Apologies were received for Councillors Panjala, Alike, Cecil, Day and Massey. Along with apologies for Les Billingham and Janet Simon.

To approve the minutes of the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on the 3 September 2024.

The Chair proposed the minutes approved as an accurate record of the meeting that took place on 3 September 2024. This was seconded by Councillor Johnson. There were no further objections or comments regarding the minutes.

Minutes approved.

To receive additional items that the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency, in accordance with Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972. To agree any relevant briefing notes submitted to the Committee.

The Chair made some announcements. Advising the committee that former borough Mayor Margaret Jones had sadly passed away.

She was passionate about scrutiny and health and well-being. She was a force of nature who worked across political boundaries and will be missed.

The Chair also announced that the Executive Director of Adults and Health Ian Wake, had now left Thurrock Council after nine years of service. Wishing him success in his future endeavours. The Chair welcomed Robert Persey as his successor and welcomed Councillor David Day as the new Vice-Chair of the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The Chair advised the committee that a BBC report named Thurrock as the worst place for GP care. As a result, an appropriate Director or CEO of the Mid and South Essex ICB have been invited to the next meeting in November. The Chair invited portfolio holder Councillor Hooper to address the Committee with further comments.

Councillor Hooper reassured the Committee they are working in the background in attempt to mitigate these issues. Including providing fellowships with the hope that those who are trained in Thurrock will stay in Thurrock.

The Chair requested a brief update regarding the Childhood Obesity Task and Finish Group. The Chair of the Task and Finish Group advised that work was underway and meetings with key stakeholders continue. The Group are analysing diet trends and visiting places such as Purfleet Pantry.

The Committee were advised that the parent governor/co-optee term is coming to an end, and thanked her for her support, time, and dedication to the Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Assistant Director of Education and Children’s Commissioning presented the report to the committee. Advising that it provides an overview of the top six key issues and priorities concerning special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) within the local authority.

The Committee were advised there has been an increase in demand for Educational Health and Care Plans (EHCP) nationally. In addition to this there is a lack of special needs school places. Along with a national shortage of educational psychologists who are needed to issue EHCP’s. This creates an issue when attempting to meet timescales. Once a plan is agreed, they have 20 weeks to implement it. Currently they are meeting 52% of the timescales which is lower than last year. The Committee were advised that Thurrock were involved in a Local Area SEND inspection and an Ofsted inspection. In addition to this Thurrock took part in a thematic review for preparing children for adulthood.

The Assistant Director of Education and Children’s Commissioning drew members attention to the school’s grant. Advising that they brought down the overspend and worked very hard with school communities. Advising that the team work to keep children local and keep them as part of the community.

Members discussed that funding begins once an EHCP is issued and queried whether there are any contingency plans to provide early funding for education providers to support pupils whose EHCP needs assessment will go over 20 weeks, due to shortages of educational psychologists. The Committee were advised that they arrange interim funding, that schools can request. They also provide high-level funding to schools and additional visits to work with the schools.

Members questioned what has been communicated to education providers about the shortage of educational psychologists and potential for late assessments along with providers responses. It was confirmed that they continue to have open conversations and have new arrangements for consultations and support arrangements are in place. If it’s deemed inadequate, they have a conversation with the parents and the school and put measures in place to make it work.

Members queried how many pupils with an EHCP are educated at school and elective home educated. It was confirmed that they have 22 pupils who are electively home educated and 12 pupils who are educated at school with EHCP’s.

Members discussed one of the key issues was to continue professional development of education staff to reduce the amount EHCP’s. They queried what professional development looked like and will this be completed by all schools in April 2025. The Committee were advised this was dependent on the individual schools and their training needs. The money will be spent by July 2025, and Autism is likely to be the highest needs.

Members queried how many alternative provisions were available and how many of these pupils accessed EHCP’s. The Committee were advised there are currently 68 pupils of these nine have EHCP’s. In primary alternative provisions there are 14 pupil and six of them have ECHP’s.

Members queried how many pupils were in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

The Head of Education Support Services and the Head Specialist Provision presented the report to the committee. Advising it is a statutory requirement to review it throughout the year, and they look at a five-year forecast along with GP data as it’s more accurate. This data is provided by the Department for Education (DfE). They also have regular meeting with Directors, Children’s Services, Home School Transport and Finance colleagues. The team consider in-year admissions as this influences pupil admission numbers (PAN). Schools are required to report to the team, and they work closely with schools and academies to see where they can add additional classes. There are several schools that have reduced their PAN numbers. They are allowed to do this, and Thurrock can advise on whether they think this is appropriate or not, however schools still have the final decision.

The Committee were advised that the Pupil Place Plan also have an impact on housing developments, and this impacts the forecasting. Housing developments are coming forward for consultation and they are providing their input.

Members queried how the Council are addressing insufficient places in the different planning areas. The Committee were reassured that they work closely with the Planning Team to indicate where schools may be needed and gain early engagement.

