Minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 9 January 2013.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the meeting of the Sevenoaks District Kent Locality Board held on 6 March 2013, be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Any interests not already registered

There were no declarations of interest.

The completed actions were noted.  With reference to Actions 2 - 4 the Chairman welcomed the KCC Head of Integrated Youth Services, the KCC Assistant Head of Integrated Youth Services and the Chief Executive of CXK. 

With permission of the Board the Chairman delayed Agenda Item 4 to allow the KCC Area Education Officer (West Kent) time to arrive from another meeting.

Verbal update.

The SDC Head of Community Development reported that two Health and Wellbeing Board workshops had been held with guest speaker Professor Chris Bentley.  The topic was health inequalities and how to address the issue and set appropriate targets.

The West Kent Health and Wellbeing Board had met and discussed inter agency working and decision making.  An issue to be resolved was how the Board would  relateto the KCC Health Overview Scrutiny Committee (HOSC).  The North Kent Health and Wellbeing Board had yet to meet.

Information from CXK regarding rural provision.

Nigel Baker, KCC Head of Integrated Youth Services, introduced Andy Moreman the KCC Assistant Head of Integrated Youth Services and Sean Kearns Chief Executive of CXK as present to address issues raised at previous meetings (and as listed in Actions from the last meeting of the Board sees Minute 34).

The Chairman clarified that there were two main concerns: what youth provision was going to look like within the District; and, the concerns with the commissioning process especially with regards to rural provision.  There was concern that there were a lower number of sessions proposed by CXK than had been previously in place or that had been offered by other providers within the commissioning process.  As a commissioning model was to be more widely used in the future, it was important to clarify the actual role / involvement of the District. 

Two documents were circulated: one outlined the youth service provision in Sevenoaks, Dartford and Gravesham; and the other was a map indicating direct and commissioned provision which the KCC Assistant Head of Integrated Youth Services commented on.  Of particular note was the increased spend in the District and that it was only a small part of the total provision for 13 – 19 year olds, with a whole range of services offered by organisations such as Girls Guides and Scouting.  The direct provision would be used to enhance and complement what was already in place.  A good ‘local youth offer’ was meant to ensure resources were maximised and duplication avoided.

The Chief Executive of CXK advised that it was possible to provide services in additional rural areas on a fortnightly basis but that he had been commissioned to work in five areas weekly.  In response to a question regarding cover for sessions if staff were to leave, Members were informed that CXK has  been appointed on the basis of provision of sessions and had to ensure that they were appropriately staffed.  The youth provision would reflect what young people aspired to have delivered, whether that be transport to activities or a regular place to meet.  Staff from a range of backgrounds and mixed skills had been recruited and were currently undergoing safeguarding training; it was hoped the full programme of services would be running in time for the Easter break.  The lead Youth Officer had commenced the previous week. 

In response to questions the Board was advised that if an area was deemed to have significant issues, KCC street based work could be used to address these.  The provision was flexible and there was twice the resource than six months ago.  In response to a question from a Member regarding withdrawal of services if that became necessary, assurance was given that in the event that services were moved from one area to another, local consultation would be carried out.  With the new model it meant that if further resources were found, for example Parish Council funding, work could be commissioned quickly and efficiently.  The commissioning budget was £94,500 a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

Verbal update.

The SDC Head of Community Development reported that six Troubled Family workers had been appointed within Dartford, Gravesham and Sevenoaks.  Kent Council for Addiction (KCA) had won the contract and were recruiting staff.  The model was 6 weeks of practical hands on support (phase I), between 6 and 36 weeks appropriate intervention (phase II) and phase III was employment.  She had heard that partners must be working with 75% of the cohort by the end of March.  Despite the fact that the co-ordinators had only just been appointed, many of the families were already being worked with so she was confident this target could be met.  Each family had to voluntarily complete a common assessment framework (CAF).  This had caused a bottleneck and it was hoped that by providing an ‘initiator’ to talk to families this could be resolved.  Jackie Marks had begun her new role as co-ordinator.  She had spoken with primary Head Teachers who were keen and she was due to approach secondary school Head Teachers.  The number of families allocated as yet was uncertain and had varied but was being looked into.

Simon Webb, Area Education Officer (West Kent) advised that looking at provision within Sevenoaks for 2012/17 not many Primary schools were able to expand to provide the necessary spaces.  With regards to a letter the Chairman had advised he had received from Lord Nash suggesting that CPO powers may be used to acquire the Wildernesse site for the proposed free school ‘Trinity’, which was currently ear marked for the satellite grammar school provision, he advised that KCC had not officially received this letter.  Knole Academy was oversubscribed this year, but this could change if the free school secured accommodation.  Knole Academy had received an Ofsted accreditation of ‘Good’ and he credited the Head Teacher and his team. 

In response to a question he advised that the Head Teacher of Hextable Secondary School had left under mutual agreement following the recent Ofsted report.  This had had a dramatic impact on subscription.  An interim Head Teacher from Fulston Manor, Sittingbourne had been asked to lead the school until September 2013.  He was an executive Head Teacher and an Accredited National Leader of Learning.  Oasis Academy chain of schools, was looking at taking over the school. 

By 2019 ten extra forms for secondary education would be required therefore closing the school was not an option because 4/500 spaces could not be found elsewhere.  Parental confidence needed to be restored.  He hoped that transport would be provided to children from Edenbridge to any new Sevenoaks schools.  However this could not be guaranteed as all policies are subject to change.

Consideration of draft Community Plan attached.

The SDC Had of Community Development presented the final draft of the Community Plan 2013-2016 and 15 Year Vision.  This was to be presented to partner agencies for final sign off and SDC Cabinet in April subject to any views the Board may have.  Following a request  at the previous meeting she had prepared ten suggestions for priorities for which stretched targets could be applied.  The Board agreed that specific targets were not required but would look at appropriate themes at the next meeting, and that SDC Officers should come forward with a small ‘basket’ of appropriate targets for future monitoring.