Venue: Conference Room, Civic Centre, Silver Street, Enfield, EN1 3XA. View directions
Contact: Stacey Gilmour
Items
No. |
Item |
492. |
WELCOME & APOLOGIES
Minutes:
The Chair welcomed all
attendees to the meeting and extended a special welcome to the
Enfield Youth Parliament attendees.
Apologies for lateness had been received from Councillor
Abdullahi.
Agenda item 6 - SEND (Special
Educational Needs and Disability Report was discussed before item
5, but for the interests of clarity the minutes are shown in the
agenda order.
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493. |
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Members of the Council are invited to identify
any disclosable pecuniary, other pecuniary or non-pecuniary
interests relevant to items on the agenda.
Minutes:
There were no declarations of
interest.
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494. |
OLDER PEOPLE'S HOUSING AND CARE PROJECT PDF 273 KB
To receive a presentation from Jemma Gumble,
Strategic Partnerships Development Manager.
Minutes:
The Chair introduced this item
on the Older People’s Housing and Care Project which he
reminded members, had been discussed at Cabinet on 14 February
2018.
Lia Markwick (Service
Development & Strategic Commissioning Manager) and Jemma Gumble
(Strategic Partnerships Development Manager) gave a presentation on
this subject.
A video was screened which gave
an example of a successful new development that follows a new
approach for older people with the co-location of specialist
housing and community services around a ‘vibrant service
hub’ for residents.
The following points were
highlighted:
- There
are demographical challenges for Enfield with the number of people
over 65 years forecast to increase 23% over the next 10
years.
People are living longer although often in poor
health.
- Other
challenges include the pressures on housing supply and on health
and social care budgets which indicate new approaches
are needed in respect of the provision
of ‘assisted living’. However there are often negative
perceptions of Housing with Care for older residents.
- There
are currently over 500 older people receiving intensive care
packages in their own home. This number is increasing and there is
a need for growth in various retirement housing and extra care
housing. New choices for older people are required.
- One
way to extend the choice for older residents is to co-locate
specialist housing with community services which includes health
and wellbeing and might also include co-location with education/
learning/ leisure and retail facilities. All of this to be centred around a vibrant
‘hub’ where residents and the wider community would
interact.
- Contrary to some criticisms that older people would be centred
in a ‘bubble’ the development would have an outward
facing hub with the community. With the aim to promote healthy,
active ageing.
- Feasibility studies are to be undertaken to look at
options. A development at Milton Keynes
which provides facilities similar to those which we may wish to
offer provides properties to buy or to rent.
- Advantages of having the co-location of housing and health
services would mean that residents can be cared for at home rather
than in hospital. The building quality would be high and more
suited to the complex needs of older people. Other benefits
expected include the reduction in temporary accommodation costs due
to the subsequent increased supply of local housing. Improvements for residents from an increase in
their wellbeing, a reduction in loneliness, and improved dementia
outcomes, there should also be a reduced risk of falls and a
greater chance of couples being able to stay together.
- The
current vision is to have a single development for approximately
200 to 300 homes. Financing may be possible through partnership
funding such as NHS contributions, Mayors funds, charitable trust
funds, and HRA contributions.
The following points were
made:
- Cabinet had authorised officers to progress the strategic
planning of an Older People’s Housing and Care
Project. Feasibility studies are to be
undertaken.
- Councillor Smith said he had worked for a Housing Association
and had experience in this field. He stressed the importance of
...
view the full minutes text for item 494.
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495. |
PUPIL PLACES REPORT PDF 76 KB
To receive a report from James Carrick (AD
Education Schools and Children’s Services) and Keith Rowley
(Director of School Expansions & Asset Management Support)
Minutes:
Keith Rowley (Director of
School Expansions & Asset Management Support), presented an
update on the demand for school places in Enfield. It was mentioned that this subject would be
reported to Cabinet in March 2018.
The following was
highlighted:
- That
there is a sufficiency of places for primary school children.
However, now that children are moving up to secondary schools more
secondary school places will be needed from 2019.
- There
should be an adequate number of secondary school places available
for the borough following the development of the Wren Academy on
the Chase Farm site (8 form entry). However should this development
fail to materialise, then other contingency plans would need to be
implemented.
- The
biggest demand is for special school places. There has been a
significant increase in the need for high support provision for
children with certain categories of special education need, in
recent years. As there have been an insufficient number of places
within Enfield it has been necessary for pupils to be transported
to schools outside of the borough. An increase in capacity for
special schools and establishments in Enfield would help in this
regard.
The following issues
raised
- It was
asked why there had been a significant increase in demand for
special school places in recent years?
It was answered that this stems from a change in legislation from
2014 which introduced the Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP)
with the remit in age widened from 5-19 years to 2-25 years
age. It should also be remembered that
Enfield is a net importer of families from inner
London.
- Councillor Smith requested information on the shortage of places
for children in Southgate, Southgate Green and Bowes
areas. Keith Rowley will provide this
information and this is incorporated in the report to Cabinet in
March.
- That
there were a significant number of vacancies across the borough in
primary schools (approximately 500) this has had an adverse effect
on school budgets for the year.
- The
local authority cannot set demand in an area; a new school can open
with more forms of entry than required.
