To allow Members an opportunity to [a] declare any personal, prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interests they might have in any items which appear on this agenda; and [b] record any items from which they are precluded from voting as a result of Council Tax/Council rent arrears; [c] the existence and nature of party whipping arrangements in respect of any item to be considered at this meeting. Members with a personal interest should declare that at the start of the item under consideration.  If Members also have a prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interest they must withdraw from the meeting during the consideration of the item.

Councillor Mandongwe declared a personal interest as a trustee of the Dimobi Children’s Disability Trust and stated that she would declare any conflicts of interests during the meeting and recuse herself from any related decisions.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 15 January 2025.

Decision

That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 January 2025 be approved as a correct record.

Report of the City Treasurer

This report provides a high-level overview of the latest budget position for the Council in respect of its 2025/26 budget. Each scrutiny committee is invited to consider the officer developed options which are within its remit and to make recommendations to the Executive before it agrees to the final budget proposals in February 2025.

The Committee considered the report of the City Treasurer which provided a high-level overview of the updated budget position.

Key points and themes in the report included:

• Introduction and background;
• Reporting that when the Council set its 2024/25 budget in February 2024, it was forecasting a budget shortfall of £29m in 2025/26 increasing to £41m in 2026/27 and £77m by 2027/28;
• It was now expected that, subject to the outcome of the budget consultation a balanced budget could be set for 2025/26 after the application of savings approved in previous budget rounds of £10.6m, new proposed savings of £18.2m, and the use of c£18m smoothing reserves, alongside grant increases announced in the provisional settlement on 18 December 2024; and
• At the time of writing the report the final settlement had not yet been released, any changes between the provisional and final settlement would be reported to the Executive alongside any changes to the proposals outlined as a consequence.

The Executive Member for Finance and Resources addressed the Committee and said the Council was now expected to deliver a balanced budget for 2025/26 after the application of savings approved in the previous budget, new proposed efficiency savings of £18.2m that had been considered at the December meeting, the use of c£18m smoothing reserves, alongside grant increases announced in the provisional settlement on 18 December 2024 and an increase in Council Tax of 4.99%. He commented that whilst there would be a requirement to replenish an appropriate level of reserves for the city and pressures still existed, particularly in relation to demand across Adult Social Care and Children’s Services, Manchester was in a much more financially stable position when compared to many other local authorities. He also commented that it was anticipated that the planned government Spending Review would result in multiple year settlements for local authorities, which he welcomed.

The Executive Member for Finance and Resources also stated that since the report had been produced Manchester had received a £5.4m rebate from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s waste reserve. He said that £4.6m of this would be invested to clean streets, tackle flytipping, improve green spaces and leaf collection. He further commented that £400,000 would be used to reverse the previous decision taken to start charging for replacement recycling bins, which would have applied from April 2025. The remaining £338,000 would be spent on improved enforcement of mould and damp in the Private Rented Sector.

In response to a Member’s question about the Council’s financial position in future years, the Executive Member for Finance and Resources reported that this was not yet known but the introduction of multi-year settlements would provide greater certainty and enable Children’s Services to better manage demand, putting in place additional preventative initiatives to reduce demand.  He advised that it was hoped that some of the grants the Council was in receipt of would be embedded in the funding settlement.  He reported that the Council would continue to work innovatively and improve efficiency to safely reduce demand  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Report of the Strategic Director for Children and Education Services

This report provides a further update on the priorities for the services in the remit of this Committee and details the proposed changes to the budget.

The Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director (Children and Education Services) which provided a further update on the priorities for the services in the remit of the Committee and detailed the proposed changes to the budget.

Key points and themes in the report included:

• Introduction:
• Service overview, priorities and current pressures and risks;
• Service budget and proposed budget changes;
• Commissioning and procurement priorities;
• Workforce implications; and
• Equality and anti-poverty impact.

The Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People highlighted the challenges of 14 years of cuts, at the same time as the city’s population had grown, including more children from diverse backgrounds and higher levels of Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND).  She outlined how Children’s Services had responded to this, in particular work to prevent children from needing to become Looked After by the local authority.  She informed Members about additional funding that the Council had received since the new Government came into power in July 2024 and advised that this was a positive sign for the future.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• To welcome the early intervention and prevention initiatives and proposals to strengthen these further;
• Concern about private sector profiteering in relation to children’s placements and to welcome the work to address this, including through kinship care, foster care and Project Skyline;
• Investment to support kinship care; and
• The deletion of long-term vacancies.

