SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (LIFELONG
LEARNING)
MINUTES of a meeting held in Romilly Junior
School, Barry, on 21st January, 2008.
Present: Councillor A.D. Hampton
(Chairman); Councillor E. Hacker (Vice-Chairman); Councillors P.
Church, J. Clifford, A.M. Ernest, F.T. Johnson,
G.C. Kemp, A.G. Powell and Mrs. S.I. Sharpe.
Non-Voting Observers: Mr. G.
Beaudette.
719 APOLOGIES FOR
ABSENCE -
These were received from Councillors Mrs.
M.E.J. Birch, Ms. R.M. Birch, Miss. J. Cole, C.P. Franks, N.J.
Gibbs and Mr. T. Cox.
720 MINUTES -
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the minutes of the
meeting held on 28th November, 2007 be approved
subject to the words “The Green Room” in Minute No. 577 being
replaced by “The Green Dragon Initiative”.
721 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 J. Clifford, F.T. Johnson,
A.G. Powell, Mrs. S.I. Sharpe, S.T. Wiliam and E.T. Williams
declared an interest in that part of Agenda Item No. 7 that related
to Cowbridge Comprehensive School in view of their membership of
the Trust Committee.
722 WELCOME -
Mr. K. Law, Headteacher of Romilly Junior
School, welcomed all present to the school.
Mr. Law felt that the main challenge facing
the school was that of delivering a 21st Century
curriculum in a 19th Century building.
Nevertheless, there had been much investment in ICT equipment
within the school, and the school had been the first Junior school
in Wales to achieve the Quality Mark.
Mr. Law was looking to establish a learning
environment in conjunction with Barry and Rhoose Primary Schools,
and all members of staff were actively involved in this.
The school had been actively involved in
permitting parents of pupils to use the ICT facilities, thus
encouraging community use of the school.
Furthermore, Romilly Junior and Infants
Schools were to be amalgamated from September 2008.
The Chairman thanked Mr. Law for the
hospitality shown to the Committee and wished the school well in
the future.
723 CAREERS WALES
-
Mr. M. Freeman, Chief Executive of Careers
Wales, Cardiff and Vale, was present.
Mr. Freeman advised that Careers Wales had
been established in 2001. Careers Wales had a contract
underwritten by WAG, but formed an organisation independent of
WAG. It provided the first all-age careers guidance provision
in the UK.
The work of Careers Wales contributed to WAG’s
Lifelong Learning Agenda and encouraged people from all walks of
life to engage in learning, skills and career development which led
to economic prosperity for individuals and the nation as a
whole.
Careers Wales worked in partnership with a
wide range of organisations, including schools, colleges, training
providers, employers, voluntary community groups, WAG, Cardiff and
the Vale of Glamorgan Councils, Jobcentre Plus, and the Welsh
Refugee Council.
The aims of the organisations were:
- to provide individuals with
accurate, unbiased, comprehensive and up to date information,
advice and guidance;
- to help people make
realistic, informed decisions on careers and routes through
education, training and employment;
- to ensure these decisions
were based on the client’s realistic understanding of their own
capabilities, their potential and opportunities available.
Members of the Committee were offered an
opportunity to ask questions, following which the Chairman thanked
Mr. Freeman for his informative presentation.
724 REVENUE AND
CAPITAL MONITORING FOR THE PERIOD 1ST APRIL, 2007
TO 30TH NOVEMBER, 2007 (DLD) -
Committee’s attention was drawn to the
position in respect of revenue and capital expenditure for the
period 1st April, 2007 to 30th November, 2007
regarding those revenue and capital budgets which formed the
Committee’s remit.
The projected outturn for the 2007/08 Revenue
Budget was shown in comparison with the amended budget at Appendix
1 to the report. The current forecast was for a balanced
budget for the Directorate.
Schools - the delegated budget relating to
schools was expected to balance as any / over spend was carried
forward by schools.
Education Service - although there were a
number of pressures on this service, the expenditure on placements
in independent schools included in the Access and Inclusion budget
was forecast to be £130,000 less than had been estimated.
