Agenda and minutes

• Councillor Matin
• Councillor Mistry, substituted by Councillor Kansagra
• Councillor Afzal

Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting, the nature and existence of any relevant disclosable pecuniary or personal interests in the items on this agenda and to specify the item(s) to which they relate.

Personal interests were declared as follows:

Ø  Councillor Sheth – Board Member and / or Chair of a number of education settings across the borough and within London including St Joseph’s Infant and Junior Schools, Ashley College, Preston Park Primary School and Daniel’s Den

Ø  Councillor Ethapemi – spouse employed by NHS

Ø  Mr Alloysius Frederick – Chair of All Saint’s Trust and Governing Body Member for two secondary schools in the borough

Ø  Councillor Collymore – declared a personal interest in the Brent Carers’ Strategy through her employment with Brent MENCAP

Ø  Councillor Fraser – declared a personal interest in the Brent Carers’ Strategy through her involvement with the Brent Carers Board

To hear any deputations received from members of the public in accordance with Standing Order 67.

Two deputation requests were received from members of the public, both in relation to agenda item 6 – Annual School Standards and Achievements Report 2022-23. As there were no objections to hearing the deputations the Chair allowed both speakers up to 3 minutes to address the Committee.

Tanisha Phoenix addressed the Committee as a parent of pupils at Byron Court Primary School, highlighting that she would be speaking in relation to section 3.3.3 of the Annual School Standards Report, namely, the academisation of Bryon Court Primary School. In addressing the Committee, she highlighted that a Freedom of Information Request (FOI) had been made to help parents understand how a school which previously had outstanding teaching status had now been rated inadequate by Ofsted and hoped the Committee could help to get answers to some of those questions and concerns.

Tanisha began by advising the Committee that parents at Byron Court Primary School were aware that a Rapid Improvement Group (RIG) had been put in place at the school in September 2022, chaired by Shirley Parks (Director Education, Partnerships & Strategy, Brent Council). Parents wanted to understand why the RIG had been put in place, what issues had been identified in September 2022 and whether those were some of the same issues that had been identified in the recent Ofsted inspection, as well as what the impact of the RIG had been over the past year that it had been in place. In addition, parents had requested information on how many RIG meetings took place and what level of monitoring and support was put in place by the RIG, including any interventions that took place to ensure improvements were being made. Where issues were identified when the RIG was in place, parents wanted to understand whether those issues were escalated and where. It had been felt by Byron Court School that RIG meetings had not been as frequent as the school would have liked and parents asked whether this had contributed to the inspection rating that the school had received. Tanisha highlighted that another school in the borough, detailed in paragraph 3.3.2 of the report, had been rated as ‘requires improvement’ in 2022-23 and subsequently had a RIG put in place that had led the school on a journey to ‘good’. Parents wanted to understand why the RIG had not given Byron Court that same journey to ‘good’ so that by the time Ofsted inspected the school it was rated inadequate. In concluding her deputation, Tanisha asked if the Council felt that it had done all in its power to help the school and avoid the now forced academisation order.

Vina Vekria also addressed the Committee in relation to section 3.3.3 of the Annual School Standards and Achievement Report 2022-23, namely the academisation of Byron Court Primary School, as a parent of 2 students at the school. She began by acknowledging that the Council was legally bound to comply with the academisation order, and that Councillor Gwen Grahl (Cabinet Member for Children,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record.

·         4i. Call-in Minutes – 12 February 2024

·         4ii. Minutes – 4 March 2024

The minutes of the previous meetings, held on 12 February 2024 and 4 March 2024, were approved as an accurate record of the meeting.

There were no matters arising.

For the Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee to receive an update on school standards and achievements during the 2022/23 academic year from Early Years to Key Stage 5.

Councillor Gwen Grahl (Cabinet Member Children, Young People and Schools) introduced a report which updated members on the school standards and achievements during the 2022-23 academic year, covering Early Years through to Key Stage 5. She began her introduction by highlighting the challenges that teaching staff and pupils had faced across Brent in recent years, including responding to and recovering from educational setbacks during the pandemic, cost-of-living pressures, the ongoing shortage of funding in the education sector as a whole, the significant rise in SEND demand, the need to improve infrastructure at some sites, and the recent changes in eligibility criteria for early years provision. In raising those challenges, she felt that, despite those difficulties, schools had delivered outstanding outcomes for children and young people. To provide an example, she highlighted that 95% of schools in Brent were graded as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted. The outcomes for SEND pupils were consistently achieving above the national averages at key stages 1, 2 and 4, and at GCSE level, 38.3% of results were at A* - C grade or equivalent compared to a national average of 25.3%. In presenting the report, Councillor Grahl paid tribute to teaching and school support staff across the borough who were educating and supporting Brent’s children and young people.

Nigel Chapman (Corporate Director Children and Young People, Brent Council) added to the introduction of the report, explaining that the data in terms of performance related to the academic year 2022-23, but the report also provided some updated contextual information about the current position which went beyond 2022-23. He highlighted that the performance of Brent schools remained strong and above the London average, particularly Ofsted outcomes, and the attainment in the majority of areas was well above the national average which he felt should be celebrated and reflected the strength of school leadership in the borough. In discussing attainment, he advised the Committee that the attainment of disadvantaged children was above the national average at all key stages. He also highlighted section 3 of the report which showed the targeted focus on the attainment of boys of Black Caribbean heritage, which he advised had led to improvements in achievement levels over the last 12 months. He recognised, however, that there was still more work to do with that cohort to improve attainment levels even further.

