Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor Alwyn Gruffydd and Anest Gray Frazer (Church in Wales).

To receive any declarations of personal interest.

The following members declared a personal interest in item 5 on the agenda for the reasons noted:-

·         Councillor Selwyn Griffiths as his daughter-in-law led the TRAC Department.

·         Karen Vaughan Jones as she was the parent of a child attending Ysgol Edern.

The members were not of the opinion that they were prejudicial interests, and they did not withdraw from the meeting during the discussion on the item.

The following members declared a personal interest in item 6 on the agenda for the reasons noted:-

·         Councillor Dewi Roberts as his daughter worked for Grŵp Llandrillo Menai.

·         Karen Vaughan Jones as she worked for Grŵp Llandrillo Menai.

The members were not of the opinion that they were prejudicial interests, and they did not withdraw from the meeting during the discussion on the item.

To note any items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chair for consideration.

None to note.

The Chair shall propose that the minutes of the previous meeting of this Committee held on 5th November, 2020 be signed as a true record  (attached).

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 5 November 2020 as a true record.

To accept the report and to note the observations submitted during the meeting.

The Cabinet Member for Education and officers from the Education Department and GwE were welcomed to the meeting.

RESOLVED to accept the report, noting the observations made during the meeting.

Cabinet Member – Councillor Cemlyn Williams

To consider a report on the above  (attached).

Submitted - the report of the Cabinet Member for Education:-

·         Detailing the performance for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 academic years;

·         Summarising the Education Department's response to the Covid-19 Pandemic;

·         Outlining the Education Department's Priorities for the 2020-21 academic year.

The Cabinet Member set out the context, thanking the headteachers and staff at the schools for all their hard work and their commitment during the pandemic, which had been made possible with the support of the Education Department, GwE, the governing bodies and the parents.  He added that it was important to note, in the context of well-being, that there had been close collaboration with the Council's Children's Department also, not forgetting the way in which the majority of children and young people had coped with the situation.

The Head of Education Department reiterated these observations noting that the period had been an unprecedented challenge and the Department and the schools had had to respond very differently to ensure the continuation of education for children whilst also ensuring that appropriate attention was afforded to the well-being of learners and staff at the schools.  He further noted:-

·         That the Chief Inspector of Estyn's letter to Gwynedd Council's Chief Executive (sent separately to committee members) highlighted Estyn's positive opinion on the Department's response in supporting schools and referral units during the first lockdown and also from September onwards.  He added that the response of the schools, with the support of the Department and GwE, was evident in the letter, and he thanked everyone from the bottom of his heart for the way they had coped with the changes to continue with children's education and well-being. 

·         That Covid had sought to impose restrictions on education, but that the children and young people and their resilience and enthusiasm towards the continuation of education had proved that education did not recognise any boundaries.

·         This period had also seen the further strengthening of regional collaboration, which had occurred in several fields across the six north Wales authorities, and with GwE also.

·         At all times, they had sought to simplify Welsh Government's guidance for schools to make it appropriate in the context of risk assessments, mitigation measures in light of Covid etc.

·         Also, regular meetings had been held with the unions, locally and regionally, to update them on our plans, and the unions had agreed and supported the work of not only supporting the learners but also the education workforce.

Members were given an opportunity to ask questions and make observations.  During the discussion, the following observations were noted:-

·         The Cabinet Member and the Head of Education Department's gratitude to headteachers, staff and school governors for their heroic response to the enormous challenge they were faced with was reiterated.

·         The fact that so many chromebooks had been distributed to families without access to technology was welcomed.

·         It was noted that it was heartening to see how much work had taken place, and that it was obvious from Estyn's letter and the Head of Education Department's  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5a

To consider a report on the above (attached)

Submitted - the report of the GwE Core Leaders detailing how the regional consortium, in partnership with Local Authorities, had developed and adapted to support schools during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

The members received a detailed slides presentation from GwE officers.  They provided details on:-

·         The content of the main report

·         Their work to support the Welsh language

·         The resources on GwE's Support Centre

·         Learning resources and remote teaching

·         Digital learning

·         Blended learning

·         Accelerated Learning

·         School to School resources library

·         Professional learning opportunities

·         What had happened in terms of the local primary, secondary and specialist sectors

·         The next steps

The Chair thanked everyone for the comprehensive report, which presented a lot of information about GwE's work to support the schools that had had to adapt fully during the last year.

Members were given an opportunity to ask questions and make observations.  During the discussion, the following observations were noted:

·         It was noted that the report had provided a clear picture to members on GwE's recent work of supporting schools, and it was recommended that the report should be forwarded to all Council members.

In response to questions from members, it was noted:-

·         It was accepted that there were supporting and monitoring aspects to GwE's work.  Discussions had been held with the headteachers in terms of their provision, but obviously it had been a greater challenge to evaluate the quality of what had been happening, because of the circumstances.  The work programme for the next two terms would address this, and it was hoped that this could be done jointly with the schools, to assess the quality of the provision and provide them with tailored support.  This had been agreed jointly between the six directors in north Wales in terms of the way forward.

·         It was agreed that the situation was very frustrating for some parents, especially if they were not involved in education. There had been especially outstanding examples of the guidelines provided to parents by schools and GwE had also sought to support this by formulating provision and general guidelines for the schools to use and adapt as they wished.

Cabinet Member – Councillor Cemlyn Williams

To consider a report on the above  (attached).

To accept the report and to note the observations submitted during the meeting

Submitted – the report of the Cabinet Member for Education detailing the informal engagement process with stakeholders on Post-16 Education in Arfon.

The Cabinet Member set out the context explaining that his intention was for the discussion to be opened to the public.  If there had been any allegations made in the past regarding decisions having already been made, he was eager for the Council to go out with a clean slate, and that the meetings should be transparent, open, objective and also possibly innovative.  He welcomed the fact that the discussion had started in Arfon, and he welcomed the ideas that had come to hand.  Some schools had been more involved in the discussion than others, and there was a responsibility to ensure that every school was participating.  He referred specifically to the mature input of the pupils of Ysgol Tryfan and Ysgol Brynrefail at one meeting, which had left quite an impression on him.  He added that historically, provision had been fragmented, and there was an opportunity now to seek consistency across the county, and secure the best provision in the interest of the pupils. 

Members were given an opportunity to ask questions and make observations.  It was noted that there was concern that any changes could weaken the Welsh language, and there was an appetite to improve learning through the medium of Welsh because of the current weaknesses.

In response to questions from members, it was noted:-

·         That the Cabinet's request was for the service to look at the provision in Arfon in the first instance.  It was emphasised that there was a wish to build on the apparent strengths of the post-16 system and that the discussion was currently focused on Arfon schools.  The informal meetings had been very interesting, and the discussions had been mature on many options, ranging from minor changes to the existing system to a sixth form centre for all pupils.  It was emphasised that the Department did not have any specific plans at the moment, and that the responses needed to be analysed before reporting to the Cabinet.  It was added that the evidence demonstrated clearly that standards were not consistent across Arfon schools.  There were inconsistencies within individual schools as well, e.g. a few subjects or fields were not performing as well in some schools, and there was a wish to strengthen this.  Intentionally, at the Cabinet's request, no options had been proposed, as the aim was to see what the public thought were the best options.  Some good proposals had been received, and the Department was processing the responses before going back to Cabinet with a number of ideas that merited further discussions.

·         It was noted that the quality of the education was the main priority that had been highlighted in the sessions, along with the importance of ensuring that this experience would be available to all learners.  Other apparent themes included the Welsh language and Welsh medium and bilingual education provision.  Also, in light of this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Cabinet Member – Councillor Gareth Thomas

To consider a report on the above  (attached).

To accept the report and to note the observations submitted during the meeting.

The Leader of the Council, the Cabinet Member for Economy and Community and the officers were welcomed to the meeting.

Submitted - the report of the Cabinet Member for Economy and Community inviting the committee to scrutinise the steps taken thus far to formulate the draft visitor economy principles and the steps proposed to draw up the Gwynedd Sustainable Visit Economy Plan 2030.

The Cabinet Member set out the context by noting that the visitor economy was an important part of the county's economy, with a large number being employed in the industry directly and indirectly.  However, as Covid struck the industry, it had become apparent that the Council had to revisit its principles in the field.  There had been a significant change in the way we perceived the visitor economy.  Previously, everyone had been viewing the visitor as central to any visitor economy, by now however, the opinion was that the residents of Gwynedd should be central to any principles around the visitor economy, and this had been at the forefront of developing the principles.  If the people of Gwynedd saw the benefit and that the visitor economy was acceptable to them, this then fed through to the visitor's experience.  It was noted that a workshop had been arranged for all Gwynedd councillors on 2 March, 2021 to submit the draft principles, with the intention of submitting them to the Cabinet before the end of March to be adopted in draft form to consult on them with the people of Gwynedd.

The Leader agreed that developing these principles was a significant change of direction for the Council.   We saw last year what 'unsustainable' tourism was, and this was the type of tourism that damaged the environment, and had a bad impact on communities.  Stating that we were setting a new direction was very important.  It was believed that the industry was also seeing the need to reflect our society much better, and the principles formed the basis for the type of support and direction the Council had given the industry.  Meetings with the industry had demonstrated that tourism was an important industry for our people, although there was a perception that it was owned by others.  The pandemic had demonstrated that rural areas such as Gwynedd were by now very nearly fully reliant on tourism, and this was a motivation to continue with the work of seeking to create a much more varied economy.  Although Gwynedd was getting £1.3 billion through the industry, Gwynedd's household income was among the lowest in the country, and there was a need to develop a hospitality industry that provided good careers and good employment.  Examples of this already existed, and there was a need to work to improve the quality of the industry in Wales.

The Leader then referred to a letter of response from the National Park to the Council's decision to urgently research the possibility of charging visitors who visited parts of the park.  He noted that the letter stated that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.