Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Mahym Bedekova, Cllr Gunes Akbulut and Cllr Doris Jiagge, who were substituted by Cllr Mohammad Islam, Cllr Hivran Dalkaya and Cllr Thomas Fawns respectively.

Members of the Committee are invited to identify any disclosable pecuniary, other pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests relevant to the items on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest received regarding any item on the agenda.

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 30 October 2023.

AGREED the minutes of the meeting held on 30 October 2023.

To receive the report of Angela Bent, Head of Service, Practice Improvement & Partnerships and John Lawrence-Jones, Service Manager, Children’s Specialist Support.

Angela Bent, Head of Service, Practice Improvement & Partnerships introduced the report which provided an overview of how Children and Family Services respond to child exploitation and children who are missing. Child exploitation is a form of child abuse and occurs where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, manipulate or deceive a child under the age of 18. Between 1^st April 2022 and 31^st March 2023, a total of 239 children were identified as either experiencing or being at risk of child exploitation in Enfield, 44 were at risk of child sexual exploitation, 175 at risk of child criminal exploitation and 20 were identified as at risk of both.

Data was provided and it was noted that there had been a year-on-year increase in the number of children on the child exploitation profile, in the year 2022/23 there was a slight drop from 248 to 239. The number of children recorded as missing has remained very similar in the last two years, the spike between 20/21 and 21/22 has been attributed to covid restrictions being lifted meaning more children and young people were more likely to be out and therefore likely to not return home when expected. Further in-depth data was provided in relation to child exploitation and missing children, and it was acknowledged that this complex area of practice requires a comprehensive response from across the partnership. Within Children and Family Services, all teams have a responsibility towards young people who are impacted by these issues and since 2021 there has been a bespoke provision specifically targeted at young people who are at risk of exploitation. It was advised that there is a recognised correlation between children going missing and an increased risk to those children of being exploited. Children and Family Services has adapted its delivery offer to provide a target response to this form of extra familial harm through the development of the Contextual Safeguarding Hub and the Adolescent Safeguarding Teams (AST), whilst recognising that all services work with young people at risk.

Questions were invited from Members:

In response to a question regarding the new centralised process for recording missing episodes Officers advised that this has been developed and will be implemented during December 2023. It is anticipated that this new approach will improve standards around recording missing episodes and offering return home interviews in a timely fashion. This will also enable more comprehensive management oversight of this cohort of young people, which in turn will facilitate scrutiny of the efficacy of the process.

Following a further question regarding the return home interviews, Officers explained that these were very individual and were beneficial in gaining an understanding of what is going on for that young person, and how the service can be better placed to support them. It was also recognised that the young person is more likely to share their issues if the interviews are facilitated at the earliest opportunity. Additionally, the Hub have developed an enhanced  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To receive the report of Peter Nathan, Director of Education.

Cllr Abdul Abdullahi introduced the item and said that this policy is a step in the right direction especially during these challenging times with the cost-of-living crisis which has impacted many families. Free school meals can save families as much as £450 per child per year, which is a huge support and ensures that no child goes hungry at school. Cllr Abdullahi congratulated the Mayor of London for introducing this policy which is very much welcomed and hoped that it would continue.

Peter Nathan, Director of Education provided further information relating to the introduction of free school meals for all pupils of primary school age which has been introduced by the Mayor of London. This has been introduced for one school year only namely 2023/24 and covers all primary aged children in London although this report considers its impact in Enfield. 

Questions were invited from Members.

In response to a question regarding the funding allocation it was advised that Enfield will receive £5.5m, delivered in tranches throughout the year, to distribute to the borough’s primary school, the first tranche of which has already been paid out to schools. This has been allocated based on census data at the rate of £2.65p per meal per child which is higher than the rate received by schools from the DfE which is currently £2.53.

In respect of logistical concerns about the introduction of this scheme it was confirmed that schools across Enfield have managed the process of a considerable number of extra children having school dinners very well and Headteachers in Enfield seem to have just got on with the job of implementation with relatively little fuss and there has been no come back to the key officer responsible for Enfield.

In response to queries regarding feedback on the scheme a request was sent out by the Director of Education and some detailed responses were provided by 15 schools with further feedback provided at a borough-wide headteacher briefing. All headteachers welcomed the scheme with all schools seeing a welcome uptake in children having a hot meal which was the intention of the Universal Free School Meals (UFSM) scheme. In one school, children having a hot meal doubled from 300 a day to 600, in another the percentage increased from 60% to 90% of pupils per day, and in another it increased from 63% to 81%. It is expected the numbers will rise further with the onset of winter with some children moving away from packed lunches.

Further details were discussed in respect of some of the challenges faced by schools which included some additional cost issues such as needing a lot more cutlery and plates. Most schools have also had to extend their dinner break times to allow for more children. This means for example having three sittings for lunch instead of two with lunch times starting at 11:30am and not finishing until after 1pm, raising concern that some children may not have their first meal of the day until the afternoon. There  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To note the Children, Young People & Education Scrutiny Panel Work Programme 2023/24.

NOTED the Children, Young People & Education Scrutiny Panel Work Programme for 2023/24.

To note the dates of future meetings as follows:

Monday 11 March 2024

All meetings will commence at 7:00pm and will be held in the Conference Room at the Civic Centre.

NOTED the dates of future meetings as follows:

·         Monday 11 March 2024.

This meeting will commence at 7:00pm and will be held in the Conference Room at the Civic Centre.