Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

Councillor Hilary McGuill declared a personal interest as her daughter was a teacher in Flintshire.

Councillor Hilary McGuill declared a personal interest as her daughter was a teacher in Flintshire.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the joint meeting held with the Social & Health Care Committee on the 29June and the meeting held on 13 July 2023.

That the minutes of the meetings held on 29 June and 13 July, 2023 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

29 June, 2023          

The minutes of the joint meeting with the Social & Health Care Overview & Scrutiny Committee held on the 29 June 2023 were presented for approval.

The Chair referred to the information requested by Councillor Hilary McGuill regarding the four children who were not in Education, Employment or Training and Councillor McGuill confirmed that the information had been circulated to Members via e-mail.

The minutes of the joint meeting were approved, as moved and seconded by Councillor Hilary McGuill and Councillor Carolyn Preece.

13 July, 2023

            The minutes of the meeting held on the 13 July 2023 were presented for approval.

            Councillor Hilary McGuill referred to the consultation undertaken by NEWydd on the new menu with pupils and asked if an update could be provided following half term to include feedback from the pupils who had sampled the menu. The Chief Officer (Education & Youth) suggested that a briefing note on how the menu was being received by pupils be included on the forward Work Programme for the 30 November meeting.

The minutes of the meeting were approved, as moved and seconded by Councillor Gladys Healey and Councillor Hilary McGuill.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meetings held on 29 June and 13 July, 2023 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To consider the Forward Work Programme of the Education, Youth & Culture Overview & Scrutiny Committee and to inform the Committee of progress against actions from previous 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.

In presenting the report, the Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator outlined the items being presented to the forthcoming meetings which were attached at Appendix 1 and reported that an additional item on the consultation of Member Role Descriptions would be presented to the next meeting on 19 October 2023. She also reported that an all Members workshop on the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) had been arranged for the beginning of October and that confirmation of the dates and times would be sent to Members in due course.

Referring to the Action Tracking report at Appendix 2, the Facilitator confirmed that the first meeting of the School Parking Task & Finish Group was scheduled for Tuesday 19 September to consider and agree the Terms of Reference for the Group. Once agreed this would be shared with both the Environment & Economy and Education Youth & Culture Overview & Scrutiny Committees.  All other actions were completed.

The Chief Officer (Education & Youth) suggested that the following reports be added to the Forward Work Programme (FWP) for the 1February 2024 meeting:-

·         Overview of summer A level and GSCE results following verification in December 2023; and

·         Revision of Post 16 Strategy – to outline how the new national commission was developing.

Councillor Hilary McGuill referred to the statement issued by Townlynx and the possible disruption to part of the school bus service. Whilst she recognised that they had since reassured members of the public that changes to the service were not being implemented, she sought reassurance from the Council on what risk assessments were carried it if something similar was to happen again. The Chief Officer explained that it was her colleagues in Streetscene and Transportation who delivered school transport and therefore this matter would come under the remit of the Environment & Economy Overview & Scrutiny Committee. She advised that the Chief Officer (Streetscene & Transportation) had this matter included on the risk register for the school bus service and paid tribute to colleagues within the service who had worked tremendously hard to find alternative transport solutions for 1100 children. She was pleased that the matter had been resolved and that the bus service continued to be running.

In relation to risk assessments, Councillor Dave Mackie referred to a water main burst in Ewloe which had resulted in the schools in the area running out of water. He was concerned that the water company had not contacted the Council or schools to provide guidance/information on this matter. In response, the Chief Officer agreed to feedback the comments made by Councillor Mackie to the Emergency Management Team. The Chief Executive explained that matters of this nature were considered through contingency planning and were dealt with locally through the Emergency Management Response Team. He suggested that information on the Emergency Management Response Team be provided to the Committee in order to better understand the process. The Chair suggested that this be provided at a County Council meeting in order for all Members to understand the process. The Chief Executive agreed to consider how this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

            The Chair announced that there would be a change to the order of business and that agenda item number 6 would be considered before agenda item number 5.

To update Members on overall service performance 22-23 and Learner Outcomes from 2022.

That the Committee note the level of school reserves as at the 31 March 2023, and overview of schools’ current financial position.

The Chief Officer (Education & Youth) introduced the report and thanked the Strategic Finance Manager for the work undertaken in bringing the report together which would also be presented to the Governance and Audit Committee and School Budget Forum. The report had also been shared with all Head Teachers.

            Prior to presenting the report, the Strategic Finance Manager referred to table 3 shown in the report and advised that a revised version had been circulated to the Committee ahead of the meeting. This report had been expanded to include the first six months of the current financial year to provide an outline of the current situation in schools and the Strategic Finance Manager highlighted the budget reduction of 3% on top of inflationary increases to schools in the current financial year. The first part of the report outlined the situation with regard to reserves with Table 1 highlighting the reserves as at the end of the financial year 2022/23 compared with 2021/22.  Information was provided on the impacts on primary, secondary and specialist school budgets with a fall from £12.5m to £7m with the appendix highlighting the percentages on a school-by-school basis.

            The Strategic Finance Manager referred to Table 2 which highlighted how the reserves had moved over the last five financial years. There were concerns with regard to the resilience of the secondary sector when managing unforeseen circumstances, such as long-term absence and the impacts that this would have on the level of reserves held. The report also provided an analysis for the primary sector with six primary schools in negative reserves at the end of last year, with three which were fairly minor, but the other three were significant.

