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
Minutes:
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.
Supporting documents: