SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (LIFELONG
LEARNING)
MINUTES of a meeting held on 19th
February, 2007.
Present: Councillor A.D. Hampton
(Chairman); Councillor E. Hacker (Vice-Chairman); Councillors Mrs.
M.E.J. Birch, J. Clifford, A.M. Ernest, Mrs. V.M. Hartrey, Mrs.
S.I. Sharpe, B.I. Shaw and A.C. Williams.
Co-opted Member: Ms. C. Baggett.
839
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE -
These were received from Councillors Ms. R.M.
Birch, Miss J. Cole, F.T. Johnson, G.C. Kemp, Mrs. A.J. Moore, S.T.
Wiliam and E.T. Williams.
840
MINUTES -
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the minutes of the
meeting held on 22nd January, 2007 be approved as a
correct record.
841
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST -
The following Members declared the nature of
their interest, being Governors of schools in the Vale of
Glamorgan, it being noted that the Standards Committee on
9th September and 21st October, 2004 and
13th January, 2005 had granted them a general
dispensation to vote upon any matters to be considered by the
Scrutiny Committee (Lifelong Learning) in relation to matters of a
general educational matter in terms of policy, plans, policy
frameworks and budgets etc:
Councillors A.D. Hampton, E. Hacker, Mrs.
M.E.J. Birch, J. Clifford, A.M. Ernest, Mrs. V.M. Hartrey, Mrs.
S.I. Sharpe, B.I. Shaw and A.C. Williams.
Councillors J. Clifford and Mrs S.I. Sharpe
declared an interest in agenda item 7 – Members of Cowbridge
Trust.
842
WALES AUDIT OFFICE REPORT: REVIEW OF PROGRESS WITH SCHOOL
IMPROVEMENT AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT -
The Council had been subject to an inspection
of its education service by Estyn and the Audit Commission in 2001
when it was judged to have some serious weaknesses. A further
inspection of School Improvement and Strategic Management in 2004
reported that changes had led to improvement. Both School
Improvement and Strategic Management were judged to be fair with
promising prospects for improvement.
In 2006, the WAO reviewed the progress the
Council had made following the above inspections and assessed the
progress made against each of the previous recommendations of the
Estyn / Audit Commission reports of 2004. The review also
assessed the extent to which the education service was making
effective use of the Council’s service planning framework and how
the whole Council was working together to support School
Improvement and Strategic Management. Details of the findings
of the review were appended to the report.
The WAO had concluded following the
inspections in 2001 and 2004, the Council as a whole and the
Education Directorate, had devoted energy to ensuring that the
essential features of an effective education service were in
place. The Council could now use its growing credibility
within the education sector to provide leadership to the wider
education community across the Vale of Glamorgan.
The review findings had subsequently made six
recommendations viz:
·
R1
-
Explore the opportunities for working collaboratively with other
councils to extend the range and quality of advisory support to
schools in the Vale, including for Welsh-medium provision.
·
R2
-
Consider preparing shorter more focused performance reports for the
Education Scrutiny Committee that would enable it to focus
attention on key issues.
·
R3
-
Review how the Council’s service planning process could be fully
utilised to effectively inform and be informed by the Education
Plan required by the Assembly Government.
·
R4 -
Ensure that Education Service Plans were written in a way that
specified outcomes.
·
R5 -
The Council now needed to develop a clear vision for a future
education service in the area, building on the planned investment
in schools that was currently underway.
·
R6
-
Make plans for the future provision of special schools in the
borough that clarified the relationship between their local role
and their regional role and make any regional role explicit in
commissioning and funding arrangements.
The Scrutiny Committee was also advised that
this report had also been considered by the Council’s Audit
Committee on 29th January, 2007 who noted the report and
agreed that the recommendations be addressed as part of the service
planning process for 2007/08.
The Director apologised on behalf of Mr.
Harries (representing the WAO) who had been unable to attend the
meeting due to unforeseen circumstances.
The Director reiterated the context of the
reviews and reminded Members that the latter review had been
undertaken some time ago. Publication of the final
documentation had been delayed due to ongoing discussions between
the Council and WAO representatives. He also referred to the
main findings of the review for which, in the main, there were
significant positives in favour of the Council’s actions in
response to the findings and acknowledged the concern raised by the
WAO. However, work was progressing and ongoing in respect of
the collaborative work with stakeholders to ensure that the
overarching Education Service Plan was fully aligned; clarification
would be sought in respect of the provision of special schools
within the Vale of Glamorgan, in particular funding from other
Authorities; general support of special education needs within
mainstream provision and the further development of the Council’s
Corporate Parenting responsibilities to take account of such
issues.
In summing up, the Director indicated that
notwithstanding the development of effective systems and processes
that were now in place and acknowledged by Estyn, the challenge
that remained for the Council was to create a new vision for taking
the Education Service forward in the future. This was of
particular importance given the fact that a number of legislative
changes would impact on service delivery in the future.
