To receive and consider the report of the Cabinet Member for a Learning Powys.
Minutes:
· Report of the Cabinet Member for a Learning Powys – Llanbedr Church in Wales School
Issues Discussed:
· The Cabinet Member advised the Committee that:
· This is similar in nature to the previous report, but different in reasoning.
· Throughout the process there has been emphasis on the benefits of catchment reviews. Although this came forward as a single proposal, in the past six months there have been a number of changes in the catchment with changes in staffing at schools within the catchment. This has opened up the possibility of a wider transformation within the area.
· This area will be a priority as other changes need to be put in place, therefore a review of the whole catchment will be undertaken including the Llanbedr site, so that wider options can be considered before Llanbedr formally closes. This will be a priority for the transformation team and is part of the wider commitment to gain a better understanding of provision, needs and the best way to deliver that in a complex catchment in view of its proximity to catchments of schools in other authorities.
· Questions:
Question |
Response |
This closure was not referred to Welsh Ministers within 28 days which was required if this was to go ahead. Have we missed the boat on this.
Perhaps the Council should not have taken the referral into account as we have now lost time. The report should have been clearer about the reason the school had to stay open for longer. |
Cabinet Member Response: There was an option for the Church in Wales to make an objection to the Minister, but this did not happen as expected. Therefore, processes were not moved forward and the earliest that the school could close in term of staffing would be the end of the Christmas term.
Officer Response: This is a Church in Wales voluntary aided school and as such the Governing Body and the Diocese can make a referral to Welsh Government after the final decision by Cabinet. The Diocese did notify the Council that it was going to make a referral but no referral was made and the council advised of this by Welsh Government after the 28 day deadline. |
Unclear of the costs of keeping the school open. There is a more significant cost to keeping the school open for twelve months. |
Cabinet Member Response: In respect of staffing costs, as a result of the delay redundancy notices have not sent out to staff. That delays things by a term so we are already incurring much of the cost savings that were being made.
Officer Response: Because of the timing of the decision after school budgets were issued, the whole of the funding for the 2022-23 financial year has been delegated to the schools. Once the decision was made a budget for five months was re-issued which is the £59k set out in paragraph 4.3. The additional revenue cost would be the £39.5k for the rest of the academic year. In terms of major improvements the total cost of £111.8k some of which may not need to be used in one year. It is likely that about £98k will need to be spent in the one year.
In terms of staffing, teachers would need to be in post until Christmas due to their terms and conditions by comparison to Teaching Assistants |
The costs are higher than for the other school. How much could be saved if this delay was for one term rather than a full year.
If this does continue for the twelve months, what are the potential outcomes.
With other catchment reviews also being proposed, is there capacity in the transformation team to undertake this catchment review in a short timescale. |
Officer Response: In terms of staffing issues the redundancy process has not started. Whilst the process has not started there are opportunities for staff also to be redeployed within the Authority if the decision to close goes ahead. In terms of Estyn we did have in October / November 2021 the endorsement from Estyn that in respect of the recommendations the Council is making strong progress. Estyn still visit the Council on a regular basis and still look at the programme for transformation.
Cabinet Member Response: Headship arrangements in other schools in the catchment are fluid currently so this was an area that officers were already looking at, this report just opens up the scope and provides the opportunity to look at other opportunities. |
The Council is considering catchment reviews for two of the schools being closed but not the third. Why is the Brecon catchment not being reviewed. |
Cabinet Member Response: The Committee and Cabinet are only looking at two school proposals, and it would not be appropriate to comment in relation to Cradoc. |
Why are you not expanding reviews into all catchment areas. |
Cabinet Member Response: The vision for education in Powys is to look at single schools on multiple sites and phase one of the Cradoc / Mount Street proposal is consistent with that vision.
The Cabinet be seeking to reassure Estyn that these are specific reviews and will not affect the programme overall.
The Cabinet Member for Finance advised that with regard to the delegated budget the impact for the two proposals is £200k. £120k of that is coming from the contingency fund. Schools have already set their budgets so any funding remaining in the contingency fund would be additional funding, so the impact on delegated budgets would only be around £80k.
Officer Response: With regard to maintenance costs taking both proposals into account there is a potential impact of £137.8k. However, £110k may not materialise so potentially the cost is only £27.8k. |
Outcomes:
Scrutiny made the following observations:
1. The Committee received clarification that: · senior staffing changes in the area had provided an opportunity for a wider area review to be undertaken and therefore it was appropriate for this review (which would include Llanbedr school) to be undertaken before the decision on the school was implemented. This was already planned in Wave 2 of the transformation programme. · there had been a delay in issuing the closure notice for the school to close on 31st August 2022, as the Council was of the understanding that the Church in Wales Diocese proposed to make an objection to the Minister, which in the event did not happen. · in relation to staffing costs, redundancy notices had not been issued to staff. · in relation to the budget the delay in closure of the school would require reinstating the full year budget of £59k (which can be funded from the delegated schools contingency budget) and a further budget of £39.5k for 2023-24 (to August 2023 which will need to be funded from the overall schools delegated budget). · major improvements at the school had been identified at £111k but only £98k was likely to be required for one year. · in relation to the maintenance costs, this had been estimated at £137k. However, £110k may not be required so the likely cost was £27k. · in response to the Committee’s concerns about possible Estyn comment regarding delays in the transformation programme, the Director of Education indicated that Estyn had endorsed that the Council was making strong progress in implementing changes, and were monitoring progress which included the transformation programme. The Cabinet Member for a Learning Powys advised that he would be reassuring Estyn that the Council was reviewing these two schools only and not delaying the overall transformation programme. · there had been no applications from existing pupils to move schools. · it was projected that pupil numbers in the catchment area as a whole would be reducing which included a potential impact on the High School following the building of a new High School in Abergavenny by Monmouthshire Council. |
2. The Committee expressed concern regarding: · the significant costs of keeping the school open for a year with no additional educational outcomes. · that use of the delegated school contingency fund is top sliced off all school delegated budgets and therefore unavailable to other schools in the county if spent in full. · the capacity of the transformation team to undertake a catchment review in such a short timescale. · the impact of the delay on the welfare of pupils, staff and parents by the delay. · the need for effective communications of timescales for the review to stakeholders. · the potential for further Estyn criticism of the Council for delaying the transformation programme, which had been the case previously which led to a period of Estyn monitoring of the Council’s Education Service. |
3. The Committee commented that the only apparent advantage to keep the school open would be for the catchment review to be completed which would remove the risk of pupils moving to a school which might subsequently be earmarked for closure. |
Scrutiny’sRecommendation to Cabinet:
1 That the Cabinet considers the Committee’s observations as set out above.
Supporting documents: