Agenda item

Cabinet Members – Councillors Gareth Thomas and Cemlyn Williams

 

To consider a report on the above  (attached)

 

*12.15pm – 1pm

 

 

*LUNCH BREAK – 1pm – 1.45pm

 

 

The report of the Cabinet Member for Education and the Cabinet Member for the Economy was submitted, inviting the committee to scrutinise the proposals of the Education Department and Schools and the Economy and Community Department to deal with their share of the potential £2m deficit in the 2020/21 budget, along with proposing alternative plans to meet the lack of current savings schemes for the Education Department.

 

The Cabinet Member for Education, both Heads of Services and officers expanded on the content of the report, and also responded to questions / observations from the members.

 

The Savings Proposals by the Economy and Community Department

 

During the discussion, it was noted that, although it was accepted that the savings proposals would have some impact on the residents of Gwynedd, the Department had managed to mitigate the impact as far as possible.

 

The Savings Proposals by the Education Department and Schools

 

During the discussion, considerable concern was expressed by members regarding two specific savings proposals, namely 'Integration - Individual Development Plans (IDP)/Statements' (£112,530) and increasing the pupil / teacher ratio in the allocation formula (£463,900).  Having received some further explanation on what either scheme would mean for the county's schools, it was noted that one scheme would involve less support for pupils with additional learning needs who were not the subject of an IDP / Statement, and the other scheme would lead to a reduction in the number of teachers and / or a reduction in the number of ancillary staff, thus impacting the educational standards.

 

Members further noted:

 

·         That the schools had already had to cut back to the bare bone.

·         That the Council should send a letter to Welsh Government to state their complete dissatisfaction with regard to the insufficiency of the grant, which had led to a financial situation where the Council had had to make substantial savings.

·         That the proposals should be revisited in more detail in order to see what exactly was being recommended.

·         That the schools would not be able to do their work without the funding, and that the changes impacted the morale of teachers and children.

·         That savings should be sought from elsewhere.

 

In response to the observations, the Chief Executive noted:

 

·         This year for the first time, the expenditure per head on education in Gwynedd was the highest amongst all Welsh rural authorities, and even by making these cuts, Gwynedd would still be at the top.

·         That they had managed to protect the entire schools' budget last year.

·         That this Council had been corresponding and meeting with the Government regularly, and that the Government was very aware of the concerns.

·         As a frugal Council, that they needed to plan for the possibility of having to discover the potential £2m deficit in the 2020/21 budget.

·         That every Council department was now under pressure, and that the scrutiny committee's role was to decide, should it be required that the Department submit savings proposals, whether the proposals listed in the report or other proposals would have the least impact on the county's children.

 

The Head of Education Department confirmed that serious consideration had been given to all options.  He could not make recommendations anywhere else, and the proposals submitted were the ones that would have the least impact on children.  He also noted that the reduction in the primary sector's demography and the increase in the secondary sector's demography would have a much greater impact than these proposals.  There was also substantial pressure on the transport budget.

 

The Cabinet Member referred to the schools' balances of over £4m and noted that there was an intention for this committee to look at the surplus / balances of the schools.  The Head of Education Department explained that the Authority had responsibilities in terms of monitoring the balances and expenditure patterns of schools and that primary schools could be directed with balances over £50,000 and secondary schools with balances over £100,000 to spend.  However, the balances of many of the schools were below these thresholds.

 

In response to more observations against the savings proposals of Integration and the Allocation Formula, the Chief Executive noted:

 

·         That every Department had been instructed to find their share to meet the £2m sum should there be a need to find such a sum. It was the Scrutiny Committee's responsibility to consider whether these proposals would have the least impact, or if it would be something else. If the committee had thought that the proposals submitted would have an excessive impact, then its role was to find the proposals within the Education field with less impact.  As the Head of Education had explained, any other proposals would have even more of an impact on the county's children.

·         That the Council needed to set up a balanced budget, and when agreeing to increase the Council Tax in March, there would be an opportunity for members to weigh-up the increase in the Council Tax in order to avoid having to implement some elements of the savings.

 

A member noted that the Council was in this situation due to Welsh Government's unwillingness to provide sufficient funding.  This was preparation work for potential cuts, and the Council could not move forward without carrying out this preparation work.  Refusing these proposals, without proposing any better suggestions, would mean that the committee behaved irresponsibly.  On this basis, he proposed the recommendation at the end of the report, namely:

 

(a)  To approve the departments' proposals to achieve their share of the relevant savings.

(b)  To approve the recommended alternative plan by the Education Authority to replace the two historic schemes that they had, which were impossible to achieve.

 

As the proposal was not seconded, another member proposed that the cuts should not be approved and that the Education Department should be asked to revisit the data in more detail.

 

This proposal was not seconded. 

 

The Chief Executive explained that revisiting the data in order to see what else was possible would mean having to call an extraordinary meeting of the scrutiny committee, however as the Head of Education Department had explained, the other options would have an even greater impact.

 

A member proposed that an extraordinary meeting of the committee be called, and requested that the Education Department bring alternative plans forward. The proposal was seconded.

 

The Head of Education explained that any alternative plan would have to come from the schools in any case. The Chief Executive emphasised again that it was alright to have the discussion, but that the Cabinet Member had submitted the proposals that would have the least impact, and that all other options would be worse, e.g. school closures, abolishing post-16 transport, etc.

 

The proposal to accept the recommendations in the report was seconded with a very heavy heart, whilst accepting that the Department had attempted to seek the options that had the very least impact on the children of Gwynedd.  It was very much hoped that these savings would not have to be made, however it was recognised that a procedure needed to be put in place in case.

 

A vote was taken on the proposal and it fell.

 

It was proposed and seconded that the committee noted the report and the strong observations made, and that this would be taken forward to the Cabinet. The proposal was carried.

 

RESOLVED

(a)       To accept that the proposals of the Economy and Community Department to achieve their share of the relevant savings would have the least impact on the residents of Gwynedd.

(b)       To note the report on the proposals of the Education Department and Schools to achieve their share of the relevant savings, and the strong observations that had been made, and to convey this to the Cabinet.