Council notes
1 The focus of Estyn on concerns about the performance of the authority in delivering for Powys Secondary Schools in its 2019 report
2 The consultation and briefing sessions that were undertaken prior to Feb 2020 to establish the current schools transformation programme
3 The presentation by the Headteacher from Dolgellau as part of the transformation consultation conference on the benefits of cluster schools in rural areas
4 The major changes to the way schools have worked during the Covid pandemic
5 The recent comments at a Members’ Briefing on Schools Transformation by a Powys Secondary Head of an all-through school reflecting that whilst an all through school was working he wished he could have extended the benefits by including all primary schools in the cluster
6 That the Council is about to embark on developing a new Local Development Plan as the current one has failed to bring forward the number of properties in urban areas that it was expected to
Council Believes
1 Successful transformation programmes are ones that take stock of their direction if there are major societal or business changes which may change the model of proposed service delivery
2 That the Covid pandemic represents such a fundamental change whose impact is only now starting to become clear in the Powys housing market with a resultant demographic impact.
3 That the close working developed within school clusters over the past 24 months means that large parts of the basis for change that underpins the current transformation programme, particularly in relation to delivery of the new curriculum, may have been superseded by changes to ways of working on the ground
4 That the cluster school model as outlined at the transformation conference, which received cross party support as the basis for change, has not been properly tested as a way forward in any of the current transformation proposals, leaving the Council vulnerable to Judicial Review in respect of the Welsh Government’s Rural Schools policy within the Schools Organisation Code
5 That in the absence of this information Cabinet may have made decisions which with additional briefings they would wish to reconsider.
Council therefore requests Cabinet to
1 Implement a 1 year delay to the implementation of all current closure proposals that have been approved by Cabinet over the past 18 months.
2 To request the transformation team to undertake a comprehensive review of the assumptions underpinning the programme in respect of changes made to ways of working within clusters during the Covid Pandemic
3 To request the transformation team to undertake a comprehensive review of the cluster school model that was proposed at the transformation conference, which will assist in the development of secondary and post-19 provision, but which has not been considered in any of the subsequent proposals.
4 That both reports are published before the end of the summer academic term and are made available for discussion by full council and scrutiny before existing decisions are either reconfirmed or abandoned during the autumn term 2022 for implementation at the end of the academic year.
Cost implications
The proposers of the motion believe that whilst the relatively modest savings identified by the closures of several schools will be deferred by one academic year, these savings will be more than offset by the Council foregoing the expenses involved in preparing for and defending either of the proposed Judicial Reviews, even if they are rejected at an early stage in the process
Proposer: Cllr James Gibson-Watt
Seconder: Cllr Jake Berriman
S151 Officer Comments on Resource Requirements
Although you are suggesting delaying the existing closures there is a wider impact on the whole transformation agenda, so all the schemes will slip a year then on. Thus far we have not had a judicial review and incurred no cost, so these legal costs could not be used to offset additional resource needs Set out below are some of the main consequences:
· Temporary staff on fixed term contracts would be asked to leave as not needed – could be a saving but this is potentially negated by redundancy costs that some will be eligible for. We may then struggle to recruit to fill vacancies when the programme gets back on track. · We have a number of staff on permanent contracts who are funded from capital there may not be new activities for them to undertake and possibly more redundancy. Currently we have approval from Welsh Government until 2025/26 to fund staff from capital , and this means we would lose a year of this funding source when we get back on track, and need an alternative budget source as this becomes a cost pressure. · Savings expected from closures would be deferred a year - £400k net of additional outlay say for transport, and includes the £288k in this years FRM that will be approved as part of budget setting · For every year that we defer the Transformation agenda we increase the backlog maintenance by over £4m per annum which is a full cost to the council, this figure is before the rising inflation – these costs are just to keep the buildings safe and at the moment we do not have enough capital to deliver the basic R & M activities – some school may need to close for safety reasons. Any future capital costs will then rise by at least 8.5% making the Band B programme unaffordable within the original plans
Other factors to consider include:
· Welsh Government (WG) and access to Band C funding which follows on from Band B (WG fund 65% of the programme we have to pick up 35%). WG are likely to be disappointed that we are putting the transformation programme on hold and deferring completing Band B schemes – so access to Band C funding will be delayed until we can evidence that we have a true commitment · There may be further Estyn intervention because we have put the transformation strategy on hold and this was a fundamental part of our longer term action plan · Staff retention and morale in schools that are in poor condition and need to close – negative impact and may affect pupil take up etc e.g. a safer more modern school. Pupil attainment / curriculum outcomes becomes more challenging in poor quality buildings · Further disruption and uncertainty for pupils Parents and staff at schools already confirmed for closure and for the receiving schools.
