Agenda and minutes

Mr Martyn Tittley informed the Select Committee that he may need to declare an interest in minute 36 in respect of his work on flood defences.

RESOLVED - That the minutes of the Prosperous Staffordshire Select Committee meeting held on 19 December 2013 be confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

Mr Martyn Tittley, Chairman of the Working Group, informed the Select Committee that the Working Group’s investigation into Staffordshire readiness for an Ofsted inspection of their school improvement arrangements was now complete. The Working Group report was presented to Members, with the conclusion and four recommendations highlighted. A potential further piece of work to look at children missing from education was also suggested. Mr Tittley thanked his fellow Working Group Members and the officers involved in this constructive investigation.

The Cabinet Member, Learning and Skills, thanked all those who had been involved in this work and welcomed the report and its recommendations. Mr Adams told Members that he felt this work had helped to shape the documentation into something that was fit for purpose. He felt that many local authorities had been startled by Education Secretary Michael Gove’s reminder that they remained responsible for school performance, even though schools were now more autonomous. The Cabinet Member felt the school improvement process was now clearer, with a good framework and robustness of intervention. He thanked the Working Group for a tremendous piece of work. Mr Adams also asked for a meeting with Mr Tittley to clarify the recommendation on what lessons should be learnt from the Entrust Commissioning process in respect of lost expertise.

Members of the Working Group added their thanks to all those involved in this, remarking that it had been a positive process with professional and prompt responses to the concerns raised during their investigations. The relatively small School Improvement Team was an issue that members wished to keep an eye on to ensure they had the capacity to cope with their work to support school improvement.

The Data Dashboard had been highlighted as a very successful management tool for identifying areas for improvement and the Select Committee commended this.

The Cabinet Member, Learning and Skills, welcomed the proposal of further work by the Committee on children not presenting at school and suggested that this included Safeguarding issues and therefore would cross cut a number of areas.

The Select Committee Chairman added his thanks to all those involved in this work.

RESOLVED – That: a)  the report and recommendations of the Working Group on the Ofsted Inspection of School Improvement arrangements be endorsed for submission to the Cabinet Member, Learning and Skills; and,

b) a further working group be set up to consider young people missing out on education, to include a member of the Safe and Strong Communities Select Committee.

Presentation of the Cabinet Member, Learning and Skills

The Select Committee received a presentation from Tim Moss, County Improvement Manager, on the educational achievement in Staffordshire 2013.  He reminded Members that Staffordshire had a complex and varied school system, representing every form of setting. According to the School census conducted in October 2013 Staffordshire had 119,500 pupils attending 390 schools.

In Early Years the Foundation Stage profile was based on on-going observation and assessment. The main national indicator for each child to reach was “a good level of development”, defined as achieving at least the expected level in:

a)    Personal, Social and Emotional Development; Physical Development; and Communication and Language; and

b)    Early learning goals in the specific areas of Maths and Literacy.

The Foundation Stage profile in 2013 had changed and therefore direct comparisons with previous year results was not possible.

In 2013 54% of pupils achieved a Good Level of Development. This was two percentage points above the national average (52%) and ranked Staffordshire within the second highest quartile nationally. Members received a breakdown of this attainment by district. This district level information was shared with schools at their district meetings and helped inform priorities for improvement.

At Key Stage 1 (KS1) pupils were expected to achieve at least a Level 2 across all subjects. In 2013 performance in Reading, Writing and Maths had increased and Staffordshire out-performed the national average. 90% of Staffordshire pupils achieved at least the expected level in Reading (compared with an England average of 89%). This was an increase from the previous year and placed Staffordshire within the second highest quartile nationally. 88% of pupils achieved at least the expected level in Writing (England 85%) which placed Staffordshire within the top quartile nationally. 93% achieved at least the expected level in Maths (England 91%) placing Staffordshire within the second quartile nationally.

At KS2 pupils were expected to achieve at least a Level 4 across all subjects. Attainment for Staffordshire pupils in Writing had improved considerably over the last four years and was now ranked within the second highest quartile nationally. However there had been a reduction in the percentage of pupils achieving at least the expected level in both Reading and Maths, with Staffordshire now ranked within the third and fourth quartiles respectively. 75% of pupils achieved at least the expected level in Reading, Writing and Maths combined. This was one percentage point below the national average. Five districts recorded a rate of attainment below the national average. The percentage of pupils achieving at least the expected level of progress between KS1 and KS2 in Reading, Writing and Maths was below the national average with Staffordshire ranked within the bottom quartile for all three subjects.

The difference in attainment levels across the districts helped influence the appropriate commissioning of support to ensure greater impact on outcomes for Staffordshire pupils. It was really important to share this district level data with schools. The expertise of those outstanding Staffordshire schools could then be used to help support school improvement in schools that had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

Presentation of the Cabinet Member, Learning and Skills

The Select Committee received a presentation from Mr Ian H Benson, Client Side Lead, on the Entrust arrangements. He reminded members that the significant changes within education, such as the move towards academies and schools exercising their autonomy in purchasing services, had prompted consideration of a new way to deliver services. There had been an emerging market in school service providers and Staffordshire had identified an opportunity to become part of a partnership that would bring both benefits of commercial expertise and to the wider organisation through joint ownership of a commercial offer.

