Agenda and minutes

None.

The minutes of the meeting 10 July 2018 were approved as a true and accurate record of the meeting, subject to the following amendment;

·                Item 3 – ‘Service Area Performance Update – Year End 2017/18 – Education’ ‘There was a theme evident that schools in affluent areas had low exclusions rates and schools that were in depraved deprived areas had higher exclusion rates. Education was looking at how to combat this.’ 

Chair stated that the Cabinet Member for Education was unhappy with the comments within the minutes of the meeting relating to her attendance.  The Cabinet Member had asked to make statement in the meeting in response to this.  The Chair asked the Committee if it approved this statement being presented to the Committee, and the statement being attached to the minutes of this meeting as a record. The Committee approved this, and the Cabinet Member read the statement in response to the Committees comments. (Appendix 1)

Attendees

• Gail Giles – Cabinet Member for Education and Skills
• Hayley Davies – Edwards – EAS Principle Challenge Advisor
• James Harris – Strategic Director – People
• Katy Rees – Assistant Head of Education – Inclusion

The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills and the representative from EAS introduced the report and brought important aspects to the attention of the Committee.

Members asked the following questions:

·         Members questioned the amount of time spent on comparing schools and whether it would have more effective to ensure that the young people had the best education. The EAS representative explained that the Welsh Government were analysing and questioning the data made available by EAS and Newport regarding the pupil achievement. This would drive up performance, ensuring higher levels of pupil achievement in the future.

·         Members asked why the number of young people achieving key state two English was down on last year. The EAS representative explained that a cohort in a single year can distort the figures; however, it would be monitored going forward to ensure a trend does not become evident.

·         The Committee queried the national target for Welsh (First Language), at Key Stage 2, was lower than the target Newport has set itself. EAS explained that this was due to small cohort of young people with Welsh as their first language. The smaller the number of young people the larger the impact they have on the percentage, which was why Newport have a higher target than Wales.

·         A Member of the Committee commended the Head Teacher of the school they were a governor of. The Head Teacher had improved the outcomes for the young people who are unable to succeed in the school. The EAS representative explained that was one of the responsibilities Head Teachers took very seriously. The Strategic Director - People informed the Committee that Careers Wales were responsible for the tracking of all young people leaving school across Newport. This tracking ensured no young person was left without a destination, be it further or higher education, employment or training.

·         The Committee asked if the Officers believed whether Educations performance could improve over the next two years due to the financial pressures faced by the Local Authority. The Strategic Director - People explained that the teachers and the relationships they had with the young people were the reasons behind the successful performance. This was understood by the Head Teachers and support staff and enables them to make difficult decisions for budget savings limiting the impact on the young people’s education.

·         A Member wished to know what commitment was made with to the schools and the Continued Professional Development (CPD) of its staff. The EAS representative explained that this was part of their remit and informed the Committee of a Teachers Training Network, in-school experts and e-learning links which also provided help and support. EAS also provide a comprehensive programme for professional learning and development. 

The Committee thanked the Cabinet Member and Officers for their attendance and responses to their questions.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Attendees;

·         James Harris – Strategic Director - People

·         Chris Humphrey – Head of Adult and Community Services

·         Katy Rees – Assistant Head of Education - Inclusion

The Officers introduced the each of the budget proposals and the Committee were discussed the update on each proposal;

Review of Oaklands Short Break Service

The Officers explained that sometimes they were able to find ways of not making a saving or making a partial saving. This was the case with this proposal; during the consultation we identified other areas to make the savings.

Restructuring of the funding within preventative services

The Officers informed the Committee that this saving had been achieved.

Integrated Family Support Team Restructure

The Officers informed the Committee that this saving had been achieved.

Review of the Domiciliary Care Service

The Officer expected the saving would be made over two years. The contract for the new service would start in January 2019. 

Re-Provision of Supported Living Service

The Officer believed that the full saving would be achieved this year. The Members raised concerns for those individuals who were still living in the remaining two homes that were not fit for purpose and do not meet the needs of the individuals.

Reduction in Adult Budget

The Officer stated that the saving associated with this proposal was too optimistic and would not be met completely. The Members wished to know how successful the marketing of the Centrica Lodge provision had been to other Local Authorities. The Officers explained that there had been some uptake but there had been room for more young people.

Consolidation of the Education Psychology, Additional Learning Needs and Specific Learning Needs Teams into an ‘Inclusion Enrichment Team’

The questioned the ways the teachers are being prepared for the changes which had been implemented on 1 September. The Officers explained that they used a number of different training and resources to increase the skills and knowledge of the teachers and support staff to work with the young people. The Officer explained to the Members that the additional savings included six voluntary redundancies, one resignation and one redeployment.

Re-Modelling of the Pupil Referral Unit

The Strategic Director - People requested that he be allowed to update the Committee at the next meeting on the 26^th November, he continued by saying that he did not have all of the information currently. The Directors final comment was that a number of unforeseeable and complex issues meant that the department were unable to make the saving. The Assistant Head of Education explained that they had developed a rigorous plan in partnership with EAS and newly recruited staff to drive forward the essential work. The Committee welcomed the additional information at the next meeting.

The Committee thanked the Officers for their attendance and the detailed answers to their questions.

Recommendations and Comments

The Committee made the following recommendations and comments;

·         The Strategic Director - People to provide an update on the Pupil Referral Unit at the meeting on the 26 November 2018.

·         For  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Attendees;

·         Rhys Cornwall – Head of People and Business Change

The Head of People and Business Change introduced the report and explained the reasons for it being on the Committee Forward Work Programme. The Head of People and Business Change explained that there were limited numbers of measures reported on due to Social Services related measures being removed. The remaining measures show how Newport compares to other Local Authorities in Wales.

The Committee wished to know what the main barriers were to improving the overall position in the nation table. The Head of People and Business Change outlined the main barriers being resourcing of services and the decisions needed to be taken around the organisation of services.

The Committee thanked the Officer for their attendance.

a)      Forward Work Programme Update (Appendix 1)

b)      Information Reports (Appendix 2)

Forward Work Programme

The Scrutiny Adviser presented the report to the Committee and explained that due to Estyn inspection in Education the Head of Service and Deputies were unavailable. The Committee agreed to move the Education Service Plan meeting date to the 26^th November at 10am to facilitate the Officers attendance.