Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors R A Clay, H M Morris, Mr D Anderson-Thomas and Mrs S Joiner.

In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea, no/the following interest was declared:

Councillor D W Cole - personal - Minute No. 54 – Cabinet Member Question Session Cabinet Member for Education -  I represent a ward (Penyrheol) which abuts the Ward (Parc Y Werin) where a potential new school would be built.

In accordance with the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011, no declarations of Whipped Votes or Party Whips were declared.

To approve and sign as a correct record the Minutes of the Scrutiny Programme Committee held on 14 September 2015.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Scrutiny Programme Committee held on 14 September, 2015 be agreed as a correct record.

(Councillor Jennifer Raynor).

The Committee took the opportunity to question Councillor J A Raynor, Cabinet Member for Education and Mr L Harvey, Chief Education Officer.

Members noted the short report on ‘headlines’ in relation to portfolio objectives which assisted the Committee in focusing on priorities, actions, achievements and impact.

The Chair advised that there had been a number of questions regarding the proposed new primary school in Gorseinon at Parc Y Werin and the Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) services.

With regarding to questions regarding the proposed new primary school in Gorseinon at Parc Y Werin, the Chair stated that as the questions had followed a similar theme agreement had been reached with the questioner  that the following question be posed to the Cabinet Member:

“Can the Cabinet Member advise the Committee on the current position with regard to the proposed new primary school in Gorseinon at Parc Y Werin.  It would be helpful if you could inform the Committee of the rationale for the project, options considered and how the public views have influenced the decision”.

The Cabinet Member for Education read out the response she had previously sent to Officers.

The Cabinet Member for Education responded to questions in relation to petitions.  With regard to a question on the display of statutory notices within the vicinity, she stated that she would liaise with Officers and provide a written response.

The Cabinet Member for Education stated that all Councils were facing very challenging times.  Whilst Education has received relative prioritisation as all council departments fact large reductions in their budgets, this has still resulted in real-term cuts for many schools. 

It was noted that Swansea is the 14^th highest of the 22 Welsh local authorities in terms of free school meals so the “expected” benchmark position would be 14^th for most performance measures.

The Cabinet Member stated that Swansea were doing well in relation to national reading and numeracy tests.  At Key Stage 4 the Summer term 2015 GCSE results were the best ever for Swansea.  Additionally secondary school attendance is positive, however, concern remained with regard to primary school attendance.

The Cabinet Member for Education, assisted by the Chief Education Officer, answered questions in relation to education inclusion and the development of new models of delivering services within schools whilst maintaining standards.

The Chief Education Officer detailed the 10 areas which were currently being considered with a view to changing delivery of service. 

Members discussed fines to increase levels of attendance; staggering school term times and school hours and safeguarding issues.

The Chair thanked the Cabinet Member for attending.

RESOLVED that the Chair of Scrutiny Programme Committee write to the Cabinet Member reflecting the discussion and sharing the views of the Committee.

(Councillor Cheryl Philpott, convener – attending)

Councillor C L Philpott, Convenor, presented the Education Inclusion Scrutiny Inquiry Final Report.

Councillor Philpott stated that the Inquiry Panel had found this topic to be complex and challenging at times. 

She stated that some of the support for this group of young people, particularly by schools, to be strong.  However, it was felt that schools working at the coalface needed more support and assistance in working with those children who are at risk of exclusion of Education Other Than At School (EOTAS).  A clear and active behaviour strategy was needed for the authority which details how schools would be supported to move forward in this area.

The secondary schools interviewed felt out of the loop in relation to any development in behaviour support and in EOTAS changes.  The Panel, early in the inquiry, put a recommendation to the Cabinet Member which emphasised the importance of involving schools; recognising that they are a critical part of the service.  The Inquiry Panel also emphasised the point that schools are showing many areas of good practice that could be shared with the Pupil Referral Units (PRU) and other schools.  The Panel also found that there was a  lack of communication between different parts of the Education Department and felt that there was a need for a reflective journey to discuss their commonalities and communication links.

The Panel felt that by asking questions around this subject it had helped keep a spotlight and momentum on these services and on the needs of this group of young people and the Panel had hoped that this had helped move things along.