The Acting Deputy Director of Children’s Services welcomed the Government’s support for and investment in kinship care, advising that more detail would be provided to the Committee in a report to next month’s meeting.  She reported that the Council would provide the same offer to kinship carers as to other types of carers and informed Members about plans for a neighbourhood-level model, connecting carers to local support.  She informed Members about investment in Family Group Conferencing to enable early identification of potential kinship-connected carers.

The Assistant Finance Director (Children, Education and Schools) reported that the identification and deletion of long-term vacant posts had taken place across all Directorates.  She advised that there were plans to recruit to three of the long-term vacancies within Children’s Services and that a business case would be made to reinstate them, as outlined at 3.24 in the report.

The Acting Strategic Director (Children and Education Services) advised that as the organisation transformed some posts were no longer required and the proposed deletions should not impact on the quality of service.

The Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People expressed concern at the cost of external placements and the private sector profiteering in this sector, advising that the Council had lobbied the Government in relation to this and it was an issue that the Government was looking into.  She also highlighted the ongoing work on becoming a Child Friendly City and the importance of listening to the voices of children and young people.

Decision

To note the proposed budget changes which are relevant to the Committee’s remit.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Report and presentation of the Director of Education

This report and presentation provide an overview of the work that has been undertaken, through the Corporate Family Cooperative, during 2023-24 to promote the education, employment and training of the Children and Young People in the care of Manchester (referred to as Our Children and Young People), Manchester Care Leavers, Previously Looked After Children who attend education settings within Manchester, Children and Young People with a Manchester Social Worker and Young People supported by the Youth Justice Service.

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Education which provided an overview of the work that had been undertaken, through the Corporate Family Cooperative, during 2023-24 to promote the education, employment and training of the Children and Young People in the care of Manchester (referred to as Our Children and Young People), Manchester Care Leavers, Previously Looked After Children who attended education settings within Manchester, Children and Young People with a Manchester Social Worker and Young People supported by the Youth Justice Service.

Key points and themes in the report included:

• A review of 2023-24;
• Overview of the children and young people;
• Personal Education Plan (PEP) completion;
• Ofsted Judgements of the schools attended by Our Children and Young People;
• The views, wishes and feelings of Our Children and Young People;
• Educational outcomes and attendance;
• Virtual School work to promote the education, employment and training of the children and young people it was responsible for;
• Exclusions and suspensions and work to promote inclusion;
• Virtual School priorities for 2024-25; and
• Celebrating the successes of Our Children and Young People.

Some of the key points and themes that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• The important role that the Virtual School played;
• How did the Virtual School ensure that children and young people were supported across such a large number of schools, including schools outside Manchester, spanning 40 different local authorities;
• Increasing the number of young people progressing into education, employment and training post-16 and post-19;
• Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children and Young People; and
• Why were suspensions and exclusions higher in Year 9.

The Virtual School Deputy Head acknowledged that working with so many schools across different local authority areas was a challenge; however, she advised that the Council’s ePEP (electronic Personal Education Plan) system could be used anywhere in the country and she outlined how the Virtual School engaged with schools, telephoning the school to introduce themselves, liaising with the school’s designated teacher for Looked After Children and offering them the same support, including access to training, website guidance, quality assurance and Educational Psychologist support, wherever they were in the country.  She advised that the vast majority of children and young people were placed within Greater Manchester but some were living further afield, with a large number of these being children who were living with Kinship Carers. 

The Virtual School Deputy Head informed the Committee that Virtual Schools from across the country worked collaboratively with each other which helped to manage some of these challenges.  In response to a Member’s comments, she welcomed the Government’s decision to relax the rules on mathematics and English for post-19 apprenticeships, advising that this would help many of Our Young People.  She reported that more of Our Young People would benefit from apprenticeships than were currently accessing them and that she was part of the Moving On Up network to encourage more care experienced young people to access apprenticeships.  She advised that the Council had recruited 22 apprentices last year, three of whom were care  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Report of the MSP - Children’s Executive Chair and the Strategic Director for Children and Education Services

This report provides a summary update on the Manchester Safeguarding Partnership (MSP) Annual report 23/24.

The Committee considered the report of the MSP Children’s Executive Chair and the Strategic Director for Children and Education Services which provided a summary update on the Manchester Safeguarding Partnership (MSP) Annual report 23/24.

Key points and themes in the report included:

• Partnership arrangements;
• Communication and engagement;
• Safeguarding effectiveness and scrutiny;
• Safeguarding practice reviews;
• Learning and improvement;
• Complex Safeguarding; and
• Neglect.

Some of the key points and themes that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• Internet safety;
• How the Independent Scrutineer was selected;
• The Operation Green Jacket investigation of child sexual exploitation; and
• To welcome that tackling neglect was a priority and recognising the role of schools in early identification and intervention.

