Issue - meetings

Councillor Baker proposed and Councillor Fowler seconded the report which sought to provide Council an update as to the progress made by the Children’s Trust and areas for improvement identified.

Members made comments as follows:

·       The Children’s Trust seemed to be accepting of past errors which was positive to see.

·       Had consideration been given to the Children’s Trust reporting individually to the 2 local authorities?

·       The report referred to social worker targets being “just above target” but this did not seem to be the case when Members spoke with social workers.

·       More information was requested regarding the SEND Accountability Board.

·       It was asked whether the “new system as soon as possible to be live for January 2025” as mentioned in the report had been factored into the budget, or if it was an additional expense.

·       Some Members felt that the Children’s Trust was being set up to fail. It did not have enough money to operate properly.

·       Members looked forward to the Ofsted report and hoped that it showed that improvements had been made.

·       Concerns were raised regarding long-term monetary issues. The Children’s Trust exceeded its allocated budget, and it may have to use reserves going forwards. Some Members were worried that it may impact other statutory services and they urged the administration to continue lobbying government about the funding gap.

RESOLVED:

1)    Council received the Annual Report for information.