Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Forster and Taylor. Councillors Burgess and Hayre were in attendance as the Conservative Substitute Members.  Apologies were also received from Gareth Davies, Primary School Parent Governor representative and Ian Brewerton, Secondary School Parent Governor representative.

All Members who believe they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting must declare that interest and, having regard to Part 3 Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members' Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code. Furthermore all Members with a Personal Interest in a matter being considered at the meeting should consider, having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 4 of the Code, whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 of the Code, consider whether it is appropriate to leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

All Members who believe they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting must declare that interest and, having regards to Part 3 Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council’s Members’ Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code.  Furthermore all Members with a Personal Interest in a matter being considered at the meeting should consider, having regards to Part 5, Paragraph 4 of the Code, whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 of the Code, consider whether it is appropriate to leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

Jane Longman, the Parent Governor representative for Special Schools declared a personal interest in Item 6 as her son has special educational needs and is eligible for home to school transport.

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 9 May 2018 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any deputations notified under Standing Order 12.

The Committee received one deputation on Item 6 ‘Proposed Changes to the Home to School Transport Policy Statement – Consideration of Request to Exercise Call-in Powers’.

Laura Dobson, Sarah Horton and Reha Malika Fossati made a deputation on behalf of the families of Ancells Farm.  The Committee heard the concerns of the deputees which included the distance children would have to walk to school, increased volume of traffic as a result of the proposed new policy and gridlocked traffic around the school gates at drop off and pick up times.  Members of the Committee were provided with photographs and other information which illustrated traffic volume along the walk to school route, distance of the route and also highlighted a recent protest walk by Ancells Farm families along the route.  Concerns were also raised around the new policy of only providing home to school transport for children once they had reached compulsory school age, and the potential disadvantage to summer born children.

Following the deputations, the Chairman agreed that the local Councillor, Cllr Adrian Collett could also address the Committee.  Cllr Collett set out the history behind the provision of home to school transport for children living in Ancells Farm to Committee Members.  He also highlighted the recent protest walk as referenced by the deputees and informed Members of the Committee that the walk took 62 minutes with families having to cross 12 roads along the route.  The volume of traffic along the walk to school route, especially at the entrance of Fleet railway station was also referenced.  Attention was also drawn to the effect on families from the withdrawal of the historic bus provision, with the impact on working parents/carers and parents/carers who don’t drive highlighted.  Cllr Collett also emphasised possible future long term affects on Ancells Farm as a community, as families may decide not to buy a house there in the future with the withdrawal of the home to school transport service as currently stands and urged that the decision was reconsidered.

To receive any announcements the Chairman may wish to make.

The Chairman welcomed Vice-Chairman Cllr Ray Bolton back to the Committee after his recent illness.

To receive a report regarding the consideration of a request to exercise call-in powers in relation to a decision of the Executive Lead Member for Children’s Services.

The Committee received a report (Item 6 in the Minute Book) from the Head of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer following a request by a quorum of Members of the Children and Young People to exercise call-in powers in respect of a decision by the Executive Lead Member for Children’s Services

The Head of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer introduced the report and confirmed the purpose of the meeting, and Members were referred to the reasons for the call-in contained in Annex D.  Members were informed that discussions did not have to purely focus on the call-in request and other matters in the Executive Lead Members report could be discussed if clarification was needed.  The decisions taken by the Executive Lead Member at his Decision Day on the 9 May were set out at Annex A which had been subject to pre-scrutiny and supported by the Children and Young People Select Committee.  Attention was also drawn to additional decisions d) and e) which were made by the Executive Lead Member at his Decision Day.  The process of the call-in as set out in the Constitution at Annex E was explained as well as the role of the Scrutiny Committee as set out in Section 5 of the report.

Paragraph 4.3 of the report was explained to Members, which highlighted the savings options proposals approved by the County Council in respect to Home to School Transport Remodelling.  These savings had been agreed by the Executive Lead Member on 20 September 2017, prior to consideration by the County Council on the 2 November 2017.

The Monitoring Officer explained that the decision of the Executive Lead Member was in line with the budget decision of the County Council on 2 November 2017 and concerned implementation of that budget decision.  Therefore the option open to the Select Committee was to consider whether or not to ask the Executive Lead Member to reconsider his decisions, and if the decision was to ask the Executive Lead Member to reconsider his decisions, then the Select Committee must provide reasons as to why this is the case. 

The Chairman invited the Director of Children’s Services to speak and it was heard that the decisions made by the Executive Lead Member were within the County Council’s Transformation to 2019 financial envelope.

The Chairman also invited the Executive Lead Member to speak and he drew attention to the difficult financial times that the County Council was experiencing and the difficult decisions that needed to be made to balance the books.  He also highlighted that he had specifically added an additional decision d) following the discussions and concerns he had heard at the pre-scrutiny Select Committee meeting held on the 9 May.  Cllr Mans also referred to the response he made to a question put to him at the recent full Council meeting in which he committed to parents having access to paid for seats where available.

Cllr Porter spoke to the call-in request and set out Members named  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63.