Council decisions

This report awards a framework agreement for the provision of specialist 1:1 mentoring support services for a period of an initial one year term with the option to extend for a further two separate years, commencing from 1^st April 2017 to the value of up to £140,000 per annum, with a total extension value of up to £420,000.

The report describes the detailed assumptions underpinning the proposals for allocating budgets to schools and early years providers in 2017/18.  These assumptions are reflected in the completed Authority Proforma Tool (the APT) which was submitted to the Department for Education by the deadline of 20th January 2017. The report seeks approval for the revised submission dated 13 February 2017.

This is a list of decisions taken under delegated powers in the month of January  2017.

On the 4^th April 2016, the Council approved Barnet’s Future Library Strategy and within this strategy, four libraries (East Barnet, South Friern, Mill Hill and Childs Hill) will become community run Partnership Libraries from the 1^st April 2017.  These libraries will continue to form part of the Barnet library network and agreements with partner organisations will last for 10 years. The successful partners will receive an annual enabling grant to support the operation of the service, alongside volunteers which they will recruit from the local community. The council has now concluded the process to identify partner organisations and has identified partner organisations for each of the four Partnership Libraries. A period of transition will now commence during which the preferred partner organisations will be supported to refine and develop their business plans and prepare to operate the library.

Oak Lodge Special  School, a Community School, has been approved by the Secretary of State to convert to an Academy as part of a multi-academy trust (Barnet Special Education Trust). As part of the conversion process, the Council is required to grant a lease of the land and buildings used by Oak Lodge Special School to the Academy Trust in the terms of the model long term Department for Education Academy Lease and this report sets out the main terms.

The Council, the Governing Body of the School, and the Academy Trust are also required to execute a Commercial Transfer Agreement, which includes information relating to: (i) any employees of the Council or the Governing Body who are assigned to the School and who will transfer from the employment of the Governing Body or the Local Authority to the new Academy Trust; and (ii) assets and contracts which will transfer from the Local Authority or the Governing Body to the new Academy Trust, together with other rights and obligations of the Council or the Governing Body.

Authority to commission workforce learning and development based on systemic principles, up to the value of £150,000 in 2016-17 and over the contract lifetime, for the children’s social care workforce and relevant practitioners.

This is a list of decisions taken under delegated powers in the month of November 2016.

This report seeks approval to award a single contract to Middlesex University to undertake a research project about different levels of take up of services for children, young people and families from different communities in Barnet.

This is a summary of decisions taken under delegated officer powers for the month of October 2016.

Committee to receive a paper on Early Years funding from 2017/18.

The Strategic Lead, Children and Young People, and the Commissioning Director, Children and Young People, introduced the report, which related to Early Years funding.

During discussion of the item, the Chairman moved a motion to alter the wording of recommendations 1 and 2 so that they include the wording ‘in consultation with the Chairman of the Children, Education, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee’, as seen as follows:

1.    Delegate to the Commissioning Director, Children and Young People (Director of Children’s Services) – in consultation with the Chairman of the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee –  authority to consult early years providers on any potential changes as a consequence of further published Government regulation or guidance, expected in Autumn 2016;

2.    Delegate to the Commissioning Director, Children and Young People (Director of Children’s Services) – in consultation with the Chairman of the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee – authority to make any necessary amendments to the early years funding formula, following consultation.

The motion was seconded by Councillor Helena Hart. Votes on the motion were recorded as follows:

The motion was declared carried and therefore became the substantive motion. 

Councillor Anne Hutton then moved a motion to alter the wording of the substantive motion (amended recommendations 1 & 2) to add the words ‘and lead opposition spokesperson of the committee’, as seen as follows:

1.    Delegate to the Commissioning Director, Children and Young People (Director of Children’s Services) – in consultation with the Chairman of the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee and lead opposition spokesperson of the committee – authority to consult early years providers on any potential changes as a consequence of further published Government regulation or guidance, expected in Autumn 2016;

2.    Delegate to the Commissioning Director, Children and Young People (Director of Children’s Services) – in consultation with the Chairman of the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee and lead opposition spokesperson of the committee – authority to make any necessary amendments to the early years funding formula, following consultation.

The motion was seconded by Councillor Kath McGuirk. Votes on the motion were recorded as follows:

The motion therefore did not carry.

The Chairman then moved to the recommendations 1 and 2 as amended by the substantive motion. Votes were recorded as follows:

The committee agreed recommendation 3 as laid out in the cover report.

The following was therefore RESOLVED:

The Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee:

1.    Delegated to the Commissioning Director, Children and Young People (Director of Children’s Services) – in consultation with the Chairman of the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee – authority to consult early years providers on any potential changes as a consequence of further published Government regulation or guidance, expected in Autumn 2016;

2.    Delegated to the Commissioning Director, Children and Young People (Director of Children’s Services) – in consultation with the Chairman of the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee – authority to make any necessary amendments to the early years funding formula, following consultation;

3.    Noted the council’s draft response to the consultation document from the Department for Education (DfE) on the Early Years National Funding Formula (EYNFF).

