Agenda item

The Committee considered a report by the Scrutiny Office which provided an update on the four currently convened Task and Finish Groups and Overview & Scrutiny Panels.

Education Strategy

The Chairman of the Education Strategy Overview & Scrutiny Panel, Councillor John Marshall, informed the Committee that the Panel had held two meetings so far, with another meeting scheduled for the following week.  The Overview and Scrutiny Manager advised the Committee that the Council were currently developing an Education Strategy for Barnet which would provide a strategic response to the new educational landscape and the future role of elected Member Governors and Parent Governors.  The Panel were considering how the Council could engage with schools and maintain a high performance across the board.  The Overview and Scrutiny Manager advised the Committee that it was expected that the Education Strategy for Barnet would be reported to Cabinet in April or June and the work of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel would feed into that overall strategic approach. 

Children’s Centres

The Chairman advised the Committee that it had been agreed that a Task and Finish Group review on Children’s Centres should commence.  The committee were informed that Officers were recommending that the start of the group be deferred as the Children’s Service had commissioned an external evaluation study which had not yet been completed.  Members were requested to agree that the commencement of this Task and Finish Group be deferred until mid-April to enable the Group to utilise the information obtained from this external review.

The Deputy Director for the Children’s Service, Jay Mercer, advised the Committee that the Children’s Service considered this to be a good opportunity for Members to look at the base facts surrounding Barnet’s Children’s Centres, and to have an input in shaping the way forward for Children’s Centres. 

The Chairman questioned Officers whether the study would be looking at the catchment areas of Children’s Centres.  Mr. Mercer advised that the study did not specifically look at these, but that this was an area that could arise in future discussion.  At the request of the Chairman, Mr. Mercer advised that the scrutiny review could consider the issue of catchment area for Children’s Centres in Barnet.

A Member questioned if the external study would focus solely on Children’s Centres, and questioned whether it would consider wider aspects of early years provision. Officers advised the Committee that this piece of work would just focus on Children’s Centres. 

A Member questioned whether a Children’s Centre attached to a primary school which had been placed under special measures as a result of an OfSTED inspection and was forced to become an academy whether the Children’s Centre would still be run by the Council.  Officers advised the Committee that the current Service Level Agreement (SLA) that has just been circulated for agreement for 2013/14 made it clear that if a school went into special measures, then the SLA would be terminated and the Council would take the Children’s Centre back into direct management.

Secondary School Places:

The Chairman noted a recommendation that had been made by the Committee one year earlier regarding the Secondary School Places Overview & Scrutiny Panel which was:

“The Supply of Secondary School Places Overview and Scrutiny Panel be recommended to reconvene one year after reporting to Cabinet to review progress made in implementing recommendations”

The Chairman advised that the Committee were due to receive a recommendation tracking report on the Secondary School Places Overview & Scrutiny Panel at the meeting scheduled for 2 May 2013.  Upon discussion, the Committee decided that after the update has been reported to the Committee in May, that Members could then decide whether to reconvene the Panel for a single meeting.

A Member questioned if a One Barnet Overview & Scrutiny Panel was going to be convened.  The Leader of the Council informed the committee that there was a proposal to establish a Contract Monitoring Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee.  The Overview and Scrutiny Manager advised that Terms of Reference were currently being drafted for this Sub-Committee for consideration by the Constitution, Ethics and Probity Committee.

RESOLVED that:-

1.            The Committee note the updates as set out in the report and above.

2.            The Committee agree to defer the start of the Children’s Centres Task and Finish Group until mid- April 2013.

3.            The Committee note the forthcoming update on the Secondary School Places Overview & Scrutiny Panel (2 May 2013) and be requested to consider, upon receipt of this report, whether the Panel should be reconvened.