Councillors B Brown, M Brown, Cameron, Clark, Glen, Henry, Mack, M Macmillan, I McMillan, Murrin, Noon, Perrie, J Sharkey, M Sharkey and Williams and J Nellaney.

Councillor Henry, Convener, presided.

P Macleod, Director of Children's Services; G McKinlay, Head of Service, D Hawthorn, Head of Childcare and Criminal Justice and M Dewar, Acting Head of Service (all Children's Services); and D Forbes, Finance Manager, D Low, Senior Committee Services Officer and E Currie, Committee Services Officer (all Finance & Resources).

In terms of Standing Order 16, the Convener intimated that she proposed to alter the order of business to facilitate the conduct of the meeting by considering item 3 of the agenda before item 1 of the agenda.

Reverend Clark and I Keith.

There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.


Prior to the start of the meeting, the Convener welcomed those present to the first meeting of the Education & Children Policy Board.

There was submitted a report by the Directors of Finance & Resources and Children's Services for the service for the period 1 April, 2014 to 27 February, 2015.

DECIDED:

(a) That the budget position be noted; and




(b) That it be noted that there had been net budget realignments of £1,525,328 processed since the last report primarily relating to additional resources released by the Scottish Government in relation to teachers’ induction, teachers’ support and teachers’ pay, partly offset by early years funding transferred to Social Work.

There was submitted a capital budget monitoring report by the Director of Finance & Resources for the service for the period 1 April, 2014 to 27 February, 2015.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Children’s Services relative to the evaluation of Families First by Glasgow University.

The report intimated that Renfrewshire’s Community Planning Partnership was committed to ensuring that all children and young people in Renfrewshire were given the best start in life. At the meeting of the Education Policy Board held on 7 March, 2013 an early years strategy had been approved which committed the partnership to a family centred approach to improving outcomes for children and families. Although the early years strategy was at an early stage of implementation, current progress was already demonstrating indications of a positive impact on children and families in Renfrewshire. In order to determine the impact and effectiveness in achieving agreed outcomes an evaluation plan was in place.

Glasgow University had now completed the external evaluation of the family centred approach in Linwood and Ferguslie and a summary of this eveluation was appended to the report. The key findings of the evaluation report were overwhelmingly positive and the report highlighted a number of key strengths of the approach. It was recognised that work was still required and ongoing evaluation would continue as the teams in Linwood and Ferguslie became embedded and further development was considered in response to the recommendations of Renfrewshire’s Tackling Poverty Commission. The early years steering board were considering the implications of this evaluation report which would form the basis of further development of the strategy.

Stuart Hall and Kevin Lowden, Glasgow University, gave a presentation to members on the Renfrewshire Families First Core Team Project Evaluation 2013/15 which included information on the Renfrewshire ‘Families First’ initiative, the main research methods, presenting issues, selected findings and messages for local authority services.

DECIDED: That the very positive evaluation of Families First in Linwood and Ferguslie, by Glasgow University, be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Children’s Services relative to the implementation of 600 hours of early learning and childcare introduced by The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. This was an increase from the previous 475 hours offered in 2013/14.

The report intimated that the provision of 600 hours per year of early learning and childcare was required to be implemented from August 2014 with a more flexible model of delivery from August 2015. At the meeting of the Education Policy Board held on 15 January, 2015, the Council’s proposal for delivering a more flexible model was noted.

This report recommended a more detailed plan for delivering a range of flexible models of early learning and childcare which would enable parents to have an appropriate degree of choice from August 2015 and sought approval for amendments in the early years admissions policy which were detailed in section 5 of the report.

DECIDED:

(a) That the plan for delivering a more flexible model of delivery of early learning and childcare, as detailed in section 4 of the report, be approved; and

(b) That the amendments to the early years admissions policy, as detailed in section 5 of the report, be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Children’s Services relative to the Children’s Services risk management plan April 2015. The risk management plan was appended to the report and the action plan would be submitted to a future meeting together with the mid-year progress report. The Plan identified the key risks faced by the service together with management action to minimise the risks.

