Agenda and minutes

(Assistant to the Chief Executive)  To report the appointment of any substitute members for the meeting.

The Panel noted that there were no substitute members.

(Assistant to the Chief Executive). To declare interests in any items on the agenda.

In considering whether to declare a personal or a prejudicial interest under the Code of Conduct, Overview & Scrutiny members are asked pay particular attention to paragraph 11 of the Code in addition to the more familiar requirements.

This requires the declaration of a personal and prejudicial interest in any matter before an OS Committee which relates to a decision of or action by another Committee or Sub Committee of the Council, a Joint Committee or Joint Sub Committee in which the Council is involved and of which the Councillor is also a member.

Paragraph 11 does not refer to Cabinet decisions or attendance at an OS meeting purely for the purpose of answering questions or providing information on such a matter.

No declarations of interest were made.

To agree the notes of the last meeting held on 28 March 2011.

The notes from the meeting held on 28 March 2011 were agreed as a correct record.

To comment on the draft final report of this Panel and to consider what recommendations the Panel would like to make to the main Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Report to follow.

The Panel reviewed the draft final report of the Panel and made the following observations and recommendations.

The Report:

• That this report once agreed, go to Essex County’s Overview and Scrutiny Children’s Safety Panel for their information;
• The report should make it clear that EFDC were partly responsible for the withdrawal of the Memorandum of Agreement;
• What the effect of the cuts were on the present budgets;
• Where the money came from, if not from the Government through the Council’s budget;
• The paragraph on Child Protection/Safeguarding should be put into plainer English to emphasise that we do not have any confidence in the Children Protection Services;
• The report needed to emphasise how important the Panel considered the provision of awareness road shows such as ‘Crucial Crew’ and the ‘Reality Road Show’ due to their positive outcomes;
• The Q&A session from the minutes of the 28 March 2011 meeting to be added as an appendix;
• To put in an accreditation to our services as they are seen as a benchmark for other services;
• To put in a short section to ask that Leisure Services continue to support and build on the excellent work done by the Youth Council on the provision of facilities for young people; and
• In the Executive Summary, need to add what the Panel found out, what was done by the Panel and what current work the Panel supported.

The Recommendations:

• That the work that EFDC should continue to support should be listed and not just put into a general statement;
• We would need to prioritise what services we provide and also the officer time given to the getting of grants;
• That the first recommendation be altered to read ‘…Council seeks to provide…’ instead  of ‘…continues to provide…’ as there were concern as to where the money was to come from;
• That an option be added to offering our high quality services to others at a cost and maybe bring in a revenue steam for EFDC;
• There was a need to scrutinise figures for ‘looked after children’ in our area, details of children with disabilities and where local children were sent to as there were few local homes;
• Also to ask the ECC ‘Director of Children Commissioning’ to attend the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on an annual basis;
• A recommendation should be added to indicate the accountability of social services to elected members and encourage them to see ward councillors as a resource and not a problem; and
• That mandatory training should be supplied for all councillors on Child Protection and that every EFDC Councillor should know where to go for advice on Child Protection issues.