Agenda and minutes

1.1 Apologies for absence were received from the following members of the Commission:

Cllr Sheila Suso Runge;

Cllr Lee Laudat Scott;

Cllr Caroline Selman.

1.2 The following members connected virtually:

Cllr Midnight Ross;

SalmahKansara (Co-opted Member)

2.1 There were no urgent items and the agenda was as had been published.

3.1 The following declarations were received by members of the Commission:

·  Jo Macleod, school governor and mother of child with SEND in the borough;

·  Cllr Anya Sizer, mother of a child with SEND in the borough.

To review the support which is available for young parents in Hackney.

4.1 Following on from work on the disproportionalities in perinatal mental health from the 2021/22 work programme, the Commission agreed to review the support available to young parents (under age of 25) in Hackney.  The aim of this item was to:

·  Review needs of young parents and ensure that this is being effectively met across local services;

·  Assess how services work together to support young parents and as well as their children;

·  Identify ways in which the local offer to young parents might be extended or improved.

4.2 A report from Public Health and Children and Families  Services on services which directly support or commission services to support young parents was provided to the Commission. The report provided an overview of the range of support which is provided to young parents, including those who are care experienced.

4.3 As well as officers from Children and Families, Public Health and Education, the Commission also invited Cathy Ashley, the Chief Executive of Family Rights Group (FRG) to also attend.  FRG is a national charity supporting children and families and which (among other services) provides dedicated advice, help and support for young parents. 

4.4 Ahead of this meeting, the Chair and Vice Chair also held two focus groups with young parents to understand more about their experience of being a young parent in Hackney, the range of support they have received from local services and what they thought  should be improved for other young people in their situation.

Public Health

4.5 Officers presented the published paper and highlighted the following:

·  The Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) would no longer be commissioned to support young parents, but would be replaced by an Enhanced Health Visiting Service (EHVS).  The FNP was a licensed service which meant it was inflexible in how it could support young parents (i.e. only  support first time mothers under the age of 25, first child only up to the age of 2, and mothers cannot access the programme after 28 weeks of pregnancy).

·  The new EHVS would be an additional tier to Health Visiting services currently commissioned which would not be age restricted, or focused on the first child, but would be based on needs of parents.  Basing the EHVS within existing health Visitor provision would also enable support to be stepped up and stepped down as needed. 

·  The FNP will end on 31st August 2023 with new EHVS starting on 1/9/23.  It was noted that the FNP had not taken on any additional clients since October 2023 when the decommissioning was announced.  New young parents who would have qualified for FNP support are being cared for by universal services in the interim.  Those currently on the FNP programme would continue to be supported, but would transition to the EHVS in September 2023.

·  Other universal services provided through public health included a community based mentoring service which was also currently being re-commissioned.  Other areas of provision included Clinical Health and Wellbeing Service and a substance misuse service.

Children’s Centres

4.6 Children's Centre  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To review the attainment of pupils in Hackney academic year 2021/2022.

5.1 The Commission maintains regular oversight of pupil attainment in Hackney and this is therefore a standing item within our work programme.  Children’s attainment is presented at three stages for review, Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS),  Key Stage 2 (KS2) and Key Stage 4 (KS4).  The aim of this item is to:

·  Assess the attainment and progress of local children;

·  To identify any gaps on educational attainment among different groups; and

·  By extension, enquiring how HE and local schools are working to address local gaps in attainment.

5.2 The Commission reviewed a report provided by officers which provided a demographic analysis of attainment data to allow comparative assessment of pupil performance and the attainment gap between different groups of pupils.  Given the Commission’s ongoing interest in children who have been excluded, additional data on attainment of children in alternative provision is also included in the report. 

Hackney Education

5.3 EYFS - Summary

·  This was the first set of data since 2019 and the introduction of a new assessment framework for EYFS. 

·  It is therefore very difficult to compare results from 2022 with previous years.

·  The gap between FSM children reaching a GLD in Hackney and those who don’t is just 2% compared to 20% nationally.

·  Although the data shows very high levels of attainment at EYFS, some groups were underperforming, particularly Black Caribbean, Black African and Turkish/Cypriot/Kurdish children.

5.4 KS2 Summary

·  The overall level of performance was good at KS2, and 69% met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, which is 10% above the national average.

·  Hackney was one of the highest performing boroughs ranking 8th against all other LA’s for the proportion of children reaching a GLD in reading (16th), writing (14th) and maths (9th).

·  Disadvantaged children (FSM, SEND) and ethnic groups all outperformed equivalent national cohorts.

5.5 KS4 - Summary

·  GCSE measures in Hackney (attainment 7, progress 8, standard pass and higher pass) exceeded national pass rates;

·  ¾ of children obtained a standard pass in English and Maths;

·  Local cohorts outperformed national cohorts in respect of FSM entitlement, SEND, gender and EAL.

·  Areas of focus going forward included:

·  Closing the in-school attainment gap - boys, disadvantage, ethnicity and ability.

·  Use of additional funding such as pupil premium or tutoring;

·  Curriculum was key for engagement and supporting improved performance;

5.6 Alternative Provision - Summary

·  Standard pass in this cohort was three times greater than the national cohort.

Questions from the Commission

5.7 Overcrowded housing, lack of study space and unequal access to other study resources all impact on levels of attainment, particularly in local Black Caribbean, Black African and Turkish/Cypriot/Kurdish communities.  How is the council addressing these broader systemic issues which are underpinning lower levels of attainment within these communities?

·  The authority was constantly interrogating performance data to ensure that all children achieve and to understand where to focus resources to support improvement.

·  Black Caribbean, Black African and Turkish/Cypriot children were underperforming compared to their peers in Hackney and poor housing, unemployment, poverty were all factors which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To review the work programme for the remainder of the municipal year.

6.1  The work programme for the remainder of the municipal year was presented to the Commission.  Members noted that there was one formal meeting remaining for the Commission on April 17th 2023 where there will be two substantive items.

6.1.1 Access to CAMHS

To support this item a focus group with representatives from local CAMHS services will be held on Wednesday 22nd March 2023 at 6.30 (on-line).  All members of the Commission were invited to attend this focus group as it will provide an opportunity to discuss key issues about the accessibility of local CAMHS services.  An outline of the session is being drafted and would be circulated to members and participants ahead of the meeting.

The focus groups will follow up visits by the Chair and Vice Chair  to a number of local CAMHS settings which took place on 10th March 2023. Key issues arising from these visits will also be sent to members ahead of the focus group and the main public meeting.

6.1.2 Cabinet Q & A (Deputy Mayor Bramble)

After consulting with members, the Commission has agreed to focus on 3 areas with the Deputy Mayor:

·  Quality and outcomes of Young Hackney work with schools

·  Children in temporary accommodation

·  Children that go missing from care, especially UASC

6.2 The Commission also noted that further updates were expected:

·  Housing Support for Care Leavers - Cabinet response is now being presented at 24th April Cabinet meeting.

·  Childhood Food Poverty (and Summit Outcomes) - Cabinet response on the expected toward the end of March/ early April.

7.1  The draft minutes of the meeting held on 27th February 2023 were published separately from the main agenda pack on 15th March which all members had received.

Matters Arising

7.2   The Commission agreed to write to Cllr Woodley setting out the key areas of SEND provision which have emerged from local scrutiny which could be reflected in a finalised action plan. If members have issues that they wish to highlight, please email the scrutiny officer by 24th March.

7.3  Members agreed the minutes of the 27th February 2023.

8.1 There was no other business and the meeting concluded at 9.40pm.