This was due to a number of pupils returning to placements within
the Authority. At present, it was reported that there was
also potential addition income of £350,000 as a result of more out
of county pupils. However, given the volatile nature of this
budget, the income was not considered secure at this time. In
addition, within the Strategic Planning and Performance budget, as
a result of the combination of the recent re-tendering exercise on
certain home to school transport routes and contract inflation on
all other routes being lower than expected, there was a projected
saving of £137,000 on home to school transport. The education
base budget currently included £450,000 to support the School
Investment Strategy. In 2007/08 the budget would be used to
help fund the costs of the external design team. From 2008/09
it would be available to support Prudential borrowings. Any
further savings that were realised by the end of the financial year
would also be available to further support the School Investment
Strategy.
Libraries - service was expected to outturn on
target.
Lifelong Learning - an adverse variance of
£137,000 was predicted for the service due to a delay in starting
the new learning programmes to the economically inactive and low
enrolments over the summer period (£51,000), premises costs at the
Heritage Skills Centre (£9,000) and the cost of the Vale Learning
Network (£77,000). Actions would be implemented in an effort
to reduce this figure and consequently reduce the support
needed from the Strategy and Performance budget. Any
variations would be reported in future monitoring reports.
Catering - an adverse variance of £90,000 was
predicted for this service. This was due to the reduced meal
numbers not recovering to previous levels and additional cost
pressures on food and staff resources resulting from the
implementation of Welsh Assembly Nutritional guidelines.
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the position with regard
to the 2007/08 Revenue and Capital Monitoring be noted.
Reason for recommendation
To inform Members of the position with regard
to the 2007/08 Revenue and Capital Monitoring relevant to this
Scrutiny Committee.
725 SCHOOL INVESTMENT
STRATEGY - UPDATE (DLD) -
Members were updated on progress with regard
to the School Investment Strategy.
The first stage of the work of the Council’s
external design team and consultants, Davis Langdon, was an option
appraisal of the design of the new school at Cowbridge. The
completion of such an option appraisal was an essential element of
the design process and in accordance with good practice. The
outcome of the option appraisal would be presented to this
Committee.
The Trust Committee were progressing the
challenge to the Charity Commission in terms of their view that
proceeds from the sale of the Lower School Site could not be used
to fund the redevelopment of the new school at Aberthin Road.
The capital receipt from the Lower Site represented a sizeable
potential contribution. Cabinet had approved that the cost of
the challenge, which was estimated at around £1,000 could be met
from the education reserves.
Although official confirmation was awaited,
the Welsh Assembly Government had advised the Council that the
Compulsory Purchase Order of land adjacent to the Aberthin new site
had been approved. The land was to be used for playing
fields. The Estates Section would progress the Compulsory
Purchase Order.
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the contents of the
report be noted.
Reason for recommendation
That Members are aware of progress.
726 SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
- TRACKING OF RECOMMENDATIONS (DLPPHS) -
Committee were advised of the progress in
relation to recommendations that had been made during the quarterly
period October to December 2007 and were asked to consider actions
against those uncompleted recommendations for the period April to
September 2007. The Committee’s views were also sought in
relation to progress against each recommendation, where further
action may be required to ensure the required action was
undertaken, and to confirm any action as completed.
RECOMMENDED -
(1) T H A
T the actions indicated as completed below be agreed:
October 2007 to December 2007
|
05 Nov 07 - Min. No. 492
|
Revenue and Capital Monitoring for the Period
1st April 2007 to 30th September, 2007 (DLD)
- Recommended
(2) That a future meeting of the Committee
receive a report on the position relating to schools delegated
budgets.
|
Completed
|
|
28 Nov 07 - Min. No. 573
|
Initial Capital Programme Proposals 2008/09
(DFICTP) - Recommended that the initial budget proposals be noted
and that Scrutiny Committee (Corporate Resources) and Cabinet be
informed accordingly.
|
Completed
|
|
Min. No. 576
|
School Budgets 2007/08 - Recommended
(2) That Cabinet be requested to support the
request of the School Budget Forum that it take a more involved
role when representations are made to the Welsh Assembly
Government
(4) That the WAG Minister for Children,
Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills be invited to address a
future meeting of the Scrutiny Committee (Lifelong Learning).
|
Completed
Completed
|
|
Min. No. 577
|
Work Programme - Recommended that the Director
be requested to provide a brief covering report on each of the
above topics to further inform the Committee prior to a decision
being made on items to be included in a work programme for the
Committee
|
Completed
|
(2) T H A
T the actions indicated below for the uncompleted quarters period
April - June 2007 and July - September 2007 be agreed as
completed:
Reason for recommendations
(1-2) In order to ensure
effective Scrutiny monitoring.