DECIDED: That the Children’s Services risk management plan April 2015 be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Children’s Services relative to a revised policy on anti-bullying which brought the present policy, approved in 2009, into line with recent legislation and national guidance. The revised policy was appended to the report.

The report intimated that the policy would apply to all educational establishments and settings and to all practitioners, including youth and out-of-school care services. It was expected that staff and partners in the private and third sector would work in partnership with the Council to uphold the spirit of the policy.

A wide range of stakeholders were involved in reviewing and updating the policy including Police Scotland and respectme, Scotland’s anti-bullying organisation.

DECIDED: That Renfrewshire’s Policy on Anti-bullying, which was appended to the report, be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Children’s Services relative to the Council’s submission to the Scottish Parliament’s Education and Culture Committee’s call for written submissions which was appended to the report on the Education (Scotland) Bill. 

The report intimated that the first draft of the new Education (Scotland) Bill had been placed before Parliament. This Bill covered a number of areas including a change in the duties of the local education authority, Gaelic Medium Education, the provision of school meals and the reinstatement of the role of chief education officer. If the Bill progressed to plan it would be enacted early in 2016 with likely implication in the summer of 2016.

DECIDED:

(a) That the report be noted; and

(b) That the Council’s submission to the Scottish Parliament Education Culture Committee, which was appended to the report, be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Children’s Services relative to the criminal justice social work grant 2015/16 for Renfrewshire Council. The report intimated that the Community Justice Services Division of the Scottish Government had allocated a grant to each Community Justice Authority (CJA) rather than to individual local authorities. The grant was ring-fenced funding, in accordance with Section 3 of the Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act 2005.

The indicative grant allowance for Criminal Justice Social Work for Renfrewshire for 2015/16 was £3,274,926, representing an increase of £456,399, and a breakdown of the allocation was detailed in the appendix to the report.


Previous grant awards to Renfrewshire Council reflected the fact that Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire and Inverclyde Councils provided a range of services across these local authority boundaries and as such grants were awarded to the local authority providing the service. However as of 1 April, 2015 both Drug Treatment and Testing Orders, provided by East Renfrewshire Council, and the Throughcare Service, provided by Inverclyde Council, would be provided by Renfrewshire Council to Renfrewshire service users.

The report provided updates in relation to the Women’s Community Justice Service, the provision of Fiscal Work Orders and shared-service redesign.

DECIDED:

(a) That the budget allocation for Renfrewshire, as detailed in the appendix to the report, be noted; and

(b) That the updates in relation to the Women’s Community Justice Service; the provision of Fiscal Work Orders and the shared service redesign be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Children’s Services relative to proposed amendments to the delegated management of resources scheme currently operating in Renfrewshire’s early years establishments, primary, secondary and additional support needs schools.

The report intimated that the following amendments were required to the permissible virement to carry forward within the delegated management of resources scheme for financial year 2015/16, namely primary teaching staff salaries to nil; and energy (gas, electricity, heating oil and wood pellets) to nil.

DECIDED: That the amendments required to the permissible virement to carry forward within the delegated management of resources scheme for financial year 2015/16, namely primary teaching staff salaries to nil; and energy (gas, electricity, heating oil and wood pellets) to nil, be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Children’s Services relative to the Renfrewshire Family Information Service.

The report intimated that the Childcare Information Service had been established in January 2000 to provide parents/carers with reliable and up-to-date quality information about childcare in Renfrewshire. Renfrewshire’s early years strategy included an action to develop a family information service for use by families, communities and professionals. In order to better support families a rebranding and broadening of the focus of Renfrewshire’s Childcare Information Service to a Family Information Service was proposed. This would build on the very effective provision already in place and ensure families were able to receive the information they required in a timely and accurate manner.

DECIDED:

(a) That the rebranding and broadening of focus of Renfrewshire’s Childcare Information Service to a Family Information Service be approved; and

(b) That the change in title to Renfrewshire Family Information Service be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Children’s Services relative to the annual health and safety report for the service. The report intimated that transitional reporting arrangements were in place reflecting the change in the Council’s management and governance arrangements in 2014/15 to 2015/16 and this was reflected in the format and content of the report.

