Agenda item

Councillor Fowler proposed the report which sought to update Council on the progress of the 2022/23 Annual Review of the Service Delivery Contract (SDC) between Northamptonshire Children’s Trust (NCT) and West and North Northamptonshire Councils which included the 2022/23 Annual Report.

Councillor Hughes seconded the report.

Members discussed the report and made the following comments:

·       There was concern that the Council may have waited too long to intervene with the Children’s Trust.

·       It was hoped that cross-party communication could be sent to the Government to urge them for better funding for adults and children’s social care.

·       Over the last 5 years class sizes had grown and teachers faced ever more complex issues. Many children did not want to go to school; class sizes needed to be reduced.

·       There was concern that the report did not include a section on diversity and inclusion.

·       It was difficult to see how pressures would ever reduce since the issues were reflected nationally.

·       There was a good sense of moving forwards in the report.

·       The £2.2m overspend mentioned in the Cabinet Member for Finance report was the forecast for the year, and not the year to date. This included the anticipated Children’s Trust overspend. The recent collaboration with the Trust had given the Council much more confidence around its finances.

RESOLVED:

Council:

a)    Noted that the Annual Report contained at Appendix 1-11 of the report was completed in line with the service delivery contract.

b)    Noted that KPI’s in the SDC remained the same since the start of the contract with NCT and that the KPIs would be reviewed during 2024/25

c)     Noted that any changes to the SDC would need to be agreed by all parties, brought back to a future Joint Committee meeting for approval and, once approved, be implemented by a Change Control to the SDC.