Agenda, decisions and minutes

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 20^th December 2019.

That, subject to the amendments listed above, the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The minutes of the meeting held on 20 December 2019, were submitted.

            Mr David Hytch had two comments to make on the minutes. Firstly on page 4 he was referred to as Councillor Hytch and secondly on page 8 that he asked that his comment regarding the graph be changed to “Mr Hytch referred to the graph which he felt was open to misinterpretation”.

            Councillor Gladys Healey proposed that, subject to the amendments listed above, the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.  The proposal was seconded by Councillor Martin White.

RESOLVED:

That, subject to the amendments listed above, the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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

(b)     That the Facilitator, in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises; and

(c)     That the Committee notes the progress made in completing the outstanding items.

The Democratic Services Manager presented the Forward Work Programme which had been updated following the last meeting and was attached at Appendix 1.  All actions arising from the previous meeting on the 20^th December had been completed

            Councillor Kevin Hughes reported on a recent meeting he had attended in Cardiff following consideration of his notice of motion seeking support for First Aid Training in Schools with other organisations such as The Red Cross in attendance.  Flintshire was the only local authority represented.  The Group was created to ensure First Aid and Lifesaving Training was available in schools and it was hoped that CPR and Defibrillator training would also become compulsory.   Councillor David Williams commented that in his school First Aid training already formed part of PSE sessions and said he was happy to provide members with information on what his school covered in this training.

            Councillor David Mackie asked why the Child Poverty item had been moved back a cycle.  In response the Chief Officer (Education & Youth) provided an update and explained that the draft Strategy was still being worked through and would be submitted to the next meeting in March, 2020. 

The recommendations within the report were moved by Councillor Dave Mackie and seconded by Councillor Janet Axworthy.                              

RESOLVED:

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

(b)     That the Facilitator, in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises; and

(c)     That the Committee notes the progress made in completing the outstanding items.

(a)       That the report be noted;

(b)       That a letter requesting clarification on how the Act would be cost neutral and the term ‘universal provision’ be sent to the Cabinet Secretary for Education at Welsh Government; and

(c)        That a further report be provided to the committee following implementation.

            The Senior Manager introduced an update on the Additional Learning Needs (ALN) and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018.  The new statutory framework for supporting children and young people with additional learning needs would replace the current legislation covering Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Young People with Learning Difficulties or Disabilities (LDD) in Post 16 education and training.  The timescale for implementation had now been moved to September 2021 to enable Welsh Government (WG) to work through all the comments received during the consultation process.

            The Senior Manager reported on a meeting of the ALN Forum held the previous day which discussed the draft Additional Learning Needs Coordinator (ALNCo) job description for schools.  She confirmed that Jan Williams had been temporarily appointed as the Early Years Additional Learning Needs Lead Officer (ALNLo) and that the Health Board were looking at funding and recruitment for the Designated Clinical Lead Officer (DECLo) role.   She referred to the Flintshire ALN Transformation Plan and the work being carried out to understand ‘what universal provision was’. Schools were working in clusters within Flintshire and regionally with Further Education and Health Board colleagues included in these discussions.  She also referred to the WG timescale, the cost implications for the Council and the need for clear legal advice to understand how to interpret the Act to ensure that the pupils who needed this most would benefit.  As regards Post 16 she said the situation was unclear at present with the need for clarity on the universal provision and the mechanism for devolving the money for Post 16 specialist provision.       

            The Chair was pleased that WG had listened to the concerns raised by local authorities.

             Councillor Mackie raised concern that WG were not introducing the IT support required immediately and raised concern regarding the potential 2 to 3 year timescale for this to be sourced and implemented.  In response the Senior Manager clarified that no formal decision had been made by WG yet.    The feasibility study completed by the North Wales region had been considered by WG and a paper was being written to be presented to the Cabinet Secretary for Education for consideration; the complexity of the required system would cause the potential delay. 

            Mrs Rebecca Stark asked questions on the job description, raising concerns on the workload, the delay in provision of IT support, the definition of universal provision and asked if this would remain regional or become national. She also asked if the staff training programme was sufficiently robust to ensure it addressed the needs of pupils.  The Senior Manager responded that WG saw this as a cost neutral act and there had been no indication of whether additional funding to cover the additional responsibilities brought about by the Act would be provided.  There was funding available through the ALN Transformation Grant to support preparation for implementation in September 2021 and this was being used to support cluster working and in-house training; the potential cost pressure on schools around implementation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

(a)          That the attendance data for Flintshire schools and the actions undertaken by officers to support schools to improve levels of engagement be noted; and

(b)          That an interim report be brought to the committee in September, to include detail on persistent absenteeism, review and audit, service improvement, support for schools and mental health and well-being. 

            The Senior Manager firstly introduced Mr John Grant (Senior Learning Advisor - Engagement, Inclusion & Progression Service) who provided an outline to committee of his experience.  He was welcomed by the Chair and Committee Members. 

The Senior Manager presented the report which provided information on the attendance levels across Flintshire schools. It was noted that illness accounts for the majority of absences and that the levels of persistent absenteeism remained comparatively high.

            The Senior Learning Advisor added that ensuring school attendance was difficult as there had been an increase in the number of pupils presenting with mental health problems who did not engage in school and that CAMHS colleagues were involved supporting these pupils.  He explained the service was looking to be more flexible and responsive to the children’s needs and that understanding the challenges would enable a long term plan to be progressed.  He then referred to a Head Teachers Conference where colleagues had discussed and acknowledged the pressures involved.  He referred Members to Appendix 1 of the report.

Mr Hytch referred to term time holidays and asked if it was legal to authorise them and how robust were the figures and questioned the quartile attendance figures which could move from green to red if many pupils caught the flu.  With regard to secondary education he asked if non-attendance figures included a child’s inability to cope with the education provided and could this pressure cause absence due to mental health.   He felt that modifying the curriculum did not always work and that it was the next layer down from special needs that required support.  He also asked if the Health Service was equipped to support this.

            Councillor Hughes referred to unauthorised absences and agreed absences for family holidays and asked how many were repeat offenders?  He understood WG guidance was for 10 days approved leave and that holidays were cheaper in term time even if parents factored in the penalty.   The Chief Officer endorsed this comment saying it was very difficult, especially in secondary schools, for a child to catch up with their education but that these occurrences were more frequent in primary than secondary schools.   The Senior Manager added that officers work with Head Teachers to give them the confidence to challenge parents.  It was a different situation if a child was repeatedly away from school due to illness but that Heads were now challenging parents to provide medical evidence.

            The Chief Officer agreed with Mr Hytch’s comments on quartiles but said that this was a small percentage.   She also reported that she had met Head Teachers to discuss budgets for a range of needs.  The Senior Manager advised that positive relationships were in place with CAMHS colleagues and advised on a range of services that were being considered by health to support pupils with mental health.

Mrs Stark referred to Table 5 (Reasons for authorised absence) and felt reason C was very high and asked if the codes were missed and why the illness level had reduced.  In  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

There was one members of the press in attendance.

There was one members of the press in attendance.