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Contact: Wyn Richards, Scrutiny Manager and Head of Democratic Services
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Apologies To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from County Councillors T Van-Rees, J Berriman, B Davies, G Thomas (other Council business) and from County Councillor P Davies (Portfolio Holder for Education and Property) |
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Disclosures of interest To receive any disclosures of interest by Members relating to items to be considered at the meeting. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest from Members relating to items for consideration on the agenda. |
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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. |
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To receive and consider the report of the Portfolio Holders for Education and Property and Finance. Minutes:
Documents Considered: · Report of the Portfolio Holders for Education and Property and Finance and Transport
Issues Discussed: · This is a point in an evolutionary development. Work was undertaken back in 2018 to review the formula and deliver a more transparent mechanism of funding schools and provide stability. With changes happening around the service it was an opportune time to review the formula. Consideration was given to whether to look at the formula for primary, secondary and special schools. The PRU (Pupil Referral Unit) and other special units do not have delegated budgets. The special schools are to be rebuilt so it was considered an inappropriate time to review their delegated budgets. These will be considered in future once the schools are in their new buildings. · This proposal has been scrutinised by officers, a formula review group (comprising a representative group of headteachers from samples of different types of schools), and a partnership between the finance and schools teams. · Changes were made to the secondary budgets by the Cabinet from 2020 following the Estyn inspection in 2019 which brought some stability to secondary schools. Although the secondary schools formula will need to be reviewed again, the priority became the formula for primary schools for a number of reasons. · Firstly, one of the elements built into the funding formula was based around being able to run classes of 30 or less learners. Therefore, if a school of 59 learners became a school of 61 learners the formula would provide an uplift to employ a new teacher for two additional learners. The question was in terms of how many steps you could have as step changes could have a significant funding impact based on small changes in learners. · There are different funding models around the world which vary depending on what the school estate will look like. Each one has uniqueness built into it, however, the most common method of formula allocation (based on OECD research) (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) is based on the number of pupils, which is being used in the proposal. Then you have pupils who might need additional support such as ALN or bespoke needs of learners. The third factor recognised by the OECD is unique factors linked to the school which would be significant for Powys. The Council has a range of schools varying between those with less than 30 learners to those with over 300 learners and therefore the formula cannot be solely driven by pupil numbers. · The fourth element recognised by the OECD is that there are local, ... view the full minutes text for item 4. |