Issue - meetings

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme be noted;

(b)       That the Facilitator, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises; and

(c)        That the progress made in completing the outstanding actions be noted.

The Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator presented the draft Forward Work Programme and confirmed the next scheduled meeting on the 24^th of March had been cancelled.  She provided an outline of the reports to be presented at the meetings which followed the Local Government Elections in May.  Moving on to the Action Tracking report she confirmed that all actions arising from the last meeting, as shown at Appendix 2 of the report, had been completed. 

The Chairman suggested that the Committee add two reports to the FWP to cover the following areas: -

• The impact the pandemic had had on literacy and numeracy skills and how this was being dealt with; and

• The skill shortage across North Wales and how this was being addressed.

The Chairman referred to the recent Recovery Committee meeting where the issue of skills shortages was discussed.  An explanation was provided of the work undertaken by the North Wales Economic Ambition Board with the education sector to promote educational/work opportunities to address the skills shortages across North Wales.   The Facilitator explained that following the Recovery Committee meeting, Mrs. Alwen Williams, Portfolio Director of the North Wales Economic Ambition Board had agreed to attend the next meeting of the Recovery Committee to outline the work being carried out by the Regional Skills Partnership for North Wales and the education sector.  She suggested that the presentation given at the Recovery Committee would provide information to inform the reports to be added to the Forward Work Programme.

The Chief Officer (Education & Youth) thanked the Chairman and suggested that the following two reports be presented to the Committee: -

1)    a report to provide an overview of the impact the pandemic was having on the core skills of pupils and how interventions and plans were being deployed to ensure learners were maximising their skills development.

2)    a report to align the work being carried out by the Regional Skills Partnership and the Senior Manager for School Improvement through Adult Community Learning, to assist members of the community in improving their skills.

The Committee supported the suggestions made by the Chairman and Chief Officer.

The recommendations, as outlined within the report, were moved by Councillor Dave Mackie, and seconded by Councillor Paul Cunningham.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme be noted;

(b)       That the Facilitator, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises; and

(c)        That the progress made in completing the outstanding actions be noted.