SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (LIFELONG LEARNING)
MINUTES of a meeting held at Llanilltud Fawr
Primary School (Llantwit Major) on 10th September,
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, Miss J. Cole, A.D. Dobbinson,
F.T. Johnson, G.C. Kemp, A.G. Powell, Mrs. S.I. Sharpe, B.I.
Shaw and E.T. Williams.
Non-Voting Observers: Mr. G. Beaudette and Mr.
T. Cox.
Also Present: Councillor N.J. Gibbs.
312 APOLOGIES FOR
ABSENCE -
These were received from Councillors A.M.
Ernest, C.P. Franks, S.T. Wiliam and Mr. G. Roberts.
313 MINUTES -
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the minutes of the
meeting held on 23rd July, 2007 be approved as a correct
record.
314 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.
M.E.J. Birch, Ms. R.M. Birch, P. Church, J. Clifford, Miss J.
Cole, A.D. Dobbinson, F.T. Johnson, G.C. Kemp, A.G. Powell,
B.I. Shaw and E.T. Williams.
315 WELCOME -
Mrs. Jennings, Headteacher of Llanilltud Fawr
Primary School welcomed all present to the school and introduced
the Committee to the Deputy Headteacher. Mrs. Jennings
advised the Committee of the background of the school, that it had
been built in the 1950s as a temporary building. There were
nine classes in the school and a part-time nursery. During
the current year the school had won the Inter Schools Sports
competition; it also had a significantly high number of after
school clubs. The school roll in 2006 had seen 239 pupils in
July 2007 - 272 and currently in September - 236.
Mrs. Jennings queried with the Committee whether there was
going to be any future developments in the area as a result of the
St. Athan development, in particular local rumour suggested the
possibility of two extra schools in Llandow. The Chairman of
the Planning Committee could confirm that the information the
Headteacher was quoting was rumour and that no definite decisions
had been made. Mr. Beaudette could confirm that he had
spoken to managers of Barratt and Persimmons who had advised that
there were no plans for the area until 2011. It was too early
to speculate. The Committee confirmed that they would ensure
via the Director that the school was kept as informed and as up to
date on matters of interest as possible.
Mrs. Jennings further advised the Scrutiny
Committee of security problems that she faced at the school and
that with match funding from the LEA they had been able to ensure
that the site was now secure.
89 of the children had to be educated in
portable demountable classrooms at the back of the school which had
no cloakroom facilities and she afforded the Scrutiny Committee
Members the opportunity to tour the school building after their
meeting.
The Chairman thanked Mrs. Jennings for the
hospitality shown to the Committee and the opportunity for Members
to view the school.
316 HOME TO SCHOOL
TRANSPORT POLICY AND MONITORING UPDATE 2007 - (REF) -
Cabinet had been advised of the intended
changes to the Home to School Transport Policy and approval had
been sought for their adoption into the main body of the
policy. The intended changes covered the following areas:
·
it was proposed that a short statement dealing with the transport
being provided to the next nearest school when the nearest was at
capacity being inserted into the document;
·
that the new legislation in respect of “Smoke Free Premises etc.
(Wales) Regulations 2007” be included in the document;
·
the short statement advising of the Council’s intention in respect
of photograph passes be incorporated;
·
in respect of severe weather conditions, it was proposed that the
current policy be amended to advise that in such conditions the
decision on whether or not and when transport could be provided
would ultimately rest with the operator;
·
the policy needed to make it more clear that parents / guardians
are responsible for the payment of replacement bus passes that are
lost under any circumstances;
·
a further statement in respect of the provision of either free
school transport for pupils who reside outside the Vale of
Glamorgan or the sale of spare capacity seats to such pupils be
inserted as currently the Council did not permit either of these
two options;
·
a further need for clarification in the policy had been identified
following a recent complaint when a primary school child had not
been met from the bus in the afternoon by her parent / guardian and
it was proposed that the policy document be amended to accurately
reflect the course of action to be taken in line with the Drivers /
Escort Training manual;
·
as a result of a recent re-arrangement of school transport due to
school sports days, it was proposed that an additional statement be
included to advise schools that any changes to schedules should be
undertaken to the Council’s Transport Unit and any additional
financial costs that the operator may require should be paid for by
the school directly.
Cabinet, on 25th July, 2007 had
“RESOLVED - T H A T the Policy for the
Provision of Home to School Transport be amended to include the
various references as laid out above and in the report and the
Scrutiny Committee (Lifelong Learning) be forwarded a copy of the
Policy for information.”
Having considered the above, the Scrutiny
Committee
RECOMMENDED - T HA T the resolutions of
Cabinet of 25th July, 2007 and the contents of the
report be noted.
