To consider a report by County Councillor Arwel Jones, Portfolio Holder for Education.
Minutes:
County Councillor Gillian Thomas declared a personal non pecuniary interest as a local authority appointed governor of Ysgol y Bannau.
County Councillor David Meredith declared a personal non pecuniary interest as a local authority appointed governor and Chair of Governors at Brecon High School.
The Portfolio Holder for Education outlined the consultation process and explained that having considered issues raised in the consultation he was changing his recommendation to the following:
· To abandon elements A, B and D of the Proposal and to bring a new report back to Cabinet with draft recommendationsfor Brecon and Gwernyfed High Schools, in accordance with the Schools Reorganisation Policy 2015;
· To re-consult on element C of the Proposal, i.e. the closure of the Welsh-stream at Brecon High School from September 2017;
· To submit a revised Outline Business Case to Welsh Government’s 21st C Schools Programme for capital investment in both campuses. This will include a new build 11 – 18 campus in Brecon and improvements to the Gwernyfed campus.
County Councillor David Meredith speaking as a local member for Brecon High School and Chair of Governors welcomed the proposal but advised that he would continue to fight for the retention of Welsh medium education in the school. He referred to the 9% improvement in pupils achieving level 2 plus standard GCSEs and put on record his congratulations to the Headteacher, staff and pupils. He advised that the proposal to transfer Welsh medium education to Builth Wells was already affecting numbers pursuing secondary education in the medium of Welsh and that it would affect numbers attending Ysgol y Bannau.
County Councillor Gillian Thomas speaking as a local member for Brecon High School was concerned that elements A, B and D were going to be abandoned. She wanted to see an end to uncertainty and argued that it made no sense to move Welsh medium education to Builth Wells when there was a Welsh medium primary school in Brecon. She noted that this would involve long journey times for pupils. The Portfolio Holder for Education reminded members that at key stage 4 there were only 3 or 4 subjects available in Brecon compared to 12 in Builth Wells.
Comments from County Councillor Matthew Dorrance were read out in in which he urged the Cabinet to think again about moving Welsh medium provision to Builth Wells.
County Councillor David Jones, the Chair of the People Scrutiny Committee, noted that over 300 pupils had been lost in the last 6 years and that there were 36% surplus places in Brecon and 20% surplus places in Gwernyfed. He referred to the condition of the buildings at both schools and the deficit at Brecon High School. He asked why there had to be further consultation on Welsh medium education when the Cabinet had already allowed free transport from Brecon to Builth Wells. He referred to the Schools Modernisation Policy and said he wasn’t convinced that enough things had changed to warrant another consultation or of the logic of a different approach in Brecon and Gwernyfed and Builth Wells and Llandrindod.
The Portfolio Holder advised that he had taken account of the strong feeling of the community that had been apparent in the consultation events. He explained that legal advice was that there would have to be a further consultation on proposals for Welsh language provision. He noted that the precedent to give free transport had been set some years earlier by allowing on appeal free transport to Ystalyfera on the grounds that provision in Brecon was not deemed to be as good.
County Councillor Sandra Davies, leader of the Labour group questioned why transport was not to the nearest school and it was explained that it was because of the difference in provision between the schools. She welcomed Welsh Government investment to build a new school in Brecon which should lead to improvements as had been evidenced by the new school in Ystradgynlais.
County Councillor James Gibson-Watt, leader of the Liberal Democrat group noted that there were differences in the situation between Builth Wells and Llandrindod and Brecon and Gwernyfed. In welcoming the proposal to retain both schools he said that trust had to be re-established with communities and he asked that all stakeholders were consulted before any further proposals came back to Cabinet. He argued that if Welsh medium education was to be concentrated in one area it should be in Brecon where there was a Welsh medium primary school. The Portfolio Holder confirmed that they would be entering into dialogue with the schools and local community.
County Councillor Aled Davies, leader of the Conservative group, argued that Welsh medium primary and secondary provision needed to be in the same catchment. He asked about the debt of Brecon High School and was advised that the school would have to balance the deficit through a debt recovery plan. He asked about where post 16 education would be sited and was advised that the schools service would be engaging with the schools and local members on options and a report would come back to Cabinet.
The Leader sought and received confirmation from the Cabinet that they had read the report and appendices. Cabinet debated the proposals with a number of members expressing concerns that they did not go far enough to address the issues of low pupil numbers and reducing finances. Members acknowledged the very poor condition of the buildings at Brecon High School and the need to take advantage of Welsh Government funding. Members were reminded that Builth Wells Primary School was one of the largest primary schools in the county and that over a third of the pupils there were educated in the medium of Welsh. Members sought clarification over the timescales involved and advice on whether decisions could be made in the purdah period before the local government elections in May 2017 and the Head of Schools agreed to bring a report to Cabinet on 1st November. The Leader thanked both schools for allowing the Cabinet to visit which the Cabinet had found very worthwhile.
RESOLVED |
Reason for Decision: |
1. To consider the Consultation Report and Responses Report
2. To abandon elements A,B, and D of the Proposal and to bring a new report back to Cabinet with draft recommendations for Brecon and Gwernyfed High Schools, in accordance with the Schools Reorganisation Policy 2015;
3. To re-consult on element C of the Proposal, i.e. the closure of the Welsh-stream at Brecon High School from September 2017;
4. To submit a revised Outline Business Case to Welsh Government’s 21st C Schools Programme for capital investment in both campuses and to increase the budget for the Project by £8m financed by a Welsh Government capital grant and Prudential Borrowing. This will include a new build 11 – 18 campus in Brecon and improvements to the Gwernyfed campus.
5. To bring a further report to Cabinet on 1st November setting out the timeline for consideration of draft recommendations.
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· To understand the issues raised during consultation;
· To enable officers to bring forward alternative options that will address the challenges faced by the secondary school sector in Powys;
· To provide a more sustainable, educationally and linguistically viable model of Welsh-medium secondary education;
· Submitting a revised OBC will enable the Council to draw down Welsh Government funding to support a capital investment in both campuses.
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Supporting documents: