Agenda, decisions and minutes

The Chairman advised Members of the need to declare a personal interest in school related items on the agenda if they were school or college governors.  All Members present except Councillor Amanda Bragg and Reverend John Thelwell (who were not school governors) declared an interest as school governors.

That the minutes be received, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 19 June 2014 were submitted.

Matters arising

Recommendation from the Leisure Finance Task and Finish Group

Councillor Dave Mackie reported that at a meeting of the Cabinet on 15 July 2014, it had been agreed not to support the ring-fencing of capital receipts received from the sale of land at Ysgol Perth y Terfyn Infants and Ysgol y Fron Junior School for maintenance works for Leisure Centres in Flintshire as it was not in line with Council Policy and maintenance of leisure centres would be considered as part of the ongoing asset management strategy.   It was agreed that officers be asked to initiate discussions with schools where dual use leisure facilities were provided to assess whether they would consider assuming responsibility for community access of the facilities in the future.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes be received, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Report of Housing & Learning Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator.

(a)       That the report be noted; and

(b)       That the Committee’s comments and observations be fed back to the Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee who are responsible for the overview and monitoring of improvement targets.

The Chief Officer (Education and Youth) introduced a report on the 2013/14 Year End Service Performance Report produced at the Head of Service/Divisional level under the adopted business model of the Council.  The report covered the period January – March 2014. 

The Chief Officer advised that detailed Year End Service Performance Reports were appended to the report for Schools Services, Development and Resources, and Culture and Leisure Services.  He commented on the retirement of the Head of Culture and Leisure Services and the forthcoming retirement of the Head of Development and Resources and paid tribute to both officers for their hard work and commitment to service improvement and for preparation of the Year End reports.  The Chairman reiterated the sentiments expressed by the Chief Officer and asked that the Committee’s thanks be passed on to the Officers for their work and best wishes for their future retirement.         

The Chief Officer gave a summary of the key information in relation to School Services and referred to improvement priorities and Service Plan monitoring, the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP) progress report, Governor development, and the Authority’s support for Newly Qualified Teacher induction.  He commented on the NSI Improvement Target performance indicators and the positive progress achieved in the primary and secondary sectors.    

Councillor Nancy Matthews referred to the training package for foundation phase learners which had been organised to support schools on the effective use of the Pupil Deprivation Grant and focussed on the Sutton Trust strategies to improve learner outcomes, and asked whether teachers had the opportunity to access training through the Sutton Trust.  The Head of Inclusion Service responded and agreed to provide information to the Committee on the Sutton Trust document following the meeting.   

            Councillor Matthews also referred to the ‘Talk for Writing’ training event which focused on the strategies promoted by Pie Corbett, which was targeted at the primary sector and asked if this was the only strategy being focused.  The Head of Inclusion Service explained that this was the only one that training was being provided on at the current time. 

            During discussion members raised a number of concerns around the School Governor Development and Training Programme and referred to the quality of the training provided, time and venue for events.  Councillor  Amanda Bragg referred to the difficulties being experienced by some Governors who were unable to attend training due to limited places on the event  provided.  She suggested that Governors who requested training but were not able to attend due to the training session being full, be placed on a reserve list and notified if a vacancy on the training session became available.  The Chief Officer agreed to put the suggestion forward to the School Governance Manager.

Councillor David Mackie asked for information on the number of governors across Flintshire who had attended training sessions.  The Chief Officer agreed to circulate the information following the meeting.

            The Chief Officer acknowledged the concerns raised by members around delivery of the School Governor Development Programme and specifically  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

Report of Housing & Learning Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator.

(a)       That the report be noted; and

(b)       That feedback be provided to the Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee who are responsible for the overview and monitoring of improvement targets.

The Chief Officer (Education and Youth) introduced a report on the 2013/14 Year End Improvement Plan Monitoring Report relevant to the Committee.  The report covered the period January – March 2014.

The Chief Officer advised that the following Improvement Plan sub-priority reports were attached to the report for the Committee’s consideration:

·         Modernised and High Performance Education

·         Places of Modernised Learning

·         Apprenticeships and Training

The Chairman invited members to raise questions.

Councillor Nancy Matthews expressed praise for the Catch Up scheme and the training provided to schools.

Councillor Marion Bateman referred to the comments on page 64 of the report concerning GwE and highlighted the issues which had been  raised previously around service delivery.  The Chief Officer responded to the comments and reported that arrangements were being made to ensure that all Headteachers had an advisor/System Leader working with them.   He commented that there had been improvement but further work was  to be undertaken for the service to be fully developed with a range of support networking being consistently available across the region.   The Chief Officer suggested that Headteachers be invited to attend a future meeting of the Committee to outline what they felt did and did not work in terms of school to school support.  It was suggested that an invitation be extended to Headteachers to attend a meeting of the Committee during early autumn.

RESOLVED:

 (a)      That the report be noted; and

(b)       That feedback be provided to the Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee who are responsible for the overview and monitoring of improvement targets.

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting as the following item

was considered to be exempt by virtue of Paragraph 15  of  Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

RESOLVED:

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting as the following item

was considered to be exempt by virtue of Paragraph 15  of  Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

(a)       That the proposed arrangements to support children and young people through the Inclusion Service be approved; and

(b)       That the Committee continue to monitor the impact of the proposed arrangements for the Inclusion Service in 2014/15.

The Head of Inclusion Service introduced a report to inform members of the operational structure for the Inclusion Service from September 2014.  She provided background information and advised that members were asked to consider the arrangements for revised service delivery against the priorities of provision and support for children and young people with additional learning needs. 

The Head of Inclusion Service advised that in accordance with the Council’s budgetary decisions for 2014-15, efficiencies had been identified through the restructure, some of which had already been achieved through the Value for Money project and the Voluntary Redundancy scheme which had been running concurrently to the review.

During discussion Officers responded to the questions raised by members around the consultation exercise, and the forthcoming Fixed Penalty Notices concerning pupils unauthorised absence from school.  Councillor Stella Jones raised concerns around the waiting times for statements of special needs.  The Head of Inclusion Service and the Chief Officer responded to the matters raised and agreed to provide a progress report to the Committee on how the system worked and to include performance indicators. 

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the proposed arrangements to support children and young people through the Inclusion Service be approved; and

(b)       That the Committee continue to monitor the impact of the proposed arrangements for the Inclusion Service in 2014/15.

There were no members of the press or public in attendance.