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Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Virtual Meeting - Zoom

Contact: Eirian Roberts  01286 679018

Items
No. Item

1.

APOLOGIES

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Colette Owen (The Catholic Church) and Karen Vaughan Jones (Parent / Governor Representative Dwyfor).

 

2.

DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL INTEREST

To receive any declarations of personal interest.

Minutes:

Councillor Selwyn Griffiths declared a personal interest in item 5 - Unemployment Levels and Support back to Employment - as his son was the author of the report to the committee. He was of the opinion that it was not a prejudicial interest, and he did not withdraw from the meeting during the discussion on the item.

 

Councillor Dewi Roberts declared a personal interest in Item 6 - School Dinners - as a member of his family was a Governor at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle. He was of the opinion that it was not a prejudicial interest, and he did not withdraw from the meeting during the discussion on the item.

 

3.

URGENT BUSINESS

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

Minutes:

None to note.

4.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 438 KB

The Chair shall propose that the minutes of the previous meeting of this Committee held on 21st October, 2021 be signed as a true record.

Minutes:

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee that was held on 21 October, 2021 as a true record.

 

5.

UNEMPLOYMENT LEVELS AND SUPPORT BACK TO EMPLOYMENT pdf icon PDF 268 KB

Cabinet Member – Councillor Gareth Thomas

 

To consider a report on the above.

Decision:

To accept the report, noting the observations made during the meeting.

 

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member and officers from the Economy and Community Department were welcomed to the meeting.

 

The report of the Cabinet Member for Economy and Community was submitted, at the request of the scrutiny committee, outlining the changes in unemployment and what support the Council offered to the people of Gwynedd.

 

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

 

Individual members submitted the following observations:-

 

·         Concern was expressed that so many of the county's young people left every year, there was also concern that the statistics presented to the committee could not be relied upon as there was so much outward migration. The Welsh Government had a target to get a million Welsh-speakers by 2050, and if these plans were dependent on a grant from the Government, there was an opportunity here to resolve past outward migration, particularly due to the county's demography and the importance of the Welsh language in the county, by informing the Government what could be done to strengthen the Welsh-speaking areas and to try and prevent outward migration.   

·         The importance of looking at future employment needs was emphasised to ensure that those young people currently going through the education system possessed the required skills for the jobs that would be available at the end of their time in education.  Concern was expressed that young people in rural areas such as Pen Llŷn had to travel far to attend college courses. It was also noted that there were people with different expertise who may be in a position to provide training to local people to assist them to get work, and it was suggested that these people should be targeted. 

·         It was noted that the jobs/housing situation in the county was a vicious circle.   Jobs were needed, however, to attract good employers, housing was needed.  There was a lack of housing, however, houses could not be built in the hope of attracting employers. It was noted that Brighter Foods in Tywyn were anxious to expand significantly as a result of receiving an investment of £42m, however, they were having difficulty to attract staff due to the lack of housing in the area.   It was added that south Meirionnydd had seriously suffered since the demise of the Development Board for Rural Wales some years ago. Reference was also made to a farm shop, that was eager to expand and relocate to an empty unit on Tywyn High Street, but could not get planning approval for this, it was suggested that the Council should relax the planning restrictions and encourage more house building in the area.

·         Concern was expressed that recruitment campaigns in several sectors, such as care, hospitality, school assistants and the Health Board's vaccination programme, were all fishing in the same pool, and success in one sector may be at the expense of the rest.

·         It was noted that there was an opportunity here for a career pathway for people who came to work for the Council, particularly in the care sector,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

SCHOOL DINNERS pdf icon PDF 262 KB

Cabinet Member – Councillor Cemlyn Williams

 

To consider a report on the above.

 

Additional documents:

Decision:

To accept the report, and ask the Education Department for regular updates as the new plans move forward.

 

Minutes:

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

 

The Cabinet Member's report was presented providing information on schools' arrangements to seek to ensure that no child faced a day without a dinner at school, as well as the situation with school dinner debts and the processes that were underway in order to respond to that situation.