317 ESTYN INSPECTION
REPORT ON THE QUALITY OF ADULT AND COMMUNITY BASED LEARNING (REF)
-
Cabinet had been informed that an Estyn
Inspection on the quality of Adult Community-Based Learning in the
Vale had taken place from 12th to
22nd March, 2007. The inspection had included
all providers that were members of the Vale Learning Network and
who worked in partnership with the Council’s Lifelong Learning
Service. During the inspection the following learning areas
had been inspected:
·
Adult Learning
·
Community Development
·
Basic Skills
·
English for Speakers of Other Languages and
·
Welsh for Adults.
Overall the report had identified that the
majority of learners had made good progress and had achieved their
learning goals. Many of the tutors had also prepared and
planned their courses well to meet the learning needs of the
class. The report also stated that there was a wide-range of
adult and community based learning opportunities throughout the
Vale of Glamorgan which addressed the needs of local communities,
promoted health and wellbeing and provided opportunities for new
careers and community regeneration.
The report concluded that the Vale Learning
Network provided good value for money and it fostered a strong
commitment to partnership working between a wide variety of
agencies and organisations.
A number of joint actions were recommended to
demonstrate improvement and an Action Plan in response to the
recommendations had been drawn up which would be presented to the
Scrutiny Committee to update them on progress in due course.
The Action Plan would address some of the areas that required
upgrading, although it was noted that they may not necessarily be
the Vale’s responsibility.
Cabinet had resolved that the Director of
Learning and Development submit a progress report to Cabinet in
November 2007 on the preparation of the Action Plan and the
Scrutiny Committee requested that they also receive the report for
consideration.
RECOMMENDED -
(1) T H A
T the Scrutiny Committee’s congratulations be passed on to the
staff in respect of such a good inspection report.
(2) T H A
T the progress report to be submitted to Cabinet in November 2007
on the preparation of the Action Plan in response to the Estyn Area
Inspection, be also presented to the Scrutiny Committee for
consideration.
Reasons for decisions
(1) In
order that the Scrutiny Committee’s views can be passed on to
staff.
(2) In
order that the Scrutiny Committee can be apprised of progress and
consider the Plan.
318 REVENUE AND
CAPITAL MONITORING FOR THE PERIOD 1ST APRIL 2007 TO
31ST JULY 2007 (DLD) -
The Scrutiny Committee was advised that the
projected outturn for the 2007/2008 Revenue Budget was shown in
comparison with the Budget at Appendix 1 to the report and that the
current forecast was for a balanced budget for the Directorate.
Lifelong Learning Service - A review of the
service had indicated that the anticipated savings were not
accruing and that the service was currently facing a potential
overspend at the year end of £147,000. This was attributed to
delays in starting the new learning programmes to the economically
inactive and the low enrolments over the summer period, unbudgeted
premises costs at the Heritage Skills Centre and the uncertainty of
future funding sources of the Vale Learning Network. The
Committee was advised that actions would be implemented in an
effort to reduce the figure and consequently reduce the support
need from the Strategy and Performance Budget. The Catering
Service was projected to outturn with an adverse variance of
£120,000 which was largely due to the reduced meal numbers not
recovering to the previous levels and the additional cost pressures
on food and staff resources resulting from the implementation of
the Welsh Assembly nutritional guidelines.
Reference was made in the report to a £41,000
grant that had been received in 2007/08 for students who were
eligible for Assembly Learner grants. Committee was advised
that it was a means tested grant and further information as
requested by Members would be forwarded in due course.
In relation to the Capital Programme, Appendix
2 to the report detailed the financial progress on the Capital
Programme as at 31st July, 2007 and Appendix 3 to the
report provided non-financial information on capital schemes.
Committee was advised that the Council had
received a grant of £41,971 for the continuation of the procurement
of the Attendance Management System. During discussion of the
report, Members queried the delivery of the Welsh Assembly
Government’s “Foundation Programme” and were advised that this had
been delayed. Having considered the report, the Scrutiny
Committee
RECOMMENDED -
(1) T H A
T an up to date report be presented to the next meeting of the
Scrutiny Committee detailing the “Foundation Programme” of the
Welsh Assembly Government.
(2) T H A
T information on the Assembly Learner Grant be forwarded to Members
as soon as possible.
(3) T H A
T a report be presented to the Scrutiny Committee in respect of the
issues relating to school transport contracts and any implications
as a result of the current contractors termination of contract.
(4) T H A
T details of the current position in relation to the proposed “land
exchange of” Cowbridge Comprehensive School and the Trust Committee
be presented to the Scrutiny Committee as soon as possible.
(5) T H A
T the School Investment Strategy be identified as a standing item
for the agenda for every Scrutiny Committee meeting.
(6) T H A
T a report be presented to the next meeting of the Committee in
respect of the schemes involved on the Cogan Hall development and
the criteria being utilised.
(7) T H A
T, on completion of the Nursery Review a full report be presented
to the Scrutiny Committee as and when available.
Reasons for decisions
(1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6) and
(7) To apprise Members.
