To receive apologies for absence, including notifications of any changes to the membership of the Board.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors David Thomas and Jackie Thomas who were represented by Councillor Chris Lewis.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meetings of the Board held on 2 and 8 October 2024.

The minutes of the meetings of the Board held on 2 and 8 October 2024 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

1.       To receive an update from Victoria McGeough, Partnership Lead Manager, Torbay Council on the following:

·                 Strategic Assessment

·                 Prevent

·                 Modern Slavery

2.       To receive an update from Superintendent Hayley Costar, Devon and Cornwall Police on serious and organised crime.

3.       To receive an update from Shirley Beauchamp, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Commissioning and Strategy Lead, Torbay Council on domestic abuse and sexual violence.

4.       To receive an update from Lincoln Sargeatnt, Director of Public Health, Torbay Council on Torbay Combatting Drugs Partnership.

Safer Torbay (Torbay’s Community Safety Partnership) Overview

Victoria McGeough, Partnership Lead Manager, Torbay Council presented the submitted overview report which provided an update on the following work of Safer Torbay:

• Strategic Assessment
• Prevent
• Modern Slavery

In response to questions, Members were informed that there are clear pathways of support in place for young people who were at risk of terrorism which would lead to multi-agency support.  Where online bullying was identified Members were told that appropriate responses were put in place by schools and where necessary Police and Children’s Services.  A lot of the work was identification around having conversations and identifying when behaviours or activities sounded like they had changed for the individual without explanation.  When working with individuals in the Prevent space it was about challenging views and offering a counter narrative to address dangerous and or toxic narratives.  Work with schools was good and Torbay’s referral rates were at the level expected and were appropriate as a result of the support that was in place.  There is a programme called ‘Act Early’ where family and friends could find information and be aware of how to report concerns to prevent radicalisation and extremism by acting early (see https://actearly.uk/).  It was noted that risk from radicalisation was a form of exploitation in its own right and individuals were often known to agencies through existing vulnerabilities and were often vulnerable to any form of exploitation including county lines, modern slavery and human trafficking.  Torbay works in partnership with Devon on modern slavery and human trafficking with Plymouth and Cornwall joining to help increase awareness and support what people do moving forward.  It was important to encourage people to understand what they were looking for and how to report, work has included campaigns for taxi drivers, hotels, leafletting and working with the Children’s Services Exploitation Team.  The charity ‘Unseen’ was the leading charity in this area and a key partner in this work (see https://www.unseenuk.org/about-us/unseen-history).  The British Transport Police have carried out training for train workers, and have undertaken joint work with the Police and Children’s Services, and taxis present at the train stations to raise awareness and identification of risks, particularly young people’s movement around different areas. This was part of a positive partnership approach to challenges faced.  Training was provided to schools via the Learning Academy.  Schools also have good relationships with Children’s Services and Community Safety, with Multi-Agency Forums including representatives from schools.  The Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) was the place to refer concerns which were then reviewed by multiple partners within 24 hours with specialist referrals for certain crimes.  This works to a National Standard which requires understanding if a child was being exploited.  There was a perception that trafficking was for foreign nationals, but this was not the case it could be local e.g. people in the same street.  It involves children and adults with the split of demographics depends on the type of modern slavery.  Incidents of cuckooing were referred Police and to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

To receive an update on the outcome of the work with the Local Government Association Advisor on the Governance of Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and a review of the Delivery Model.

(Note:  Nancy Meehan - Director of Children’s Services, Councillor Bye – Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Hannah Baker – Head of Service Inclusion and Special Educational Needs, Graham Pirt -SEND Strategic Lead Behaviour and Inclusion, Hannah Pugliese One Devon NHS, Sue Smart NHS Devon Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Lincoln Sargeant – Director of Public Health have been invited for this item.)

Councillor Bye - Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Nancy Meehan – Director of Children’s Services, and Hannah Baker - Head of Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and Inclusion outlined the submitted report which provided an update on the direction of travel for SEND and the work of the Local Government Association (LGA) following the Local Area Inspection of SEND in 2021 and the subsequent Written Statement of Action.

Members noted the advice from the LGA, set out in exempt Appendix 1 to the submitted report, which sought to reduce and simplify the approach to making improvements for young people and their families around SEND.

It was noted that there would be a Peer Review of SEND taking place in November 2024 at the same time as a lot of reforms taking place locally including a Locality Model, which was currently out to consultation, changes to governance arrangements with the SEND Local Area Improvement Partnership Board (SLAIP) being at the heart of the system, the Safety Valve Agreement with the Government around funding and the Dedicated Schools Grant Management, as well as a change to the Ofstead Inspection framework requirements.

Members acknowledged the work undertaken to date and the direction of travel set out in the submitted report and questioned what action was being taken to get school leaders involved in the process.

