SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (LIFELONG LEARNING)

 

 

MINUTES of a meeting held at Cowbridge Comprehensive Lower Site on 23rd May, 2007.

 

Present: Councillor A.D. Hampton (Chairman); Councillor E. Hacker (Vice-Chairman); Councillors Mrs. M.E.J. Birch, Ms. R.M. Birch, J. Clifford, Miss J. Cole, M.E. Dobbinson, F.T. Johnson and B.I. Shaw.

 

Non-Voting Observers: Mr. G. Beaudette and Mr. D. Griffiths.

 

Also Present: Councillors Mrs. C. Clay, S.C. Egan and N. Moore.

 

 

37            APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE -

 

These were received from Councillors P. Church, A.M. Ernest, G. Kemp, Mrs. S.I. Sharpe and E.T. Williams.

 

The Chairman welcomed the members of the public who attended in relation to the School Investment Strategy which had been considered earlier in the day by the Cabinet.

 

The Chairman advised that Cabinet had

 

RESOLVED –

 

(1)       T H A T the priority order of the three secondary schools as recommended by MACE  i.e. Cowbridge first, followed by St. Cyres and Llantwit Major, be endorsed;

 

(2)       T H A T a further report be submitted to Cabinet in September 2007 seeking approval to the appointment of the Design Team;

 

(3)       T H A T following further reports on the identification of additional funding, including capital receipts, the Council confirm the time period for phasing of the three schools as soon as possible after the appointment of the Design Team;

 

and that the Schools Investment Strategy fell within the remit of the Scrutiny Committee (Lifelong Learning).  The process of the School Investment Strategy would be scrutinised closely by the Committee.

 

Councillor Moore reminded all present that the School Investment Strategy was a County-wide programme and that, whilst Cowbridge Comprehensive was a priority for the Council, consideration would also be given to other schools within the Vale of Glamorgan Council area.

 

 

38            MINUTES -

 

RECOMMENDED - T H A T the minutes of the meeting held on 16th May, 2007 be approved as a correct record, subject to it being recorded that apologies for absence had been received from Councillor B.I. Shaw.. 

 

 

39            DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST –

 

Councillor J. Clifford declared an interest in Agenda Item No. 6 in that his daughter was an L.S.A. at Ashgrove School, Penarth.

 

The following Councillors also declared the nature of their interest, being governors of schools within the Vale of Glamorgan, it being noted that the Standards Committee on 9th September and 21st October, 2004, 13th January, 2005 and 5th February, 2007 had granted them a general dispensation to vote upon any matters to be considered be the Scrutiny Committee (Lifelong Learning) in relation to matters of a general education nature in terms of policy, plans, policy framework and budgets etc.

 

Councillors A.D. Hampton, E. Hacker, Mrs. M.E.J. Birch, Ms. R.M. Birch, J. Clifford, Ms. J. Cole, A.D. Dobbinson, F.T. Johnson and B.I. Shaw.

 

 

40            WELCOME –

 

Mrs. M. Evans, Headteacher of Cowbridge Comprehensive School welcomed all present to the school.

 

Mrs. Evans felt that it was appropriate that the meeting was held in Cowbridge Comprehensive School in view of the decision of the Cabinet earlier in the day.

 

Mrs. Evans was grateful for the Council’s support, and was also pleased that a replacement Cowbridge School had been placed at the top of the Council’s priority list.

 

The new premises would not only meet the educational needs of the students, but students and staff would also benefit from the safe environment.  Mrs. Evans looked forward to a time when the aspirations of the students would not be constrained by their surroundings.

 

The ethos of the school was “no limits” in that the teaching staff were always looking for ways to develop students’ abilities. 

 

Examples were given of recent initiatives, i.e.

 

-                     curriculum enrichment

-                     partnership with Barry College

-                     community focussed schools

-                     extra-curricular programmes, particularly in the field of creative arts.

 

Mrs. Evans advised that the next Estyn inspection was due in September.  Mrs. Evans was looking forward to the inspection in view of the many positive activities to be found in the school.

 

Mrs. Evans thanked Members for their interest in the school, and extended an invitation to any Member to visit the school should they wish to do so.

 

 

41            REVENUE AND CAPITAL MONITORING FOR THE PERIOD 1ST APRIL, 2007 TO 30TH APRIL, 2007 (DLD) –

 

The projected outturn for the 2007/08 Revenue Budget was shown in comparison to the budget at Appendix 1 to the report.  The current forecast was for a balanced budget for the Directorate.  However, it was very early in the financial year.  Any budget variations would be reported in subsequent monitoring reports.

 

Schools – the delegated budget relating to schools was expected to balance as any under / over spend was carried forward into the new year by the schools.

 

Education Services – grant related expenditure – essential education budget currently provided £698,004 match funding towards the Better Schools Fund and Welsh Language grants totalling £981,852.  At present it was envisaged that the Better Schools Fund would continue on an annual basis.  In the event of future cessation, financial consequences for the schools would be absorbed in their delegated budgets.  For centrally funded activities, an exit strategy was being actioned in line with the current Estyn Action Plan.

 

In addition, there were grants of £194,000 from the Basic Skills Agency, which were partly delegated to schools and partly administered centrally on behalf of schools.  Schools also had access to the following Welsh Assembly funded grants:

 

Support to headteachers in small schools -            £  25,911

 

Community focussed schools -                                 £120,263

to assist with the development of services, activities and facilities for the community.  They had been delegated a special grant for the purpose of improving educational outcomes of pupils registered at the school.

 

Energy grant -                                                           £456,700

 

The foundation phase -                                               £179,370

to support and deliver the pilot scheme in Holton Primary and Ysgol Meithrin Y Bontfaen.

 

Early start -                                                                 £45,239

for Cadoxton Primary and Cadoxton Nursery, to increase the number of school settings to deliver the foundation stage ahead of the statutory rollout.

 

Learning pathways 14-19 -                                         £524,279

to provide alternative educational roots for pupils between the ages of 14-19.

 

Support for induction grant -                         £6,417

for LEA assessment and quality assurance of newly qualified teachers.

 

Libraries – This service was projected to outturn on target.

 

Lifelong Learning – The budget was currently anticipated to outturn on target.  However, in order to achieve this action must urgently be taken to ensure the income generation problems encountered last year were rectified and that the required efficiencies were achieved.

 

Catering – This service was also projected to outturn on target.  However, action needed to be taken to prevent similar deficits to last year occurring.  This service was currently being reviewed in order to achieve a balanced budget.

 

RECOMMENDED – T H A T the position with regard to the 2007/08 Revenue and Capital Monitoring be noted.

 

Reason for recommendation

 

That Members are aware of the position with regards to the 2007/08 Revenue and Capital Monitoring relevant to this Scrutiny Committee.

 

 

42            POSITIVE ACTION TO IMPROVE THE EDUCATION OF CERTAIN GROUPS OF CHILDREN (DLD) –

 

The Committee received a presentation which outlined the positive actions of the Council to improve the education of certain groups of children.

 

The groups of children subject to positive actions included pupils with Special Education Needs and also those who are more abled and talented.

 

In each category, members were advised of the processes followed by the Council, including the training provided for staff, and details of the optional support mechanisms offered to schools.

 

Members were advised of three notable areas of development,  .i.e.:

 

·                    the development of a “tracking” system for pupils with Special Educational Needs (the first such system in Wales).  The tracking system was increasingly being used with the involvement of Social Services.

·                    The development of an intervention “mapping” protocol which itemised the services available to schools.

·                    The development of an Inclusion Quality Mark which set standards to ensure that schools were operating inclusive policies.

 

In the case of children from ethnic-minorities, members were advised that the Council had entered into a Service Level Agreement with Cardiff Council whose aim was to up-scale teachers.

 

To conclude, the Chairman reminded members that the previous Estyn Inspection of the School Improvement Service had identified that significant progress had been made by the service, and it was the Chairman’s belief that there would be further improvement in the future.  The Chairman thanked all involved for their informative presentation.

 

 

43            SCRUTINY REVIEW: A REVIEW TO EVALUATE THE LEVELS OF NURSERY PROVISION IN THE VALE OF GLAMORGAN (CHAIRMAN) –

 

Members received the final report of the review, which considered current nursery provision arrangements within the Vale of Glamorgan.

 

The review was attached at Appendix A to the report and contained eight recommendations for Committee’s consideration.

 

The review focused on establishing a clear picture of the current situation in terms of nursery provision within the Vale of Glamorgan.  It examined the levels of provision in the nurseries provided by the Council and in those, which were privately operated.  The review also considered issues around how geographical location impacted upon the ability to access nursery provision and how it affected demand for services.

 

The resource implication of the recommendations were noted by Committee, in particular the requirement for additional resources to enhance the levels of service provision.

 

RECOMMENDED –

 

T H A T the following recommendations be recommended to Cabinet, subject to any comments of Scrutiny Committee (Community Wellbeing and Safety):

 

(1)            Provide information through a range of communication channels including the website, community centre notice boards and through partners to raise awareness of the free nursery provision to ensure maximum take up of available services.

 

(2)            Review the policy for allocating nursery places to determine whether it can be more flexible to enable a child to attend an alternative provider if there are genuine reasons to support this choice.  This is in line with the Welsh Assembly Government directive or increasing parental choice.

 

(3)       Extend the childcare database which details Council operated facilities and privately run playgroups to enable parents to make an informed choice about the appropriate form of childcare.

 

(4)            Undertake a feasibility study for introducing transport provision to enable children who live in the rural Vale to have better access to services based in other parts of the Vale.

 

(5)            Receive a report on the survey into the demand for Welsh Medium Education to be undertaken in 2007/08 to enable the Committee to consider the implications for nursery provision.

 

(6)       Use the Wales Index for Multiple Deprivation and other relevant local data to help identify needs and gaps in service provision outside of the Flying Start areas.  Information to be used to inform service provision and future opportunities for funding / bids.

 

(7)            Undertake a survey of Nursery providers in Flying Start areas regarding their view of the impact of Flying Start and the benefits gained in twelve months time.

 

(8)            Maximise opportunities to utilise the knowledge and relationships established through Flying Start to enhance services and support in other areas which are not directly benefiting from the Flying Start Programme.

 

 

44            WALES AUDIT OFFICE REPORT: REVIEW OF PROGRESS WITH SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT (CX) –

 

Scrutiny Committee (Lifelong Learning) were, on 19th February, 2007, informed that 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 and 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 and agree any further action necessary.

 

Mr. Richard Harries, who was in attendance, observed that the report had been positive albeit with caveats.  Furthermore, matters had moved on since the time the report had been published, and progress had been made in every instance.  However, big challenges lay ahead and the Council would need to develop a vision for the future.

 

The reports had been intended to “flag” a number of issues facing the Council and it had not been Mr. Harries’ intention to criticise the Council. 

 

In considering paragraph 26 of the Wales Audit Office report headed “The roles of the Council’s three special schools are unclear in terms of the extent to which they intend to serve the borough and the wider South Wales community”, a member called for the establishment of a Task and Finish Group to review the running of the Council’s special schools.

 

The Director of Learning and Development advised that it may be advisable for the Committee to receive a report outlining “where we are” with regard to the special schools, following which the Committee could consider whether the establishment of a Task and Finish Group would be appropriate.

 

In referring to the concerns of the Committee relating to the schools perception survey results, members were advised that the Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning would soon be inviting members to visit schools to see the situation for themselves.

 

Mr. Harries added that the schools perception survey results had been based on a response by only 19 of the Council’s schools.

 

Mr. Harries expressed satisfaction that the Council was attempting to take this issue forward, and advised that he would be undertaking a similar exercise soon.

 

Finally, the Chairman thanked Mr. Harries for attending the meeting and expressed the view that all members were looking for improvements and together we could achieve them.

 

RECOMMENDED – T H A T the Wales Audit Office report on the review of the progress with school improvement and strategic management be noted.