Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that Councillor R V Smith be elected Vice Chairman of the Committee for the remainder of the Municipal Year.

In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea, no interests were declared.

The Terms of Reference for the Committee were noted.

The Chair welcomed Councillor J A Raynor, Cabinet Member for Education to the first Meeting of the CAC.

Councillor Raynor indicated that following discussions with Councillor C Richards, Cabinet Member for Services for Children & Young People who’s Portfolios both fall within the remit of this Committee, they had identified the potential topic area of NEETS for review and investigation.

Members of the Committee discussed the matter which covers a wide ranging area of responsibility and service delivery, points and issues raised during the discussion contained the following:

·       Current Policy and Service Operation

·       Current CCS Education Department spend and per pupil spend compared to other Welsh Authorities

·       Relationship with Gower College Swansea

·       Amount of young people in the NEETS system

·       Ongoing EOTA’s review

·       Need for much earlier identification of young people’s problems and needs

·       Use of alternative curriculum in schools

·       Validity and added value of some of the current courses and programmes that young people attend

·       The need to better prepare young people for the change from school life to further education and the labour market and make them “ready for work”

·       Impact of the disbanding of the Children & Young People Partnership

·       Comparative CCS and Welsh Government data on NEETS

·       Problems  associated with the learning gap/loss of routine around young people leaving school in May and college course not staring until the Autumn

The Cabinet Member indicated that she would share with the CAC information reported to Cabinet Members on NEETS in the summer and the current list of companies providing courses for young people.

Members discussed the benefits of holding a scoping exercise before inviting relevant officers from the Education Department to attend meetings and provide relevant information that the Committee will require during its review. They also discussed the timings of future meetings of the Committee.

RESOLVED that

1) an informal meeting of the CAC to facilitate a scoping exercise looking at the whole issue around NEETS be held at 9.30am on 21 October 2015.