SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (LIFELONG LEARNING)

 

 

MINUTES of a meeting held at Cadoxton Primary School, Barry on 25th June, 2007.

 

Present: Councillor A.D. Hampton (Chairman); Councillor E. Hacker (Vice-Chairman); Councillors Mrs. M.E.J. Birch, Ms. R.M. Birch, P. Church, J. Clifford, A.M. Ernest, F.T. Johnson, G.C. Kemp, Mrs. S.I. Sharpe and E.T. Williams.

 

Non-Voting Observers: Mr. G. Roberts.

 

Also Present: Councillor N.J. Gibbs.

 

 

144     APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE -

 

These were received from Ms. C. Baggett, Mr. S. James and Councillors Miss J. Cole, A.D. Dobbinson, B.I. Shaw and S.T. Wiliams.

 

 

145     MINUTES -

 

RECOMMENDED - T H A T the minutes of the meetings held on 16th May and 23rd May, 2007 be approved as a correct record.

 

 

146     DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST -

 

The following Councillors 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 by 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. A.J. Birch, Ms R.M. Birch, P. Church, J. Clifford, A.M. Ernest, F.T. Johnson, G.C. Kemp and E.T. Williams.

 

 

147     WELCOME -

 

Mr. Myers, Headteacher of Cadoxton Primary School, welcomed all present to the school.

 

Mr. Myers had worked at the school for some 17 years of which he had been Headteacher for five.  During that time, the school had achieved many successes. 

 

A tremendous boost to the school had been the amalgamation of the schools which meant that children from the infant school could use the facilities of the junior school.

 

Cadoxton Primary had been one of the first schools in the Vale to establish a computer suite.  The suite had recently been remodelled with the assistance of a £30,000 loan from the LEA. 

 

One of the most significant events affecting the school had been the construction of a sports hall which represented a tremendous asset.  The sports hall had been built with the help of a contribution of £780,000 from the Big Lottery Fund and had been a great boon for the children of the school. 

 

Mr. Myers advised that many of the pupils at the school were seriously disadvantaged and many had SEN needs.  Much time and energy was devoted to assisting those pupils, and this represented one of the school’s great strengths.  To help these children, the school was assisted by a number of people from outside the school - for example, school children’s grandmothers, Women’s Institute, etc. 

 

The school had been subject to three inspections - in 1995, 2000 and 2005.  All had been successful. 

 

The school had been nominated a “flying start” and “early start” school and would soon be accommodating two year olds together with their parents.

 

Finally, Mr. Myers stated that he did not feel that the infants’ building was “fit for purpose” for the early start phase.  Mr. Myers felt that the Authority needed to look at the building with a view to improving the facilities.

 

Mr. Myers thanked Members for their interest in the school, and extended an invitation to the Members to visit the sports hall. 

 

 

148     SULLY PRIMARY SCHOOL - ESSENTIAL WORKS - REQUEST FOR CONSIDERATION -

 

Mrs. Bisham, Headteacher of Sully Primary School, was in attendance for this item. 

 

Councillor Ernest had submitted a request for consideration outlining concerns relating to issues about the safety of the double glazed windows at Sully Primary School, the non-opening of the windows, allowing temperatures to rise to well over acceptable limits and providing little or no ventilation.  Much of the woodwork was rotten and there were other side issues as well. 

 

Councillor Ernest also referred to problems with the sewers at the school, problems which had since been put right.

 

Mrs. Bisham, with the Committee’s consent, stated that the issue of the school’s windows had been raised at the time of the previous school inspection, some five years ago.  This would surely be an issue at the next inspection also. 

 

A Member pointed out that it was the responsibility of each school to fund replacement windows, and Mrs. Bisham replied that the crux of the problem lay in the wooden structure of the building.  Mrs. Bisham was not certain that the fabric of the building was strong enough to support replacement windows.

 

In response, the Head of Strategy and Performance referred to Council’s policy, through the School Investment Strategy, to ensure that schools were “fit for purpose”.  The Council would soon engage a feasibility strategy which would guide the Council in the longer term.  Furthermore, a previous inspection of the school had found the accommodation to be satisfactory.

 

Following further discussion on the subject, including a Member’s comments that, as virtually each individual Member of the Committee had schools within their wards that could make similar pleas, the use of the “request for consideration of a matter” procedure for cases such as these was inappropriate, it was

 

RECOMMENDED - T H A T the responses made in requests to the Request for Consideration of a Matter be noted.

 

 

149     REVENUE AND CAPITAL MONITORING FOR THE PERIOD 1ST APRIL, 2007 TO 31ST MAY, 2007 (DLD) -

 

The projected outturn for the 2007/08 Revenue Budget was shown in comparison with 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 variation would be reported in subsequent monitoring reports.

 

Schools - in accordance with regulations the Age Weighted Pupil Unit in respect of a pupil permanently excluded was transferred from the excluding school to the receiving provision.  Further transfer of the Age Weighted Pupil Unit from schools was made in certain circumstances in respect of pupils requiring provision outside the school KS4.  The pupil was taken off the roll and transferred to the Education Otherwise roll.  Hence an in-year budget adjustment had been made between schools and access and inclusion.  The delegated budget relating to schools was expected to balance as any under and over spend was carried forward by school.

 

Education service - it was currently projected that expenditure would be in line with the budget.  However as stated previously, it was very early in the financial year and any budget variations would be reported to future meetings.

 

Libraries - this service was projected to outturn on target. 

 

Lifelong Learning - as previously reported, the budget was currently anticipated to outturn on target.  However, in order to achieve this action must be urgently 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 a similar deficit to the previous year occurring again.   The service was currently being reviewed in order to achieve a balanced budget.

 

With regard to the Programme for 2007/08, the Authority had received an Early Years Grant of £175,000 for the 2007/08 financial year from the Welsh Assembly Government.  The purpose of the grant was to develop the outdoor play elements of early years learning across all schools with early years provision.  Cabinet had been requested to increase the Capital Programme accordingly.  

 

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

 

 

150     SERVICE PLANS (DLD) -

 

Committee received the Service Plans relating to

 

-     access and inclusion

-     school improvement

-     strategy, planning and performance

-     lifelong learning.

 

The reports were presented in the new format as the way in which Service Plans would be presented to Scrutiny Committees in the future.

 

The reports included cost cutting objectives, service objectives, service self assessment and consultation processes.

 

(i)     Access and Inclusion -

 

Members welcomed the detailed Service Plan.  Whilst acknowledging that the data relating to attendance at schools as contained in Page 21 of the Plan was in the format required by WAG, it was felt that actual figures should be included in addition to the percentage figures to provide some degree of clarity.

 

RECOMMENDED - T H A T the Access and Inclusion Service Plan be accepted.

 

(ii)     School Improvement -

 

RECOMMENDED - T H A T the School Improvement Service Plan be accepted and that Cabinet be asked to consider the inclusion of a strategy to actively discourage parents from taking their children on holiday during term time.

 

(iii)     Strategy, Planning and Performance -

 

RECOMMENDED - T H A T the Strategy, Planning and Performance Service Plan be accepted.

 

(iv)     Lifelong Learning -

 

RECOMMENDED - T H A T the Lifelong Learning Service Plan be accepted.