Councillor Halden introduced the report and stated that he was delighted to be presenting this report tonight as the Cabinet Member for Education and Health and that the mission and overriding priority was to tackle mediocrity to ensure that Thurrock can fulfil its potential.

Councillor Halden stated that the three key areas of tackling mediocrity in Thurrock were:

•           Council Leadership – Display true commitment to leadership to improve public services.

•           Expectations – Be more rigorous in challenging services and becoming residents’ champions to hold poor general practitioners and Primary Care facilities to account.

•           Early Years Support – A role as a corporate parent or in the role monitoring the causes of child poverty or neglect and to view poor early years support as a serious threat to the long term future of the borough.

Councillor Halden explained the reason for bringing Education and Health Directorates together as one report which was to ensure that any gaps found between education and employment outcomes with associated poor physical and mental health outcomes were bridged.

Councillor Halden updated members on the number of visits and meetings attended in his time so far as portfolio holder.

Councillor Halden stated he was grateful to be given the opportunity to undertake a job that he relished and would give it his all. Councillor Halden then thanked his party colleagues, officers in his directorates and the residents of Thurrock.

Councillor V Holloway asked what authority the scorecards would have and why general practitioners would sign up to them. Councillor Halden stated that providers would be held to account if services did not improve and peer pressure would be evident amongst providers.

Councillor Gerrish welcomed Councillor Halden to his role and shared his passion with other members that young people do well in education, be set up for life and the healthcare be the best for residents. With regard to the much reduced role in the local authorities post academies, Councillor Gerrish asked Councillor Halden if the educational budget could be radically cut or had he changed his mind now that he was in office. Councillor Halden referred members to past actions of Councillor Gerrish’s portfolio holder and that he should not be lecturing him.

Councillor Jones was concerned that there were not enough provisions for senior schools and insufficient monies were being spent on obesity which was at a high level in the borough. Councillor Halden stated the reason his lobby unit was in place was to holistically look at the entire school system and to look at where schools need to plan forward. The redesign of the children’s centres and bringing the health and education strands together would ensure that children get comprehensive and joined up care.

Councillor Watkins asked Councillor Halden for a performance update on the schools in his ward. Councillor Halden stated the results at the moment were provisional. Corringham Primary and Gable Hall had been outstanding and showed a good example where multi academy trusts work.

Councillor Fish asked Councillor Halden what other strategies were in place should the plans to enforce disability health checks by general practitioners failed. Councillor Halden stated that general practitioners would be held to account for undertaking these checks and that the scorecard could be used to improve the service.

Councillor Spillman stated that Aveley had a lack of general practitioners, as well as issues in recruiting and retaining general practitioners and that over the last 12 months this area had lost four general practitioners. He asked Councillor Halden how long before key worker housing would be available to encourage general practitioners to the area. Councillor Halden stated he thanked Steve Munday, the head teacher at William Edwards School, who had shown him the key worker housing used on their site and how this had impacted on teacher retention. The final ideas were not known but would be shared with overview and scrutiny when known and members would have the opportunity to feed into it.

Councillor Kerin asked Councillor Halden to guarantee that the many multi academy trusts in the borough would provide school places in the areas they were needed and not where there was already a surplus. Councillor Halden stated that looking at data projections there would not be many areas with surplus places.  A vital part of the portfolio holder’s role was the building of relationships between council, schools and providers.

Councillor J Kent stated that as the Council were currently in dialogue for free schools in the borough this could put pressure on some schools or even result in the closure of schools. He asked Councillor Halden how he would ensure that this did not happen. Councillor Halden confirmed that parents should be given the choice to decide which school they send their children to. He had the support of officers and the advice given to ensure that support was targeted.

Councillor Collins asked Councillor Halden for an update on Basildon Hospital. Councillor Halden stated that the hospital had much improved since 2010 which had been down to the leadership of governors. There was still a very substantial operational deficit which was being tackled. The Sustainability and Transformation Plan and the Success Regime were important to ensure a system wide transformation would be delivered.

Councillor Snell expressed concern that the Success Regime and the Sustainability and Transformation Plan would result in changes to the health care in the borough and could the portfolio holder ensure that communication was right and that residents were made aware of what was happening. Councillor Halden stated that as part of the Engagement Panel he had already written to express his displeasure on how some of the consultations had been carried out and the requirement to consult with Thurrock was vital for these projects to work.