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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED: That the presentation in respect of the Role and Work of the Regional School Improvement Service be noted.
An apology for absence was received from Councillor Ros Griffiths-Williams.
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Councillor Anne McCaffrey presented a Notice of Motion which had been referred from Council on 3 March 2022 (minute 938 refers) as follows ‘Council calls on the Chief Executive to instigate a root and branch review of Education Services and Schools (including 6th Form Provision) in relation to efficiency, sufficiency and effectiveness of the core funding allocated by this Council, and in relation to affordability, sustainability and resilience of the current quantum and profile of our schools.’ Councillor McCaffrey highlighted the following points: • Since the Notice of Motion was submitted to Council, approximately £1m had been reduced from individual school budgets. • School Budget Forum minutes were shared regularly with the Education and Skills Overview and Scrutiny Committee. • A letter had been shared with Members expressing the lack of resilience within school finances. • Headteachers were planning for budget cuts of up to 10% of their core budgets for 2023/2024. • Conwy County Borough Council (CCBC) primary schools were ranked 5 out of 6 across North Wales in respect of per pupil school delegated funding. - The gap between CCBC and Gwynedd Council primary schools was £161,000. • Loans had been taken out by some CCBC secondary schools. • Funding 6 forms could adversely affect key stages 3 and 4 within some schools. • Schools were required to deliver unprecedented changes, such as the new curriculum for Wales and the additional learning needs (ALN) transformation programme as well as statutory services. • At a recent Conwy Governors Association meeting, members were briefed by Officers in respect of the financial situation within schools. - Council spend on schools had reduced from 39.2% in 2015 to 37.04% in 2021. - School reserves were ring-fenced for funding shortfalls in 2023/2024. • The Finance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 17 October, 2022, recommended to Council that the Corporate Risk Register include a risk in relation to schools being unable to balance their budgets with adverse impact on culture, workforce and service delivery. • Schools were a statutory service who were facing resource issues that required addressing. • In 2018, the Cabinet Member for Education raised concerns in respect of the lack of financial resilience within CCBC schools. - Schools had also voiced their concerns in respect of being unable to balance their budgets. - A task and finish group was established in order to review financial planning for schools. - The main recommendation from the task and finish group was the transfer of ALN and Social Inclusion Service (SIS) teaching assistants (TA’s) to schools, however this had a detrimental impact on the school’s core funding. - The scale of the problem identified in 2018 had escalated. • Context was provided for newly elected Members in respect of how the motion had progressed through the democratic process. • The Motion called for a root and branch review of education services and schools in respect of finance and resources, service delivery and staff wellbeing and was not an attack on Officers. • It was suggested that it was the duty of elected Members to carry out a root and branch review in order to discharge their responsibility in respect of pupils and school staff. • The motion sought to address and resolve underlying finance and resources issues. • Key questions to be considered in respect of the motion were: - Were schools in Conwy being adequately and sustainably funded? - What was the impact of cutting core school budgets? - Why was the funding formula in respect of schools not being utilised? - Were elected Members content to let schools struggle and was there no appetite or ambition to look for solutions? In response to the notice of motion, the Strategic Director – Social Care and Education raised concerns that a root and branch review would be an unnecessary distraction, particularly due to the challenging financial outlook that the Council faced. The Head of Education Services presented a response to the Notice of Motion as follows: · The Education Service evaluated their work on a regular basis and addressed areas for improvement via detailed business planning. · Clear and effective processes were in place to ensure that service priorities aligned with CCBC’s corporate plan. · All review and monitoring processes included representatives from key stakeholder groups. · Education Services were visited termly by Estyn Link Inspectors and a number of assurances had been evidenced, which included; - Acknowledgement that Leaders had a clear vision and strategic planning was a strength. - The strong relationship with the regional consortium - Social Inclusion services and the provision to support vulnerable learners and their families was highly effective. · CCBC worked in close partnership with GwE to deliver School Improvement Services across the County. There was a clear and robust accountability framework in place, which included; - The GwE Business Planning Framework. - Headteacher strategic groups and internal and external audits. - A partnership agreement. · The integration of Social Care and Education Services in Conwy at both a strategic and operational level had resulted in significant improvements in service delivery. - The integration continued to be monitored, evaluated and reflected upon. • Reference was made to Estyn’s positive thematic review of CCBC’s work to support its schools and the pupil referral unit (PRU) between March and August 2020. • Whilst there had been cuts to the School budgets over the last 10 years totalling £13m, this reflected a level of protection afforded to schools which had not been replicated across the Authority. - Over the same time period, schools had received investment of £4.3m which was allocated through the Business Planning Framework to