The Children’s Services annual health and safety report 2015/16; the final status report as it related to Education Services health and safety action plan 2014/15; the Children’s Services health and safety action plan for 2015/16 as it related to Education Services; and the Children’s Services and Criminal Justice health and safety action plan 2015/16 formed the appendices to the report.

The report set out the arrangements for the management of health and safety within the service and demonstrated the service’s commitment to continuous improvement in health and safety performance.

DECIDED:

(a) That the report be noted; and

(b) That the health and safety action plans for 2015/16 be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Children’s Services relative to a proposal to consult on the relocation of Foxlea Pre-5 and Community Learning Centre to a new build St Paul’s Primary School, in line with legislative requirements detailed in the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010, amended through the enactment of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014.

The Council continually reviewed the performance of the school estate and had identified that the existing St Paul’s Primary School building was not performing well for the school community as it was too big and while the condition of the building was ‘B’ satisfactory, it was felt that it was beginning to show signs of deterioration. A review had concluded that the educational experience for all pupils, young people and adult learners could be improved if delivered in a new build St Paul’s Primary School andthat the most appropriate, best value approach would be to co-locate Foxlea Pre-5 and Community Learning Centre in the new build.  The new building would be well-designed, recognising current practice in energy management and statutory compliance and it would be sustainable with low carbon emissions.

It was agreed that the consultation document would be issued to the Diocese of Paisley.

DECIDED:

(a) That the consultation procedures for the relocation of Foxlea Pre-5 and Community Learning Centre to a new build St Paul’s Primary School, as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report, be approved;

(b) That the consultation document, which formed Appendix 2 to the report, “The relocation of Foxlea Pre-5 and Community Learning Centre to a new build St Paul’s Primary School” be approved;

(c) That the consultation document be issued to the Diocese of Paisley; and

(d) That it be agreed that a report on the outcome of the consultation be submitted to the meeting of this Board to be held in January 2016.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Children’s Services relative to a proposal to consult on the relocation of Bargarran and St John Bosco Primary Schools to a new build shared campus on the site of the existing schools, in line with legislative requirements detailed in the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010, amended through the enactment of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014.

The Council continually reviewed the performance of the school estate and had identified that the existing school buildings were not performing well for the school communities as they were too big and while the condition of both buildings were ‘B’ satisfactory, it was felt that both were beginning to show signs of deterioration. A review concluded that the educational experience for children and young people could be improved if delivered in a new-build shared campus.  The building would be well designed, recognising current practice in energy management and statutory compliance and it would be sustainable with low carbon emissions.

It was agreed that the consultation document would be issued to the Diocese of Paisley.

DECIDED:

(a) That the consultation procedures for the relocation of Bargarran and St John Bosco Primary Schools to a new build shared campus on the site of the existing schools, as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report, be approved;

(b) That the consultation document, which formed Appendix 2 to the report, “The relocation of Bargarran and St John Bosco Primary Schools to a new build shared campus on the site of the existing schools” be approved;

(c) That the consultation document be issued to the Diocese of Paisley; and

(d) That it be agreed that a report on the outcome of the consultation be submitted to the meeting of this Board to be held in January 2016.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Children’s Services relative to the Service Improvement Plan 2015/16 to 2017/18 for Children’s Services, a copy of which was appended to the report. The Service Improvement Plan provided a comprehensive statement of what the service aimed to achieve in line with the themes, actions, outcomes and targets set out in the Community Plan as well as the key aims set out in the Council Plan ‘A Better Future, A Better Council’. It set out what the service would do over the next three years within the resources available. The key outcomes for the service over the three years were outlined.

DECIDED:

(a) That the Service Improvement Plan for Children’s Services for 2015/16 to 2017/18, as detailed in the appendix to the report, be approved; and

(b) That it be agreed that progress with this plan be reported to the Board in November 2015.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Children’s Services relative to applications received for grant support to voluntary and independent organisations for 2015/16. Recommendations for grant support allocations to specific voluntary sector organisations totalling £4,500 were detailed in the report.

DECIDED:

(a) That the recommendations for grant support to voluntary organisations, as detailed within the report be approved; and

(b) That it be noted that payment of grant awards would be made subject to organisations satisfying the Council’s conditions of grant.