Agenda and minutes

Cllr Carys Jones (Chair Carmarthenshire Education and Children Scrutiny Committee)

No declarations of interest were received.

The minutes and letter arising from the meeting on the 23 October 2022 were accepted.

Lead Director, Lead Officer and relevant Strategic Advisors

The Councillor Group agreed as part of their work programme to look at the performance of a different one of the four Partneriaeth priorities at each meeting.  The Councillor Group therefore welcomed Ian Altman, Jenna Gravelle (Lead Adviser), and Mary Francis Jones (Heol Goffa School, Llanelli) to the meeting.  They provided a presentation and outlined progress with regards to Priority 3 of the Partneriaeth Business Plan 2023-2024. 

The report and discussion looked at:

Priority 3: Support schools and settings to develop a range of research and enquiry skills as a key part of their professional learning.

The aim with this priority is to enable schools and settings across the region to use enquiry to establish and maintain a rhythm of learning, innovation and change. Partneriaeth will:

i.                 Support the growth of networks of schools to develop a range of enquiry skills by leading enquiries in their own settings.

ii.                Promote collaboration across our schools to explore and develop approaches to digital learning design.

iii.              Drive a system whereby schools are willing to take risks, experiment and innovate their practice to raise standards

The Lead Adviser Jenna Gravelle for outlined the purpose Priority 3, her role and the work that is being undertaken in relation to this.

Mary Francis (NPEP Lead) from Ysgol Heol Goffa Special School, Llanelli give a school perspective on the impact of the work in this area. She outlined:

·       Context of the school

·       Enquiry cycles including the last three years and how the NPEP developed

·       The enquiry process including what worked, what could be better and resulting actions

·       Pilot Schools as Learning Organisations (SLO) project

·       Capturing staff views and SLO survey results

·       New vision and values

·       Staff feedback and training

·       Take actions stage of the SLO model

·       Next steps including staff continuing with SLO projects

·       Collaborative approach with Partneriaeth

The Cllr Group noted all the successes but did ask about what didn’t work, recognising that others can learn from that. The NPEP Lead said the main challenging areas were/are:

·       Time allocation, being able to be realised from the classroom and ensuring staff are covered. 

·       Staff involvement, making all staff aware and involved so all staff in school can appreciate what you are doing.

The Councillor Group were impressed with the work happening at the school and thanked the NPEP Lead for her valuable input into the meeting.

Lead Director and the Lead Officer for Partneriaeth

The Lead Director Helen Morgan Rees provided the Cllr Group with feedback from the Partneriaeth Joint Committee that took place on the 2 February 2024.  The following was noted:

·       Chair of the Joint Committee has changed to the voting Member in Carmarthenshire, namely, Cllr Glynog Davies. Each constituent Cabinet approved a switch from Leaders being voting Members to Portfolio Holders being voting Members.

·       Councillor Groups letter from the meeting on 23 October 2023 was discussed and accepted by the Joint Committee.

·       The Joint Committee was provided with a financial outturn for 2022-23 which included: Partneriaeth Budget 2022-23, Service Level Agreements, Local Authority Contributions, Outturn 2022-23, Grant Income for 2022-23, Risks and Opportunities and Reserves.

·       Partneriaeth Financial Report 2023/24 (Dec 23). The Joint Committee received an update on the financial position of Partneriaeth at the end of December 2023 and the projected outturn for 2023-24.

·       The Joint Committee received for consideration and endorsement ‘in principle’ the Partneriaeth draft budget for 2024-25 with a view of the formal approval to be obtained at the Joint Committee meeting on 7 June 2024 following confirmation of funding from Welsh Government.

·       Update on the Business Plan and information sharing strategy.

·       Updated risk profile.  It is likely that this will need to be updated based on Ministers Announcement with risks of lack of clarity of future of Partneriaeth and funding in the future.

Lead Director and Lead Officer Partneriaeth

The Partneriaeth Lead Officer and the Lead Director provided the Cllr Group with information about the Partneriaeth financial affairs, risk management and governance arrangements as (as stipulated is completed by the Cllr Group in the Joint Agreement). 

The Cllr Group were informed that the financial position Partneriaeth is on track with the funding being spent appropriately to meet its business plannings targets for the end of this financial year. 

They were given an overview of the risk register as it currently stands, hearing Partneriaeth has now received the funding from the Welsh Government, so that risk has now be downgraded for this financial year.  One of the potential high impact risks in the future will be the lack of clarity in terms of the functions and delivery of Partneriaeth following the recent Welsh Government Education Ministers announcement.  The Cllr Group heard that he is proposing that funding no longer goes to regional bodies but that is goes directly to local authorities.  This puts the role of regional bodies again in flux.  We heard that this is hugely significant for Partneriaeth and will need to be reflected in the risk register moving forward.

The Cllr Group were concerned about the ongoing instability this will cause for Partneriaeth staff and the risk that some staff may look to move away from their current roles to more stable positions, which could put the role of Partneriath ultimately in jeopardy. The Cllr Group felt feel that this a serious risk and that clarity for staff and the organisation needs to be made as soon as possible.

Scrutiny Councillor Group

The Councillor Group agreed to write a letter to the Chair of the Joint Committee following today’s meeting.

The Scrutiny Work Programme was noted.