Agenda item

Councillor Tim Barnes, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, to provide a verbal update to the Committee on current and forthcoming issues in his portfolio and to answer questions from Members.

5.1     Councillor Tim Barnes provided a briefing on key issues within his portfolio and the Committee held detailed discussions on the following topics:

·         Covid-19 Response – Council services had been quickly transferred to digital platforms, with most staff working from home and staffing levels of over 90% having been maintained. Councillor Tim Barnes expressed his thanks to all staff involved including Sarah Newman, Executive Director of Children’s Services and her team, for all their hard work undertaken in extraordinary circumstances. During the main lockdown period most schools remained open throughout for vulnerable children, children with special educational needs and those children whose parents were key workers. Regular contact was maintained with all schools, teachers and unions throughout to address any issues and ensure they had adequate PPE.

·         SEND – Two months ago OFSTED had undertaken an inspection of the SEND provision within Westminster and whilst no particular rating was provided for these inspections the letter from OFSTED was very positive. Councillor Barnes expressed his thanks to all those involved in this significant achievement.

·       School Extended Openings – Schools were still not permitted to fully reopen; approximately 1,500 pupils were currently attending school which was about 20-25% of those eligible to attend. This was below the national average but in line with other London borough due to concerns relating to such things as travelling on public transport. It remained the Government’s aspiration to ensure all children returned to school by September 2020. This would create some challenges, particularly around enforcing social distancing for the full capacity of pupils at Secondary Schools. Discussions with the schools continued about how to achieve this. Support was already being provided in terms of health and safety assessments, and implementing measures to be ‘Covid Secure’ – for example staggering start times and supporting teachers who had to use public transport to get to work. Work continued on how to support schools both through physical measures and implementing potential timetable changes.

·       Education at Home – Extensive support had been provided to schools to deliver classes virtually. Concern had been raised about the impact the lack of school attendance would have on disadvantaged families. In response the Council supplied 135 laptops to those families who did not own one and this scheme was being further extended in conjunction with the DfE to provide a further 606 devices to support pupils learning from home.

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There was a variation in the level of support schools were providing to children in terms of style and approach. All schools were contacted regularly to help and support them teaching children at home and the provision provided had been monitored and feedback given, including sharing best practice. In relation to children spending more time in their homes it was expected that there would be an increase in rates of domestic abuse but currently no increase had been observed. A public awareness campaign has been delivered so that families know what support was available and how to access it. 

·       Free School Meals – Presently there was no plan to extend free school meals into the summer as this offer pre-Covid-19 had only been offered during school term times. However, if significant levels of schooling were to take place during the summer the initiative would be continued into this period. A note would be provided to the Committee following the meeting providing an update on the issue of children going hungry over the summer holiday period.

·       Social Care – The Council had continued to provide support to vulnerable children and families, including direct visits where necessary. Referrals to social care were expected to rise as more children returned to school

·         Youth Hubs – All five Youth Hubs remained open providing vital services with many services now also being offered online. City Lions had provided activities over the Easter period and this would be extended into the summer allowing young people to engage in cultural activities in Westminster. Youth Clubs had experienced a drop in funding due to the pandemic and talks would be undertaken with any clubs experiencing issues to ensure there was no long term drop in funding.

5.2      The Chair expressed the Committee’s thanks to the Cabinet Member and all those involved in the response to the Covid-19 pandemic for their efforts and hard work in extremely challenging circumstances.