Agenda and minutes

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Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

To receive apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from County Councillor Heulwen Hulme and from the Executive Director, People and Organisational Development and the Executive Director Economy and Environment.

 

2.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 521 KB

To authorise the Chair to sign the minutes of the meetings held on 23rd and 26th November 2021 as correct records.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Leader was authorised to sign the minutes of the meetings held on 23rd and 26th November 2021 as correct records.

3.

Declarations of Interest

To receive any declarations of interest from Members relating to items to be considered on the agenda.

Minutes:

County Councillor Iain McIntosh declared a prejudicial interest in the report on Mount Street Infant School, Mount Street Junior School and Cradoc CP School. He would be speaking in the debate as a local member not as a Cabinet member and would not be voting.

 

4.

Mount Street Infant School, Mount Street Junior School and Cradoc CP School pdf icon PDF 485 KB

To consider a report by County Councillor Phyl  Davies, Portfolio Holder for Education and Property.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Cabinet considered responses received to the consultation on proposals to

 

Phase 1

 

·      To close Mount Street Infants School, Mount Street Junior School and Cradoc C.P. School

·      To establish a new English-medium primary school for pupils aged 4-11 on the current sites of Mount Street Infants School, Mount Street Junior School and Cradoc C.P. School.

 

Phase 2

 

·      To make a regulated alteration to transfer the school to a new school building on a new site in Brecon.

 

During the consultation period, virtual meetings had been held with staff, governors and school councils. 229 respondents had completed the consultation response form which was included in the consultation document. In addition, 53 written responses were received from respondents including Estyn, by e-mail or post. The written responses included an online and paper petition to ‘Save Cradoc Primary School!’, which was signed by 1,275 people. The Leader confirmed that the Cabinet had read all of the correspondence received.

 

The issues raised in the written responses to the consultation and those raised in the consultation meetings, were set out in Appendix B to the report along with the Council’s response to these issues.

 

Based on the findings of the consultation, and further assessment of the options in accordance with the requirements of the School Organisation Code in terms of the Presumption Against Closure of Rural Schools, the advice of officers was that the Council should proceed with the proposals to amalgamate Mount Street Infants School, Mount Street Junior School and Cradoc C.P. School to create a new primary school that would initially operate from the current three sites before moving to a new building in the future, by publishing a Statutory Notice.

 

County Councillor Iain McIntosh argued that the closure of Cradoc school would go against the Council’s Strategy for Transforming Education in Powys guiding principles both on community-focused schools, because of the number of clubs and community uses associated with the school which would be lost and on environmentally sustainable schools. He noted that no separate impact assessment had been created for Cradoc school and that the joint impact assessment for the project had not measured the impact of the proposal on climate change. He reminded Cabinet of the community’s preferred option for a new school at Cradoc which had not been presented to the Cabinet and he argued that this was in contravention of the Council’s Constitution. He also noted that none of the papers had been translated into Nepali or Welsh.

 

County Councillor Roger Williams argued that Cradoc school provided a choice for parents who wanted a rural education for their children and urged the Cabinet not to impose urban solutions on a rural area. As a governor of Mount Street Junior School, he was supportive of merging Mount Street Infants School and Mount Street Junior School to create an all-through primary school. He also asked the Cabinet to look again at the siting of the school noting the concerns raised about the site during the consultation.

 

County Councillor Liz Rijnenberg asked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Llanfyllin Catchment Transformation pdf icon PDF 348 KB

To consider a report by County Councillor Phyl Davies, Portfolio Holder for Education and Property.

Minutes:

The Leader advised that this report was being deferred for a week.

6.

School Delegated Budget Funding Formula Review / Revisions to the Powys Scheme for Financing Schools pdf icon PDF 2 MB

To consider a report by County Councillor Phyl Davies, Portfolio Holder for Education and Property and County Councillor Aled Davies, Portfolio Holder for Finance and Transport.

Minutes:

Cabinet considered responses received to the consultation to changes to the School Funding Formula for mainstream Primary phase schools and revisions to the Powys Scheme for Financing Schools.

 

The formula had been developed as part of the Authority’s Post Inspection Action Plan  following the Estyn inspection in July 2019.

 

A Formula Review Group had been established with a range of stakeholders along with Council officers, chaired by the Strategic Lead for Education. The group reviewed a range of school funding formulae from other rural Welsh local authorities before developing a set of formula proposals for mainstream primary phase schools that were consulted upon in October 2021.  

 

The aim of the proposed formula was to support a move to a pupil-led formula that would provide a stable, transparent and equitable funding arrangement for mainstream, primary phase schools, which would

·         Create a more equitable provision for all learners across Powys

·         Support the aspirations of the transformation programme

·         Support all learners including helping offset the effects of disadvantage

·         Support a collaborative schools’ community which offers effective professional learning to facilitate the self improving system.  

·         Support inclusion and bilingualism, and promote access to excellence for all learners. 

 

County Councillor Pete Roberts presented the Learning and Skills Scrutiny Committee comments. The Committee were supportive of the proposals and pleased that they were being phased in to give schools time to adjust. The Committee had recommended that indicative figures for individual schools should be published within a month of the Cabinet decision and that when the review of the new formula was undertaken, that the Scrutiny Committee have an opportunity to scrutinise the outcome of that review.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Education and Property confirmed that he would be happy to bring the revised formula back to Scrutiny. He also confirmed the fact that small streams continued to be funded was a recognition of the situation as it was but that the Cabinet remained committed to transformation.

                       

RESOLVED

 

1.     the proposed amendments to the current formula for primary schools with specialist centres be implemented in full from 1 April 2022;

 

2.     the initial Per Pupil Allocation is calculated using the cost elements set out in Appendix A of the Consultation document;

 

3.     Component 3 includes a top up for small schools, scaled by bands of pupil numbers, for schools with fewer than 91 pupils;

 

4.     Component 3 includes a class size top up for schools with between 61 and 149 pupils (inclusive) as calculated in 3.9 above;

 

5.     Component 3 includes a junior school top up as set out in 3.10 – 3.11 above;

 

6.     Component 3 includes a dual stream top up which includes a small stream top up and a dual stream class size top up as set out in 3.12 above.

 

7.     Component 3 includes a bilingual top up for Welsh medium or dual stream schools, as set out in 3.13 above;

 

8.     Component 3 includes a surplus internal area top up as set out in 3.14 above;

 

9.     Component 3 includes a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Delegated Decisions Taken Since the Last Meeting pdf icon PDF 141 KB

To note the delegated decisions taken since the last meeting.

Minutes:

Cabinet noted the delegated decisions taken by Portfolio Holders.

8.

Forward Work Programme pdf icon PDF 407 KB

To consider the Cabinet forward work programme.

Minutes:

Cabinet noted the forward work programme.

9.

Exempt Items

The Monitoring Officer has determined that category  3 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules applies to the following items. His view on the public interest test (having taken account of the provisions of Rule 14.8 of the Council's Access to Information Rules) was that to make this information public would disclose information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

 

These factors in his view outweigh the public interest in disclosing this information. Members are asked to consider these factors when determining the public interest test, which they must decide when considering excluding the public from this part of the meeting.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED to exclude the public for the following item of business on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information under category 3 of The Local Authorities (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007).

 

10.

Welsh Government Regional Economic Framework for Mid Wales

To consider a report by County Councillor County Councillor Iain Macintosh,  Portfolio Holder for Housing, Planning, Economic Regeneration, Climate Change & Internet Connectivity. 

Minutes:

Cabinet considered a report on Welsh Government’s draft Regional Economic Framework for Mid Wales.

 

                        RESOLVED to approve the recommendations in the report.