The Chairman and a number of Members raised
concerns in respect of the content of the report particularly
relating to the following:
·
Schools perception survey results regarding the effectiveness of
the leadership of Elected Members which were inconsistent with the
positive conclusions of Estyn;
·
the criticism of the Council in respect of the poor condition of
its schools and the inference that they had not been maintained
over the years;
·
the provision of a full range Advisory support of services to its
Welsh Medium Schools.
Discussion ensued with regard to the possible
reasons why the Council had been criticised, in particular, to the
areas identified above. Given that Mr. Harries of the WAO was
unable to attend the meeting and therefore clarification could not
be provided on these points, the Committee felt that Mr. Harries be
invited to attend a future meeting of the Committee to explain
further these matters raised. The Director, to assist the
Committee’s deliberations, did provide clarification where possible
on matters of concern raised by Members that the Wales Audit Office
be asked to address specifically, the issues raised in the School
Perception Survey to enable the Scrutiny Committee to consider an
agree any further action necessary.
RECOMMENDED -
(1) T H A
T Mr. Harries of the Wales Audit Office be invited to attend a
future meeting of the Committee to respond to questions regarding
the content of the report.
(2) THAT
the Wales Audit Office be asked to address specifically, the issues
raised in the School Perception Survey to enable the Scrutiny
Committee to consider an agree any further action necessary.
Reasons for decisions
(1&2) To clarify the content of the
WAO report findings.
843
QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE MONITORING REPORTS (DLD) -
Access and Inclusion -
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the performance
monitoring data in respect of Access and Inclusion Service be noted
subject to it being further noted that performance indicators
EDU/002 was an annual statistic and would be included at the end of
the fourth quarter.
School Improvement -
The Director indicated that in respect of
indicator 05/15 proposals were currently being developed to address
Athrowon Bro Welsh Medium Service Provision given that funding had
been identified. A report to this Scrutiny Committee would be
made in the future.
Having regard to the above, it was
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the performance
monitoring data in respect of the School Improvement Service be
noted.
Strategy, Planning and Performance
-
The performance monitoring data in respect of
the Strategy, Planning and Performance Service was received and
noted.
Lifelong Learning -
The Director indicated in respect of indicator
L344 that an inspection of adult and community education in the
Vale of Glamorgan would be undertaken commencing from
12th March, 2007 for a two week period. The
findings of the inspection would be subject to a further report to
the Scrutiny Committee (Lifelong Learning) in the future.
Having regard to the above, it was
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the performance
monitoring data in respect of the Lifelong Learning Service be
noted.
844
REVENUE AND CAPITAL MONITORING FOR THE PERIOD 1ST APRIL,
2006 TO 31ST DECEMBER, 2006 (DLD) -
The projected outturn for 2006/2007 Revenue
Budget as detailed in the report was for a forecasted balanced
budget for the Directorate.
The Schools Delegated Budget was expected to
balance and any under/overspend was carried forward by
schools. In relation to education service expenditure as
reported previously to this Scrutiny Committee the saving of
£120,000 on Strategy and Performance arising from a lower than
expected inflation increase on renewed contracts such as School
Transport together with staff vacancies within the Education
Department, had been used to off-set the overspending on Lifelong
Learning. Maternity costs for school staff, which were a
statutory responsibility of the authority were expected to be
higher than originally forecasted and at present it was envisaged
that this would be contained within the existing budgets.
It was noted that in respect of Library
Services this budget was projected to outturn on target. With
regard to Lifelong Learning, as previously reported to this
Scrutiny Committee it was anticipated that there would be a deficit
of £120,000 at the year end due to income generation problems in
the training section and Job Shop Extra and running costs of the
Heritage Skills Centre. This deficit would be off-set by
savings identified from within the Education Department.
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the position in relation
to the 2006/07 Revenue and Capital Monitoring be noted.
Reason for decision
To enable Members to be aware of the position
with regard to the 2006/07 Revenue and Capital Monitoring relevant
to this Scrutiny Committee.
845
PROGRESS REPORT ON SCHOOL CAPITAL INVESTMENT STRATEGY (DLD) -
The report sought to update this Scrutiny
Committee on progress in relation to the above subject.
It was noted that work was ongoing in respect
of potential capital receipts and expenditure profile for the above
strategy. When completed a report would be submitted to
Cabinet for consideration.
The key issue still to be addressed was
matters relating to the lower site at Cowbridge Comprehensive
School. The site was owned by the Cowbridge School Trust, of
which the Council was a Trustee. However, in late autumn 2006
the Charity Commission had indicated that it was not permissible
for the Trust to sell the lower site and make a retrospective
donation to the development at Aberthin Road, Cowbridge. It
was further noted that it was planned that MACE’s contract would be
further extended so that the consultants could analyse the impact
of the capital receipt realisation on the delivery of the strategy
and specifically the impact on not realising a receipt from the
lower site at Cowbridge. The Due Diligence Team, comprising
officers from the Procurement Unit and Legal Services, would ensure
that any such contract extension was in accordance with the
relevant regulations. In addition the Due Diligence Team were
also looking at the most appropriate way for the Council to secure
contractors in respect of the Design and Construction for the three
secondary schools.
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the position be
noted.
Reason for decision
So that Members were aware of progress on the
School Investment Strategy.