Agenda item

·         To consider the report and provide observations on the contents of the Estyn report on education services in Cyngor Gwynedd

·         To consider any arrangements to scrutinise the Department's arrangements to respond to the report's recommendations in a timely manner. 

DECISION:

• To accept the contents of the Estyn report on education services in Cyngor Gwynedd
• To accept and note the arrangements to scrutinise the Education Department's arrangements to respond to the report's recommendations in a timely manner. 

Submitted – a report by the Head of Education Department which included the Estyn report of Cyngor Gwynedd education services (June 2023) for the Committee's attention. In accordance with the Committee's responsibilities to review and assess the Council's risk management arrangements, internal control, performance management and corporate governance arrangements, they were expected to consider reports by Estyn. He highlighted that Audit Wales had contributed to the conclusion of the inspection and that the report had already been presented to the Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee in November 2023.

The officer referred to the main points that Estyn had highlighted, together with the recommendations that would improve the service. He also referred to the action plan that had been prepared by the Education Department in response to those recommendations (the action plan had not been submitted to Estyn because these were recommendations relating to local matters, not statutory matters).

The members expressed their gratitude for the report.

Observations arising from the ensuing discussion:

·         The report was very positive.

·         Welcomed the fact that there had been a full discussion on the action plan in the Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee with a recommendation to call it back for a further update in nine months' time.

·         The Youth Service had a definite role to play in providing opportunities to young people.

·         Pupils' attendance – the pattern varied from school to school.

·         Welcomed steps to ensure a stronger link between scrutiny and the improvement priorities in the Council Plan.

In response to a question regarding reporting on the progress of the action plan, it was noted that an update on the progress/lack of progress made on the recommendations would be presented to the Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee in September 2024.

In response to a question querying why only some of Estyn's comments had led to a recommendation, it was noted that three matters stood out and had been adopted as part of the Department's priorities this year. He added that the three recommendations were significant while the others were part of everyday work, e.g. responding to schools that were under-performing. ⁠He accepted, as part of the inspection process, that they needed to secure more information behind the less significant comments.

In response to a question regarding a significant decrease in pupils' attendance since Covid-19 and why this decrease was steeper in Gwynedd than in other Authorities in Wales, it was noted that Gwynedd was no longer lower than Wales by now (Gwynedd was the first of the Authorities to be inspected on attendance post-Covid, therefore the timing of the inspection suggested that Gwynedd's performance was lower), but he accepted that attendance was a matter of concern and was a challenge nationally.

In response to a question regarding the 2021 data – funding for special schools, that Gwynedd was within the lowest quartile in Wales and the possible effect that this could have on special schools and education in Gwynedd, it was noted that work was being undertaken to address the matter. The officer added that it was difficult to make national comparisons since it was the nature of the children and the severity of the needs that led to setting a budget for special schools to address those needs. He added that it was difficult to analyse the effect, even though there had been a recent increase in the budget; he stated that the matter would be discussed at the next meeting of the Schools' Budget Forum.

In response to an observation with regard to extending information about Education Projects within the Council Plan and whether it was intended to present more of the work completed under Education projects to the Scrutiny Committee, it was stated that arrangements for submitting more education matters to the Scrutiny Committee had been operational since September 2023

RESOLVED:

·         To accept the contents of the Estyn report on education services in Cyngor Gwynedd

·         To accept and note the arrangements to scrutinise the Education Department's arrangements for responding to the report's recommendations in a timely manner.