Agenda item

To submit the report of the Council Leader.

To adopt the Cyngor Gwynedd Plan 2023-28 – 2023-24 Review.

The Leader, Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn, submitted the report, inviting the Council to approve the review of the Council Plan 2024/25. It was noted that a year had passed since the Cyngor Gwynedd Plan 2023-2028 had been adopted, noting that this was a soft review but that important changes had been made to the Plan.

Attention was drawn to some matters such as Priority Area: Tomorrow’s Gwynedd, noting that the Free School Meals project had now been introduced to all Cyngor Gwynedd Schools, ahead of the Government's schedule. It was added that the Education Strategy was now outdated, therefore a new Strategy would be drawn up to ensure that the best Education was offered to the children of the County. It was noted that a current and robust Strategy was needed to attempt to attract grant money to invest in School buildings. The inclusion provision would also be reviewed to look at the increase in emotional behavioural needs among children, which was a side-effect of the pandemic.

It was noted under Priority Area: A Welsh ⁠Gwynedd, that a review of the Education Language Policy would be carried out, as well as an appraisal of the immersion system. It was expressed that this confirmed the Authority's desire to address both fields and they would be involved in the Council Plan for the year to come. It was shared that Meirion Prys Jones, one of the most experienced linguistic planners in Wales, was being commissioned to lead on the work of revisiting the Gwynedd Education Language Policy. ⁠Everyone was encouraged to participate in this important conversation when the engagement period commenced. It was added that other minor changes had been included in the report and pride was expressed in the ability to propose to the Council to adopt these changes.

Members were given an opportunity to make observations and ask questions. The following matters were raised by individual members:-

Reassurances were sought that Ysgol Tywyn would not fall off the waiting list for improvements, noting that the report referred to modernising buildings and learning environments specifically in the Bangor and Cricieth areas. It was noted that Ysgol Tywyn was one of the oldest schools in the county and that refurbishment works were needed. Concern was expressed that Tywyn was being neglected geographically.

·        In response, the Leader noted that the Dysynni area was not being neglected and that the representatives in the ward were doing a good job in drawing the Council's attention to the area's issues. It was reported that the Education Department were pleased to hear the comments.

·        The Chief Executive added that the report was referring to School buildings and not School maintenance, but he hoped that there would be a new phase in the programme, should the financial situation allow for that. 

It was expressed that this Plan and the Well-being Act were based on the United Nations' sustainable development goals ⁠ ⁠and that this is the subject and root of all the conflict in Europe and in Wales between the farmers and the Authorities. It was also noted that there had been conflict between trying to realise net zero and poverty due to the costs associated with net zero. The member expressed that he could not vote in favour of the Plan because of this.

It was noted that the report referred to A Green Gwynedd, which included public transport. It was reported that the people in the County wanted convenient, reliable and reasonably priced transport, which reiterated why having a night bus service was essential to rural areas. The Council was asked to revisit the bus situation in the Llŷn area urgently, particularly due to mental health problems due to loneliness.  

Reference was made to a part of the report which referred to improving the County's existing walking and cycling paths and pride was expressed for this since the member had been asking for a cycle path from Llanbedrog to Pwllheli for years.  It was believed that now was the time to act.

·        In response to a comment, the Leader noted that internal discussions had been held recently on the difficulties in obtaining sufficient money from Welsh Government for rural areas. It was reported that the issue had been raised at the Rural Forum very recently and that the message was being forwarded to the Welsh Government.

·        It was added that the entire plan was subject to receiving sufficient money and it was believed that the Welsh Government provided grants on its own terms, which made it difficult for the Council to be able to plan in the long-term. ⁠Sympathy was expressed along with reassurances that he would continue to press for the situation to be improved.

It was noted that according to the Census, the population of Gwynedd had reduced by 5,400. It was asked whether this had been included in the report.

·        In response, the Leader noted that he was unsure whether this matter had been included in the Plan.  It was agreed that it was a matter of concern as fewer people living in the County had an impact on funding and services from many directions. Reference was made to the numbers in small rural Schools, which were disastrous, and had seen a marked reduction over the past years.  The Leader reported that he had asked for birth figures for Gwynedd, but that it was difficult to obtain the actual figure. He believed that it was essential to try and increase the population in Gwynedd.

Members expressed pride since the review of the Gwynedd Education Language Policy and an appraisal of the immersion system were included in the report. Enquiries were made on the time-scale for this. Also, enquiries were made as to whether a formal consultation would be held on the review of the Schools Language Policy or whether it would be discussed with prominent stake-holders only.

·        It was noted that the work of reviewing the Gwynedd Education Language Policy had already commenced and that the Department hoped to be in a position to complete the work by the Autumn term. It was noted that this was subject to how many would participate in the discussion and how much input would be given, but the Autumn term was the aim.

·        It was believed that work on the immersion system would also be completed in October/November and would commence very soon.

·        It was explained that engagement was the intention and that the steps to hold the conversations and obtain information were currently being planned. It was noted that the intention was for everyone to have an opportunity to have their say in various ways. It was added that the engagement would be as extensive as they would wish for it to be, subject to how prepared people would be to participate in it. Anyone with an interest in the field were invited to contribute.

A member expressed pride at the comments to improve Schools, particularly adaptations for children with physical or visual disabilities. There was concern that some of the County's buildings were not good enough to meet needs and that there was a need to consider what buildings needed to be improved and what could be done. It was believed that this was a historical problem which needed to be addressed at all of the County's Schools and that it was essential not to differentiate. The importance of ensuring an opportunity for all children in the County to remain at their chosen school was emphasised.

Reference was made to autism and that Schools needed to adapt to meet the needs of the children by offering quiet places and other relevant adjustments. ⁠It was also believed that there was a need to improve the training of School staff in order to raise awareness since the number of autistic children was increasing. It was asked for more consideration to be given to such needs in Schools.

·        The Leader agreed with the member, noting that he did not wish for any child in the County to be left behind. It was noted that the Plan in question mainly referred to new buildings. It was believed that it would be a good idea to visit the new school in Cricieth so that everyone could see the standard expected within the County's Schools when the School would be completed.

·        The Chief Executive gave thanks for the member's comments. He asked the member or anyone else who was aware of a situation where a child could not gain access to School to bring the example to the attention of the Education Department.

·        Reference was made to Additional Learning Needs grants which had reached the Council in the past two years. It was noted that the money, which currently total £1 million, was being targeted for Schools to meet the needs of children currently at those Schools.

·        The Chief Executive noted that the Council had a team of specialist autism teachers who go out to train School staff. It was noted that a broad range of training was available to School staff. In addition, reference was made to the fact that a Scrutiny investigation was being conducted to the autism field at present and it was hoped that very positive conclusions would emerge from the investigation.