Issue - meetings

To submit a report on the above.

1.     To accept the report and note the observations.

2.     To ask the Education Department to share with committee members:-

(a)   the rolling data per school;

(b)   regular updates on the development of the Gwynedd Education Strategy.

3.     That the Committee scrutinises the draft Education Strategy when timely.

The Cabinet Member for Education, the Head of Education and the officers were welcomed to the meeting. ⁠

The Cabinet Member noted that:

·         He too wished to echo the thanks to the former Cabinet Member for Education for her service and principled approach to undertaking the role over recent years, emphasising that he too would continue to follow the principled direction of Councillor Beca Brown in carrying out the role.

·         As a former member of this committee, he hoped to form a professional relationship with the committee and wanted the scrutinisers to hold him and the Education Department to account.

·         He wished to take the opportunity, as a new Cabinet Member, to apologise most sincerely for any suffering that took place at Ysgol Friars, Bangor.  He further noted that the Council was fully committed to turning over every stone in order to understand exactly what went wrong at the school, and that we would do our utmost to ensure that this sort of thing never happened again.

·         He would ensure that the Education Department and the Council responded fully and appropriately to any recommendations arising from the investigations currently underway.

·         He called on the Welsh Government to commission a public inquiry to get to the root of what went wrong at Ysgol Friars.

·         The Welsh Government's Draft Budget was published on 11 December and the Gwynedd settlement was inadequate and less than the national average.  As such, the Council faced difficult decisions over the next few years.

Submitted – the report of the Cabinet Member for Education detailing School Revenue Budgets to ensure the committee's input and understanding of the impact of cuts, demography and grants on school revenue budgets.

The Cabinet Member set out the context and then gave members the opportunity to ask questions and offer observations. 

Referring to paragraph 4.2.3 of the report, concern was raised that headteachers in the primary sector were reporting that they did not have the staff to offer specialist provisions and early interventions such as ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistants).  It was noted that children and young people's mental health problems were worsening and that early interventions of this kind were important in supporting pupil attendance and reducing referrals to external agencies such as CAMHS, which had long waiting lists.  It was asked whether it was possible to look at alternative funding sources for this important work.  In response, it was noted:

·         That the point was a very valid one and that the work and the impact of the early intervention and child support work within the primary sector, and the secondary sector, was appreciated.

·         That the work was taking place in schools, but that financial austerity meant that the opportunities and ability to offer sessions were decreasing.

·         That the schools were looking at every possible avenue to be able to run these sessions, whether through group work, for example, rather than one-to-one work.

·         That any additional grants available were allocated entirely to the schools to do the work, but as budgets shrank,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5