Venue: Meeting to be held virtually
Contact: Claudia Wakefield, Senior Governance Officer
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Declaration of Members' Interests In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, Members are asked to declare any interest they may have in any matter which is to be considered at this meeting. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest. |
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Minutes - 26 January 2021 PDF 181 KB Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 26 January 2021 were confirmed as a correct record. |
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Minutes - 3 February 2021 PDF 92 KB Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 3 February 2021 were confirmed as a correct record. |
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Continuity and recovery in schools during COVID-19 - Interim report PDF 186 KB Additional documents: Minutes: The Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement (CMEA) introduced an interim report on the continuity and recovery in schools during Covid-19. She thanked the Borough’s schools and education settings for their tireless work over the past 12 months, to remain safely open for the children of critical workers and for vulnerable pupils. Whilst it was recognised that disadvantaged areas such as the Borough would be particularly affected by the pandemic and would take a long time to recover, she praised the strengthening of partnerships between schools, Children’s Social Care, Health, Community Solutions, the Police and the voluntary sector during the pandemic.
The Commissioning Director for Education (CD) and the Project Co-ordinator for the Step Up, Stay Safe (PC) programme presented the interim report, which provided a detailed narrative of the previous 12 months in relation to the continuity and recovery in schools during the pandemic. Much had been learnt about remote education and schools had carried out extensive work to remain in contact with, and to support their pupils. This had included mechanisms such as:
An update was also provided around the reopening of schools, the testing of school staff and pupils and the Holiday Activities and Food programme. The Chair thanked the CD and the PC for their presentation and wished to relay the immense thanks of the Committee to all school staff within the Borough. Following the introduction provided by the CMEA, which had stated that several local businesses had kindly supported the provision of IT equipment for vulnerable pupils, the Chair suggested that the CMEA liaise further with the Cabinet Member for Employment, Skills and Aspiration, to enquire as to whether this resource could be further utilised to support local families.
In response to a question from a Member, the CD stated that the Council had commissioned the Barking and Dagenham School Improvement Partnership (BDSIP) to lead work on its behalf in ... view the full minutes text for item 51. |
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Supporting older residents during the pandemic and beyond PDF 108 KB Additional documents: Minutes: The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration (CMSC) introduced a report on how the Council was supporting older residents during the pandemic and its plans for post-pandemic support. She praised the exemplary work that had been seen from staff in delivering services safely to the community at speed during the pandemic, as well as the strong partnership working in dealing with Covid-19. The Operational Director for Adult’s Care and Support (OD) and the Lead Commissioner for Older People (LC) provided a brief outlook in regards to the demographic makeup of older people living within the Borough before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, followed by a more detailed narrative in relation to the work that had been undertaken to provide support to older residents over the past 12 months. This had included mechanisms such as:
The OD and LC also wished to publicly thank colleagues in BHRUT, NELFT and primary care, for their dedicated work in relation to rolling out the Covid-19 vaccine to the Borough’s care homes.
In response to several questions, the OD stated that:
The aim of this model was to assess discharged residents, primarily older people, in their own homes, rather than the hospital and to improve resident health and social care outcomes by ensuring that a more realistic assessment of an individual’s needs took place in their home environment. This model had been working very well and as such, the Council was not expecting there to be any major issues with this going forward.
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Minutes: The Chair informed Members of three changes that had been made to the Work Programme:
Members stated that in some cases, the reasons provided for the postponements of certain reports needed further clarity than was being provided and that the Committee should not simply agree to their deferment as items may need to be challenged before further action was taken by officers. Members were also concerned about the number of changes that had been made to the Committee’s Work Programme. As such, the Council’s DSP suggested that when the Work Programme is presented to the Committee, a short covering report be provided going forward, in which the relevant department requesting the change provide a short paragraph about why the change was being requested. This would help with transparency and accountability, and the Committee could then also decide to agree the change or ask further questions around why the change was being requested. The Committee also requested that the Work Programme include an update from the Enforcement team in relation to footway parking, as many of the roads within the Borough were narrow and if footway parking was not permitted, it would prevent vehicles from entering and exiting the roads safely. The changes to the Work Programme were noted. |