The report would be considered
at Cabinet on 14 March 2018 when it would be recommended
to
- Agree
the continuation of the school expansion programme, with the focus
on special provision and high needs pupil places and
- Agree
the increase capacity in special schools and establishments that
provide education services for some of the most acute special need
categories subject to further approval for the manner in which this
is to be achieved
The report was NOTED
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496. |
EDUCATION ATTAINMENT IN ENFIELD PDF 196 KB
To receive a report from James Carrick (AD
Education, Schools and Children’s Services) and Clara Seery
(Head of Standards & Curriculum, Schools and Children’s
Services)
Minutes:
Clara Seery (Head of Standards
& Curriculum, Schools and Children’s Services) introduced
the report which provided an update on education outcomes across
Enfield. It also provided information
on outcomes of statutory assessment at key stages and focused on
the key accountability measures for -Early Years. Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 outcomes.
The following was
highlighted:
- Concerns that Enfield was shown as achieving low levels at some
of the key stages compared with other local
authorities. The Early Years outcomes
give Enfield at position 119th out of 152 authorities.
At Key Stage 2 (Year 6) Enfield is at 136th position out
of 152 authorities.
- The
low attainment levels may be in some way attributed to the high
mobility of people in Enfield. However Clara said other local
authorities have similar mobility issues. Enfield is ranked 51st out of 152 most
deprived boroughs. Key stage 2 results were an improvement on last
year but reading attainment level is poor and would need to be
focused on.
- We
were improving, and improving faster than some authorities however
better outcomes are needed at primary
levels, so that children are better prepared for secondary
school.
- Secondary school levels are better – For Year 8 we are in
39th position out of 152 authorities and at Key Stage 5
on a range of indicators we are in the top third of
authorities.
- Schools have a number of challenges – The retention of
high quality teachers for early years
pupils is a problem. Staff often leave the area after a few years when
they may wish to buy a property which is cheaper outside of London.
Also, because of the high workload a number of teachers are leaving
to join an alternative profession. Reductions in budgets are
impacting on the support that can be offered in schools and many
schools have had to reduce the number of support staff.
- The
focus is to improve standards in Key Stage 2 reading and
Early years literacy. The Early Years
service is merging with School Standards and support service
which will ensure a consistent approach. A successful SSIF
(Strategic School Improvement funding) bid will fund an intensive
reading programme to support the Key Stage 2 outcomes. The report
described further steps to raise these standards and Clara was
confident that significant improvements would be seen by
2020.
The following issues were
raised by members:
- It was
asked how members could provide help with the retention of
staff. It was thought strategies to
help meet teachers accommodation needs may help, such as providing
shared ownership of homes for key workers.
- Councillor Rye thought the secondary school sector was doing
well considering how badly they were doing at primary
level. Reference was made to challenges
for children as they are often interested in electronic games,
which takes their interest away from reading. Teachers need to be
able to focus on how to channel their attention towards
this.
- During
the Early Years stage –there is a need to ...
view the full minutes text for item 496.
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497. |
SEND (SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND DISABILITY) REPORT PDF 181 KB
To receive a report from James Carrick (AD
Education, Schools and Children’s Services)
Minutes:
A report was presented by James
Carrick (AD Education Schools and Children’s Services), on
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities which gave an overview
of the SEND provision for Enfield and described the challenges
being faced in relation to capacity, and described what was being
done in order to increase provision.
The following was
highlighted
- Over
the last five years there has been a significant increase in demand
for high needs placements, particularly in the Autistic Spectrum
Disorder and Social emotional Mental Health (SEMH)
placements
- In the
last five years the cost of out of borough special school
placements has increased by £2.5 million.
- The
aim is to expand existing specialist SEND provision for children
within the borough in order that they may return/ remain within the
Enfield area.
- Details of Special School expansions were listed in the
report.
Councillor Levy referred to the
work being done to accommodate the increased need for places and
asked if this would be an on-going issue? It was thought this matter was becoming under
control – the numbers of learners applying for assessment has
reduced from last year. It was felt
that when the demand for pupil places at primary schools was
increased that the local authority should have looked to expand the
number of places allocated for SEND provision at the same
time.
Councillor Rye commented that
the local authority had worked hard to increase the provision of
school places in line with the increase in numbers and asked if it
would be possible to restrict children from using out of borough
special school places when this is available in
Enfield? An answer was given that
this would be best revisited with parents when the pupil was at a
transitional stage such as Years 6, 7, 9 and 11. Families would hopefully prefer to stay in Enfield
as there would be less travel involved and less need to use
buses. This situation would need to be
monitored.
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498. |
MINUTES OF MEETINGS - 23 NOVEMBER 2017 AND 18 JANUARY 2018 PDF 91 KB
To agree the minutes of the meetings held on
23 November 2017 and 18 January 2018.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
AGREED
the minutes of the meetings held on 23 November 2017
and 18 January 2018.
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499. |
DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS
Provisional Call-In Dates:
· 29
March 2018
· 5
April 2018
· 19 April
2018
The date of the next business
meeting is Tuesday 13th March 2018.
Minutes:
Provisional Call-In
Dates:
29 March 2018
5
April 2018 and
19 April 2018
The date of the next business
meeting is Tuesday 13 March 2018.
Councillor Levy thanked
everyone for attending the meeting.
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