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Submissions - CEHA Review of the Proposed Government Plan 23-26 – Minister for Children and Educatio

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19-21 Broad Street | St Helier Jersey | JE2 3RR

Deputy Catherine Curtis

Chair, Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel

BY EMAIL

08 November 2022 Dear Chair,

Thank you for your letter of 1st November requesting information on the proposed Government Plan 2023-2026. Please see the below responses which I trust do provide all the information you need, but please do not hesitate to contact me again if you need anything further.

  1. Please could you provide a full list of projects and programmes to be delivered under the Children, Young People, Education and Skills (CYPES) Head of Expenditure.

The full list of programmes and projects for 2023 will be detailed in the CYPES Department Delivery Plan. This will be made available in January. I would also like to refer the Panel to the published Ministerial Plans, which outlines my priorities for 2023.

Ministerial Plans

Our significant programmes of work, today and expanded through my proposals in the Government Plan 2023 – 26, are in the areas of:

Education reform

Children's social care reform

Further education and skills development

The government plan proposes additional funding for school meals within the CYPES revenue Head of Expenditure as a 100 days initiative.

The additional funding identified for the CYPES revenue head of expenditure is on page 50 of the Annex to the Government plan below.

This growth funding addresses existing cost pressures – for example the increase in pupil numbers in year 7 due to a bulge in births 11 years ago and increase in assessed special needs - as well as the major programmes of reform work.

My 100 days plan identifies recruitment and retention as a key issue across the department. The recruitment and retention workstream for schools and colleges is within the Education Reform work. The recruitment and retention workstream for social care is within the Social Care Reform work. The Social Worker Recruitment and Retention investment measures which were identified in early 2022 as requiring an urgent and immediate response.

My capital plan priorities are outlined in questions 8-10 below.

  1. Please could you confirm whether the total CYPES budget of approximately £189 million directly corresponds to your Ministerial portfolio? a. If not, please could you outline any differences.

The CYPES budget corresponds directly to the Ministerial portfolio.

  1. CYPES is projected to have approximately £21 million of income earned through operations in 2023. Please could you provide some detail about what the income is for each of the services?

The £21m income target is gross income. The costs are budgeted in the expenditure side of the Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure in the government plan. In general, fees and charges raised to the public are subsidised.

  1. The previous Government Plan had identified £460,000 of efficiencies for the Minister for Children and Education in 2022. Are you able to confirm what efficiencies have been made to date?

In 2022 the only recurring efficiency made relates to the restructuring of a business support function releasing £73k.

  1. CYPES has targeted £688,000 of value for money savings in 2023. Please could you provide us with a more detailed breakdown of where the savings have been identified.

A plan to deliver £688k is being developed and further details can be shared with the Panel as it progresses.

a. The 2023 CYPES value for money target (of £688,000) is significantly more than the efficiencies identified in 2022 for the Ministerial portfolio. Is the 2023 target realistic? It is realistic non-recurrently. It will be a challenge to make recurring savings to meet the total target.

  1. In a table format, if possible, please could you confirm the number of FTE (full time equivalent) roles / number of staff (individuals) employed / current open vacancies as at 31st October 2022 in the following services:
  1. Children's Social Care and Safeguarding;
  2. Education;
  3. Integrated Services and Commissioning;
  4. Office of the Director General;
  5. Young People;
  6. Skills and Student Finance.

 

 

FTE

Headcount (employed)

Current open vacancies

Children's Social Care and Safeguarding

177.59

187 (+37 agency)

16 (+37 agency)

Education

1,615.49

2,106

132

Integrated Services and Commissioning

81.45

87

17

Office of the Director General

23.84

2

3

Youth Service

62

52.47

7.5

Skills

29.70

32

6

 

FTE and headcount figures represent the numbers in post @ 31st October 2022.

Open Vacancies' means positions approved though a vacancy authorisation request where an individual has not yet been selected. It does NOT include positions/vacancies where the offer process is in progress.

  1. Please could you provide a more detailed breakdown of the following expenditure, as detailed in the statement of comprehensive net expenditure for CYPES:
  1. Social benefit payments;
  2. Staff;
  3. Other operating expenses;
  4. Grants and subsidies payments;
  5. Impairments; and
  6. Finance Costs.

  1. Please could you clarify the list of projects that were comprised within the Schools Estate' major project, which was approved for £31.35 million in the previous Government Plan.

- VCP Replacement School

- Mont à l'Abbé Secondary School

- Redesign of Greenfields

a. Please could you clarify if all of this has been moved to the "New School and Educational Developments" Head of Expenditure.

The New School and Educational Development Estates Head of Expenditure totals £43m over the four years of the Government Plan. This will incorporate a number of projects, which I wish to explore further through feasibility, detailed design and then construction. These are listed in the question below.

The work to be undertaken for the Redesign of Greenfields' has been renamed to Residential Homes & Secure Settings' and will include improvements works required at Greenfields and residential homes. Further investment may be needed for the significant redevelopment of Greenfields once the full scope has been established, and therefore, a subsequent Government Plan bid may be requested.

  1. Please could you provide a more detailed breakdown of the projects within the "New School and Educational Developments" Head of Expenditure.