Committee to receive a paper on school performance in Barnet, 2016 (provisional).

The Director of Education and Skills was invited by the Chairman to introduce the item to the committee, which related to provisional school performance in Barnet 2016.

Following discussion of the report, the Chairman moved to the recommendations as laid out in the cover report, which were agreed by the committee.

The following was therefore RESOLVED:

1.    That the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee noted the provisional school performance in Barnet for the academic year 2015-16;

2.    That the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee noted the proposed commissioning priorities for school improvement for the academic year 2016/17 (based on data available so far) set out in section 1.5 of the report.

Giving authority for Instrument of Government of school governing bodies to be submitted for signing and sealing.

This report highlights the requirement to make the Instrument of Government for the following maintained school:

·         Gold Star Federation

This report gives authority for Instrument of Government of school governing bodies to be submitted for signing and sealing.

This report highlights the requirement to make the Instrument of Government for the following maintained schools:

·         Brookland Nursery & Infant and Junior Schools

·         Sunnyfields Primary School

·         Garden Suburb Infant and Garden Suburb Junior Schools

Thie report authorises the permanent expansion of Childs Hill Primary School from one and a half to two forms of entry for September 2016. It is estimated that the expansion will cost £365,000. These costs will be met from the Council’s Basic Need Allocations (funding from the Department for Education).

This report seeks permission to enter into a contract with UK Energy Partners Ltd (working in Partnership with Net Zero Buildings Ltd) to provide three classrooms and associated space for Underhill School and two classrooms and associated space for St Agnes school.

A number of changes to the Family Services establishment are required to help deliver purposeful, resilience-based practice in line with the social care practice improvement plan. The service needs to be configured in the best way possible, with manageable caseloads, and sufficient capacity to deliver service improvement. This report sets out the required changes in context and sets out the associated costs. 

This report highlights the requirement to make the Instrument of Government for the following maintained schools:

·         Queenswell Infant & Nursery School

This report is to seek permission to procure third-party specialist equipment from Bibliotheca to allow the new Colindale Library (the replacement for the existing Grahame Park Library) to be technology enabled. This would use the same system as that adopted for the pilot at Edgware Library, which started at the end of July 2015.

The Carers Recruitment and Assessment team seeks approval to award contracts to Independent Social Workers (ISW) on the Barnet Approved List of ISW providers. 

Initial contracts will be awarded for two years with the option to extend for up to two years.  The contract will commence 01 April 2016 until 31 March 2018. 

The six contracts to be awarded are for the following:

Lot 1:  Fostering Assessments: 

Initial Visit and Report and Form F Assessment

Lot 2:  Special Guardianship Order (SGO) and Connected Persons: 

Initial Visit and Report and SGO  Assessment

Lot 3:  Adoption:

Initial Visit and Report, Prospective Adopters Report and Annex A Report

Lot 4:  Parenting Assessments:

Parenting Capacity Assessments Outside of Care Proceedings and

Parenting Capacity Assessments within Care Proceedings

Lot 5:  Training:

Co-running skills to foster courses and training, Bespoke Training for Foster Carers, Adopters and SGO Applicants

Lot 6:  Independent Investigation

The total maximum contract value including extensions is £420,000.  The annual costs will not exceed £105,000 across all of the contract lots.

This report seeks approval to award a single contract for the delivery of an Emergency Duty Team (out-of-hours social work) service to the London Borough of Harrow. This is a shared service between Family Services and Adults and Communities.

The contract is for 3 years, from 1 April 2016, with an option to extend for a further 1 year, commencing from 1 April 2016, to the total value of £639,296, with a total extension value of up to £852,394. 

The purpose of this report is to confirm that the necessary action has been taken to finalise the contract documentation, in accordance with the submitted tender that was accepted by full Council, and that all necessary action has been taken to mobilise the contract from 1^st April 2016.

This report approves proposals to update fees and charges for Youth Services and Children Centres from 1 April 2016, where fees and charges need to be increased in line with inflation (assumed to be 2%).

These fees and charges will take effect from 1 April 2016.

This report seeks permission to procure a third-party specialist organisation to identify the most appropriate whole-service delivery model for the Family Services Delivery Unit and develop a clear path to putting it in place, following the Council’s internal governance model and project management methodology.

The successful bidder will be expected to work with the Council to develop a strategic outline case, outline business case and full business case setting out a clear evidence base behind a recommended model for the delivery of these services. This will include supporting public and employee consultation, the production of an equalities impact analysis and other activities as noted in Barnet’s project management methodology.

