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.

No declarations were made.

To receive and, if so determined, to approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 24 January 2023.

The Governance Officer informed the Committee that the minutes from the last meeting were not ready in time due to the close proximity of the meetings, but they would be submitted to the Committee’s next scheduled meeting.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held 24^th January 2023 be deferred to the Committee’s next scheduled meeting.

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 from the public.

To consider a report from the Head of the Music Service.

The Head of the Music Service went through the presentation that was distributed with the agenda and informed the Committee of the number of staff within the service and gave a brief overview of the programmes that the service delivered including providing support to 835 children in primary schools 521 of whom had instrumental lessons at the music centre. All children performed concerts at the end of each term so that they had experience of playing in a professional venue. The number who attended ensembles had reduced greatly through the pandemic and the Service were focused upon increasing those levels. While the service was based in the centre it was accessed by children and young people from all over the borough. The Committee were informed of other programmes the service ran which included a year six transition programme so that all new children in secondary school play music together.

The Chair noted that the work was mainly based upon young children and asked whether they found that those who engaged at a young age continue. The Head of the Music Service informed the committee that the infancy work was due to a programme and many schools started in key stage 2. The Service did find that those who started young did continue into later years.

Councillor Hornby welcome the service within Trafford and asked whether there was any provision in the most deprived areas. In response the Head of the Music Service spoke about the work being was done in collaboration with schools to help young people to access music who would not otherwise be able to, which included a bursary system for children who wanted to come to the centre to learn.

Councillor Bennet noted that there had been some issues around the use of the Claremont centre and asked whether they had been resolved. The Head of the Music Service responded to Councillor Bennet by informing the Committee that the service was not planning to move to Stretford and that they would stay at the Claremont Centre in the short term while alternative options were reviewed.

[Note: At this point in the meeting Councillors Welton and Zhi declared an interest as their children used the service.]

Councillor Welton noted that the Council had been looking at moving from the Claremont due to the service being oversubscribed and asked whether any consideration had been given to setting up a satellite centres at other locations. The Head of the Music Service responded that a number of options were being considered including ways to increase provision at the centre and satellite centres. 

Councillor Zhi asked how many young people from a minority background used the service. The Head of the Music Service gave a brief answer at the meeting and offered to provide a full breakdown after the meeting.

The Head of the Music Service informed the Committee that Concerts were to be held at Stellar Hall on the 25^th of March and invitations would be sent out to all  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

To receive a report from the Corporate Director of Children’s Services.

The Corporate Director of Children’s Services introduced the item and the Officers who would deliver the item.

The Director of Director Education Standards, Quality, and Performance spoke about the early years part of the report which had been prepared by the Head of Early Years and Family Help who was unable to attend the meeting and any questions would be responded to afterwards.

The Consultant in Public Health informed the Committee that the impact on children was particularly felt with 60% of homes across GM having reported some instances of food insecurity. Energy bills had reduced due to people needing to use the heating less, but other costs were continuing to rise. The problems people faced were exacerbated by the lack of residents claiming the benefits they are entitled to. Even when people did claim benefits, they were often insufficient to meet the need they were intended to address for example the cost of formula was more than the benefits people were given to buy it. Within early years 68% of providers were struggling to pay for heating. The living room project provided 58 warm spaces across the borough. Figures had not been collected as to how many people were attending the warm spaces, but anecdotal information was that they were being used, particularly when activities were held at the spaces. The warm spaces located in buildings used by older people were seeing them bring their children and grandchildren along with them. With regards to the Council’s work force support was being provided to staff who were on the lower pay bands through salary uplifts.

The Director of Education Standards, Quality, and Performance then spoke to the Committee about the early years provision and the impact the Cost-of-Living crisis was having upon the sector. There had been a noticeable impact on the work force with the sector seeing a steady reduction as the crisis went on. The Council had seen a marked improvement in the awarding of Primary School places with the latest sufficiency statement showing 95% of children had been placed at their first choice and a 100% had been placed at one of their top 3 choices although there were still difficulties for placements among higher age groups. The take up of the Councils early education offer was very high as was the two-year-old nursery hours take up. Trafford was a net importer of children, but they were still able to meet the demand within the borough. Spoke about increase of take up to 80% from 68%.

The Director of Education Standards, Quality, and Performance spoke about support packages being offered which were detailed within the report. The Committee were informed of action being taken at a national and regional level with uplifts being provided at both levels, but it was still not enough to meet all of the increases schools faced. This was especially true within special schools due to the additional associated costs they faced. The Committee were informed of the additional funding which had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

To receive a report from the Corporate Director of Children’s Services.

The Corporate Director for Children’s Services gave a brief introduction stating that the slides looked at the highlights but also identified the areas where work was still needed.

The Director of Early Help and Children's Social Care introduced the presentation and informed the Committee that the inspection had been a full three-week inspection which was of greater depth than previous inspections. The Council had welcomed the inspection as it was a way to ensure self-assessments had been accurate and the outcomes aligned with those of the self-assessment. The Director of Early Help and Children's Social Care spoke of the previous finding of inadequate, the issues that the Council had had, and how the Council had improved since 2019 in areas including leadership, first response service, and partnership work. The Committee were informed of the areas where the Council still required improvement and the measures the service was taking to address them. The Director of Early Help and Children's Social Care stated that the Council wanted to keep improving and did not want to be rated “requires improvement” but to be rated a “good” or “outstanding” across all services. The Committee were informed of a peer review the Council were conducting with Bolton Council in March to help to develop the service further.

Trafford had been very honest with the inspectors when the complex and additional needs service was inspected about the work that needed to be done for the service to be where they wanted to be. The service had just appointed a new manager at the time of the inspection and the Director of Early Help and Children's Social Care spoke to the Committee about issues the service faced, which were national problems, caused by a lack of qualified professional able to support children and young people in care with additional needs.

The Director of Early Help and Children's Social Care informed the Committee that the service was reviewing the Council’s Corporate Parenting strategy and the way Board meetings were delivered. A key element of the revised approach was having the young people attend all of the meetings. Worked had also been done to review the care leaver offer and the results would be going to the next meeting of the Corporate Parenting Board for approval.

The service was looking to strengthen the Council’s approach to life story work. The Director of Early Help and Children's Social Care spoke to Committee Members about the importance of front-line managers in improving the service and the work to strengthen the management accountability within the service. very honest with the inspectors highlighted that the inspection had noted that practice was inconsistent across the service but assured the Committee that the service was looking to improve in a number of ways including through the introduction of a mentoring programme.

The Director of Early Help and Children's Social Care had picked out some of the quotes from the inspection report to share with the Committee which included that Trafford had some of the best  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.