Members to give notice of any interest and the nature of that interest relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the adopted Code of Conduct.

Councillor Hirst declared that she was a Foster Carer.

A maximum of 15 minutes will be allocated to public questions submitted in writing to Democratic Services (democratic.services@trafford.gov.uk) by 4 p.m. on the working day prior to the meeting. Questions must be relevant to items appearing on the agenda and will be submitted in the order in which they were received.

No questions were received.

To receive and, if so determined, to approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 25 July 2023.

Councillor Procter noted that their name had been misspelt on occasion in the previous set of minutes.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on the 26^th September 2023 be approved as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

To receive a report from the Director for Early Help and Children’s Social Care.

The Interim Head of Service - Care Experienced Service brought the presentation to the Board on behalf of the Head of Service, Cared for and Care Experienced children and young people. The Interim Head of Service - Care Experienced Service started by highlighting the legal framework around care experienced young people and ran through some of the duties and responsibilities which came with the legal framework.

The Committee were then informed of the four main care leaver categories, which were eligible, qualifying, relevant, and former relevant, and provided the definition to each of these categories. The national and regional picture was then shared, which included the “Ready or not” OFSTED research, which was published in January 2022, and highlighted the need to improve the support for care leavers. The Interim Head of Service - Care Experienced Service shared the key themes which the report identified, which included a sense of isolation and fear for care leavers and not having sufficient involvement in their pathway planning. Some of the voices of care leavers in Trafford were then shared with the committee, which called for more options around housing and accommodation, clarity about what they were entitled to, and that they felt that ‘care leaves us rather than we leave care’.

The Interim Head of Service - Care Experienced Service made the committee aware of the commitment and intention for cared for children and care leavers from the Council, which had been set out in the Corporate Parenting Strategy, and had five strategic priorities. These were Participation and Engagement, Health, Education, Providing and Stable Home, and Preparing for Adulthood. The Committee were then told of some of the commitments already made by the Council on the preparing for adulthood priority, which included developing clearer pathway plans for all young people and updating the care leaver offer.

The Interim Head of Service - Care Experienced Service offered the Committee some of the statistics around the upcoming rise of care experienced young people, due to previously high cohorts of cared for children. The Committee were told that the Council was planning to adopt an opt out model rather than opt in, which had a more proactive reach out offer.

The Interim Head of Service - Care Experienced Service reassured the committee that the Council was monitoring how they measure the services performance and data was shared around how the council planned to measure it. This included monitoring data on how the service keeps in touch with young people after they leave the service and analysing suitability of accommodation for young people. Data surrounding the accommodation of current care experienced young people was provided, with the vast majority classified as residing in suitable accommodation.

The accommodation and support options available to young people leaving care was provided to the Committee. There was a range of options available such as ‘Staying Put’ (where the young person can choose to stay with their foster carer) and supported lodgings (where they have their own room in a private  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

To receive a report from the Director for Education Standards, Quality, and Performance.

The Director for Education Standard, Quality, and Performance informed the Committee that they felt the report showed that the Council recognised the importance of transition for young people in Trafford, however, admitted that the service was aware that there was work to be done.

Firstly, the Director for Education Standard, Quality, and Performance highlighted the importance of ‘starting early’, which should seek to understand the interests, strengths, and motivation of children with special educational need (SEN) and how this was key to securing lifelong success. The Committee was made aware of the Councils commitment to a programme of professional development, with a significant number of practitioners working in private, voluntary and independent (PVI) providers, having already achieved the level 3 Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCo) award. The Committee was assured of the desire for a strong pathway around transition for the youngest into school, and some data was provided in the report on the improved early years outcomes which have been seen in Trafford over the past year. 

The Director for Education Standard, Quality, and Performance proceeded with the transition between year six and seven, and how, in Trafford, this was an interesting and complex picture. The Director for Education Standard, Quality, and Performance informed the Committee that they had met recently with both the Trafford Parent Carer Forum and the new Headteacher at Sale High, with transition and inclusivity for those children with SEN being important in the secondary sector, as this was often a time which saw an increase in Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans, due to worry and anxiety about what lies ahead for children with these needs. The Committee was also made aware of a drive for an inclusion collaborative between headteachers and SENCo’s across Trafford to meet the needs of these young people.

The Director for Education Standard, Quality, and Performance referred to preparing for adulthood (PfA), and how the service sought external validation from Paula Thompson-Jones, a SEND inspector, who was commissioned to show Trafford where they needed to improve. They referred the Committee to the findings of her report, which provided a tough reading. However, the Director for Education Standard, Quality, and Performance assured the Committee of how the Council had been committed to embracing and working on getting the improvements in place.

The Director for Education Standard, Quality, and Performance spoke about the Lived Experience panels (LEAP), which was launched by the Trafford Parent Carer Forum, and had provided an opportunity to hear the lived experience of those families. The Director for Education Standard, Quality, and Performance spoke on some of the data received from these lived experience interviews, with mental health coming through as a real concern for families during transition and transitioning into adulthood.

The Director for Education Standard, Quality, and Performance shared ambition four within her report, which was “We will ensure that our young people with SEND have the same opportunities as all young people, so that they could have the same life outcomes”. They  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

To consider a report from the Task and Finish Group.

The Chair provided an update to the Committee on the CAMHS task and finish work from the previous meeting. There had been some minor changes to the document and asked the Committee if they would be happy to allow this report to be amended as a delegated decision. The Committee approved the report to be authorised.

RESOLVED: That the Committee approved the amendments to the task and finish work.

To consider the latest version of the work programme for the 2023/24 municipal year.

The Chair ran through the work programme for the next meeting, and asked if the Committee was happy with the programme as it was. There was no response from the Committee and was taken as approved.

RESOLVED: That the Committee approve the work programme for the next meeting.

Any other item or items which by reason of:-

(a)       Regulation 11 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, the Chairman of the meeting, with the agreement of the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee Chairman, is of the opinion should be considered at this meeting as a matter of urgency as it relates to a key decision; or

(b)       special circumstances (to be specified) the Chairman of the meeting is of the opinion should be considered at this meeting as a matter of urgency.

The RAAC Report listed below was accepted as an item of urgent business prior to the meeting as it was a topical item which the Chair felt was of importance to the meeting and could not be left until the next meeting due to the urgency.

To consider a report from the Director of Education Standards, Quality, and Performance, as a matter of Urgent Business for reasons of special circumstance to be presented by the Chair.

The Director of Education Standards, Quality, and Performance set out some of the things that have been considered since 2018, with the Department for Education (DfE) considering the issue over that time. The Trafford school’s capital team have had a firm grip on the issue for some time. The Council was responsible for thirty-nine schools, and none needed any temporary changes to the school or disruption to education. Two schools were identified by the DfE, Altrincham College and Sale Grammar, however, this had been identified a few months before and mitigation had be in place.

The Director of Education Standards, Quality, and Performance affirmed that good learning was being taken from this, and contingency planning had begun to be put into place.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.