 

Prior to commencing the discussion, the Cabinet Member referred to the recent letter sent from Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle to parents regarding school dinner payments, noting that he wished to give assurance to members that the Council had not refused a school dinner to any child in the county, whatever their circumstances.  He further noted that the Chair of the School's Governors had asked the Department to re-visit their processes, and he confirmed that the Department would respond to this.

 

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

 

Individual members submitted the following observations:-

 

·         Enthusiastic support was expressed to the Government's intention to extend free school meals to all primary pupils. It was noted that this had several advantages, e.g. children would learn better in the afternoon following a healthy lunch, it would tackle obesity, it did not discriminate between those who got free school meals and those who paid as well as removing the problem of families who were eligible for free school meals, but did not claim them for different reasons.

·         Referring to the situation that had arisen at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle, disappointment was expressed that this had not been reported to the previous Full Council.   There was wide and general concern amongst councillors regarding what had occurred, and each one should have had an opportunity to ask questions. It was further noted that the report referred to a 'lack of clarity', however, it did not explain what this 'lack of clarity' was and did not offer an apology for what had happened. Claims had been made by the head in charge that the Authority had used him as a scapegoat, and the report did not address the serious questions that needed answers.

·         Concern was expressed regarding any proposal to externalise the service and create regional kitchens and closing school kitchens would lead to unemployment.

·         The importance of providing nutritious, quality meals to schoolchildren was emphasised and it was suggested that there was an opportunity here to use, e.g. vegetables grown on school land / in the community, in school meals.

·         It was noted, although it was obvious that what had occurred at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle had caused pain and embarrassment to the Authority, the Authority had responded to the situation quickly and appropriately, to correct any misapprehension. They had to be sensitive to poverty in responding to the situation, and it also had to be accepted that a small minority would take advantage of any weak systems in terms of collection of school dinner money.  The most important principle was that it was not the child's fault if parents did not pay,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

EDUCATION ANNUAL REPORTS

Decision:

To accept the reports, noting the observations made during the meeting.

 

7a

EDUCATION ANNUAL REPORT 2020-21 AND THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT'S PRIORITIES pdf icon PDF 373 KB

Cabinet Member – Councillor Cemlyn Williams

 

To consider a report on the above.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Education Department’s Annual Report for 2020-21 was presented. 

 

Before commencing the discussion, the Cabinet Member thanked the schools, headteachers, staff and teachers for maintaining, not only the educational provision, but also provisions such as catering and cleaning during an extremely challenging year. He added that it was also important to recognise the appreciation of the schools and headteachers of the support given by the Education Department during this period, and he was of the view that the relationship between the Department and schools had strengthened during the pandemic.

 

These comments were supported by the Head of Education and he noted that he also wished to pay a tribute to the Department's officers who supported all the work, and also to the Environment Department's staff for the invaluable advice and support given by health and safety officers and the prompt and effective joint working to keep things going.    He noted that the disruption to the education and welfare of children had been kept as low as possible because of the resilience and perseverance of a great number of Gwynedd residents, and the elected members could be proud of our schools and their role as governors supporting schools across the county.

 

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

 

Individual members submitted the following observations:-

 

·         The Department was thanked for providing a summary report, that clearly conveyed the messages.

·         Referring to paragraph 3.8 of the pre-report, the fact that the word 'bilingual' had disappeared from the narrative was welcomed, as the emphasis should be on learning through the medium of Welsh, and the hope was expressed that this could be built upon over the years in our schools.

 

In response to the observations and questions from members, it was noted: 

 

·         Regarding the current situation in schools, data changed daily, however, it now appeared that the situation had reached a peak in some circumstances, with many staff and children returning to schools. The situation had been incredibly difficult with up to 30% of the staff and children away from school in some classes. In those cases, there had been a move to virtual education and Department officers, together with health and safety officers, had to make very swift and far-reaching decisions at times. The situation by now had stabilised in some pockets, and the Department did everything within its ability to keep the schools open and as safe as possible. It was also noted that headteachers who were off school due to Covid had continued to run those schools from home.