727 MATTERS WHICH THE
CHAIRMAN HAD DECIDED WERE URGENT -
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the following matters
which the Chairman had decided were urgent for the reasons
specified be considered.
728 SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
ACTION PLAN (DLD) -
Urgent by reason of the need to
progress this matter.
Members were invited to identify priorities
for inclusion in the Action Plan of the Scrutiny Committee
(Lifelong Learning).
Members had considered the following as
possible issues for the Action Plan and had requested a brief
update to assist prioritisation of the work within available times
and resources.
(i) Library
Standards
These remained a key priority for the service,
were subject to external audit and had been identified as a matter
for the Committee to include within their work programme.
(ii) School
Attendance
This was monitored and reported to the
Scrutiny Committee. Initiatives had been taken to improve
performance (e.g. School Attendance Matters Booklet). It was
felt that this could be a matter for monitoring through the
quarterly reports.
(iii) Foundation
Phase
This was a significant development, being
promoted by the Assembly Government which would impact on schools
and early years providers. It was suggested that this could
be a valuable item for Scrutiny over the coming 18 months.
(iv) Home Tuition
Arrangements for Home Tuition were reasonably
well established and had not been identified as an issue by schools
or parents. This was a matter which could be included in the
review of SEN arrangements.
(v) Exclusions
Council arrangements for managing exclusions
were reported as part of the quarterly cycle. It was
understood that recent national reports which had suggested there
had been an increase in “unofficial” exclusions was the issue which
Members wished to address.
(vi) Green Dragon /
Western Vale Developments
The development of the Defence Training
Academy at St. Athan would have implications for the Education
service. These ranged from planning and providing school
places to the potential development of new curriculum pathways for
14-19. This would need to feature in the work of the
Committee for the foreseeable future.
From a Directorate perspective, service
priorities included the following:
· developing and implementing
arrangements to deliver Children Act requirements
· reviewing arrangements to
enhance school effectiveness and pupil achievement
· reconfiguring
organisational arrangements to meet Children Act and SEN
requirements
· delivering the School
Investment Strategy
· developing and implementing
the post inspection Action Plan for Youth Support Services
· progressing Community
Focused Schools
· implementing Foundation
Phase and 14-19 Curriculum developments appropriate to the Vale of
Glamorgan
· achieving the Library
Standards and promoting Library Services as a resource for
Education and Lifelong Learning.
It was appreciated that the core business
priorities outlined above represented a significant
challenge. It was agreed that Scrutiny issues would be linked
to these core priorities in order to most effectively focus effort
and achieve progress.
On the basis of the above, it was
RECOMMENDED -
(1) T H A T the
Director of Learning and Development provide a report detailing of
progress on the strategic issues detailed above and that this be
reviewed on a quarterly basis by Scrutiny Committee.
(2) T H A T the
following be adopted as the four core priorities to May 2008:
(i)
Progressing the Children Act requirements
(ii)
School Investment Strategy
(iii)
Education Budgets
(iv)
Youth Service Action Plan.
(3) T H A T, in
addition to the above, the Director of Learning and Development
provide information reports on Foundation Phase, 14-19 and
Exclusions to Scrutiny Committee meetings before May
2008.
These reports would inform the post May Action
Plan of the Committee.
Reason for recommendations
(1-3) To establish an Action Plan
consistent with the Strategy priorities of the Service.
729 PUPILS EDUCATION
OTHER THAN IN SCHOOL (DLD) -
Urgent by reason of the need to
progress this matter.
RECOMMENDED - T H A T consideration of this
report be deferred to the next meeting of the Committee.