The Senior Overview and Scrutiny Officer, Louise Smith, informed the Committee that ward and parish councillors had been contacted regarding holiday play schemes in their areas and the information provided was included in the agenda papers.  Information on a range of private play schemes was also included. The Committee was asked to consider whether it wished to conduct a full review of holiday play schemes in the current municipal year, recommend it for review in 2010-11, or conduct no further investigation.  Miss Smith highlighted that if the Committee wished to carry out a review in the current municipal year, a working group or additional meetings would be required due to the short timescale, and these could not be fully supported by the Overview and Scrutiny Team until the new Overview and Scrutiny Officer was in post.

The Chairman then invited the visiting Members to address the Committee.

Councillor Mrs Joy referred to a suggestion made at an earlier meeting about Hotfoot being more educational than community play schemes and stated that this was not always the case.  She also stated that she knew of a 19-year-old resident who still received direct mail regarding Hotfoot; this was an inappropriate use of money and marketing needed to be targeted accurately.

Councillor FitzGerald read a statement to the Committee regarding the funding of Hotfoot and community play schemes.  A number of issues including historic funding of play schemes in the Borough, lack of clarity in the costs of Hotfoot and the need for full comparisons between Hotfoot and community play schemes were raised.  Councillor Fitzgerald believed that these were key issues that would need to be covered in a review.

Councillor Williams stated that she was concerned over the way in which the Council worked with Kent County Council Children’s Services.  She raised concerns over the content of the referral form required when referring children to Hotfoot as the completion of the form did not require parental consent.  It was suggested that a review of holiday play schemes should consider the purpose of the form and how the information was used, as well as considering whether the use of the form complied with the Children Act 2004.

The Committee then discussed whether to carry out a review of holiday play schemes.  A Councillor stated that Hotfoot fees had increased and take up had gone down, and suggested that a review should consider:

·  Whether Hotfoot offered value for money;

·  Who was using Hotfoot;

·  Whether the hours that Hotfoot was available suited parents;

·  Whether more focus should be on community play schemes;

·  Whether the advertising for Council-funded play schemes should include advertising for private play schemes, which could help to pay for marketing; and

·  Whether Kent County Council should be providing play schemes instead of the Borough Council.

The Committee agreed that the review was too large to be carried out in this municipal year, but felt that as strong a case as possible should be made for it to be reviewed in 2010-11.  Members therefore requested that a scoping report, including those issues discussed at the meeting, be brought to the Committee’s meeting in April to be agreed for submission to the relevant Committee in 2010-11.

Resolved:  That a scoping report for a review of holiday play schemes be presented to the Committee at its April meeting to be agreed for submission as a work programme suggestion in 2010-11.