Minutes for Children & Young People Scrutiny Commission meeting, Feb 8 2010, 7.00PM official page

Cllr Bell, Cllr Kelly, Cllr Khan, Cllr Landau, Cllr Shaikh, and Mary Ludlow.

There were no urgent items and the order is as laid out.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the 4^th January meeting were AGREED as an accurate account.

AGREED

The minutes from 4^th January were agreed.

Cllr Taylor told the Commission that the Homerton Neighbourhood Forum has discussed betting shops at a recent meeting and the Forum had asked Cllr Taylor to write to Joanna Sumner, the Assistant Chief Executive, to support the campaign.

Lisa Neidich told the Commission that HASGA (Hackney School Governor Association) received a presentation about the 2012 Olympics at their last meeting, and the question of whether Hackney schools would get tickets to Olympic events was raised. 

The Chair replied that this is an important question, and asked the Scrutiny Officer to investigate it.

ACTION

The Scrutiny Officer will ask the Olympics Unit within the council whether Hackney schools will get tickets to Olympic events in 2012.

Presentation from the Learning Trust updating the Commission on 16-19 provision in the borough.

The Chair welcomed Helen McNulty from the Learning Trust to provide an update on 16 – 19 provision in Hackney. 

Ms McNulty told Commission members that the presentation slides provided an overall picture about the radical changes taking place to 16 – 19 provision this year.

Currently the Learning and Skills Council receives funding for all post-16 education but from 1^st April 2010, this will change.  Its former responsibilities will be split between:

1.  the Young People Learning Agency (YPLA)

2.  the Skills Funding Agency (SFA)

Ms McNulty told the Commission that because of the number of young people that travel over borough boundaries for their education, it made sense to set up a Regional Planning Group for the whole of London.  The Regional Planning Group is chaired by the CYP Lead for London Councils.  The group membership includes all the key bodies regarding London’s young people, for example: Chief Executives, Lead Members, Director of Children’s Services, Government Office for London, the Department for Children Schools and Families, the YPLA, the SFA, London Skills and Employment Board and other providers.

The Regional Planning Group sits under the Children and Young People’s Partnership Board for London.  Each borough is required to have a 16-19 Commissioning Plan and Ms McNulty told the Commission that this was included in the agenda for Member’s information.  Hackney can set its own priorities for commissioning in the borough. 

Ms McNulty explained to the Commission that there is a need for a growing post-16 provision in the borough because there is a growing pre-16 group in Hackney.  Currently two thirds of the 16-19 cohort travel outside of the borough to receive their education, but this is changing every year. 

Regarding Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance (CEIAG), Ms McNulty told the Commission there is a CEIAG Achieving Excellence group as part of the London-wide Children and Young People’s Partnership, and it is focussing on ensuring that CEIAG provisions for young people are of universal quality across London. 

Ms McNulty told the Commission that the local authority (and education provider) has to ensure the resident learning needs are met in their area.  To do this they might meet with other boroughs to discuss similar challenges.  For example, regarding the Orthodox Jewish community, Hackney has met with three other boroughs – Barnet, Brent and Haringey, to discuss adequate provisions for the Orthodox Jewish communities in these boroughs.  Ms McNulty also gave another example of Hackney meeting with Tower Hamlets to have conversations about the approximately 500 young people coming from Tower Hamlets to Hackney schools and making sure their needs are met. 

Ms McNulty told the Commission about Regional Commissioning, for example for the small cohort with learning difficulties, who therefore have higher needs.  She said that there is also a need to work with other boroughs when planning provisions.  For example, Mossbourne Academy in Hackney wants a specialist unit for young people with autism, however there needs to be a regional  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Information about the youth provisions available in Hackney, broken down by ward.

The Chair told the Commission that a list of current provision available to young people in Hackney, broken down by ward, was included in the agenda papers for the Commission’s information.  This information is currently in the process of being updated by the Youth Service.  The information is regularly updated on the Young Hackney website – http://www.younghackney.org

The Chair asked Members to note the information.

Presentation from the council’s Youth Service about the services they provide and youth work in general.

The Chair welcomed Pauline Adams, Head of the Youth Service, to talk about the Youth Service, youth work and youth provision in Hackney.

Pauline Adams told the Commission she had also brought three youth workers: Barrett Joshua (Frampton Park Youth Club), Cat Garrett (Youth Participation Worker) and Naomi Watson (Purple Bus) to talk about their work and answer the Member’s questions.

Ms Adams told the Commission the purpose of youth work is to:

‘Enable young people to develop holistically; working with them to facilitate their personal, social and educational development, and enable them to develop their voice, influence and place in society in order to reach their full potential’. National Occupational Standards 2008, LLUK

She explained that involvement with the Youth Service and youth provisions is voluntary but young people in the borough are encouraged to make use of what is available to them.  There are no expectations of the young people except good behaviour.  Youth work aims to present equal opportunities and broaden the horizons of young people.  It seeks to provide a socially and physically safe environment. 

Ms Adams said that the impact of not having the Youth Service and youth work function should be considered.  The Youth Service accepts any young person that comes through their door, and involvement in youth activities can help them gain accreditation and can be a stepping stone on the path to the employment market.  Youth work taps into young people’s talents and interests and helps them develop soft skills that employers value, such as teamwork, co-operation, timekeeping and communication skills. 

The Youth Service Aims are:

•  A strong universal Youth Service

•  A clearly communicated youth offer

•  Youth participation and involvement at all levels

•  World class facilities

•  Promote inclusion and reduce barriers to participation

•  Flexible and responsive services

•  Raise standards and consistency

•  Provide improved outcomes for young people, families and communities

Ms Adams told the Commission it was important that youth services were open to all young people and that they were well communicated so young people and their parents were aware of them.  She said the Youth Service has a Communication Strategy to promote youth provisions in the borough. 

