Surrey County Council's Children, Families, Lifelong Learning and Culture Select Committee met on 17 April 2024. The meeting covered a wide range of topics including additional funding for children and families, youth work provision, adult learning, and the performance of children's homes.

Children, Families and Lifelong Learning (CFLL) Additional Budget Allocation

Councillors reviewed and endorsed proposals to allocate £4.84 million in additional funding provided to CFLL to support prevention work. This funding was allocated from the £600 million awarded by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) in January 2024.

The Committee considered and approved a number of spending proposals, including:

• £810,000 to increase capacity for Specialist Teachers in Inclusive Practice (STIPs) to support mainstream schools to meet the needs of children at SEN Support.
• £900,000 to integrate the Team Around the School service with the Learners Single Point of Access (L-SPA) to create a single Early Intervention and Prevention Service.
• £720,000 to provide additional social worker capacity within the Children's Single Point of Access (C-SPA).
• £900,000 to permanently establish specialist practitioners within Family Safeguarding focusing on drug and alcohol, mental health, and domestic abuse.
• £690,000 to provide ongoing funding to posts within the Children with Disabilities (CWD) service.
• £160,000 to increase capacity within the Elective Home Education (EHE) team.
• £130,000 to fund staff for additional quality assurance activities, including those relating to new responsibilities to provide safeguarding assurance about disabled children placed out of county.
• £250,000 to provide funding for additional family support workers to enable foster carers to accept more children into placements and support children whose placements might otherwise break down.
• £150,000 to extend work to review commissioning arrangements and key contracts relating to preventative services.
• £130,000 to provide funding for additional Independent Reviewing Officers.
• £50,000 of one-off funding to support the expansion of a pilot scheme to allow parents and carers who are struggling to recruit Personal Assistants (PAs) to fund a session or place using their personal allowances with providers of SEND Play and Leisure or Overnight Respite groups.
• £50,000 of one-off funding to support the implementation of the Surrey Foster Carers Charter.

The Committee also considered the alternative budget proposals put forward by Councillor Catherine Powell for additional spending on SEND play and leisure services, and additional support for neurodiverse children in schools in areas of high deprivation.

Councillor Powell, who represents Farnham, argued that the Council should focus on tackling waiting lists for SEND play and leisure schemes, rather than on initiatives designed to encourage inclusive play. She argued that the Council's statutory duty to provide overnight short breaks, rather than play and leisure breaks, should not prevent it from properly resourcing play schemes that are highly valued by families. She suggested the Committee's efforts should be focused on bringing the budget back up to the level of 2022/23 before cuts were made.

Councillor Powell also proposed that additional funding for support for neurodiverse children in schools should be focused on schools in areas of high deprivation. She argued that schools in deprived areas were under pressure from higher numbers of children with neurodiversity, mental health, and safeguarding issues, and this should be acknowledged in the Council's provision.

The Service, however, disagreed with Councillor Powell's assessment. It argued that additional funding should be used to develop a programme of inclusive play schemes to allow children with additional needs to access more inclusive opportunities, such as sports clubs and leisure facilities in their local communities. The Service also suggested that additional funding for support for neurodiverse children should be allocated to a number of different programmes to support children in all schools, rather than focusing on those in areas of deprivation.

After much discussion, the Committee agreed to a compromise which included supporting the Service's proposals for a programme of inclusive play and additional support for neurodiverse children, as well as committing to restoring SEND Play and Leisure to its 2022/23 level of provision. It also made a number of recommendations to ensure that no one is left behind, including the commissioning of research to identify where the greatest presentation of neurodiversity need exists in the county.

Youth Work Provision

Councillors reviewed youth work provision in Surrey and heard evidence from youth workers and voluntary sector providers.

Joe Goodhew, the Youth Centre Team Leader at Hale Community Centre, told the Committee that his organisation provides youth work services to 45-50 young people aged 11-19 in eight sessions a week, term time only. He said the organisation would like to offer holiday provision but this was prevented by funding issues. Councillor Chris Townsend, who represents Ashtead, expressed concern that the centre was only open during term time, noting that the buildings there, the staff are there.

Judith Brooks and Stuart Kingsley of YMCA East Surrey explained that they deliver 20 sessions a week across East Surrey, including holiday provision. They explained that they work closely with Surrey County Council, who offer a peppercorn rent and pay for utilities.

Councillors also discussed the Council's decision in 2020 to replace universal youth work with a targeted service. Councillor John O'Reilly who represents Hersham noted that things were not working as well as it should have . This led to a discussion about the Council's current arrangements with third sector providers who lease youth centre buildings from the Council. Councillors raised a number of concerns about these arrangements, including the fact that many youth centres are empty for a significant proportion of the week, whilst the Council pays for utilities. They also expressed concern that the Service Level Agreements (SLAs) in place were not sufficiently robust to ensure that providers were delivering their contractual obligations. The Commissioning Manager, Elaina Phillips, suggested that the SLAs were convoluted and needed to be rewritten.

The Assistant Director, Jackie Clementson, said she wanted to see a mixed economy of youth work provision in Surrey, with the Council working in partnership with the voluntary sector.

The Committee agreed that there is a need for further scrutiny of youth work provision in Surrey. A workshop was arranged to further explore the issues with officers and voluntary sector providers.

Adult Learning and Skills Update

Councillors received an update on progress made against the recommendations made by the Adult Learning and Skills Task Group in June 2023.

The Committee discussed the Task Group's recommendation that the Council develop a centralised online database of adult learning courses available in Surrey. The Service Manager, Francis Lawlor, explained that the National Careers Service had since developed a national database of courses to which Surrey Adult Learning and colleges in Surrey contribute.

The Committee also considered the impact of the County Deal and devolution of the Adult Education Budget from 2026/27. The Service Manager explained that this would provide the Council with greater control over adult learning provision in Surrey. Councillor Mark Sugden, who represents Hinchley Wood, Claygate and Oxshott, suggested that this could enable the Council to target provision in line with skills gaps flagged by local businesses. The Economy Lead, Luke McCarthy, explained that the Council would be able to make decisions on how the funding is spent and who it funds, and set expectations for the providers it commissions.

Councillor Liz Townsend, who represents Cranleigh & Ewhurst, sought assurance that free courses in carbon literacy and sustainable living would be available to all residents. This was confirmed.

The Chair also noted the need to maintain affordable community learning, given the national focus on vocational skills and the limited funding available.

Children's Homes - Ofsted Reports

Councillors reviewed Ofsted reports on three Surrey County Council-run children's homes published since the last Select Committee meeting in February. They welcomed the news that one children's home had achieved an Outstanding rating following an inspection in January 2024 and congratulated the staff and registered manager on their achievement.

Performance Overview

The Committee received an overview of the latest performance data, covering children's social care, SEND, and turnover of social workers and foster carers. The Chair, Councillor Fiona Davidson, who represents Guildford South-East, welcomed the improving performance in social care but called for better timeliness in SEND data, noting that it impacts the value of our scrutiny .