Agenda and minutes

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None

Cllr Jennifer Raynor (Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Lifelong Learning), Nick Williams (Chief Education Officer) and Brian Roles (Head of Planning and Resources) attended the meeting to present the budget proposals as they relate to education matters. 

Issues covered included (with specific reference to education matters):

·         Medium Term financial planning 2019/20 to  2021/22

·         Revenue budget 2018/19

·         Capital Budget and Programme 2018/2019 – 2021/22

·         Letter from Schools Budget Forum

·         The Panel are supportive of the education related budget proposals and of how monies have been allocated given the current budget situation.

·         The issue of year on year funding from Welsh Government was raised especially in light of the need to plan services over the longer term (as referenced in the Wellbeing and Future Generation Act).  The panel recognise that the authority does develop an indicative 3 year medium term plan but this will change year on year depending on the local authority’s allocation from Welsh Government.  The panel would encourage councils to work together to make representations to Welsh Government around developing a longer term funding plan.  The Panel were also keen to see changes made that reduce the lag between allocation of grants from Welsh Government and actual receipt of that funding.

·         The Panel had concerns about the impact that the 11% cut to the education improvement grant will have on supporting services in particular the Ethnic Minority Achievement Service but were pleased to hear that the authority are looking to fill the gap for some services from reserves for 1 year.

·         The Panel heard that some schools were managing the difficult budgetary situation better than others: the panel felt that sharing good practice across schools in relation to this aspect would be highly beneficial.