Issue - meetings

(a)     That the Committee support the levels of progress and confidence in the achievement of priorities as at mid-year within the 2022/23 Council Plan;

(b)     That the Committee endorse and support overall performance against 2022/23 Council Plan performance indicators as at mid-year; and

(c)     That the Committee is assured by explanations given for those areas of underperformance.

The Chief Officer (Education & Youth) presented the monitoring report to review mid-year progress against the Council Plan priorities identified for 2022/23.  The out-turn report for the 2022/23 Council Plan showed 59% of activities were making good progress.  70% of the performance indicators had met or exceeded their targets, 9% were being closely monitored and 21% were currently not meeting target.

There was currently one activity showing a red RAG status relevant to the Committee around upskilling portfolio employees through the GwE professional learning offer and other appropriate training opportunities.  The Chief Officer provided information together with details of the circulation of a questionnaire to portfolio employees to understand what training they felt would be beneficial to them.  The questionnaires had been returned and were currently being collated to enable an action plan to address the areas of developmental need for the portfolio and this would be in place by April 2023. 

The Chair welcomed that the Council’s Plan for 2023 was constantly monitored and its progress reviewed and measured against the criteria for success of the actions within it.  She thanked the education portfolio staff for the positive education and skills report with the data highlighting the RAG ratings falling between amber, where actions were being progressed or green where actions were complete or on track.

In response to questions from Councillor Dave Mackie around digital learning and Integrated Youth Services, the Chief Officer explained that the Primary Learning Advisor had provided excellent support to schools with regular reviews undertaken of the equipment, software and hardware available to enable improvements in the digital structure.  Work was also ongoing to ensure schools were able to access the extensive funding provided by Welsh Government (WG) for this which was reported to the meetings of the Hwb Digital Board.  The Senior Manager, School Improvement Systems, outlined the work across Wales in rolling out the Hwb programme with the Primary Learning Advisor undertaking regular audits of the provision available for the 24,000 learners across all schools in Flintshire.  Discussions were also held with schools, who had that day-to-day connection with parents, to understand any change in circumstances or difficulties encountered by pupils accessing the digital infrastructure outside school.  Ongoing discussions were held with WG about moving this forward and sustaining the national investment through the Hwb Programme to improve the digital structure and deliver the new curriculum. 

            The Chief Officer referred to the delivery plan for Integrated Youth Services and explained that the targets in the Council Plan were set ahead of this reporting year and would be changed for 2023.  The new plan had been developed and a consultation had been carried out with young people with the new Senior Manager in the service revisiting the plan.  She explained that Covid was the driver for the digital offer but now that the service was returning to normality the young people had asked for it to be more face-to-face.  The target to maintain focus on increased digital engagement would not be taken forward in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45