address priority areas. • A task and finish group had looked at the strategic approach to providing education in Conwy in order to ensure that CCBC was clear on its strategic direction for funding statutory education duties. • Comparison tables in respect of funding per pupil were not accurate as individual Authorities provided support in varying ways. • An independent review on the impact of funding on pupil outcomes concluded that school finance was not the only indicator of pupil outcomes. • CCBC should use its existing processes to ensure that schools, alongside other council services, were equitably included within the Business Planning Framework, guided by the Equalities Impact Assessment processes and procedures. • A review of the scale required by a professional consultancy firm was likely to cost in the region of £50-£100k. The Cabinet Member for Education made reference to the following: • The school cluster model was working well. • Headteacher forums allowed for issues to be raised. • A review would highlight the need for additional funding, however this was not available as it was allocated by Central Government. Members discussed the following in respect of the Notion of Motion: • All departments were facing financial difficulties and it would be irresponsible to pay for a review of Education Services at this time. • Members could raise service issues within Scrutiny Committees, Service Performance Reviews or directly with Officers. • It was suggested that a review would only highlight issues that CCBC were already aware of. - In response, Councillor McCaffrey felt that such a review did not need to cost up to £100k and that a peer review would be just as objective and would be carried out without emotion. . Education was a statutory service and therefore it was suggested that it was CCBC’s duty to ensure that schools were in a good financial position. - In order to obtain the full picture, each school would need to be reviewed which would be an extremely time consuming review. As schools standards within schools remained high, it was felt that no review was required. • Lobbying of Central Government and the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) in respect of education was required. • The Leader made reference to the 17% reduction in Council budgets across Wales between 2010 and 2019 and the fact that council tax had risen by 35% in order to compensate for this budget reduction. - In recent years, Schools and Social Care had received a lower level of budget reductions compared to other services. - Difficult decisions had to be made as CCBC was not funded adequately. • The importance of benchmarking and including matters of concern within the medium term financial plan. • Concern was raised in respect of the 8 months it had taken for the Notice of Motion to be heard by the Education and Skills Overview and Scrutiny Committee. - In response, the Head of Law and Governance advised that due to the Local Government Elections, and the Member Induction Programme, this had been the first opportunity for the Motion response to be presented. Following the debate it was proposed and seconded that the Education and Skills Overview and Scrutiny Committee recommend to Council that the Chief Executive does not undertake a root and branch review of Education Services and Schools (including 6th Form Provision). RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL: That the Chief Executive does not instigate a root and branch review of Education Services and Schools (including 6th Form Provision) and that existing processes continue to be used to inform Members of self-evaluation, monitoring, review and setting of objectives.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: That the presentation in respect of the Role and Work of the Regional School Improvement Service be noted.
Note: Arwyn Thomas and Claire Rowlands (GwE Education Improvement Service) were in attendance for this item. Arwyn Thomas, together with Claire Rowlands provided Members with a presentation on the role and work of the Regional School Improvement Service (GwE). The following points were highlighted: • GwE’s values, which included, respect, trust and wellbeing. • Professional learning purposes and outcomes. • The business planning framework, which was made up of a regional business plan, local authority business plans and detailed operational plans. • GwE’s annual governance and accountability processes which included; scrutiny committees, internal and external audit and headteacher user groups. • Support provided to Conwy County Borough Council (CCBC) schools included; - Checking and validating the quality of strategic documents. - Supporting scrutiny, observation and evaluation activities in schools. - Preparing and delivering a specific Support Plan for all schools. - All schools had a Link Supporting Improvement Adviser. • Professional development programmes that offered a learning pathway for leadership. • Guidance and resources provided through the GwE Support Centre • GwE’s response and repurposing in respect of the Covid-19 pandemic. • All local authorities had a GwE core lead and support provided included the following: - Iimplementing the non-statutory School Improvement Framework. - Producing annual reports on individual school performance. - Conducting monitoring visits to Schools Causing Concern and reporting on findings. - Contributing to the Head of Education’s annual report. - Contributing to the Authority’s preparations for inspection. - Working with the Authority to develop the use of Welsh. • Extensive support was provided in respect of designing, implementing and monitoring the delivery of the new curriculum for Wales. Thanks was extended to GwE for their support, and in particular for their work during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was suggested that GwE be invited to attend a future Member Development and Information Forum in order that specific aspects of GwE’s work be presented to Members. RESOLVED: That the presentation in respect of the Role and Work of the Regional School Improvement Service be noted.
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