Agenda, decisions and minutes

To appoint a Chair for the Committee.

            That Councillor Ian Roberts be appointed as Chairman of the Committee.

The Education and Youth Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator advised that the post of Chair of this Committee was allocated to the Labour Group at the Annual meeting of the Council and notification had been received that Councillor Ian Roberts had been appointed as Chairman. 

                        Councillor Ian Roberts took the Chairman for the remainder of the meeting. 

            RESOLVED:

            That Councillor Ian Roberts be appointed as Chairman of the Committee.

To appoint a Vice-Chair for the Committee.

            That Mr. David Hÿtch be appointed as Vice-Chairman for the Committee. 

The Chairman sought nominations for the appointment of Vice-Chairman for the Committee.  Councillor Paul Cunningham nominated Mr. David Hÿtch and this was duly seconded. 

            RESOLVED:

            That Mr. David Hÿtch be appointed as Vice-Chairman for the Committee. 

Councillor Vicky Perfect declared a personal interest as she was a School Governor at Ysgol Maes Edwin.

                        Councillor Nancy Matthews declared a personal interest as she was a School Governor at Nercwys School. 

                        The Chair suggested that Members only needed to declare an interest if they were School Governors of the three schools mentioned in the report before the Committee at this meeting. 

(a)       That the Committee deplore the removal of libraries and leisure services from the remit of the Education and Youth Overview & Scrutiny Committee; and

(b)       That the Committee be fully informed of any future issues arising around dual use leisure centres where there would be an impact on schools. 

The Education and Youth Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator advised that a new Overview & Scrutiny structure had been agreed at the Annual Council Meeting in May 2015 and therefore the Terms of Reference of each of the Committees had been reviewed.

                        The Committee was now responsible solely for education and youth service issues and issues such as Leisure Services and Libraries were now within the remit of the Organisational Change Overview & Scrutiny Committee.  Previously there were issues where the five statutory co-optees could speak but not vote, as their co-option related to education issues but they were now able to vote on all of the items which were within the remit of the Committee. 

                        The Chairman expressed his significant disappointment at the loss of libraries and leisure strategy from the terms of reference for this Committee, particularly as a number of leisure centres were located within schools.  Councillor Carolyn Thomas and Councillor Peter Curtis concurred and referred in particular to the leisure centre and school in Holywell. 

                        In response, the Education & Youth Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator advised that she would feed the comments back to the Member Engagement Manager and request that any items that related to schools and leisure centres be considered by both this and the Organisational Change Overview & Scrutiny Committee. 

                        Councillor Nigel Steele-Mortimer suggested that the recommendation should be changed to read:-

            ‘That the Committee deplore the removal of libraries and leisure services from the remit of the Education and Youth Overview & Scrutiny Committee’.

            This was duly seconded by Councillor Nancy Matthews.  Councillor Thomas indicated that there were five Members who were on both Committees. 

                        The Chairman referred to the link with libraries and continuing school provision and added that the Committee expected to be kept fully informed about dual use leisure centres because of the potential impact on schools. 

                        On being put to the vote, the recommendation was carried unanimously. 

            RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Committee deplore the removal of libraries and leisure services from the remit of the Education and Youth Overview & Scrutiny Committee; and

(b)       That the Committee be fully informed of any future issues arising around dual use leisure centres where there would be an impact on schools. 

            (a)       That the information outlined in the report be noted; and

(b)       That the views of the Committee be outlined in full at the Cabinet meeting scheduled for 16^th June 2015. 

The Chief Officer (Education & Youth) introduced the report to update Members on the progress made with School Modernisation.

                        He provided a detailed presentation which covered the following areas:-

·         School Organisation

·         Longstanding Principles

·         Budget Context and principles

·         Current Budget

·         Big Budget Conversation – Summary

·         Further work for 2016

·         Changing Context

·         School Modernisation

·         Trigger Points for Review

·         Implementation Process

·         Schools Modernisation Funding

·         Implementation Plan

The Cabinet Member for Education spoke of the difficult position that the Council was in due to the severe austerity programme and to maintain the status quo was not an option.  He commented on the further cuts that were expected due to reductions in funding and of the need to ensure that the funding received was spent appropriately.  He felt that the proposals would not be a surprise to the schools concerned or to Members as the School Modernisation Strategy that included the triggers that were included in this report had been considered by Cabinet in January 2015.  The schools that had been suggested all met some of the criteria for review.  The Cabinet Member said that it was incumbent on Members of Cabinet to make the decision to commence informal consultation.  A target of a maximum of 10% surplus places had been set by Welsh Government and it was expected that Councils achieved this target.  He said that unfilled places had been an issue for a number of years and that there was a need to tackle the problem. 

Councillor Nancy Matthews said that there was no mention in the report of places for the displaced pupils and indicated that she had been advised that there were an insufficient number of places available.  She queried whether transport would be provided for the pupils who would need to attend a new school.  The Chief Officer had earlier spoken of neighbouring schools and Councillor Matthews queried what the distance between schools would need to be to class them as neighbours.  She spoke of school monitoring and asked about schools where leadership was a concern.  She said that the admissions policy should also be called into question and added that a school was the heart of a community regardless of the building that housed it.   

The Chief Officer (Education & Youth) said that the impact of change on the community was very much to the front of the minds of the decision makers.  On the issue of available alternative places, he advised that Cabinet would not be asked to authorise the review if there were not sufficient surplus places in neighbouring schools; this issue would be raised during the consultation period.  Transport would be provided in line with the Council’s policy and there was an expectation that for primary school pupils it would generally be for those who lived more than two miles from the school and for secondary school pupils it would be for those that lived more than three miles from the school.  The Admissions Policy was reviewed annually and the Chief Officer referred to one school mentioned in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

                        There were 2 members of the press in attendance.