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Minutes:
County Councillors B Baynham and D Price declared an interest in this item.
Council debated the following motion proposed by County Councillor James Gibson-Watt and seconded by County Councillor Jake Berriman:
Council notes
1. The focus of Estyn on concerns about the performance of the authority in delivering for Powys Secondary Schools in its 2019 report
2. The consultation and briefing sessions that were undertaken prior to Feb 2020 to establish the current schools transformation programme
3. The presentation by the Headteacher from Dolgellau as part of the transformation consultation conference on the benefits of cluster schools in rural areas
4. The major changes to the way schools have worked during the Covid pandemic
5. The recent comments at a Members’ Briefing on Schools Transformation by a Powys Secondary Head of an all-through school reflecting that whilst an all through school was working he wished he could have extended the benefits by including all primary schools in the cluster
6. That the Council is about to embark on developing a new Local Development Plan as the current one has failed to bring forward the number of properties in urban areas that it was expected to
Council Believes
1. Successful transformation programmes are ones that take stock of their direction if there are major societal or business changes which may change the model of proposed service delivery
2. That the Covid pandemic represents such a fundamental change whose impact is only now starting to become clear in the Powys housing market with a resultant demographic impact.
3. That the close working developed within school clusters over the past 24 months means that large parts of the basis for change that underpins the current transformation programme, particularly in relation to delivery of the new curriculum, may have been superseded by changes to ways of working on the ground.
4. That the cluster school model as outlined at the transformation conference, which received cross party support as the basis for change, has not been properly tested as a way forward in any of the current transformation proposals, leaving the Council vulnerable to Judicial Review in respect of the Welsh Government’s Rural Schools policy within the Schools Organisation Code.
5. That in the absence of this information Cabinet may have made decisions which with additional briefings they would wish to reconsider.
Council therefore requests Cabinet to
1. Implement a 1 year delay to the implementation of all current closure proposals that have been approved by Cabinet over the past 18 months.
2. To request the transformation team to undertake a comprehensive review of the assumptions underpinning the programme in respect of changes made to ways of working within clusters during the Covid Pandemic.
3. To request the transformation team to undertake a comprehensive review of the cluster school model that was proposed at the transformation conference, which will assist in the development of secondary and post-19 provision, but which has not been considered in any of the subsequent proposals.
4. That both reports are published before the end of the summer academic term and are made available for discussion by full council and scrutiny before existing decisions are either reconfirmed or abandoned during the autumn term 2022 for implementation at the end of the academic year.
The mover of the motion, County Councillor James Gibson-Watt, argued that the cluster school model was the one which should be pursued and that it had been shown to work well during the pandemic. County Councillor Jake Berriman who seconded the motion expressed disappointment that the schools transformation programme concentrated on individual primary schools rather than secondary catchments. He called for a pause to the closure of schools recently served with closure notices.
County Councillor G Ratcliffe left at 16.52.
The Portfolio Holder for Education and Property reminded Council that the Estyn report had noted that strong progress was being made in implementing their previous recommendations and which had endorsed the schools transformation programme. Members asked about the new curriculum and whether or not it could be delivered in small schools. The Director of Education advised that the workload for schools in delivering the new curriculum should not be underestimated. She was concerned that delay to the schools transformation programme would halt the good progress that was being made and which was recognised by Estyn.
The vote on the motion was tied on 24 votes for and against with 1 abstention and was lost on the Chair’s casting vote.