The MSP Manager reported that the MSP engaged with Katherine Howard, who was a specialist in internet safety and worked with Manchester schools, providing regular parent and teacher updates.  She informed Members that one school was focusing on safeguarding in relation to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and that feedback on this could be provided at a later date.  She reported that the Independent Scrutineer post had been advertised and there had been a rigorous selection process, involving the Council’s then Strategic Director of Children and Education Services along with the designated safeguarding partners for the police and health services.

The Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People assured Members about the effectiveness of the appointed Independent Scrutineer, Jane Higham.  She supported a Member’s suggestion that the Committee visit the Complex Safeguarding Hub, advising that it was important for Members to undertake frontline visits.  She recognised the comments about the role of schools in identifying neglect, expressing concern about children who were electively home educated and the current restrictions on what the Council could do in relation to this group.

The Acting Strategic Director (Children and Education Services) assured Members that the Council and its partner organisations were alert to threats to children’s safety from the internet and were working to minimise these.  He highlighted the important contribution that young people themselves could make in identifying risks in relation to internet safety and the measures that could be taken to reduce them.  He also informed Members about an app developed for Care Leavers on internet safety.

The Acting Deputy Director of Children’s Services outlined the role of the Complex Safeguarding Hub in internet safety, using intelligence to disrupt activity and improving awareness of the risks, to prevent harm from occurring in the first place.  In response to a Member’s comments about some of the work taking place outside of Manchester on internet safety, she stated that she would welcome the opportunity to hear more about this.  The Member offered to discuss this further outside of the meeting.  The Member also emphasised the importance of parental engagement, while recognising that this could be challenging.  The Chair supported these comments, advising that parents could often be unaware of some of the risks.

The Acting Strategic Director (Children and Education Services) advised that, while he was restricted in what he  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Presentation of the Strategic Director (Children and Education Services)

This presentation provides an overview of the revised practice model for Children’s Services and an update on the Children’s and Education Workforce.

The Committee considered the presentation of the Strategic Director (Children and Education Services) which provided an overview of the revised practice model for Children’s Services and an update on the Children’s and Education Workforce.

Key points and themes in the presentation included:

• The national and local context;
• Overview of workforce priorities and challenges;
• Progress to date on recruitment and retention, workforce development and the well-being offer;
• Supporting workforce stability; and
• An overview of the Our Manchester Practice Model.

Some of the key points and themes that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• Social work apprenticeships;
• How to recruit and retain social workers, including rates of pay in comparison to other local authorities; and
• How would the Workforce Strategy ensure better representation and inclusion of minority groups in the Children’s Services workforce.

The Assistant Director of South Locality and Youth Justice highlighted the importance of social work apprentices’ life experiences and previous work experience and advised that the Council was now advertising these roles externally. 

The Acting Deputy Director of Children’s Services advised that, despite social work being a challenging career, it was also a popular career choice and there was a high level of demand to train as a social worker, with a number of different routes into the career being offered.  She reported that the Frontline Programme was for people who already had a degree in another subject while the Step Up Programme and apprenticeship scheme provided an opportunity for people working in another role, including people who might have worked in another role in Children’s Services for a number of years, to have the opportunity to train to become a Social Worker.  

The Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People informed Members about her experiences of visiting frontline social work staff over the years, advising that working conditions had improved and that Social Workers valued working for Manchester and the support they received.

In relation to recruiting qualified Social Workers, the Assistant Director of South Locality and Youth Justice advised that it was a very competitive market.  He reported that the pay for Social Workers in Manchester was around the average but that there were other factors which were more important to Social Workers such as feeling safe and trusted, having a relatively low caseload and having career development opportunities, so the Council was focusing on these, as well as the rates of pay.

In response to a Member’s question, the Acting Deputy Director of Children’s Services informed Members that the Council did not pay overtime to its Social Workers, but gave them back time through “thank-you Fridays” to give them a better work-life balance.  In response to a Member’s comments, she reported that staff had moved back into the refurbished Harpurhey office just before Christmas.  She advised that the Council needed to focus on providing the right well-being and support offer and, in particular, on retaining the most experienced Social Workers, who were in very high demand.  In response to a Member’s question, she provided  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

Report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit

The monthly report includes the recommendations monitor, relevant key decisions, the Committee’s work programme and any items for information.

A report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit was submitted. The overview report contained key decisions within the Committee’s remit, responses to previous recommendations and the Committee’s work programme, which the Committee was asked to approve.

Decision

To note the report and agree the work programme.