In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10, to consider motions on notice from Members.
Motion submitted by Councillor Ross Walker
The
Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant hardship in our
communities; help provided to young people needing emotional
support at secondary school has been drastically curtailed.
Council resolves to encourage the Executive to engage with every
Secondary School within the District to explore how the Council can
help fill this gap in provision and therefore help our young people
to better succeed at school.
Minutes:
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10, Councillors were able to submit Motions on Notice for consideration at this meeting.
The Chair noted that one motion had been submitted by Councillor Ross Walker.
a) Motion from Councillor Ross Walker:
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant hardship in our communities; help provided to young people needing emotional support at secondary school has been drastically curtailed.
Council resolves to encourage the Executive to engage with every Secondary School within the District to explore how the Council can help fill this gap in provision and therefore help our young people to better succeed at school.
Councillor Ross Walker moved the motion, and believed mental health issues in schools were rife in the pandemic. He stated that Derbyshire County Council had removed £8.5m from its child health budget and he felt children with mental health issues were being let down as a result. He added his belief that Bolsover District Council needed to act now to help support these children.
Councillor Derek Adams seconded the motion and reserved the right to speak.
Councillor Allan Bailey spoke on the motion and stated he would support it. He felt children were struggling greatly during the pandemic, and the impact on their mental wellbeing might not be fully understood until years into the future.
Councillor Dan Salt spoke on the motion and stated he would support it. He believed children have fragile minds, so we needed to look after these children because they would make up the next generation.
Councillor Deborah Watson spoke on the motion and said she would not support it. She stated that she completely agreed with the sentiment of the motion about protecting children, but education in the County was the responsibility of Derbyshire County Council so Bolsover District Council stepping in to provide alternative support was impossible.
Councillor Natalie Hoy wished to ask Councillor Ross Walker if he had spoken directly to Derbyshire County Council about the issue. The Chair indicated that a response to this question would be provided once Members had spoken on the motion.
Councillor Sandra Peake spoke on the motion. She stated that she sympathised with the matter, but reiterated the statement made by Councillor Deborah Watson that it was the responsibility of Derbyshire County Council and school governors. She added that Bolsover District Council had already done many recent things to support children, like setting up the Young Voice Youth Council, raising money for YoungMinds mental health charity and employing a family practitioner.
The Chair wished to add to this point as the school governor of a Primary School, stating his hope that the needs of children at Primary School level were not overlooked.
Councillor Mary Dooley spoke on the motion and said she agreed with many of Councillor Ross Walker’s points, adding that as a school governor herself, it was becoming increasingly difficult to have any influence on secondary schools since they became academies. She felt that Bolsover District Council was doing as much as it could to support children, and referred to the Bolsover Partnership document (‘Funding and Performance’ section) which mentioned raising the aspirations of Bolsover District children and carrying out ‘Bolsover Wellness’.
Councillor Nick Clarke spoke on the motion and stated he agreed with the sentiment of the motion. He added that Council could possibly consider Rhubarb Farm CIC as a target for its resources, since it was an enterprise set up to support vulnerable people.
Councillor Steve Fritchley (Leader of the Council) spoke on the motion and stated that although it was a matter outside of the Council’s responsibilities, he fully understood the sentiment of the motion having been a school governor, and he agreed with the concerns within the motion about children and mental health. He added that he had liaised with the Council’s Partnership team to find out about support offered to secondary schools, and the Derbyshire Education Business Partnership had advised the Council that schools had received COVID-19 catch-up funding of approximately £80 per pupil, or £240 for children in special schools, which each school could distribute towards pupils in need of it most. He concluded by suggesting that since all Members appeared to be in support of the sentiment of the motion, all Members could write with the concerns raised in this meeting to Derbyshire County Council and the Government.
Councillor Ross Walker began his response to the speakers on the motion by thanking Councillor Steve Fritchley for his support. He responded to Councillor Deborah Watson’s point about it being the responsibility of Derbyshire County Council by stating his belief that he was talking about a relatively small number of pupils from each school in great need of support, so he felt Bolsover District Council stepping in to help them was not asking for a lot, and Bolsover District Council had its own health and wellbeing responsibility to its residents. He responded to Councillor Natalie Hoy’s question about if he’d liaised directly with Derbyshire County Council by stating that he had not, but Derbyshire County Council had said that “schools, health and voluntary organisations” would be expected to fill the gap in funding rather than County Council itself. He responded to the points by Councillor Mary Dooley and Councillor Sandra Peake about what the Council had already done to help children, stating that although everything they said was true, he believed the Council could still do much more. He concluded by thanking Heritage High School for the support they had given him.
Councillor Mary Dooley spoke on the suggested correspondence and asked that something be included about her earlier concerns relating to the current difficulties of becoming a governor.
The Chair sought to clarify exactly what Members would be voting on, and stated that based on these discussions, the wording of the motion (if carried) would not change and would be sent with the concerns raised by Members via written correspondence to Derbyshire County Council, the Government, every local Chair of Governors and every local secondary school governing board no later than the end of 10th December 2020. As mover of the motion, Councillor Ross Walker agreed with this proposal.
On being put to the vote, the motion was carried.
RESOLVED that written correspondence be sent via Derbyshire Education Business Partnership to Derbyshire County Council, the Government, every local Chair of Governors and every local secondary school governing board no later than the end of 10th December 2020, with the letter to include the concerns raised by Members and the motion from Councillor Ross Walker as follows:
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant hardship in our communities; help provided to young people needing emotional support at secondary school has been drastically curtailed.
Council resolves to encourage the Executive to engage with every Secondary School within the District to explore how the Council can help fill this gap in provision and therefore help our young people to better succeed at school.
(Head of Leader’s Executive)