To receive a verbal update from the Executive Member for Children’s Services on the work of Children’s Services.
Minutes:
Councillor Bray informed that the Safety Valve negotiations had started. This work was being carried out with the DfE, the Council had three months to work out a plan to bring down to zero, in five years time, the deficit in the High Needs Block (HNB).
The pressure continued for school places for junior and early secondary school years. It would be extremely difficult to provide sufficient school places for Year 7 next year.
The national transfer scheme for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) number for Wokingham had been increased from 28 to 41, as predicted by Adam Davis. The local authority continued to be responsible for young people in care up to the age of 25, however, from 18 to 25 the funding was significantly reduced, and this added pressure on the system.
Councillor Bray informed that Helen Watson and herself were attending a Children and Adult Social Care Conference in Manchester, with the intention of learning and obtaining information about the current challenges and examples of good practice. She gave the following examples:
Ø Salford had given an interesting presentation about an initiative called Salford Family Partnership. This was one-stop offering for everything involving children.
Ø Hillington had an initiative about sharing intelligence about children at risk of criminal exploitation. The analytical system they used was worth considering for Wokingham.
Most local authorities faced similar challenges to those encountered in Wokingham. However, it was encouraging to notice that in Wokingham Borough there was a desire to work together in partnership to deliver good services for residents.
In response to a question Councillor Bray confirmed that planning was underway to prepare for the increase in demand for school places nest year, however a solution had not been found yet.
Sal Thirlway, Assistant Director for Learning and Partnerships confirmed that there was significant growth in demand for school places, in particular for Year 7 next year. A higher number of applications than the Published Admission Number (PAN) was expected. However, it was also expected that some children would go to private schools and grammar schools. The local authority was actively discussing with schools the provision of additional places next year. There was a delicate balance that had to be taken into account when creating additional school places and the impact on schools’ budgets.
Adam Davis added that a lot of work already took place in terms of sharing data with partners and layering information to safeguard children against exploitation.
In response to a question Sal Thirlway informed that there was a total of 2215 places were available in the borough for Year 7, and there had been 2512 applications made. He pointed out that although there was a shortage of places the figure was likely to change due to the factors already mentioned.
Councillor Howe added that there had also been growing pressure on school places for in-year applications for a few years. Sal Thirlway informed that the new Fair Access Protocol was helping with the challenges around in-year applications.
RESOLVED That verbal updated be noted.