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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Room 3.1, 3rd Floor, 5 Strand, London, WC2 5HR. View directions

Contact: Sarah Craddock  Email: scraddock@westminster.gov.uk; 020 7641 2770

Items
No. Item

1.

Membership

The Director of Law to report that there are no changes.

Minutes:

 

1.1         There were no changes to the Membership.

 

1.2         The Chairman welcomed Councillor Richard Holloway (Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Young People) to the meeting.

 

1.3         The Chairman advised that Councillor David Harvey (Cabinet Member for Environment, Sports and Community) would not be attending the meeting.  Any questions that Members had regarding his portfolio would be placed on the Committee’s Action Tracker.

 

1.4         The Chairman welcomed Jenny Pearce, Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) Independent Chair, who will be introducing the LSCB Annual Report 16-17 and Hend Rahman, Chair of the Westminster Parental Participation Group, who would be taking part in the Perfect Pathways to the meeting.

 

1.5         The Chairman reported that the Diocese Boards had been advised that they needed to appoint new representatives to the Committee and that the closing date for nominations for the new Parent Representatives is Friday 23 February.

 

2.

Declarations of Interest

To receive declarations of interest by Members and Officers of any personal or prejudicial interests.

Minutes:

2.1       No further declarations of interests in respect of items to be discussed were made, other than those noted in the circulated schedule as set out below in paragraph 2.2.

 

2.2       Table of Member’s interests tabled at the Committee Meeting was as follows:

           

 

Councillor/Member of the Children, Environment and Leisure P&S Committee

 

Organisation

Nature of Interest

Iain Bott

 

One Westminster

 

Non-Voting Member of the Board

 

Aicha Less

 

Portman Children’s Centre

 

Local Authority Governor Appointment Panel

 

 

Governor

 

Member

Robert Rigby

Our Lady’s Secondary School, Hackney

 

Local Authority Governor Appointment Panel

 

London Marathon Charitable Trust

 

Governor

 

 

Member

 

 

Trustee

 

Ann Townshend

St Barnabas’ CE Primary School

 

Headteacher

 

 

3.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 112 KB

To agree the minutes of the meetings held on 20 November 2017.

Minutes:

3.1       RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 20 November 2017 be approved for signature by the Chairman as a true and correct record of the proceedings.

 

4.

Trackers and Work Programme pdf icon PDF 148 KB

a)    To note the progress in implementing the Committee’s Recommendation and Action Trackers.

 

b)    To provide comment and input into the Work Programme for 2017/18.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

4.1       ACTION AND RECOMMENDATION TRACKERS

 

4.1.1   RESOLVED: That the Action and Recommendation Trackers be noted.

 

 4.2      COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME

 

4.2.1   RESOLVED: That the Work Programme be noted.

 

5.

Cabinet Member for Environment, Sports and Community pdf icon PDF 217 KB

Councillor David Harvey (Cabinet Member for Environment, Sports and Community) to update the Committee on current and forthcoming issues in his Portfolio.

Minutes:

 

5.1       The Committee received a written update from the Cabinet Member which covered current and forthcoming issues in his Portfolio.

 

6.

Cabinet Member for Children, Families, Young People pdf icon PDF 241 KB

Councillor Richard Holloway (Cabinet Member for Children, Families, Young People) to update the Committee on current and forthcoming issues in his Portfolio.

Minutes:

 

6.1       The Committee received a written update from the Cabinet Member who responded to questions on the following topics: 

 

·          the reduction in funding from MOPAC for the Integrated Gangs Unit and the opportunities for securing funding from elsewhere in the future.

·         the changing nature of gangs, the increasingly challenging phenomenon of cross country lines crime and new approaches on how to tackle it.

·         the success of Westminster’s Key Stage 2 results with Westminster being 19th best in the country and 8th highest in inner London.

·         the difficulties that small primary schools were planning for with the introduction of the new National Funding Formula.

·         the different ways schools were tackling youth knife crime.

·         the additional funding of £185,000 received from MHCLG to recognise the Council’s work with Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children.

 

6.2       ACTION:

 

  1. That an update on securing funding to continue the work of the Integrated Gangs Unit be reported back to the Committee at a later date.

 

  1. That officers contact BoxUp Crime http://boxupcrime.org/ to see how they are tackling serious youth violence/youth knife crime.

 

7.

LSCB Annual Report 16-17 pdf icon PDF 165 KB

To review the implications of the Woods Review on LSCB and to examine the work of the Safeguarding Board in the last year and their plans for the forthcoming year.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

7.1       The Committee received the Local Safeguarding Children Board’s (LSCB) Annual Report 2016-17 which reviewed and evaluated the achievements and progress of the LSCB which covered the Tri-Borough area.

 

7.2       The Committee welcomed Jenny Pearce, the Independent Chair of the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB), who discussed the four priorities with associated outcomes and actions for the Safeguarding Plan for 2017-2019.  The Committee discussed engaging young people on safeguarding issues, bullying in schools, peer on peer abuse and the effect of social media on young people.  The Committee noted the role that technology could play in supporting and empowering adults into tackling and understanding the issued faced by young people.