Capita, as the preferred bidder, had determined the value of the new company based on the initial level of business bought by the Council, potential growth, potential profits and the value of fixed and moveable assets. Based on this valuation the Council received approximately £32m to cover the cost of the assets and the “good will” generated by the Council’s commitment to purchase from Entrust.

The Council had three distinct levels of relationship with the new partnership company. The Council had a 49% share of Entrust, making it part owner. The Council also had a customer relationship with Entrust through a contractual service delivery agreement (SDA) to purchase approximately £22m of services from them. The Council was also a supplier to Entrust through a service level agreement (SLA) to supply back office services to schools.

Ownership of Entrust was governed by the Joint Venture Shareholders Agreement (JVSA). The Council transferred approximately 4100 staff via TUPE into Entrust, as well as approximately £2m of assets. As a 49% shareholder the Council would receive a 49% share of the dividends Entrust generated.

Members received a breakdown of the areas for which the Council purchased services from Entrust through their SDA. £7.5m of this was funded through the Dedicated School Grant (DSG) or through other general grants.  Although the SDA was for 20 years there was a break clause at 10 years.

The Council was a supplier to Entrust in two respects:

a)    Supplying back office services directly to the Entrust company through a three year SLA with a £3m annual income to the Council. These services included Internal Audit, Finance, ICT, Information Governance, Procurement, Pensions, Legal Services, Strategic Property and Health and Wellbeing services. Performance reporting to Entrust as a client would be coordinated through the contract office.

b)    Supplying back office services to Entrust that were then delivered to schools and academies under separate agreements between Entrust and the schools. The current value of these services was £5.37m.

Members asked for details on the number of schools currently buying services from Entrust and whether there was an increase in costs to schools. The number of schools buying services changed regularly. The current figure would be forwarded to members after the meeting. Entrust was expected to deliver best value on services and the Contract Office could challenge where they felt this was not being offered. Other market factors would have an effect on costs such as inflation.

Members asked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

Report of the Cabinet Member, Economy and Infrastructure

The Flood and Water Management Act (FWMA) received Royal Assent on 8 April 2010, with the Act being implemented by a series of ministerial orders. The Act imposed a number of new responsibilities on the County Council under its role as Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) for Staffordshire. The majority of this legislation was now in place with the exception of Schedule 3, Sustainable Drainage Systems, which was expected to be enacted by April 2014.

Members received a list of the new responsibilities that had already commenced under the Act and details of progress in delivering these responsibilities.

In conjunction with Shropshire County Council work was currently ongoing with the production of the Local Strategy for Flood Risk Management. The Strategy comprised a suite of documents and assessments that would provide the overall strategic direction for the management of local flood risk in both Counties. Seven key objectives had been identified , aligned with the Environment Agency’s National Strategy for Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management and with the corporate priorities of the County Council’s strategic plan. These objectives would help inform the development of an action plan, detailing how the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy would be delivered. The Strategy would be subject to three months consultation which was expected to commence in March 2014.

Central to the improved management of local flood risk was a better understanding of the flood defence and drainage assets within the County. The age and condition of the drainage infrastructure varied greatly, from culverts originally constructed hundreds of years ago to purpose built sewers and flood defence systems. The availability of records for much of this older drainage asset was limited which, given the size of the County, presented a challenge. Consequently a risk-based approach was being taken to the collection of additional and more detailed asset information for the historic systems. Flood mapping gave a good indication of where flooding may arise, however it was recognised that flooding could occur in other locations due to blocked drainage, capacity issues or failure of drainage assets.

The Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment had been completed in April 2011 and subsequently endorsed by the Environment Agency. Five Surface Water Management Plans had been produced in conjunction with District Council partner organisations to assist with the development site allocation decisions.

Arrangements for carrying out investigations into flood events were being shared with Technical Review Officers within Highway Operations. The summer floods in 2012 that affected parts of Staffordshire had led to a considerable number of locations where survey work and hydraulic analysis had been required in order to understand the root cause of the problem. This had led to bids being made to Defra in order to secure funds for the design and construction of flood alleviation projects.

On 6 April 2012 the County Council had taken over the regulation of ordinary watercourses within Staffordshire, a function that had previously been administered by the Environment Agency. The regulation process was in two parts and members received details  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

Councillors have previously received a copy of the SACRE Annual Report.  As a reminder the report can be found at: http://education.staffordshire.gov.uk/Curriculum/Subjectareas/ReligiousEducation/SACRE/annualreport/

The SACRE Chairman, Rev Preb Michael Metcalf, presented the SACRE Annual report 2012/13 to the Select Committee. The Annual report had previously been circulated to Members. The Report highlighted the work of the Staffordshire SACRE.

SACRE were currently undertaking a review of the Staffordshire Agreed Syllabus for RE, having received the authority to undertake this review from the Cabinet Member, Learning and Skills.

RESOLVED – That the SACRE Annual Report 2012/13 be received.

The Select Committee received an update from the Scrutiny and Support Manager on their work programme. She noted the following amendments:

a)    Members suggested moving some items intended for the March meeting to make this agenda more manageable;

b)    an extra item on Household Waste Recycling would be included to consider the consultation exercise; and

c)    the working group considering children missing out on education be set up, with the following membership: Mr Adamson, Mrs Compton, Mr Deaville, Rev Preb Metcalf, Mr Tittley and one member from the Safe and Strong Communities Select Committee.

RESOLVED – That the update on the Work Programme be noted.