Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor Iwan Huws; Sharon Roberts (Arfon Parent/Governor Representative) and Gwilym Jones (NASUWT).

To receive any declarations of personal interest.

No declarations of personal interest were received.

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 on17th October, 2024 be signed as a true record.

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 17 October 2024 as a true record.

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.

To submit a report on the above.

1.     To accept the report, noting the observations, particularly the comment in respect of being aware of the specific needs of some groups of children when planning the provision.

2.     To note the importance of the travel provision to the college for young people in Dwyfor and Meirionnydd.

3.     To request that the Cabinet Member for Education contacts the Welsh Government in the context of introducing a free travel pass for young people 16-21 years old to reduce the pressure on the Council to provide free transport, and to facilitate travel to work, to college or sixth form.

Submitted - the report of the Cabinet Member for Education:

·         to explain the background and rationale for the historic overspending in education transport;

·         to report on progress and the actions that have been taken in response to the situation; as well as

·         to present options being considered in terms of future education transport arrangements to try to rationalise and reduce costs where practicable.

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

It was noted that it was recognised that there was a shortage of taxis in the Meirionnydd area in particular and that this was bound to be generating high costs for the Council.  It was asked what was intended to be done in terms of that.  In response, it was noted:

·         That there was a shortage of transport providers in many areas which could lead to higher prices for provision as the driver or taxi had to travel from a greater distance to do the work.

·         That the report referred to a number of practical steps that could be taken in relation to the situation and that the Department was looking at all possible options going forward.

With reference to the programme of work in paragraph 4.1.1 of the report which refers to revisiting the transport arrangements of Additional Learning Needs learners, the Department was asked not to put these children and young people in a box and to acknowledge that they had different disabilities, and not just physical disabilities.  It was noted that children and young people with neurodiverse conditions needed to be considered, and to seek legal advice before formulating any criteria or plan for ALN learners.  In response, it was noted:

·         That the reference in the report to revisiting ALN learner transport arrangements was more to do with revisiting the timetable rather than the provision, so that provision could be tendered earlier for these children and young people in order to get the best price.

·         That in terms of the wider comment on ALN transport, the needs of all children had to be considered of course and it was not thought that that would change in any arrangements that were made, but possibly that we were looking at a different and slightly more cost effective way of providing transport in the future.

·         That a number of recent conversations had been held with Ysgol Hafod Lon in terms of identifying the needs of different children and identifying which children would be able to travel together, which children would not be suitable to do so and which children needed chaperones, etc.

It was noted that, looking at the plan, it had to be recognised that any minor change such as a taxi change could be harmful to ALN learners.  In response, it was noted that this was going to have to be addressed going forward to ensure that the needs of the learners on the journey were met which is why, when going out to tender, we  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To adopt an amended work programme for 2024/25.

To adopt the amended work programme for 2024/25.

Submitted – the report of the Scrutiny Advisor inviting the committee to adopt a revised work programme for 2024/25 following a request from the Education Department to slip the 'Immersion Education System' item, scheduled for discussion at this meeting, to the 13 February 2025 meeting due to the evaluation of the system being carried out during this school term.  It was noted that a draft report of the findings and any recommendations were anticipated to be available in the New Year.  It was also noted that following consulting with the Chair, it was agreed to the request to slip the item to ensure that the item was scrutinised in a timely manner to enable scrutiny to add value.

Members were given an opportunity to ask questions and offer observations. ⁠ 

It was suggested that this Council was becoming more of an Arfon Council than Cyngor Gwynedd and a request was made for information on what the Council was doing to develop the economy of Dwyfor and Meirionnydd in particular.  In response, it was noted that the item 'Gwynedd Economy Plan' was on the agenda of the 13 February 2025 meeting and that this could be one of the specific questions to ask the Department in advance.

The Chair noted that some members had already commented that no items on the economy had been included on the agenda for this meeting and he suggested that the item 'Gwynedd Economy Plan' appeared early on the agenda of the next meeting so that the subject could be duly addressed.

RESOLVED to adopt the amended work programme for 2024/25.