permanence is „Good?.

· The experience and progress of care leavers is „Good?.

· Leadership, management and governance in the City of London is

„Outstanding?.

The City of London is the sixth local authority in London to receive an overall “Good?

judgement for its children’s services, out of 22 London local authorities inspected so

far. The City of London is also one of six local authorities in England to receive a

judgement of “Outstanding? for its leadership, management and governance.

The Committee congratulated Officers and their teams respectively. It was agreed that a report regarding the OFSTED inspection results would be submitted to the Court of Common Council meeting in December 2016.

Resolved – that the update be received.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The City of London Corporation has identified the reduction of social isolation and

loneliness as a strategic priority. Research from Goldsmiths, University of London,

has provided valuable insights into social isolation within the City of London and has

also suggested areas where extra investigation could prove beneficial.

In September, this Committee approved the formation of a group tasked with

investigating some of these areas further. Clarification was requested around the

group’s scope, methodology and costs.

A Social Wellbeing Panel will now be brought together to investigate specific issues

relevant to social isolation in the City of London. The Panel will hear evidence from

a range of contributors, and evidence heard will be used to refine the City

Corporation’s Social Wellbeing Strategy and its actions.

Only issues identified as having a high degree of relevance for City residents will

be considered by the Panel. The scope of the Panel will be to make specific

recommendations for reducing social isolation in the City of London.

The Social Wellbeing Panel will examine specific issues drawn from the City of

London based research, engagement and consultation undertaken to date.

These may be:

· issues that emerged from Roger Green’s research (e.g. highlighting the

isolation faced by some older LGBT people in the City);

· issues that have arisen from the public consultation (e.g. early responses from

BAME residents suggest they are unsure the draft strategy does enough to

meet their needs);

· issues raised by Members (e.g. the problems faced by City residents who live

away from the main residential estates);

· particular approaches that have led to reductions in social isolation elsewhere

(e.g. innovative uses of new technology).

The direct costs of the Social Wellbeing Panel are estimated to be £2,500 for the

design and print of a summary report and £1,000 for meeting expenses.

Members noted that the annual Poppy Appeal would be taking place at the Barbican Station for two weeks commencing on 31^st October 2016.

The Committee also noted that the annual visit to deliver Christmas Hampers to the City of London and Gresham Almshouses would take place on 13^th December 2016.

There was no urgent business.

MOTION - That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

Resolved - That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the

public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the

grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined

in Paragraph 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To agree the non-public minutes of the previous Committee meeting.

Resolved – that the minutes be agreed as an accurate record.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Community and

Children’s Services.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Community and

Children’s Services.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Community and

Children’s Services.

There were no questions.

There was no urgent business.