Issue - meetings

That the Committee notes the contents of the report and expressed support for the business case presented to the Welsh Government.

The Interim Chief Officer (Education and Youth) introduced the report to inform of the Welsh Government’s (WG) Reducing Infants Class Sizes and Raising Standards Grant.  She advised that the Cabinet Secretary for Education had announced details of a new £36m fund to address infant class sizes and raise standards which was being made available nationally from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2021.  The Interim Chief Officer reported on the main considerations, as detailed in the report, and drew attention to the criteria for the grant funding and the Council’s submission to the WG which outlined how it proposed to use the revenue funding to raise standards in targeted schools.

                        Councillor Kevin Hughes referred to the two proposed projects identified in the report and asked what work had been undertaken around the suitability/circumstances issues.  In response, the Senior Manager, School Planning and Provision outlined the objectives and criteria for identifying projects and explained that there were currently 78 schools across the County with class sizes larger than 29 pupils.

                        In response to a query from Mrs Rebbeca Stark regarding how the proposal would impact on pupils in receipt of Free School Meals (FSM) the Interim Chief Officer advised that only one school had been identified as in an amber category for support.

Councillor Patrick Heesom asked that a further report on how the 21^st Century Band B school programme aligned with the class sizes grant from Welsh Government be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee.  Officers agreed to provide a report in the New Year.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee notes the contents of the report and expressed support for the business case presented to the Welsh Government.