The changes to the PRU Management Committee were found to be positive by the Panel who believed that, in refreshing membership and refocussing the Committee, it was now in a much better position to drive forward improvements once the action plan was complete.  The Panel were pleased to hear that a dedicated challenge advisor for the EOTAS service had been allocated.

Members discussed the report and key issues included:

·       Regrettable that the report will not be considered by Cabinet prior to their decision to reconfigure the service;

·       Schools are not always the best settings for the provision of the service;

·       A number of schools are offering their own model in relation to Pathways and are keen to keep ownership within the school setting;

·       Timescales regarding low, medium and quick wins and concern regarding the length of time taken from the Estyn Inspection;

·       A good process is operational within Swansea, however there are concerns regarding consistency;

·       Evidence of some schools not utilising staff with expertise to recognise difficulties which exasperates the situation;

·       Concerns regarding school governor training;

The Chair thanked the Convenor and Panel for their informative report.  She referred to the pre-inquiry working group regarding Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services who would be undertaking indepth scrutiny into this.

RESOLVED that the report be AGREED.

The Chair presented the Local Service Board Scrutiny Performance Panel progress report.

She referred to Update 1 – September 2015 and advised that the meeting planned for October with Sharon Miller (AMBU) had been deferred until November, 2015.

RESOLVED that the report be NOTED.

The Chair introduced the draft of the quarterly report from the Committee to Council on the impact of scrutiny.

RESOLVED that the report be agreed and proceed to Council.

The Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordinator presented the tenth annual bulletin published by the Local Government Data Unit – Wale.  The report contained information on the level and range of performance across Wales between 2014-15 on a number of service areas.

It was noted that the Service Improvement Scrutiny Panel would be considering Swansea’s performance.

RESOLVED that the report be NOTED.

The report of the Chair reviewed current work and invited the committee to consider new scrutiny activities, taking into account feedback from the recent Scrutiny Work Planning Conference.

The report provided the committee with:

·       The current scrutiny work programme

·       A plan for future committee meetings

·       A progress report on the various existing Panels and Working Groups

·       Proposals for new work

·       Cabinet forward plan for opportunities for pre-decision scrutiny

The Chair referred to the recent meeting for scrutiny councillors and officers from the six councils participating in ERW.  Swansea was represented by Councillors F Gordon and C Philpott. 

It was agreed that a scrutiny councillors group would be set up in order to co-ordinate scrutiny work across the region and ensure a consistent approach.  Swansea Scrutiny Team would provide the support for this group as the Council’s contribution to ERW.

The Chair referred to scrutiny improvement outcomes.

RESOLVED that:

1.     A regular, informal meeting with the Cabinet Member for Transformation and Performance be scheduled to discuss cabinet business and the interface with scrutiny;

2.     New panels on Building Sustainable Communities and Tackling Poverty be established;

3.     Sessions on Council budget/financial scrutiny; scrutiny questioning skills and effective scrutiny be scheduled;

4.     The ‘Scrutiny Despatches’ quarterly report more newsworthy and developing press releases from it;

5.     The developing of further opportunities for public participation e.g., public speaking/question time, co-option be pursued; and

6.     Discussion take place with Wales Audit Office on links between work plans, mutual awareness and use of audit/scrutiny findings; and

7.     the committee work plan be accepted.

The Chair presented a report which advised of changes to the membership of Scrutiny Panels and Working Groups.

RESOLVED that:

1.     Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services Inquiry Panel – Councillor M H Jones be appointed as Convenor; and

2.     Schools Performance Panel – Councillor M Evans be removed.

The Chair reported the Scrutiny Letters Log and referred to recent correspondence between Scrutiny and Cabinet Members.

RESOLVED that the Scrutiny Letters Log be NOTED.

The Chair stated that there had been no recent scrutiny events to report on.

a) National Assembly for Wales Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister at National Waterfront Museum, Swansea (Friday 16 October – 10.30 a.m.)

The Chair referred to Childrens’ Rights Training on 29 October, 2015 between 4.00 and 6.00 pm in the Guildhall, Swansea.

RESOLVED that the Audit Committee Work Plan be NOTED.

The date and time of future Committee Meetings for the 2015/16 Municipal Year was noted.

The date and time of upcoming Panel/Working Group meetings were provided for information to help increase the visibility of this work and encourage participation.