Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

Councillors Andrew Parkhurst and Carolyn Preece declared a personal interest as members of Theatr Clwyd. 

The Chief Officer (Education & Youth) declared that she was a member of the Music Trust Board.

Councillors Andrew Parkhurst and Carolyn Preece declared a personal interest as members of Theatr Clwyd. 

The Chief Officer (Education & Youth) declared that she was a member of the Music Trust Board.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 1 December, 2022.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 1 December 2022 be approved as a

correct record and signed by the Chair.

The minutes of the meeting held on the 1 December 2022 were approved as moved and seconded by Councillor Gladys Healey and Councillor Debbie Owen.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 1 December 2022 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

(a)      That the Forward Work Programme be noted;

(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; and

(c)     That the progress made in completing the outstanding actions be noted.

The Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator presented the current Forward Work Programme highlighting updates made since the last meeting.  She advised that the school parking report would be submitted to the meeting scheduled for 23 March and that Members of the Environment & Economy Overview & Scrutiny Committee would be invited to the meeting for this item.  She also confirmed that the Council Plan 2023/28 Development report would be presented at the March meeting.

 Referring to the Action Tracking Report the Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator confirmed that most of the actions had been completed.  A proposed date for the workshop on the Integrated Youth Provision Delivery Plan had been received and she confirmed that once this was confirmed an email would be circulated to Members. 

The recommendations, as outlined within the report, were moved by Councillor Paul Cunningham and seconded by Mrs Lynne Bartlett.                         

RESOLVED:

(a)      That the Forward Work Programme be noted;

(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; and

(c)     That the progress made in completing the outstanding actions be noted.

(a)       That the developments of the Theatr Clwyd Music Trust, since its creation, including the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic be noted;

(b)       That the Committee is assured that the Theatr Clwyd Music Trust is positively and actively delivering on the National Music Service Plan for the benefit of children and young people in Flintshire; and

(c)       That a letter is sent, on behalf of the Committee, to all Headteachers to encourage schools to promote the delivery of the music service, specifically targeting children eligible for free school meals and looked after children.

The Chair welcomed Mr Liam Evans Ford, Executive Director of Theatr Clwyd and Mr Aled Marshman, Director of Music, Theatr Clwyd Music Trust to the meeting, who would be outlining how they and members of the Theatr Clwyd Music Trust worked to enhance the learning opportunities and experiences of students. 

The Chair added that being taught music and the skills of learning to play an instrument helped students to develop their language skills, reasoning skills, their sensitive and critical learning skills and could define motor skill development and  improve memory.  The creative and performance side of the subject together with a greater understanding of the role in music and history and contemporary society all add to a fuller education for a student.  As an authority Flintshire County Council were proactive in their efforts to ensure that every student had an opportunity to enhance their learning experience and promote their talents, regardless of who they were. This included students in receipt of a pupil grant awarded to schools to support students who were eligible for either free school meals or who were looked after.  This was a targeted grant given to overcome the barriers which may prevent a student from reaching his or her full potential.  

Mr. Liam Evans-Ford introduced a report to provide an update and overview of Theatr Clwyd Music Trust followingits first 18 months of delivery, as set against agreed principles of transfer in 2019from the Education Portfolio within the Council to Theatr Clwyd.  This transfer was designed to initially protect, but also to further enhance, the delivery of musiceducation services to the children and young people of Flintshire which was underthreat due to increasing financial pressures on the Council.

            Mr. Aled Marshman, in referring to the report, outlined the negative impact the Covid pandemic had had on music and the arts, with a 75% reduction in learners between March 2020 and May 2020.  Those students who had remained with the service reported on how important it had been to their health and wellbeing.  He provided background information on discussions held in September 2020 on the way forward with the decision taken to remain online for the year but this was challenging and the increase in numbers was slow.   In September 2021 returning to schools saw learner numbers doubling but the aim was to grow further to enable every student to have an opportunity to enjoy the benefits of music both socially and culturally. 

Mr. Marshman provided detailed information on the scoping document, charging policy and the five ensembles, which had increased to eight following the increased numbers in September 2022.   More emphasis had been placed on the new starters to create an important journey for them and he provided information on the flexibility of the system in place for schools.  Information was also provided on the National Plan for Music Education in Wales which would support the Curriculum for Wales, especially in primary schools, with the focus on every year 3 child experiencing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

(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.

There were no members of the press in attendance.