This DPR relates to the restructuring of the SEN Referral and Assessment Team, which is to be renamed the SEN Assessment, Placements, Planning and Resources Team.

This report seeks authorisation to commence a procurement tender exercise in order to partner with a specialist social work recruitment agency, to recruit permanent, qualified, Children’s Social Work practitioners.

The reason this approach is being taken is due to the Council being unable to directly recruit sufficient numbers of high quality and experienced practitioners.

Following a thorough procurement process, the selected party will be contracted to supply up to an initial 15 permanent workers. The Council will continue to recruit directly, in parallel with the agency recruitment campaign.

This report seeks authorisation to award a contract to Welfare call (LAC) Ltd. The initial contract period is for 2 years with the option to extend for a further 1 year. The contract value will be in the sum of £24,960 per annum.  This contract can be terminated with 3 months written notice on either side.

After a competitive procurement process a one year contract for the provision of Special Education Needs legal advice was awarded to Baker Small Solicitors and a contract signed on 16/07/2014. These two DPRs authorise an additional spot purchase and to extend the contract with Baker Small Solicitors for one year.

The report relates to authorising the procurement of external support for Library Service public consultation.

Attached is a summary of decisions taken under delegated powers from October 2015.

Authority for Instrument of Government of school governing bodies to be submitted for signing and sealing. In line with new regulations, governing bodies of Maintained Schools have been required to reconstitute in regard to the number and types of Governor. The governing bodies of the schools listed have submitted details of changes in their Instruments of Government, which is the formal document that outlines the arrangement of each governing body.

This applies to the following Maintained Schools:

-       St. Johns CE Primary School

-       Hasmonean School

-       Courtland School

-       All Saints C of E Primary School N20

-       Underhill Primary School

-       Dollis Junior

-       Menorah Primary

-       Gold Star Federation

-       St John’s C of E, Friern Barnet Primary School

-       Coppetts Wood Primary School and Children’s Centre

-       Colindale Primary School

The Programme Director for Education and Learning introduced the report, which related to proposals for Barnet’s Future Library Service.

Following discussion of the report, the Chairman moved to the recommendations outlined in the cover report. Votes were recorded as follows:

Immediately following the vote the Chairman, Councillor Reuben Thompstone, moved to refer the item to the next practicable meeting of Full Council. The reason given for the request to refer the item was that there is substantial public interest in the issue, and that it is a key issue affecting the majority of the borough’s wards, therefore meaning that Full Council is better placed to make the decision. The request to refer the item was supported by:

·         Councillor Rebecca Challice

·         Councillor Alison Cornelius

·         Councillor Helena Hart

·         Councillor Anne Hutton

·         Councillor Kathy Levine

·         Councillor Ammar Naqvi

·         Councillor Bridget Perry

·         Councillor Daniel Thomas

RESOLVED – That having received the requisite number of support for referral, the item will be placed on the agenda for consideration by Full Council.

This report seeks approval to procure and put out to tender a two year contract (with an option to extend for a further year), for the provision of an independent travel training service. The total contract value of this service is anticipated to be £100,000.00

The attached document is a summary of decisions taken under delegated powers in August.

This report gives authority for Instrument of government of school governing bodies to be signed and sealed for the following maintained schools:

-       Chalgrove Primary School

-       Beis Yaakov Primary School

-       St. John’s CE Primary School

Agree new Instruments of Government to be signed and sealed for the following schools:

-       Oak Lodge School

-       All Saints’ Church of England Primary School

-       Bishop Douglass Catholic School

-       St Vincent’s Catholic Primary School, Mill Hill

Giving authority for Instrument of Government of school governing bodies to be submitted for signing and sealing.

This report highlights the requirement to make the Instrument of Government for the following maintained schools:

·         St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School

·         Frith Manor Primary School

·         The Annunciation Catholic Infant School

·         St Paul’s, N11 Church of England Primary School

·         Dollis Infant School             

·         Queenswell Junior School

·         St James’ Catholic High School

·         Hollickwood Primary School

·         Woodcroft Primary School

·         Monken Hadley C of E Primary School

·         Church Hill Primary School

·         Barnfield Primary School

EQUALITIES AND DIVERSITY ISSUES: The schools’ Instruments of Government do not compromise their compliance with their statutory equality duties as set out in the Equality Act 2010.

LEGAL ISSUES: The School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2012 sets out the arrangements for the constitution of governing bodies of maintained schools including foundation and trust schools in England.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: In line with new Regulations, Governing Bodies of Maintained schools have been required to reconstitute in regard to the number and types of Governor. The Governing Bodies of the schools listed have submitted details of changes in their Instruments of Government, which is the formal document that outlines the arrangement of each Governing Body.