Information about the funding for individual projects will be made available following their successful tendering in the future. At this stage I am able to provide the Panel with projects I am currently progressing at this stage under this Head of Expenditure:

Mont à l'Abbé Extension

Mont à l'Abbé Secondary School

Digital Centre of Excellence

FE Campus

Development of Primary Schools in St Helier

Replacement Rouge Bouillon

VCP Replacement School

Le Rocquier Sports Centre

  1. Please could you provide some more detail about the projects within the "Upgrade to CYPES Estate" Head of Expenditure, namely:
  1. School improvements;
  2. Residential Homes and Secure Settings;
  3. Therapeutic Children's Homes;
  4. Music Development;
  5. Field Developments and Play Space; and
  6. Youth Services.

i & ii) School improvements and Residential and Secure Settings

Since taking office I have become acutely aware of the many challenges across the CYPES estate needing attention. Not only is it important to address both inadequate indoor and outdoor facilities, we must also ensure investment in buildings improvements relating to temperature and air quality, fire risk and site health and safety.

I will shortly be undertaking a prioritisation review of the CYPES estate and following this will task Officers to formulate a programme of works for 2023 and beyond.

  1. Therapeutic Home

It is vitally important that there is a sufficient number, range and quality of placements for looked after children. This will require the development of a new specialist therapeutic home and the realignment of an existing home into close support residential home. Officers are exploring opportunities for the purchase of a new home, and I will update the Panel on progress in the future.

  1. Music Development

Within the 2022 Government Plan funding was available for the redevelopment of the Jersey Music Service (JMS) and the introduction of a new music facility at Jersey College for Girls.

Finding a suitable site for a new JMS has been problematic with no location yet to be confirmed. With regard to the Jersey College for Girls Music Centre, the original budget allocated for this project is no longer sufficient due to increased costs. I have therefore taken the decision to undertake a review of music tuition provision and facilities across the island before proceeding further. I will be forming a working group to carry out further analysis before making any decision of capital priorities for music provision.

  1. Field Developments and Play Space

I have instructed Officers to proceed with work on the development of a playing field for St John's School, with work underway with the School and Parish. I am also seeking to develop First Tower Field H1533 for the benefit of both the school and local community. Pre-feasibility work is underway, and Officers from Jersey Property Holdings are in discussions with the owner of the field about progressing this project.

  1. Youth Services

I am committed to finding a solution to the North of Town Youth and Community Centre (now renamed Central St Helier Youth and Community Centre). As the Panel will be aware, finding a suitable site in St Helier has been problematic, however I will continue working with the Constable and local Deputies to find a solution.

I have instructed Officers to continue feasibility work on updating youth and community facilities at Le Squez and expect progress on this project in 2023. I will also be proceeding with improvements to the facilities at St Aubin's Fort, which will result in improved accommodation and access for groups.

  1. Please could you provide a further breakdown of the £2.215 million of funding allocated to CYPES for post COVID requirements in 2023?

The business case estimate assumed that the additional operating costs in 2023 will be similar to those experienced in 2020 and 2021. The budget is not allocated out to schools or other budget holders. Instead, any cost which is incurred as a result of covid may be charged to it, and this is subject to internal challenge and to audit.

The majority of staff-related costs in 2020 and 2021 have been for absence cover due to covid whereas 2022 has seen less spend on staff cover as at the end of October and more on cleaning and environmental protections such as ventilation and air filtration. The table below shows the planning assumption:

Cost  2023

£ Staff-related costs  1,785,000 Cleaning services  238,000 Cleaning products  102,000 Additional utility costs  60,000 Air filtration units  30,000 Other incidental costs  0 Total Costs  2,215,000

a. There is no budget for this funding from 2024 onwards and it is stated that this will be "incorporated into departmental expenditure". Will services receive additional uplifts to their budgets to accommodate this?

There are no automatic budget uplifts for Covid planned for 2024. A business case will be required to be put forward through the government plan process for 2024 to secure further one-off or recurring funding if this is deemed to be required when reviewed at the end of 2022 and early part of 2023.

  1. What factors / outcomes will be used to measure the success of the extended school meals programme?

The following factors/outcomes will be used in order to monitor the success of the programme:

Increase in school meal uptake and service promotion

Customer satisfaction

Service delivery standards set out in the service specification being met

Service delivery times being met or exceeded

The Jersey School Food Standards being adhered too

Evidence of meeting minimum 5 a day portions of fruit and vegetables

Health, safety, environmental and food hygiene standards met and maintained

The provider working effectively with GoJ to maintain costs in line with allocated budget.

  1. How often will the programme be reviewed?

The programme will be formally reviewed on a quarterly basis, however due to the complexity of the programme there will be continuous monitoring during implementation and roll-out to ensure successful delivery.

  1. How long can you commit to the cost cap of £2.50 per meal for the pay-per-service users of the school meals programme?

Funds allocated for the pilot programme were based on the premise of allowing 100% uptake among families eligible for free meals, with any surplus funds resulting from lower than 100% uptake being reinvested into the service to subsidise the cost of meals for paying parents/carers. The programme will continue to work in this way.

  1. Please could you confirm whether any secondary school pupils in receipt of the Jersey Pupil Premium will be eligible for free school meals?

The current business plan proposes to extend the provision of free school meals to all children

eligible for Jersey Premium up to age 18.

i. If so, how any pupils are in this category and what is the estimated cost?

The table below shows the secondary schools and the number of Jersey Premium Pupils.

 

Number of Pupils

No of JP Pupils

No Non-JP Pupils

% JP

Haute Vallee

566

190

376

34%

Grainville

747

284

463

38%

Hautlieu

741

112

629

15%

Highlands

644

194

450

30%

La Sente

20

13

7

65%

Le Rocquier

743

290

453

39%

Les Quennevais

817

173

644

21%

 

4278

1256

3022

 

There are 1,256 pupils additional funding required to extend the provision up to 18 years of age is £420,000.

Yours sincerely,

Deputy Inna Gardiner

Minister for Children and Education

D +44 (0)1534 440152 E I. Gardiner @gov.je