Ms Adams said youth workers do outreach work with young people on estates in Hackney and encourage them to attend provisions commissioned through the voluntary and community sector as well as council maintained centres. 

Ms Adams told Commission members that the Youth Service had improved dramatically in Hackney and was awarded the National Youth Agency Quality Mark in May 2009.  In 2006 a joint area review had judged the service inadequate so the improvement was achieved in a short period of time. 

The Commission heard that most of the council-maintained provisions were part-time, and include small estate based provision in partnerships with Registered Social Landlords/ Tenants/Residents’ Associations, and mobile and outreach work through the Purple Buses.  Voluntary and community service provision is commissioned in partnership with Team Hackney through the Area Based Grant  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

A discussion about any site visits to youth provisions carried out so far and planned as part of the review. 

The Chair asked the Scrutiny Officer, Deborah Ennis, to update Commission members on the scheduled site visits as part of the Youth Provision review.

Ms Ennis reminded the Commission members that they expressed interest at the January meeting in visiting a variety of youth provisions as part of the review, including council-run services, voluntary-run services, and services run by religious organisations. 

Ms Ennis told the Commission that she had used the list of youth provisions provided and information from the Head of Youth Services to contact a variety of organisations to try to organise site visits for Commission members.

A list of the site visits arranged was sent to Commission members via email on Friday 5^th February, asking them to express interest in those they would like to attend.  Ms Ennis emphasised that this list is not final and discussions are still ongoing with a number of other organisations to try to organise as wide a variety of site visits to youth provisions in the time period available. 

The email sent to Commission listed the following site visits:

-  Tuesday 9^th February – Blue Hut (run by SkyWay)

-  Wednesday 10^th February – Hoxton Hall

-  Wednesday 17^th February – Laburnum Boat Club

-  Thursday 18^th February – Hackney Police Cadets

Ms Ennis told the Commission that the site visits this week were scheduled for the evenings as the youth provisions were open after school for young people to attend, but one of the site visits arranged for the following week is scheduled for the afternoon as it will be half term then. 

Ms Ennis told Commission members that the site visits would include opportunities to tour the facilities, speak to staff and young people, observe activities and course, and there would even be an opportunity to join in with some of the water activities, such as canoeing, at Laburnum Boat Club.

Ms Ennis made clear that there will be a maximum of four places for each site visit, and these will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.  It was decided to put a limit on the number of Commission members on any one visit so as not to disrupt the activities and organisations too much during the site visits. 

Ms Ennis asked Commission members to contact her directly via phone or email, or asked members to speak to her at the end of the meeting to express an interest in attending any of the site visits. 

Saleh Ahmed said he would like to attend the visit to the Blue Hut the following day. 

The Chair asked if there were any questions members thought should be asked at the site visits.  She asked members to send any questions they had through to the Scrutiny Officer, Deborah Ennis, after the meeting.

Cllr Krishna asked how the Commission was going to find out more about youth participation in Hackney.

The Scrutiny Officer, Ms Ennis, replied that she was in discussion with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Discussion amongst Commission members about possible ideas for the Commission’s work programme in 2010/11.

The Chair told Commission members that she had written to the Corporate Director for Children’s Services, Alan Wood, and the Lead Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Cllr Krishna, asking for their suggestions for the Commission’s work programme for 2010/11 and these were included in the agenda.

The Chair asked Commission members for their suggestions for the Commission’s 2010/11 work programme. 

Cllr Siddique pointed out that the council elections were being held on 6^th May this year so the new Commission members following the election might have different priorities. 

Cllr Taylor suggested that the list provided by Alan Wood mainly concentrates on areas Hackney is doing well at.  He thought it could be useful to look at sport in and out of school as young people learn a lot about life through sport, and it would be good to look at are we doing enough in terms of time and quality of sports provision.

Cllr Taylor also suggested it was important to look at Key Stage 2 results in the borough and the suggestions given did not include this. 

Cllr Taylor also commented that Children’s Social Services  could be looked at.

Lisa Neidichagreed that it would be timely to look at Key Stage 2 results, and also perhaps the transition young people make to Key Stage 3. 

Ms Neidich also suggested it would be more appropriate to ask for updates on the reviews into Special Educational Needs (SEN) provision (2006) and children in care, rather than carrying out whole new reviews in 2010/11.

Ms Elaine Peers from the Learning Trust, replied to Cllr Taylor’s suggestion that the Learning Trust had suggested ‘easy’ areas for review.  She said these are areas of challenge and they are mindful of previous programmes of work.  Although Hackney is doing well in reducing levels of teenage pregnancy in recent years, it is still one of the highest levels in the country and the decreases are beginning to level off, and this has recently be highlighted by the Children’s Trust and a national review as well.  Ms Peers said the Learning Trust and partners would value the contribution of the CYP Scrutiny Commission in looking at the issue in greater depth. 

Regarding the suggestion around vulnerable groups who are not in employment, education or training (NEET), Ms Peers explained that this referred to groups such as young mothers. 

Referring to the suggestion around hours of sports provision, Ms Peers told the Commission that this requirement had recently been brought in by the government, and it would be useful for the Commission to look at how co-ordinated services are to be able to deliver on this commitment. 

Ms Peers emphasised that the Learning Trust was not picking ‘easy’ topics, some of these were sticky problems that the Learning Trust needed assistance to tackle.

Cllr Krishna agreed with Ms Peers, and told the Commission that they were asking for help from Scrutiny to solve these difficult problems.  She suggested that as the sports requirement is a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

There was no other business.