This report gives authority for Instrument of Government of governing bodies to be applied to various schools.

The existing electrical installation at Sunnyfields School has reached the end of its serviceable life and consequently it has been prioritised in accordance with the Council’s Children’s Service programme and verified by the Building Services Team.

The designs were undertaken in accordance with the latest DfE standards.

The work includes renewal of the electrical installation comprising the lighting, power, mains distribution and lightning protection system.

The works are scheduled to take place on site between July 2015 and September 2015.

Five contractors were invited to tender and all but one responded accordingly. They were scored and assessed based on two main criteria: price 60% and quality 40%. All details are set out in Appendix A.

This report approves the following:

1.    That the Officer approves the award of rewiring works contract at Sunnyfields  School to the supplier listed in Appendix A.

2.    That Legal issue a letter of intent to Raytell Electrical Company Limited to commence works in order to achieve completion by early September 2015.

3.    That subject to the completion of legal and all other documentation, the Council enters into a Model Form of General Conditions of Contract MF/1 with Raytell Electrical Limited for the rewiring works at Sunnyfields School in the sum of £186,743.93 (plus VAT).

This report approves the re-grading of 1 post within the library service.

These reports give authority for Instrument of Government of school governing bodies to be altered.

This report highlights the requirement to make the Instrument of Government for the following maintained schools:

·         Martin Primary School

·         Fairway Primary School

·         Northway School

·         Sunnyfields Primary School

·         Summerside Primary School

·         Manorside Primary School

·         Wessex Gardens Primary School

·         St Paul’s Primary School

·         St Johns CE Primary School

·         St Mary’s Primary School

·         Rosh Pinah Primary School

·         Woodridge Primary School

·         Moss Hall Nursery

·         Edgware Primary School

·         Monkfrith School

·         Moss Hall Junior School

·         Oakleigh School and The Early Years Centre

·         Childs Hill Primary School

·         St Mary’s Church of England primary School N3

·         Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School

·         Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School

·         St Catherine’s Catholic Primary School

EQUALITIES AND DIVERSITY ISSUES: The schools’ Instruments of Government do not compromise their compliance with their statutory equality duties as set out in the Equality Act 2010.

LEGAL ISSUES: The School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2012 sets out the arrangements for the constitution of governing bodies of maintained schools including foundation and trust schools in England.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: In line with new Regulations, Governing Bodies of Maintained schools have been required to reconstitute in regard to the number and types of Governor. The Governing Bodies of the schools listed have submitted details of changes in their Instruments of Government, which is the formal document that outlines the arrangement of each Governing Body.

This report seeks approval to award a contract with £75,000 for the provision of a Special Transport Service. The contract will commence from 04 May 2015 and will continue under Local Authority specific statutory powers. The contract will be terminated with one month’s notice.

The Education and Skills Alternative Delivery Model project was established to identify and assess possible alternative delivery models for the Education & Skills Delivery unit.  This was initially presented to the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee on 12^th January 2015, where it was then referred to and approved by a meeting of Full Council on 20^th January 2015.  The report and attached outline business case identified the need to procure specialist advisors, including commercial advisors, and included an estimate of approximately £275k for the cost of the commercial advisors.

Following a competitive tender exercise, a preferred bidder has been identified and the purpose of this report is to confirm the appointment of the preferred bidder to undertake the work.

This report seeks approval:

1.    To appoint iMPOWER to provide financial and commercial consultancy support to the Education and Skills Alternative Delivery Model at the quoted rates and in accordance with agreed work packages.

Committee to consider an assessment of a grant application to the Corporate Grants Programme 2014/15. 

The Chairman introduced the report and provided an overview of its contents.

Councillor Helena Hart stated that the grant was welcome from a health perspective.

Following discussion of the report, the Chairman moved to a vote.  Votes were recorded as follows:

The recommendation set out in the report was carried.

RESOLVED that a one-year grant of £10,000 be awarded to Phoenix Canoe Club, subject to the council’s Standard Conditions of Grant Aid and the special conditions shown in the grant assessment enclosed in the report.

Committee to receive a report which describes the structure of the Schools Forum and its decision-making and advisory powers.

The Education and Skills Director introduced the report and provided the Committee with an overview of the structure of the Schools Forum and its decision-making and advisory powers.  He further outlined the schools funding formula, and also the intention to provide an annual report to the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee in regard to the decisions made by the Schools Forum.

The Committee were informed of a correction to the report.  Recommendation 1. should have referred to paragraph 1.18, not 1.21 as detailed in the report.

Following discussion of the report, the Chairman moved to a vote.  Votes were recorded as follows:

The recommendation set out in the report was carried.

RESOLVED that the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee receive an annual report on the local funding formulae for schools and early years and other financial issues as set out in paragraph 1.18 of the report.