            The Strategic Finance Manager confirmed that all schools had submitted their 2023/24 budget plans which had highlighted an increase in requests for support from the Finance Team, HR colleagues and colleagues in School Improvement. There had been higher levels of voluntary redundances, and this information was included at Table 5 of the report. The Annual Workforce Census which would be carried out in November would provide a better understanding of the current situation, but it was felt the situation with regard to redundancy was not over yet as schools were using their reserves to manage this year with risks in 2023/24 or 2024/25. Table 6 within the report provided an estimate of the positions across all schools and an overview of the forecast information compared with last year was given.

            The Chair commented that challenging times remained with an overall reduction in school reserves and felt that the report clearly highlighted the position with schools. She thanked Head Teachers and governing bodies for their work in striving to reduce costs and completely understood their reasons for speaking to the Council and GwE for help and assistance.

            In response to a question from Councillor Gladys Healey on the allocation of school budgets, the Strategic Finance Manager explained that schools funding for the financial year was formulated after the Council had set  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

To receive an update on the support provided by the regional school effectiveness and improvement service, GWE and its impact on schools.

That the Committee note the Annual Report 2022-2023 and the positive impact of the regional service in supporting Flintshire schools, maintaining the focus on effective and successful schools.

The Chief Officer (Education & Youth) introduced the report which provided a detailed overview of the work of the Regional School Improvement Service with Flintshire schools during the academic year 2022 -2023.

The report identified that there was a strong relationship between Flintshire County Council and the Regional School Effectiveness Service (GwE). There were robust procedures in place for setting a direction and holding the regional service to

account. The specific roles of the Local Authority and the regional school improvement service in school improvement were explicit and clear to all stakeholders and they were effectively held to account by local scrutiny procedures.

            The Chief Officer invited Mr. Phil McTague, Mr. Bryn Jones and Mr. David Edwards from GwE to further present the report.

            Mr. Phil McTague (Secondary Core Lead) in presenting the report, explained that the service had moved forward from the pandemic to redesigning the Curriculum. He provided details of the four key areas, in relation to secondary schools, as follows:-

Key Area 1 – Improving Leadership

Key Area 2 – Improving Teaching and Learning

Key Area 3 – Curriculum and Provision

Key Area 4 – Learner Progress and Standards

            Mr. McTague drew Members attention to Appendix 1 of the report which provided a concise summary of the four key areas for secondary schools. He commented that improving leadership in schools was essential to the growth of any school and outlined changes in headship and challenges being faced by secondary schools across Flintshire. Information was provided on the headship profile, and it was confirmed that regular meetings were held to improve the quality of leadership with robust self- evaluation systems which were internal, service led, Local Authority informed but were now nationally profiled through the School Improvement Framework.

An overview of data planning in secondary schools was provided with the majority of schools having clear self-evaluation processes in place especially with training provided on improvement planning. Information on the targeted support plans in place for performance management in secondary schools was provided. An outline of the lessons which had been observed in schools and sixth form was provided together with an overview of the areas for the development required for the coming year.

Mr. McTague referred to the Curriculum and explained that all senior leaders in secondary schools were working hard in consolidating the vision for the design of the Curriculum, recognising strengths and working with stakeholders. All Flintshire schools were involved in alliances with other schools and an outline of the benefits was given and would become a part of the improvement framework moving forward. There were areas to address such as to continue to work on the transition and consistent approaches from years 5 to 8, to continue to hold meetings with the alliances that had been established so good practice could be shared and that GwE and Flintshire continued to work alongside schools to development assessment approaches and processes to track pupils in line with Curriculum changes.

Referring to Learner progress and standards it was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

To update Members on overall service performance 22-23 and Learner Outcomes from 2022.

That the Committee note the outcome of the Education Portfolio’s annual self-evaluation report on the quality of education services for the period 2022-2023.

In introducing the report, the Chief Officer (Education & Youth) explained that the report had been produced in line with the current Estyn Framework for the Inspection of Local Government Services which focused on outcomes, equality of education services, leadership, and management. She confirmed that Estyn were coming to the end of the current inspection cycle, and they expect to have completed their inspections by the end of summer 2024.

The Chief Officer advised that Estyn were currently developing a new framework from Autumn 2024 onwards. It was explained that whilst the Authority was inspected in 2019 it was likely that the next inspection could be near the front of the new framework, with planning work ongoing for the commencement of the next cycle of inspections. The recommendations made by Estyn were highlighted within the report which also provided a detailed summary of work being undertaken in response to the recommendations.

Councillor Hilary McGuill sought clarification on the Condition Grades listed as A,B,C and D identified as part of the Suitability Survey. The Chief Officer explained that surveys were undertaken on the school estate on a cyclical bases, which included inspections on the suitability of the building to deliver appropriate educational provision. There was also a survey of the condition of school buildings against industry standards and this information was used to determine where essential maintenance or a radical school modernisation programme was required. She suggested that the Senior Manager School Place Planning provide a short briefing note to explain the differences in the condition grades to the Committee following the meeting.

The recommendation, as outlined within the report, was moved by Councillor Hilary McGuill and seconded by Councillor Carolyn Preece.                

RESOLVED:

That the Committee note the outcome of the Education Portfolio’s annual self-evaluation report on the quality of education services for the period 2022-2023.

There were no members of the press in attendance.