Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Beevor and Charles Hoseason.

To consider and approve the minutes of the meeting held on 11 March 2009 separate enclosure.

The minutes of the meeting held on 11March 2009 be received and approved and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

In accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct, Members are requested to declare any interests orally at the start of the meeting and again immediately before consideration of the matter. Members are reminded to specify the agenda item number to which it refers and whether the interest is of a personal or prejudicial nature.

Members are also reminded of the requirements of Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 that they should declare and not vote on specified matters if they are two months or more in arrears with their Council Tax payments.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no representations from members of the public.  Councillor Carr made representations on Agenda item 7 – Cultural Partnership Plan 2009-13.

There were no executive decisions called-in.

This reports sets out the process of developing the new Children and Young People’s Plan (CYPP), including what is required by government. It also sets out the proposed priorities of the plan which the Children and Young People’s Trust Board (CYPTB) have agreed.

Report of the Director of Children’s Services and Culture attached.

The Committee received a presentation which gave details on:

·        What the Children and Young People’s Plan is.

·        What the Plan should contain.

·        What work and consultation had taken place in preparing the Plan.

·        The title of the new Plan.

·        The themes contained in the plan.

·        The commitments that the Council was making.

·        The 50 benefits to children and young people arising out of the Plan.

·        The 180 performance measures contained within the Plan.

·        What the current and potential priority areas were.

·        What work still needed to be completed.

Following questions from the Committee, the meeting was advised:

·        That there would be a booklet produced, which gave details of what, of the 180 targets, the Council was meeting.

·        What authorities would be accountable to the Plan.

·        That the Children’s Board oversaw the progress made on the Plan.

·        That officers would look into ways of making the plan more positive, to draw attention to some of the Borough’s success stories.

·        Of the consultation that had taken place and what consultation would take place.

·        That some of the terms used in the report were being revised in the interest of clarity.

·        What took place during the overlap period between moving children and their families from children’s services to adult services.

RESOLVED that the Committee:

1. Note the processes for creating the Children and Young People’s Plan.
2. Agree with the proposed priorities for the Children and Young People’s Plan.

This report sets out the framework for the development of the Cultural Partnership Plan.  It identifies how the Council will work with partners to improve the provision of sport and cultural services in the borough and thereby deliver better outcomes for residents and visitors. It lists the themes and priorities for sport and culture which have been identified with key partners and a wider group of stakeholders in the cultural sector.

Report of the Head of Culture attached.

The Committee heard representations from Councillor Carr, in which the following points were raised:

·        Self Directed Support was about enabling access to mainstream services and ensuring as many barriers as possible were removed.

·        There was no mention of adult services within the main body of the report.

·        The 2012 Olympics should also be mentioned.

·        There should be a lot more linking between adult and children’s services.

·        How were people with disabilities represented at Board level?

·        Wants the plan to look at things at a more corporate level.

o             In response to Councillor Carr’s comments, the Director said that the purpose of the new plan was to take account of SDS.  He agreed that the report would mention self directed support. The Director invited comments from members of the Committee on any aspect of the report that they felt were not clear enough and that the service should be as good for both children and adults.  The plan also looked beyond the Olympics in 2012.

Following questions from the Committee, the meeting was advised:

·        That the Council had little persuasion over key partners, although it was in their interests to work with the Council in developing this plan.

·        How the success of the Olympics would be measured and what effect it had had on the Borough.

·        That currently, offering free swimming to under 16 year olds was not affordable.

·        That a concessions policy was being developed along with the services that would be available.

·        How the Council could look to balance accessibility to services, particularly during the recession.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

This report gives an update on Continuing Professional Development (CPD) across the whole Schools’ Workforce this academic year [2008 – 2009]. It includes the main outcomes of the Schools’ CPD review, an overview of the current CPD work taking place and priorities for the next academic year. This report also updates the Committee on the developments in SWLSEP (South West London School Effectiveness Partnership).

Report of the Secondary Inspector and Head of Learning Development attached.

Following a presentation from the Secondary Inspector and Head of Learning and questions from the Committee, the meeting was advised:

·        Of the benefits of continuing professional development for employees.

·        That there could be training for Governors within the quindrats.

·        That the target for all teachers having a minimum of a Master’s Degree was a central government scheme, which some officers felt could give added pressure to teaching staff.

·        Of the ways in which school governors were encouraged to attend training.

·        That opportunities for school governors were being used as a tool with which to attract people to become governors.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

The draft work programme has been drawn up, in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair, from items in the forward

plan and from action arising from previous meetings of the Committee.

The Committee is requested to consider the items within the proposed work programme, set out at Appendix 1 to this report, and suggest any amendments or additional topics to be included in the future.

Information items are included in a Briefing information/General Information Pack, which has been sent to Members of the Committee separately to this agenda. A list of reports included in the Pack is attached as Appendix 2 to this report. The pack can be accessed via the following link:

http://www.richmond.gov.uk/ reports_for_information.htm

Items included in the pack will not be discussed at the meeting. If members of the public wish to discuss any issue arising from the reports included in the pack please contact the Committee Manager, whose details are given on the front sheet of the agenda. Members of the Council may wish to raise their concerns directly with the Chair of the Committee, the Cabinet Member or appropriate officer.

Report of the Senior Democratic Services Officer attached.

There were no changes to the work programme.