Agenda and minutes

There were none on this occasion.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the Prosperous Staffordshire Select Committee held on 25 July 2014 be confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

Report of the Leader of the Council

The Select Committee had helped shape the early development of the Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) at their meetings of 17 October and 20 November 2013. They now considered the significant progress made.

In March 2014 the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (SSLEP) submitted a long-term (2020) SEP for the area.  The Plan had been developed with a range of partners and had five central objectives: connected county; competitive urban centres; growth in key sectors; a skilled workforce; and Stoke-on-Trent as a core city.

Following negotiation with the Government the SSLEP Growth Deal had secured £82.2m investment in the following eight key economic projects that would deliver 4,900 jobs.

·        Build a new access from the A500 to reduce congestion and improve access to the Etruria Valley Enterprise Areaand the City Centre.

·        Bridge widening and local road improvements in Lichfield to access the Cappers Lane employment area and the Lichfield Park employment site.

·        A new roundabout junction on the A34 to improve access to the Meaford employment site.

·        New traffic controlled access and road widening for the Bericote Four Ashes employment site.

·        Improvements to the Branston Interchangeincluding signalisation of the roundabout and widening of the A38 slip roads.  

·        Build the new Stafford Western Access Route to ease congestion in Stafford and facilitate further employment and housing growth.

·        A Local Sustainable Transport Package for Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire which will improve connectivity and reduce congestion, including projects to introduce smart ticketing, improve bus punctuality and improve city centre and urban traffic management.

·        An Advanced Manufacturing Skills Hub that will provide the skills and engineers required for local priority sectors and grow traineeships and apprenticeship opportunities.

The Growth Deal represented a successful opportunity to secure economic growth and create quality jobs across the whole of Staffordshire.

Mr Philip Atkins, Leader of the Council, updated Members in detail on the progress made. He emphasised the need for a locally skilled work force that was able to take advantage of the jobs created. He thanked the team behind the Growth Deal for their expertise and dedication. There was a need to evidence each projects’ success in order to access further funding.

The Chairman queried what scrutiny Stoke-on-Trent City Council had undertaken on the SEP and whether there would be benefit to joint scrutiny between the two councils. A protocol had been established with regard to joint scrutiny of the SEP. There had been one joint meeting at which the LEP Chairman attended. Officers were not aware of scrutiny on the City Plan, however City Council officers were more likely to have been involved in any such scrutiny work.

Members felt the Growth Deal was good for both Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent. There was some disappointment expressed as Cannock had not been included in the first round of the Growth Deal, however there was a hope that they would benefit from round two. However Cannock had benefitted from developments with the Mill retail construction with the creation of 600 jobs.

Some concern was expressed at the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Report of the Cabinet Member, Learning and Skills

  As part of its desk-based review and regular data monitoring Ofsted could identify a theme or performance issue in a local authority area that they consider needed further investigation. In such circumstances a focused inspection would be carried out. On Monday 11 March Ofsted notified the authority of their intention to undertake a focused inspection in Staffordshire.  Ofsted’s concern for Staffordshire centred around progress made by pupils as they moved through primary schools, prompted by schools performance data showing progress made between early years through to Key Stage (KS) 2. This area of concern had already been identified through the authority’s own analysis of school performance and was reflected in the school improvement priorities already shared with schools, including at the District events held early in spring 2014.

The Focused Inspection looked at 19 primary school inspections selected by Ofsted, an anonymous telephone survey of 22 good or better schools and a sample 18 schools inspected. The sample of schools inspected represents 6% of the total number of Staffordshire primary schools (295). The feedback presented a mixed picture, with Inspectors noting a number of strengths, reflecting on some variability of views and a number of key areas for development. The Inspections also took place against a different and tougher inspection framework with different inspection criteria underpinning the judgments, therefore preventing direct comparisons.

The Cabinet Member, Learning and Skills highlighted that the inspection had not included any discussion with the local authority or with their stakeholders. He felt that this had allowed a level of misinformation to exist, for example around the relationship between Human Resources and their part within Entrust. This confusion could have been avoided if Ofsted had included discussions with the local authority.

Following feedback and under the governance of the Children’s Improvement Board and the Ofsted Programme Board, a detailed action plan had been drawn up to address issues raised and Members received a copy of the plan. Over the last six weeks in particular a range of resources had been mustered to enable nearly all the actions to be completed or be underway. The Commissioner for Education and Wellbeing thanked the Council for their support in finding this resource. The launch point for these actions was  September, at the start of the new academic year.

There was an expectation that school to school support would be used to share strengths and expertise. Members asked how such support was brokered. Such work was undertaken in a number of ways, with schools encouraged to learn from each other, working collaboratively without the need for any brokerage. Where the authority had concerns around school improvement they would broker this work and where there was a need to purchase support then this would be done through Entrust.

Members heard that the overall improvement in Staffordshire school performance, tracked over time and sustained across the last 12-18 months should provide a level of assurance and confidence that there was a school improvement partnership in place that worked and was developing rapidly.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Report of the Cabinet Member, Learning and Skills

At their meeting of 24 January 2014 the Select Committee had requested an update report reviewing the progress and performance of the education support services commissioning and contract arrangements with Entrust. Since the start of the new joint venture in April 2013 significant steps had been taken to secure a robust, effective and efficient commissioning and delivery of school improvement services.  These steps included; the development of a Service Delivery Agreement with clear service specification, outcome measures and key performance indicators; the establishment of contract monitoring mechanisms and performance reporting formats that support review of activity against key outcomes and enable continuous improvement; and a schedule and structure of commissioner-provider meetings established that secured effective strategic and operational management of the services.

The traded offer from Entrust was not covered within the report but was a significant part of their work. The school improvement element of their work focused on five key school improvement priorities. Every time a piece of work was commissioned it was linked to one of these priorities. Although some work addressed more than one priority there was no multiple recording. The authority was close to completing their annual  self-assessment which would include how successful commissioning delivery had been.

Members received details of the key performance indicators (KPIs) around intervention and support, curriculum development and governor services. Over the last 18 months robust governance arrangements had been developed to look after contracted arrangements, with the Joint Operations Board working alongside Entrust colleagues to monitor progress on a monthly basis. The August report showed that all contractual KPIs were working.

The Cabinet Member, Learning and Skills, informed Members that the real work was what lay behind the figures, having dialogue and explanation to move forward.

Emma Pearson, Chief Executive, and Sharon Kelly, Director of Education Services, attended the Select Committee from Entrust. They shared infographics setting out key facts and statistics, areas where a difference had been made and moving forward to 2015. The Select Committee found these very useful and suggested they be shared with all county councillors to help illustrate to work of Entrust.   

An incredible job had been done with regard to the structure of the new organisation and its governance and Members were informed that the transition had been smooth.

Examples of Entrust investment were shared, with £6m invested in Outdoor Education Centres (OEC) to update facilities that now catered for a wider age range, delivered clear programmes and opened all year rather than term time only. There was now a key need as well as a key outcome to everything Entrust delivered. Entrust had a dialogue with schools to ensure they matched delivery with needs, with the business advisory group (made up of Staffordshire head teachers) helping to develop the offer and give feedback.

Customer R Management (CRM) visits were undertaken with schools. These were normally between the chair of governors, head teacher and/or bursar  and a representative from Entrust at Director level. The meetings were to ensure that commissioning was successful with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Members reviewed their work programme. Following todays meeting items would be included on:

·        a 6-9 month progress report on following the Ofsted focused inspection

·        the impact of the SEND reforms

Members also asked what progress had been made in connection with the Bradwell Lane Petition from their 25 July meeting. The Coroners report had not yet been published, however once this was available the issue would be considered again by the Select Committee. The Petition lead and the local Member had been informed that this was the position and that they would be invited to attend when the issue was re-visited. Bradwell Lane would be included on the work programme.

RESOLVED – That the above amendments to the work programme be agreed.