To receive reports from, and put questions to, Cabinet Portfolio Holders:
a. The Leader, County Councillor Rosemarie Harris
b. The Portfolio Holder for Education, County Councillor Myfanwy Alexander
Minutes:
Members welcomed the opportunity to receive reports from, and to put questions to, Cabinet Portfolio Holders. During updated and discussion particular reference was made to:
The Leader, County Councillor Mrs Rosemarie Harris
a. Brecon Cultural Hub – members requested re-assurance that the name of the hub would reflect the shire. It was noted that the site had secured some grant funding from the Military Covenant. Members would welcome an update in relation to the development and its operations to the next shire meeting
b. Hay Town Council – the local member for Hay-on-Wye thanked the Leader for engaging with the Town Council in relation to matters
c. Cabinet Vision – Cabinet’s vision would be aired at the Royal Welsh Show. The vision would not be costed but would provide detail of the direction of travel. Supporting the economy and local regeneration would feature highly. There would be appropriate promotion
d. Household Recycling Sites – the Leader is confident that £400k of savings included within the Medium Term Financial Plan would be identified from the budget. A member requested details in relation to the data used by Cabinet to inform a recent decision to review operation hours etc. Communities seem to value sites and favour retaining them. A member felt that the Council had not communicated enough with members regarding plans for local areas and in general terms in relation to wider recycling matters
e. Joint Venture Company (Repairs and Maintenance of Housing Stock) – members felt that they could be better informed about the operation of the JVC and also felt that tenants should have been advised of the transfer (many tenants claim to be unaware of the JVC)
f. Council Tax Levels /Budget Flaw – a member referred to the drive of the Welsh Government to maintain low levels of Council Tax. The Leader reminded members that providing a funding floor for qualifying authorities had been built into policy
g. May Election – the Leader would recognise those issues raised by the electorate during the May 2017 election period. The Council engaging better with its communities came through as a theme for most Cabinet members at election time
h. Communication with Members – members urged the Leader to ensure that the Council communicates with its members quickly on matters of public interest. Media and local reports about Council matters which are made without the local member being aware could cause embarrassment. The Leader reminded members that decisions are often reported very quickly via. social media
i. Llandrindod and Builth Wells High School Sites – in the light of comments made at the meeting it was agreed that there should be a media release to confirm that Cabinet had agreed to operating one school over two sites. Members were urged to help quash any rumours to the contrary
Cabinet Portfolio Holder: Education, County Councillor Myfanwy Alexander
a. Transformation Programme – there are challenges that would need to be met to deliver education with reduced budgets, however, there are also real opportunities
b. New School Inspection Framework – a new framework would have wider regard to the well-being of learners (whilst continuing to recognise the importance of achievement). Authorities would be required to support schools and their governing bodies on delivering on requirements. The Minister views partnership working as important
c. Brecon High School Welsh Stream – the Cabinet decision to retain the Welsh stream at Brecon High had been welcomed locally
d. Gwernyfed High School Consultation – the cost of the consultation had been £1.2 million. The result of the exercise had been to retain the site. The cost of the exercise had re-enforced the importance of engaging with communities
e. Welsh Medium Learning – the main issue to address (a national as well as local issue to Powys) had been the ability to recruit and retain Welsh speaking teaching staff in order to deliver a Welsh medium curriculum
f. Delegated Budget – there are some schools which seem to manage their budgets very well and others which don’t and it is not clear why. In order to understand the position better and to review arrangements for delegating funding from the Authority to schools via. the Fair Funding Formula and in order to better understand school spends there would be a review undertaken. The local member for Ystradgynlais reported that a school inspector had recently stated that the budget for the local high school had not be set right and that the school was underfunded by the Authority. The spend on Additional Leaning Needs would also need to be better understood and reviewed. Member input regarding schools spends in their areas would be welcomed
g. Central Services – alongside the delegated budget review there would be a review of school support services
h. School Business Managers – the Welsh Government seem to favour introducing business managers in order to support schools with business functions which would remove those tasks from headteachers and the senior management team to enable them to focus on delivering learning. There had been issues (nationally and locally) regarding headteacher and teacher stress which would need to be considered. It was felt that nurturing and supporting those teachers who had an appetite to progress in their careers would be positive and allow for very senior positions to be filled more easily and by the right people. The local member for Ifron Valley C P School reported that the headteacher positon had been advertised four times with no appointment being made (the Portfolio Holder would meet with the local member upon request)
i. Youth Services – a member would welcome detail in relation to the provision of youth service functions and how schools and the youth service work together to support young people
j. Exclusion from School – it is the strong view of the portfolio holder that excluded learners should be put on re-integration programmes with the aim of returning to school as opposed to relying on movement to alternative schools or different methods of schooling
k. Distance Learning – while distance learning for A Level seemed to work well it was not clear how effective it would be for teaching larger numbers of learners at GCSE level. There would be appropriate research and pilots if operating this way was to be considered in Powys (it could work well). A strong curriculum offer at post 16 would, hopefully, retain learners within Powys