Agenda, decisions and minutes

Prior to the commencement of the meeting the Chair referred to the sad news of the death of Nigel Steele Mortimer, a highly respected former Councillor, Leader of the Conservative Group and Executive Member for Education.  The Chair recalled a visit by Nigel as Executive Member to Castell Alun School which was greatly appreciated. He was a man with great integrity and had respect for everyone and invited Members to share their memories of Nigel.

            Councillor Dave Mackie said he was shocked and deeply saddened by the news. Nigel was a great colleague and Executive Member for this committee at a time when contentious issues had to be considered.  He was a true gentleman, thoughtful about what he said and could be forceful when he needed to get his point across but always had respect for others.

            Councillor Patrick Heesom paid tribute to Nigel saying he was an exemplary Council Member with a great political mind but that did not intrude into his role as Executive Member.  This committee and the Council were indebted to him for his work as Executive Member.  His memory will be long and treasured.

            The Leader echoed all the comments made and said despite their political differences he always got on very well with Nigel; an excellent local member and former Chair of Audit.

            Councillor Janet Axworthy thanked Members for their kind words.   Nigel had been well regarded within the Conservative group and had borne a long and debilitating illness with dignity. 

There was a minute silence in Memory of former Councillor Nigel Steele Mortimer.

The Chair then reported on a change on the Agenda.  The Learners Outcome item had been moved to the next meeting following ministerial guidance that a co-ordinated regional response was required which had not yet been prepared.

            The Chief Officer (Education & Youth) referred Members to the GwE workshop being held on the 18^th November which would provide Members with the opportunity to debate the changes to the performance measures.

To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 26^th September 2019.

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

The minutes of the meeting held on the 26 September 2019 were submitted.

The recommendation within the report were moved by Councillor Dave Mackie and seconded by Councillor Martin White.

RESOLVED:

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

(a)          That the Forward Work Programme as amended be approved;

(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; 

(c)          That the Committee notes the progress made in completing the outstanding actions; and

(d)          That the Facilitator and the Chief Officer (Education & Youth)  liaise to ensure that the outcomes of the Estyn Inspection are properly addressed within the Forward Work Programme.

            The Democratic Services Manager informed Members that all actions had been completed. A letter had been sent to Kirstie Williams AM with a copy emailed to committee Members. Once a response was received this would also be circulated.  A special meeting of the committee had been arranged on Friday 22^nd November at 11.00 am to discuss the Budget report prior to County Council; the mid-year council Plan item had been moved to that meeting.   Members were asked to note the December meeting had been changed to Friday 20^th at 10.00 am.

            A discussion followed with the Chief Officer answering questions and agreeing to liaise with the Facilitator and review the Forward Work Programme.

The recommendations within the report were moved by Councillor Dave Mackie and seconded by Mr David Hytch.

RESOLVED:

(a)          That the Forward Work Programme as amended be approved;

(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; 

(c)          That the Committee notes the progress made in completing the outstanding actions; and

(d)          That the Facilitator and the Chief Officer (Education & Youth)  liaise to ensure that the outcomes of the Estyn Inspection are properly addressed within the Forward Work Programme.

(a)          That the Committee endorses the draft post inspection action plan for agreement by Cabinet; and

(b)          That the committee congratulated the team for the work which they have done.

            The Chief Officer (Education & Youth) presented the report which followed the Full Estyn Inspection held in June.  Following on from this she agreed to bring a report to committee focusing on how the Council would manage the recommendations within the portfolio and the report was accompanied by the draft Post Inspection Action Plan, which was currently in the process of consultation.  The Chief Officer went on to explain the business plans would be adjusted to reflect the priorities to enable delivery of the recommendations and outlined how the business plans had been split to ensure these actions were robust, easier to monitor and scrutinise at Committee.

            Once the Plan had been scrutinised it would be shared with Head Teachers for their comments and then presented to Cabinet for approval.  The Plan would be reviewed half- termly but as there were a number of actions and delivery dates it was proposed that a timescale of 12 – 18 months was envisaged for delivery of the core priorities with the Council Plan.

            Councillor Kevin Hughes referred to unauthorised absences from school.  The Chief Officer said it was the parents’ responsibility to ensure their children attended school and that all schools had structured attendance management policies in place.  A Charter was being produced outlining what parents and pupils can expect from schools and the local authority and what schools could expect from pupils and parents.  This would give schools more confidence to challenge parents and not authorise absences.

            Mr David Hytch asked questions on the remit of the Emotional Wellbeing Group; the management of school budgets, the work of the task group and the role of the section 151 officer.             The Chief Officer responded that the Emotional Wellbeing Group worked across portfolios and with external organisations to map the interventions, resources and funding available.   Welsh Government (WG) had recently announced additional funding to support Emotional Well Being and the Council had been requested to outline how the funding would be utilised to support pupils. 

            On budget deficits, the Chief Officer explained that a number of secondary schools were in deficit, some significantly.  The reasons were very complex and a financial risk to the Council.   She outlined the processes in place to support schools.  The Task Group included the Chief Executive, Leader and the Corporate Finance Manager as Chief Financial or Section 151 Officer. It had recently reviewed the guidance provided to schools which would be presented to the School Budget Forum in the New Year.  If a school had done all it could but still had a deficit there was support and scope for the Council to intervene if necessary to manage this.

            The Chair asked if there was scope to change the formula or inject more funding if the need arose.  The Chief Officer explained the School Budget Forum would be reviewing all three formulas with school budgets being protected but that schools had to absorb costs.  The Council was looking to WG for more support for school funding.

            Councillor Gladys Healey  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

That the Committee supports the new service delivery model that will:

(a)     Create a single shared and sustainable Archive Service with Denbighshire County Council

(b)      Provide a ‘state of the art’ Archive building, co-located with Theatr Clwyd, with an extensive digital archive network across both counties and an innovative public engagement and support programme.

            The Chief Officer introduced Helen Vaughan-Evans (the Joint Project Manager) and Flintshire’s Principal Archivist who would present the report outlining a plan to ensure Flintshire and Denbighshire’s Archives Services had a robust future to carry out their statutory obligations. 

            The Project Manager thanked Members for the opportunity to address them and explained that this was a joint project between Flintshire and Denbighshire. During the presentation she would be highlighting the challenges faced by both Councils and the ways these were trying to be resolved.  The presentation covered:-

• The opportunity we were trying to capture
• The ambition we were trying to reach
• There were 3 elements to this project
• What could it cost
• When would it happen
• What would Flintshire get specifically
• What happens if we don’t deliver this project

            Councillor Geoff Collett supported this project but queried the cost apportionment.  The Leader explained that costs were based on the population size of both counties, similar to how it worked for GwE. The Project Manager added significant research had been undertaken and that the fairest way to approach this was the population size from the census.  With regard to the second point she confirmed all future running and IT costs would be split this way.  

            Councillor Tudor Jones supported the proposals and asked questions on the split of the National Lottery Heritage funding, the Library proposals digital outreach and whether consideration had been given to incorporating a much needed museum for Mold which would attract more visitors to the town.

            The Project Manager responded that the match funding was a 60 – 40 split with Denbighshire putting in £2m and Flintshire £3m. The National Lottery Heritage Funding would provide 70% of the project costs with the remaining 30%- Flintshire putting in 60% and Denbighshire 40%. The design would include an exhibition space to exhibit local and national treasures. Security to loan these valuable treasures had also been factored in.  There would be access provision within each library but if there were changes, such provision could be moved to another location within that area. This would also increase the footfall within the libraries.

            With regard to Digitalisation of materials, this was constantly changing and the focus was on the customer.  Accessibility from home was beneficial but there would also need to be a research aspect as records in the future were more likely to be digital media rather than books, so this had been factored in to the plan.

            Councillor Jones asked if training would be provided to Members to ensure records were preserved digitally in the future and referred to a group he was involved with where records were only kept on disc.  The Principal Archivist confirmed the preservation of digital records was being considered and reported on a Wales wide Digital Working Group which was close to finalising a national storage facility.  Advice could be given to record creators such as local groups, Town and Community councils etc. and digital archives could be saved in most formats. 

            The Chair asked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

(a)           That the Committee express support for the positive work undertaken by the Youth Justice Service and its impact on children and young people; and

(b)           That the Committee sends a letter to the Youth Justice Board to deplore the late confirmation of the annual funding for the Youth Justice Services in Flintshire.

            The Chief Officer introduced James Warr, Operations Manager, Youth Justice Service (YJS) which sat within the Integrated Youth Provision.  This report provided an overview of the statutory responsibility of this service which was very important but also had a number challenges. 

            The Operations Manager provided an overview of the work of the YJS which was a small service within the portfolio.  All Local Authorities were required to have a YJS which would vary depend on the population and needs of that organisation. The service had a wide remit which had shifted and changed over the years.  Originally the work was centred around court work and court orders but this had changed and was now focused on prevention and early help offer to identify and tackle issues early within our communities.

            The Operations Manager then provided information on the statutory Governance through the Crime & Disorder Act and an Executive Management Board which was chaired by the Chief Executive with the service Chief Officer as Deputy Chair.  The service worked closely with their partners which now included more organisations.   The service was required to provide a Youth Justice Plan which was revised annually.  The service was inspected by HM Inspectorate for Probation and had received very favourable inspections in the past.  He explained the upcoming inspection, service priorities and the impact of criminal exploitation such as county lines and child exploitation.

            The service also provided support to colleagues in education to reduce the number of exclusions and was developing programmes to divert these pupils from longer term exclusions and provide interventions to minimise the risk of criminal exploitation. 

            The challenge was working with reduced resources and still providing a service to the community. There were risks and challenges for the service with uncertainty of funding from the Youth Justice Board: it arrived late, in June or July which impacted the service greatly and militated against effective planning.

            Councillor Dave Mackie remembered being very impressed by this service when he was first elected. He said that the late funding issue was not acceptable. He suggested inviting the Youth Justice Board to attend Committee to explain this. He was also concerned at the local Analysis from January to June 2019 which said that   27% of children not accessing 25 hours in school and was concerned that this was a very high percentage.

            The Operations Manager explained the local analysis was for the 66 young people and that the size of the cohort was split with young people who should be receiving statutory education and post 16 young people. At any one time that could mean eight young people who did not receive that education.  It was not that this was not offered and went on to explain the challenges with parents, roles of schools and other challenges.  Recognition of the wider issues such as modern day slavery and county lines was also included in this. 

            As regards the funding question this was something that the Chief Executive and the Management Board had highlighted year  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

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

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