319 BUS SHELTERS
(DEER) -
The Scrutiny Committee (Economy and
Environment) had, on 24th October, 2006, received a
request to consider and examine the quality of Council owned bus
shelters to discuss ways of improving them and to evaluate existing
provision and whether that was adequate. The Scrutiny
Committee (Economy and Environment) referred the report for
information to the Scrutiny Committee (Community Wellbeing and
Safety) and the Community Safety Partnership. The Scrutiny
Committee (Community Wellbeing and Safety) in turn referred the
matter to the Lifelong Learning Scrutiny Committee for
consideration in light of the Youth Provision report that they had
recently received and the fact that the Vale of Glamorgan was below
the Welsh average for funding per person within the Youth
Service. As a result of the report, a further report had been
requested within the next six months to advise all the Committees
of the up to date position in respect of incidents of vandalism at
bus shelters. The current report before the Committee
provided this information.
The report presented a list of incidents of
vandalism throughout the Vale of Glamorgan totalling a figure of
£8,120, together with the total cost of the removal of graffiti
from bus shelters for the year being £1,472. The overall cost
to vandalism and graffiti thus resulted in a figure of
£9,592. Committee was advised that the report centred around
the Council’s bus shelters that were being vandalised and Adshel
was responsible for a number of others throughout the Vale.
Members expressed their extreme disappointment at the “mindless
vandalism” that was taking place and the manpower and resources
that were being used to combat it. Although vandalism was
seen to be a problem of a minority number of youths, the Committee
had no information to substantiate this and agreed that it was
difficult to ascertain the perpetrators, although the Head of
Service for Youth Provision could confirm that he was seeking every
possible opportunity to obtain Lottery funding for youth work
throughout the Vale in order to engage local people and to work
together with the police in the hot spot areas.
RECOMMENDED -
(1) T H A
T the report be noted.
(2) T H A
T the efforts being made to deal with the matter be commended.
320 MATTER WHICH THE
CHAIRMAN HAD DECIDED WAS URGENT -
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the following matter
which the Chairman had decided was urgent for the reason stated be
considered.
321 SCHOOL FLOODING
(DLD) -
Urgent by reason of the need to
apprise Members of the current situation
The Director of Learning and Development
reported that a full report on the recent flooding issues within
schools would be presented to Cabinet and the Scrutiny Committee in
due course. However, he could apprise Members of the current
position in respect of the four schools involved, being Bryn
Hafren, St. Richard Gwyn, Oak Field and Gwaun-y-Nant. These
had been visited by both the Cabinet Member and the Director and a
number of officers throughout the Vale to ascertain the damage that
had occurred. In Bryn Hafren 12 classrooms had been lost,
amongst others, St. Richard Gwyn, 40% of the teaching area and part
of the catering area had been lost. Oak Field had lost
everything and Gwaun-y-Nant had lost everything except for two
classrooms. Asbestos had also been disturbed in a number of
schools which required considerable work to ensure it was removed
safely. The Director commended and congratulated all the
staff from all the schools, the staff within the Directorate of
Learning and Development and the Corporate Management Team for
their urgent attention to the matter in order to ensure that the
schools were ready for reopening so quickly. All schools were
insured and liaison with the insurance company was ongoing on a
daily basis. No overall figure could be associated for the
damage to date but negotiations with the insurance company were
ongoing to ensure that the buildings were made safe and details of
items required were recorded.
The schools had lost a number of materials as
well as facilities and other agencies, for example, Barry College
had offered support. Cadoxton School had offered the use of
its sports facilities for schools requiring such accommodation and
Holm View would be used by St. Richard Gwyn. During the
discussion Members raised concerns in respect of English local
authorities who had received some substantial funds from
Westminster in order to assist with their flooding problems. The
Director confirmed that the Council was pursuing two sources of
emergency funding, the Emergency Finance Assistance scheme via the
Assembly and working with other areas of the U.K. made a claim for
European financial assistance. The Director of Finance, ICT
and Property was working with Assembly officials on these
claims. The Committee were advised that in the flooded areas
of England, funding had been made available by Central Government
without the need for the affected authorities to submit a
claim. Members queried whether similar
financial aid would be received from the Welsh Assembly
Government. Although Members were aware that the Council
needed to assess its actual loss, they considered it was essential
that the Welsh Assembly Government be pressed for financial support
as a matter of urgency.
RECOMMENDED -
(1) T H A
T the Welsh Assembly Government be approached in relation to
financial aid for the schools with flooding problems and the
procedure to be adopted in order to obtain that aid.
(2) T H A
T a further report in respect of the implications of the flood and
the up to date position in respect of the four schools be presented
to the Scrutiny Committee in due course.
(3) T H A
T the above recommendations be referred to Cabinet for information
and endorsement.
Reasons for decisions
(1) To
progress the matter.
(2&3) To progress matters, apprise
Members and ensure the schools receive adequate funding.