 

7.3       The Committee noted the LSCBs were multi-agency partnerships charged with overseeing local arrangements for safeguarding children and the work that had been achieved by the Board on identifying key priorities to be taken forward for the coming year.  The Committee further noted the work being carried out on the safeguarding of children taking into account local concerns such as serious youth violence, missing children and purposeful intervention to children in need cases and national concerns such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and radicalisation of young people.

 

7.4       The Committee welcomed and acknowledged the achievements and progress that had been made by the LSCB and the effectiveness of local arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within the Tri-Borough area. 

 

7.5       RESOLVED: The Committee made the following comments which would be forwarded to the Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Young People for consideration:

 

1.    The Committee welcomed the work of the LSCB and the continuation of the multi-agency approach.

 

2.    The Committee welcomed the focus of the LSCB on engaging young people and their views on the safeguarding issues that they face.

 

3.    The Committee welcomed the focus on issues such as peer on peer abuse and the role technology could play in supporting and empowering parents into tackling and understanding the issued that their children could face.

 

4.    The Committee welcomed the progress made on tackling female genital mutilation (FGM) and the momentum which had been built up during the pilot projects.

 

5.    The Committee looked forward to receiving the new strategy following the end of the initial three-year strategy.

 

8.

Perfect Pathways pdf icon PDF 192 KB

To review and comment on the proposed redesign of the service.

Minutes:

8.1       8.1       The Committee received a report outlining the Perfect Pathways Project which included the project methodology, the review findings and service solutions being proposed to improve the experience of children and families with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) through earlier intervention, improved sign-posting and navigation.  The Committee noted that extensive parental engagement with families accessing these services and practitioners had taken place.   

 

8.2       The Committee welcomed Hend Rahman, Chair of the Westminster Parental Participation Group, who discussed how the project had improved the system by providing targeted support for children with Special Educational Needs at a lower cost whilst improving the service experience and outcomes for families.  The Committee noted the ability of families to access services without a detailed social worker’s assessment, the importance of Short breaks to families and the improvements to the Short Breaks offer in South Westminster.

 

8.3       The Committee discussed how the Council should never be afraid to take a fresh look at service provision however successful a service was and that extensive engagement with the users of a service was key in developing efficient and effective services that provide the best value and experience for its users.  The Committee then discussed the need to improve the information available on the Council’s website along with its accessibility, sign posting and the navigation of the site.

 

8.4       RESOLVED: The Committee made the following comments which would be forwarded to the Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Young People for consideration:

 

1.    The Committee welcomed the work that had been achieved and the example of how a fresh look at service provision could lead to an improved service and a reduction in costs.

 

2.    The Committee highlighted the need to communicate with parents the new Local Offer.

 

3.    The Committee welcomed the engagement of parents to train other parents on the design and delivery of the service and Local Offer. 

 

4.    The Committee welcomed the survey for parents to assess need and shape the service in the future

 

5.    The Committee urged the Council to look at opportunities for securing funding from elsewhere to enhance the service in the future.

The Committee received a report outlining the Perfect Pathways Project which included the project methodology, the review findings and service solutions being proposed to improve the experience of children and families with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) through earlier intervention, improved sign-posting and navigation.  The Committee noted that extensive parental engagement with families accessing these services and practitioners had taken place.   

 

8.2       The Committee welcomed Hend Rahman, Chair of the Westminster Parental Participation Group, who discussed how the project had improved the system by providing targeted support for children with Special Educational Needs at a lower cost whilst improving the service experience and outcomes for families.  The Committee noted the ability of families to access services without a detailed social worker’s assessment, the importance of Short breaks to families and the improvements to the Short Breaks offer in South Westminster.

 

8.3       The Committee discussed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

Greener City Action Plan-Year 2 update pdf icon PDF 4 MB

To examine the first year of the Action Plan and further plans.

Minutes:

9.1       The Committee received a report on progress against the Greener City Action (GCAP’s) targets after two years.  The Committee noted that the GCAP was developed with extensive input from internal and external stakeholders and that most activities were on track.

 

9.2       The Committee discussed the nine priorities and reflected on the key issues, achievements to date and how residents could engage and contribute to creating a greener city.  The Committee considered ways of improving air quality, the possibility of using hydrogen refuelling vehicles to collect refuse, improving the efficiencies of buildings and vehicles and the difficulties of improving the quality of recycling in Westminster due to its building stock.  The Committee noted that Westminster had the highest take up of e-vehicles in London.

 

9.3       ACTION: That a visit to Southwark Reuse and Recycling Centre be arranged for Committee Members.

 

9.4       RESOLVED: The Committee made the following comments which would be forwarded to the Cabinet Member for Environment, Sports and Community for consideration:

 

1.    The Committee welcomed the update on progress against the Greener City Action targets.

 

2.    The Committee welcomed progress made to clean the Council’s fleet and the research to convert to zero emission refuse trucks.

 

3.    The Committee welcomed the recent take up of e-vehicles.

 

4.    The Committee highlighted the challenge of improving the environmental performance of the Council’s building stock.

 

5.    The Committee highlighted the need for further action on improving recycling in Westminster but recognised that improvements had been made in the past few months.

 

10.

Reports of any urgent safeguarding issues

Verbal Update (if any)

Minutes:

10.1     The Chairman advised that there was nothing to report.

11.

Any Other Business the Chairman considers urgent