Agenda and draft minutes

Learning and Skills Scrutiny Committee - Thursday, 29th October, 2020 2.00 pm

Venue: By Teams. View directions

Contact: Wyn Richards, Scrutiny Manager and Head of Democratic Services

Media

Items

No.

Item

Apologies

To receive apologies for absence.

Minutes:

An apology for absence was received from H Smith (Interim Senior Manager; Additional Learning Needs and Inclusion)

Declarations of interest

To receive declarations of interest from Members.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest from Members relating to items for consideration on the agenda.

Declarations of Party Whip

To receive disclosures of prohibited party whips which a Member has been given in relation to the meeting in accordance with Section 78(3) of the Local Government Measure 2011.

(NB: Members are reminded that under Section 78 Members having been given a prohibited party whip cannot vote on a matter before the Committee.)

Minutes:

The Committee did not receive any disclosures of prohibited party whips which a Member has been given in relation to the meeting in accordance with Section 78(3) of the Local Government Measure 2011.

The future of Special Educational Needs / Additional Learning Needs in Powys Strategy PDF 417 KB

To scrutinise the report of the Portfolio Holder for Education and make comments / observations to the Cabinet for consideration.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Documents Considered:

· Report of the Portfolio Holder for Education – The Future of Special Educational Needs / Additional Learning Needs in Powys Strategy.

Issues Discussed:

· Consultation exercise undertaken followed by the development of the draft Strategy. ALN / SEN being progressed in conjunction with all the other Transformation projects.

· Questions:

What confidence is there in being able to deliver these changes tied into the wider ALN proposals on a Welsh level	There is confidence. Consultation on a new staffing structure has been completed. Estyn identified that the core corporate team was not large enough. The new structure will provide new posts, so once people appointed to posts the Service will have the staff resources it needs. In terms of finance, work is ongoing with the Finance Service to identify funding streams. Additional funding is available in the current year from Welsh Government to continue with work this year and other funding streams being identified to ensure that the Council can deliver what is needed. This is also an invest to save strategy as it is not a "quick fix" e.g. developing a multi agency model for early years and if this is effective then some of the pre-school centres that exist currently may not be required in future.
Will the strategy be made public. Could definitions be included of items such as School Action Plus. Also could the location of schools be identified in the document. Can the document also be proof read. The base map in the document also does not identify Ystradgynlais.	Yes it will be made public once agreed by Cabinet. An appendix with the terminology can be added to the document and an explanation of where the location of schools are.
There are 3545 pupils in SEN / ALN in Powys. Theis number as well as those Looked After by Powys seem to be expanding. What is the total number of pupils in Powys schools currently.	20.1% of pupils are on the SEN register.
Where is Powys in the national percentage of children who are in an SEN category	The Wales average is 22.2% of pupils. However you need to be careful with the figures although this is the published data.
How we compare with the family of authorities. Where does Powys compare by comparison to England.	The figures are quite similar, but they do vary. It also depends on the number of special schools a local authority has as you do not have to have a statement unless you are in a special school e.g. Carmarthenshire has no special schools. The Service does not have the comparative figures for England but they can be obtained and circulated following the meeting.
The 22% does seem to be quite high	These figures do include School Action i.e. any pupil that needs additional help. 22% is the average and Powys is typical in terms of numbers.
Around two thirds are School Action, is this typical across Wales.	Powys is fairly similar. One concern is that ... view the full minutes text for item 4.

School Budgets 2020-21

5.1

Delegated School Budgets 2020-21 PDF 121 KB

To receive and consider the report.

Minutes:

Documents Considered:

· Briefing Paper – Delegated School Budgets 2020/21

Issues Discussed:

· Due to Covid there have been some extensions to schools in setting their budgets. Deficit budgets in schools was also a recommendation from Estyn. Work has been ongoing with schools to assist them in preparing their budgets.

· Primary schools historically has built up surpluses which will reduce this year. Prior to Covid schools were bringing forward proposals to resolve any budget issues. However, due to the Covid pandemic there has been a moratorium on staffing changes so that schools have not been able to make adjustments. Specialist schools are in a break even position. Secondary schools have the greatest deficits. It was hoped that the position with secondary schools would have improved this year but due to the pandemic this has not been possible.

· Questions:

Can some of the school additional costs / loss of income be recovered from Welsh Government	Claims are being submitted to Welsh Government for both Covid and loss of income which are being paid.
What degree of assurance is there that school budgets and the formula is accurate and that the pandemic position is a one off position.	Powys has a formula to make sure that all its schools can survive. However, with the transformation programme and the levels of investment suggested the positive aspects of reorganisation will outweigh any negative aspects.
Are there more numbers staying on for sixth form provision this year which will give greater financial provision from Welsh Government.	Sixth form numbers have increased and this will affect the budget in 2021-22. However this must not be seen as a reason to do nothing in relation to Post 16 transformation. There has been greater collaboration between high schools this year. The position in relation to pupil numbers may also only be due to the pandemic for this year and it may not last. Therefore, there is a need to make sure there is a significant change to the sixth form offer.

Outcomes:

· Noted.

5.2

Exempt Item

To consider passing the following Resolution:

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).

The Monitoring Officer has determined that category 3 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules applies to the following item. 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:

5.3

Draft School Budgets 2020-21

View the reasons why item 5.3 is restricted

To receive and consider the draft School Budgets 2020-21.

Minutes:

The Committee considered the Draft School Budgets for 2020-21.

Outcomes:

· Noted.

Work Programme

Dates for future meetings:

11 November 2020 – 2pm

16 December 2020 – 2pm

Minutes:

The Committee noted that the dates for future meetings were as follows:

11 November 2020 – 2pm

16 December 2020 – 2pm