·         The Government had asked the Additional Learning Needs Service to provide a figure of the additional expenditure seen in the field thus far, and where additional expenditure was expected to be in the future. 

·         That some of the discussions regarding post-16 education had not been held as regularly as desired recently due to the pressure on schools to deal with keeping open, however, it was proposed to re-commence the discussion fully in January to move forward as soon  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7a

7b

GWE ANNUAL REPORT 2020-21 pdf icon PDF 496 KB

To consider a report on the above.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Officers from GwE were welcomed to the meeting.

 

The GwE Annual Report for 2020-21 was presented. 

 

In presenting the report, the GwE Assistant Director (Standards) noted that he wished to acknowledge the outstanding work undertaken during a very challenging time in schools.     

 

Then the Core Leaders gave details of developments for the new curriculum that would commence in primary schools in 2022.

 

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

 

Individual members submitted the following observations:-

 

·         It was welcomed that the title 'Challenge Officers' had disappeared and the key words now were 'support', 'development', 'improvement' and 'assistance', etc.

·         Concern was expressed that children, e.g. Year 10, who received formal weekly tests, did not know if the results of those assessments would contribute to their final grades or otherwise.

 

In response to the observations and questions from members, it was noted: 

 

·         Although performance data would not be available from now on, the practice of going into classrooms, book scrutiny and talking with teachers and children was of benefit to the Service to ensure that they had a very good knowledge of the schools. It was not believed that focusing on a narrow set of performance indicators at the end of a key stage gave a full picture of the school, and in moving forward without this data, it was important to get the full holistic picture of a school around the 4 purposes of the new curriculum. The Service also looked at children's welfare, how learners developed towards the 4 purposes, and by forming a baseline, the Service would prepare a report for every school in Gwynedd, together with a regional report with a local flavour as an appendix, summarising where the schools were, and what the standards were. Obviously, it was necessary to be sensitive to the current situation in schools, and the Service worked very closely with Authority officers, who had a picture of the situation of schools in terms of attendance, inclusion, ALN, etc., to get the fuller picture. There was consistency across the region in terms of the method of operation and identifying schools, and it was necessary to identify any slippages early on and to respond and give support to the schools. By taking co-ownership for the outcomes and working with the schools to put a support plan in place, full support could be secured to ensure the required improvement. It was further noted that Gwynedd had taken a lead role and had implemented this very early. As for every regional plan, a local flavour was required and some minor changes had been made to the plan in Gwynedd in cooperation with the Schools Improvement Service.

·         A teacher leaving, who had been responsible for developing an element of the new curriculum locally, should not be a problem as the local curriculum had been prepared by the whole school.   

·         The intention of the Inspectorate in Wales was to re-commence school inspections in the Spring term. Regular discussions took place with Estyn, and the Service  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7b

8.

REVISED SCRUTINY WORK PROGRAMME 2021-22 pdf icon PDF 312 KB

To submit a revised scrutiny work programme for 2021/22.

 

Decision:

To approve the amended work programme.

 

Minutes:

The revised scrutiny work programme for 2021-22 was presented.

 

Reference was made to this committee's decision at its previous meeting to refer the item regarding Ysgol Abersoch back to the Cabinet to re-consider. It was noted that they had not managed to convince the Cabinet to change its mind on the matter, as it had confirmed its own decision. It was emphasised that this was not fair on the county's residents, and matters referred from the Cabinet for scrutiny should be forwarded to the full Council, rather than refer them back to the Cabinet, for a final decision.

 

Referring to the item 'Support for teachers with online abuse', the Head of Education noted that Estyn had published a report this week based on thematic work they had, and our recommendations would be incorporated with Estyn recommendations to ensure that the Authority led on this, and that we did our best to remove this problem from our schools. In response to a question, it was explained that the main focus of the report to committee would be the suggestive element of sexual abuse on social media, however, it was a matter for the committee to determine if they wished this item to be broader. 

 

RESOLVED to approve the amended work programme.