Specifically addressing the comments raised by the speakers under item 3 – deputations – Councillor Grahl thanked the parents for their comments. She advised them that she had written to the Secretary of State the previous week to pass on the concerns raised by parents, asking for the academisation of Byron Court Primary School to be reconsidered, and she committed to sharing any response received on that. At the school, an Interim Executive Headteacher had been appointed which parents had been informed about. In relation to whether the Council would push for a reinspection, Councillor Grahl committed to doing all within her power to ask for that at the right time once  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

For the Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee to receive an update on the implementation of the Brent Carer’s Strategy.

Councillor Neil Nerva (Cabinet Member for Community Health and Wellbeing) introduced a report which outlined the development and implementation of the Brent Carers Strategy 2024-2027. In introducing the report, he advised the Committee that it highlighted the process the Council and key partners engaged in to develop the strategy and included the draft strategy alongside it. Paragraph 3.5.9 of the report outlined the 6 commitments of the strategy for the next three years, namely; access to information, partnership working, supporting wellbeing, carer awareness, reaching into communities, and supporting young people at the start of their caring journey. He was pleased to introduce Ann-Marie Morris, Chief Executive of Brent Carers’ Centre to the meeting and Valerie Reid who was an informal carer in Brent.

In continuing the introduction of the report, Claudia Brown (Director Adult Social Care, Brent Council) added that the strategy had been developed and co-produced with carers and had an action plan that sat alongside it that would be implemented with carers. Lynette Gbedze (Service Manager, Direct Services) detailed some of that engagement work, explaining the importance of engagement with carers so that their voice came through the strategy. That engagement had begun in November 2022 working with Brent Carers Centre and other carer organisations within the borough such as Brent Parent Carer Forum and Brent MENCAP. Valerie Reid, an informal carer who had joined the meeting, co-chaired the Carers Board and was asked to share the engagement work that took place with informal carers.

Valerie Reid began by expressing that the engagement work that had took place was very meaningful from her perspective because it meant the strategy was subsequently developed based on carers’ voices. She highlighted that well over 150 different carers had attended those engagements and had been very vocal and honest. All carers who had contributed had their own concerns and she felt that those concerns and the voices of carers had been heard and action taken in response to that. Feedback from those engagements had been that carers felt they were not listened to, that services were fragmented, and that information was in too many different places. Based on those carers’ voices the 6 commitments of the strategy were then shaped.

Ann-Marie Morris concluded the introduction by highlighting that Brent Carers Voice had been involved in getting a group of carers together to attend a consultation meeting between both children’s social care and adults’ social care services. Rachel Crossley (Corporate Director Community Health and Wellbeing, Brent Council) emphasised the fact the strategy was for all ages and a joint effort across directorates.

The Chair thanked presenters for their introduction and invited comments and questions from those present, with the following issues raised:

The Committee acknowledged the importance of support for carers, for example through respite. Claudia Brown agreed, informing the Committee that the Council did work with carers to ensure they had that that support which was often done through the commissioned service, Brent Carers Centre, who helped to connect with carers and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

For the Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee to receive information detailing Brent’s new reablement service.

which updated the Committee on the reablement service which went live in February 2024. In introducing the report, he highlighted the commissioning process that took place and new operational arrangements. He emphasised the importance of having a dedicated reablement service to enable as many people as possible, upon leaving hospital, to maximise their independence and avoid institutional support.

In adding to the introduction, Andrew Davies (Head of Commissioning, Contracting and Market Management, Brent Council) highlighted that the report described the process that the Council went through in order to arrive at the service that was now available with the three providers and the ambitions the Council had for that service for the duration of the next 5 years. He advised the Committee that the service went live 2 months ago therefore it would be premature to draw conclusions about the success of the service but would be happy to provide an interim update in the future.

Sarah Richards (Head of Intermediate Care and Principal Occupational Therapist, Brent Council) added that the work she was doing aligned with the reablement service, focusing on the right areas for assessment teams. Her team was ensuring that there was a therapy led service, in line with the NHS framework, and that the right numbers of staff were appointed to be able to assess residents as they came through the door. Having that reablement focus ensured the team was reducing, preventing and delaying the need for formal care.

The Chair thanked presenters for their introduction and invited comments and questions from those present. The following points were raised:

The Committee noted that there were now 3 providers with 3 patches and asked whether each provider covered the same level of workload. Andrew Davies confirmed that was the case, which was the basis on which the contracts were designed. He highlighted that the contracts were based on a fixed hourly rate of care at £21 per hour as of 1 April 2024, and the Council had given an indicative number of hours when it tendered the service of around 800 hours of reablement care per week spread across the 3 patches. That hourly rate would increase through the life of the contract at 50p per hour per year. In response to whether there were any risks to that approach, Andrew Davies highlighted that there was a risk to the provider that the number of hours of care per week that the Council tendered for either fell short or was exceeded. However, the Council had mitigated that by looking at the average number of hours of care delivered over a period of time to get to a figure that was felt to be realistic. In terms of the hourly uplift, this mirrored what had been done on the homecare contract. The Council expected providers to pay London Living Wage (LLW) which the 50p uplift per hour per year would contribute towards, and whilst it was recognised that LLW had increased more than that recently it was expected  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

For the Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee to receive the latest recommendations tracker.

The Committee noted the recommendations tracker.

Notice of items to be raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Deputy Director – Democratic Services or their representative before the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 60.

None.