Children And Families Services Committee - 24/01/2022

At a MEETING of the CHILDREN AND FAMILIES SERVICE COMMITTEE held remotely on 24th January, 2022.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

EXTERNAL MEMBERS FOR ARTICLES I TO VI:-

Mrs M McVEAN, Church of Scotland Representative

Mr D BAXTER, Teacher Representative

Ms J BARCLAY, Teacher Representative

Mrs T JAVED, Parent Representative

Mr J ANDERSON-McGUINNESS, Parent Representative

Councillor Stewart HUNTER, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 6th December, 2021 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I DECLARATION OF INTEREST

Councillor Hunter declared a non-financial interest in respect of Article VI by virtue of having a relative who used the school bus service.

II COST OF THE SCHOOL DAY INITIATIVE UPDATE

There was submitted Report No 30-2022 by the Executive Director of Children and Families Service presenting the current position of the Cost of the School Day (COSD) project in schools across Dundee.

The Committee noted the terms of the report.

III SCOTTISH ATTAINMENT CHALLENGE UPDATE

There was submitted Report No 31-2022 by the Executive Director of Children and Families Service providing an update on the plans for the Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC) for 2022/2023 to 2025/2026. The Attainment Challenge was a centrally funded Scottish Government programme which aimed to support recovery from the pandemic and accelerate progress in closing the gap.

The Committee resolved:-

That Committee notes the devastating cuts to Dundees Attainment Challenge Funding planned for the coming Scottish Parliamentary term.

Further notes that reforms to the Scottish Attainment Challenge will see a 20 million cut to the national settlement this financial year. Further, the 43 million pounds previously allocated to the nine most deprived local authorities will be now allocated across all of Scotlands 32 authorities.

This will see a 60% cut to the Attainment Challenge funding for these nine authorities by 2025. For Dundee City Council this will be a 79% cut, with a reduction from 6.4 million in the last financial year to 1.3 million in 2025.

4 of every 5 of this funding in Dundee is spent on staffing - supporting 129 jobs - across a range of services and projects aimed at supporting the most vulnerable young people in our city.

Recent statistics regarding achievement of curriculum for excellence levels in primary schools show general attainment down and the attainment gap at its widest ever.

The Committee agreed to:-

(i) defer the recommendations of this paper until the budget; and

(ii) to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills to ask that the Scottish Government reverse this cut for Dundee.

IV REVIEW OF THE SERVICE ESTATE

On a reference to Article I of the minute of meeting of the Education Committee of 12th December, 2011, there was submitted Report No 32-2022 by the Executive Director of Children and Families Service providing an annual update on the school estate and Children's Houses.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the current, planned and ongoing improvements to the estate;

(ii) noted the capacity levels across schools; and

(iii) noted the building safety update.

V REVIEW OF DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT (DSM)

There was submitted Report No 33-2022 by the Executive Director of Children and Families Service advising on the proposed changes to Dundee City Councils Devolved School Management (DSM) Scheme as a result of new Scottish Government National Framework and Guidelines. These new guidelines required Councils to undertake a review of their current scheme and produce a revised DSM Scheme by April, 2022.

The Committee:-

(i) approved the revised DSM Scheme, which was attached as an Appendix to the report, for implementation from April, 2022;

(ii) approved the specific extensions to the Scheme for implementation during financial year 2022/2023;

(iii) inclusion of primary school long-term absence cover;

(iv) inclusion of additional supplies and services areas of expenditure; and

(v) instructed the Executive Director of Children and Families Service to undertake a three-year review of the DSM Scheme as detailed in the National Framework and Guidelines and ensure the scheme and associated documents reflected current policy and practice.

VI AWARD OF SCHOOL BUS SERVICES CONTRACT

There was submitted Report No 35-2022 by the Executive Director of Children and Families Service providing details of a procurement exercise completed for the provision of school bus services.

The Committee approved the award of a contract to Tayside Public Transport Company Ltd (trading as Xplore Dundee) to provide seven discrete school day bus services.

Stewart HUNTER, Convener.