Members queried whether the Council has any statutory powers to enforce pupil places. It was confirmed the Council doesn’t have statutory powers as most schools are academies however, the Assistant Director Education and Children’s Commissioning meets regularly with the Directors.

The Chair asked for further clarity and reassurance for the Committee. Questioning whether they were confident there were open lines of communication with the Planning Team and that education and health were included in their plans. The Head of Education Support Services confirmed they work closely and have had success with Section 106 in previous years where they are consulted at an early stage.

The recommendations to note the updates were agreed.

The Chief Finance Officer for Mid-South Essex Foundation Trust attended remotely to present the report to the Committee. Advising that they are working with system partners alongside national benchmarks to improve productivity levels to match ratio of staffing. This has provided opportunities to ensure things are planned appropriately and they manage intervention.

Members questioned why there was an overspend. It was confirmed that this was required for additional capacity and COVID reduced productivity as well as increased gaps in recruitment. £70 million went to efficiency savings and £50 million were not recurrent.

Members queried whether there any other reasons aside from COVID that could have affected the overspend. The Committee were advised that they recovery from COVID was very significant.

Members discussed that the report mentioned measures to reduce length of stay and queried how they can implement this. The Committee were advised that opportunities for some who have had surgical procedures and are likely to recover quicker can be discharged quicker. Adding that over the past year there has been a reduction in readmission rates, however they are mindful that packages of care in the community can take some time and acknowledged that some people’s needs are better suited to community partners, who can offer more appropriate services.

Members questioned how the reduction of agency staff can address the gaps in recruitment. The committee were advised that there is a need of 16,000 staff and agency staff had filled majority of the vacancies in excess and covered a lot of temporary staff. This is being reduced as they are now filling permanent posts along with organising the way they work. As a result, they anticipate a reduction of £10 million related to staff spending. Advising that almost £90 million was spent on salaries.

The Chair asked for clarity that discharge was based on a clinical decision and not a financial decision. The Committee were reassured that this was entirely a clinical decision and that the report is merely a reflection of making the whole system work together.

Members questioned the process for those waiting for a hip replacement and accessing rehabilitation. The Committee were advised this is the main purpose of the Integrated Discharge Team which is to provide appropriate support including access to rehabilitation which is based on the patient needs.

Members sought clarity on the consumables mentioned in the report. The Committee were advised they looked at the ratio of drugs that were being stockpiled in some areas. There were supply chain issues, which affected storage and capacity and items have a shelf life.

Members questioned the use of private hospitals and if it had any cost benefit. The Committee were advised that post COVID private hospitals were used regularly to support the public sector. The volume of waiting lists can be reduced if the Integrated Care Board supports it. The Chief Finance Officer for Mid-South Essex Foundation Trust added that the Trust outsources have been significantly less this financial year. Going forward, the Trust will have  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

 Executive Directors summarised the findings of the report. The Chair questioned why there was a £2 million underspend and what happens to that money. The Committee were advised it returns to the balance budget.

The Executive Director for Children’s Services advised that £5 million of the biggest overspend was in children’s placements, and they are reviewing what can be done to reduce this. Majority of this does come from unregulated placements which have higher costings. Adding that children on remand are paid for by the local authority until they are released.

In addition to this young people leaving care may be waiting for placements as there are a lack of properties available for them to move into. Home-to-school transport is another big area of overspend, however mitigations are in place.

Members questioned what the timeline is for an unregulated placements to become regulated. The Committee were advised the timeline is variable as it’s something that is registered by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Ofsted must allocate an authority and that can take anywhere from 3-4 months or 9 months – 1 year. In the meantime, visits are carried out to the placements.

Members questioned the total service provision that states there was a £3 million overspend and £1.2 million is an over-estimation.

The Assistant Director for Financial Management and Procurement advised the Committee that during COVID local authorities were allowed to claim money from central government to cover loss of potential earnings, and that what the over estimation refers to. This is currently being held in case Central Government ask for the money back. The figures are part of the original report that was provided to Cabinet and Corporate Overview and Scrutiny.

In addition to this we have reserves for that will be used to ease homelessness pressure and will come back to the balance budget. There will be movement between quarter one and quarter two.

The Chair queried the quarter two position. The Committee were advised that the figures would be available next week. Several financial procedures are in place, and they await sign off. The Executive Director for Children’s Services added Executive Directors meet regularly with their Finance colleagues and it is a matter of producing the figures in a readable way. The Assistant Director for Financial Management and Procurement advised the Committee the figures have improved for quarter two. Membrs requested an updated quarter two report return to the committee.

Recommendations: Members to note the report.

Recommendations agreed.

The Chair went through the work programme advising the Committee on what reports were coming in November. The Executive Director for Children’s Services added the Ofsted Inspection report to the work programme for November.