The Board was advised that school leaders representing secondary, primary and further education would be part of the SLAIP and would be part of the strategic visioning moving forward.  Previously there were lots of pillars and activities with each priority group having up to 30 people involved.  The Integrated Care Board (ICB), teachers and others were in the room but not getting anything out of it.  It was important to get the right people round the table at the top level to drive improvements forward.  This would feed into the safety Locality Model, Schools Forum, Safety Valve and Local Improvement Board to ensure school leaders feel they have a voice in and want to be part of the visioning and not just listening.  This would give school leaders ownership and engagement into the new system to help give support to children at the earliest opportunity without the need to get an education and health care plan (ECHP).

Resolved (unanimously):

1.         that the Overview and Scrutiny Board note the contents of the submitted report, and the progress made to date; and

2.         that the Overview and Scrutiny Board continue their oversight of the SEND improvement and preparation work.

To review the Council’s key performance indicators for Quarter 2 2024/2025 and make recommendations to the Cabinet.

Councillor Lewis, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Place Development and Economic Growth provided an overview of the submitted report which set out details of the Council’s performance against the priorities in the Community and Corporate Plan as at Quarter 2 for 2024/2025.

Members asked questions in relation to page 43, how the projects relate in the different columns under community and people; what were the projects under BPO4 – Percentage of contacts to Children’s Services progressing to early help services in the period on page 44 and why were they not on target; BP07 what was the reason for the percentage of cared for children in the period with three or more placements in the last 12 months being so high; it was positive to see 305 carers signed up to MyBay discount scheme, what was being done to increase numbers; what was the long term action plan to improve the average customer wait time when contacting Customer Services by phone as this was much worse than target; when would BP47 percentage of weed spraying schedule due, to be achieved during the quarter be back on track; what action was being taken to improve the timescale for determining planning applications and reduce the number of appeals being upheld; Torquay Museum holds nationally important collections could the Council do more to support them; how would the decision to turn down the YMCAs proposal for new housing impact on the delivery of new housing; clarification on if the timeline for Brixham Car Park had been met; page 53 decarbonisation refers to political support was needed for the priorities, a list had been previously provided, what was the current situation; and a lot of emphasis was put on enforcement cases, at the end of last year there were 586 cases and now there were 664 cases, when was it expected to get down to the target of 450 cases.

In response to questions, Members were informed that that each column in the tables needed to be read separately as they do not relate to each other.  Namely Projects, milestones due in 2024/2025 and performance indicators for each service area.

Members noted that BP04 percentage of contacts to Children’s Services progressing to early help services was being reviewed by the Children’s Services Continuous Improvement Board.  It was noted that there was additional wording around BP04 on page 61 of the report.  BP07 percentage of cared for children in the period with three or more placements in the last 12 months was much worse than target due to the numbers involved, however, the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services (Councillor Bye) explained that the Council does the best for each individual child but sometimes it was in their best interest to bring them back from placements to foster carers. 

It was noted that the MyBay resident’s discount scheme was being promoted through the Carers’ Newsletter which goes out to a wide range of Carers and their social media, Carers Right’s Day on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

To consider the Budget Monitoring Report for Quarter 2 and make recommendations to the Cabinet.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Finance, Councillor Tyerman and the Director of Finance, Malcolm Coe outlined the submitted revised Quarter 2 Budget Monitoring Report for 2024/2025, which showed an overall end of year forecast of £0.292m overspend.

In addition to the report the Board was advised that the following items would be included in the Capital section of the report to the Cabinet and Council:

Members asked questions in relation to where the £7.554m was coming from for Oldway; concern over the potential increase in spend for Adult Social Care and the impact on the budget; what was the reason for the £180,000 from Children’s Services Higher Needs Capital Funds for YMCA Capital improvements (a written response would be provided to this question); what was the reason for the waste disposals being significantly higher than last year and was there a corresponding increase or decrease in recycling; the content of the Budget Digest; assurance around 33 agency full time equivalent agency staff in Children’s Services and if this was going to reduce; the Dedicated Schools Grant and the Safety Valve and the agreed payback; and what was the governance around the decision to vire money from the Town Deal Fund to fund the Harbour Public Realm (a written response would be provided to this question).

In response to questions, Members were advised that the £7.554 for Oldway would be drawn down from Government capital funding with the Director of Finance being authorised to draw down funding to ensure the Council was spending to meet the grant conditions.

Members noted that the Council had negotiated a new deal with the Integrated Care Organisation from 1 April 2025 and know what the financial liability for Adult Social Care was and how much to put in, any overspend was held with health colleagues.  Wider Adult Services the additional money put into temporary accommodation and homelessness were now meeting demand as well as the additional money in Children’s Services, which was looking like a balanced budget would be delivered by the end of the financial year.

The Board was advised that the waste product from the recycler’s market value had declined bringing in less income but for a better quality product.  The levels of waste being sent to incineration and recycling goes up and down.  It was noted that the Waste and Recycling had not been over budget since Torbay became part of the South West Wast Partnership.  Members were advised that they could visit the site to see how our waste was managed and to let the Governance Support Team know if they wanted to organise a visit.

It was noted that there was still upwards pressure on the Higher Needs Block of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.