NEATH PORT TALBOT COUNTY BOROUGH COUNCIL

Cabinet

Date of Committee: 8th March 2021

Joint Report of the Chief Executive (K Jones) and the Director of Education, Leisure and Lifelong Learning (A Evans)

Matter for Information

Wards Affected: All wards

Report Title: ERW Consortium Developments

Purpose of the Report:

To update Members on ERW Consortium developments.

To outline the proposed priorities for the education service as we reset and recover from the pandemic.

To note the letter sent to the ERW consortium, setting out the Council’s current policy position on regional collaborative working.

Background:

Education Through Regional Working “ERW” was formed as an alliance of six local authorities with a remit to deliver school improvement services across Mid and South West Wales. The alliance was formalised by an Inter-Authority legal agreement and governed by a Joint Committee.

In March 2019, the Cabinet of this Council resolved to withdraw from the arrangements on 31st March 2020 following concerns about governance, value for money and effectiveness – concerns that it had not been possible to resolve whilst being a member of the consortium.

In March 2020, Swansea, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion councils all issued notice to withdraw from the regional consortium with effect from 31st March 2021. At the ERW Joint Committee on 9th February 2021, Swansea and Carmarthenshire councils indicated that they intended to rescind their withdrawal notices, anticipating that as a consequence the proposed dissolution of the consortium would be delayed until end August 2021.

An overview report published by Estyn of arrangements across Wales in January 2021, commented on the lack of clarity for school improvement arrangements for Mid and South West Wales beyond the dissolution of the ERW consortium, observing that the ‘lack of a clear plan…is a cause for significant concern’.

We are advised that the Human Resources lead officer for ERW has identified potential redundancy liabilities in the region of £1.5 million, shared amongst the six original signatory authorities to the Inter-Authority Agreement, although Members are asked to note that we have requested the evidence that supports this position. Furthermore, Members are advised that the Joint Committee has commissioned work to establish a successor consortium on a Swansea City Deal footprint which would, amongst other things, help to mitigate the estimated liabilities. Neath Port Talbot Council has been informally approached to become a member of a successor arrangement.

School Improvement in Neath Port Talbot - current position

Since withdrawing from the ERW consortium, officers have put in place alternative arrangements to support schools – mostly delivered directly by staff employed by the Council with a limited number of services, namely the national leadership programmes, purchased from the consortium. A review of these arrangements over the period June-November 2020 by Estyn concluded that these arrangements are well regarded by head teachers and are broadly working well.

For 2021-22, our focus must be firmly set within the context we are now working in – a context which is materially different to what existed prior to the pandemic.

The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted learning provision since March 2020, resulting, in effect, in a full year of deviant experience for our children and young people. The effects of lost time in school, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, are likely to be concentrated on children from disadvantaged backgrounds posing particular challenges for authorities like Neath Port Talbot. The additional investment provided by Welsh Government in August 2020 to begin to mitigate these impacts through the Recruit, Recover, Raise Standards– the accelerating learning programme – has been very welcome. However, over the autumn and winter terms further significant disruption to learning has taken place which according to the Department for Education in England, will take more than a year to make up and current research shows that the devastating impact is considerably more telling in areas of deprivation. It will also need significant investment proportionate to the scale of the problem.

In addition to the impacts on learning that emanate from the loss of time in school, the well-being of children and young people has also been profoundly affected. Neath Port Talbot Council has been closely supporting and monitoring the wellbeing of some 1,500 vulnerable learners since March, working in an integrated way with children’s social services, domestic abuse and substance misuse agencies, to safeguard and support the most vulnerable population of children and young people. However, it is becoming very clear that many more of our learners are experiencing adverse impacts on their mental health and well-being, perhaps unsurprising given the demographic profile of the county borough. As a consequence, the risk of young people disengaging from learning is increasing.

Our local experience appears to be typical of the impacts described in international research as captured in the Welsh Government’s publication ‘Review of the impact of mass disruption on the wellbeing and mental health of children and young people, and possible therapeutic interventions’ The importance the Welsh Government has placed on responding to this, including the announcement of additional funding made by the Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing on 1stFebruary 2020, is fully acknowledged. It is vitally important that the well-being and mental health of our children and young people continue to receive priority focus over the remainder of this academic year and the next, rooting approaches in the evidence of what works, taking a whole-school and holistic approach which additionally, involves families and the wider community.

The pandemic has also had an enormous impact on our schools’ workforce. Our staff are working in unprecedented and highly challenging circumstances. The Council can be immensely proud of the way in which our staff have responded, relentlessly focusing on the needs of our learners at a time when they were having to rapidly adapt the school environment and teaching and learning approaches to embrace public health protection measures and blended learning – an achievement formally recognised by Estyn in their recent review of our arrangements. The success of these approaches are based in a large part on a dynamic and agile working relationship with school leaders – a principle that must be maintained in future months and years as we plan and deliver recovery programmes to meet the learning and well-being needs of our school population.

We should be in no doubt of the challenges that our workforce has needed to address and continues to face – not only in overcoming digital exclusion and the huge variation in the home environments of learners, but also in adapting teaching and learning approaches to deliver effective remote education for extended periods of time. The procurement of additional technology that the Welsh Government has facilitated has yet to be fulfilled because of challenges within global supply chains. Furthermore, teaching trade unions have raised concern about the implications of remote and blended learning on professional development and workloads. With the prospect of further periods of disruption ahead of us, it is crucial that our forward planning puts our schools’ workforce in the best possible position to ensure all learners receive the quality education that they are entitled to.

Taking all of this into account, circumstances would suggest that the next 18-24 months need to be dedicated to resetting and recovering the learning needs of pupils in our authority’s schools.

In order to facilitate learning recovery, we must secure a multi-agency approach that responds to pupils’ emotional health and wellbeing needs. We have to reconsider teachers’ roles and responsibilities in this context and how schools will develop and deliver bespoke holistic packages of support that meet pupils’ emotional and learning needs.

This has to involve families and the agencies best placed to advocate on behalf of those parents who are unable to do so themselves and address child development needs that have stagnated over the last 12 months.

Our school improvement service needs to support teachers to develop effective diagnostic, formative assessments in order to gauge and identify learning loss. Within this context, we need to prioritise effort and focus on securing a coherent understanding of our pupils’ needs and reshaping provision locally in order that they respond, at the nearest point of contact, to pupils’ recovery.

We do not underestimate the enormity of the challenges we face in seeking to address the learning needs of pupils, many of whom have been negatively impacted during the many months of lockdown. Schools will need will need to design and deliver a recovery curriculum that accounts for the holistic needs of our learners.

Whilst we acknowledge the benefits of sharing practice and approaches with regional and national colleagues, the focus for any future collaboration needs to be developed from our reset and recovery programme and should also be set in the broader context of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021. For the Council to deepen collaboration on school improvement in the Swansea Bay City Region beyond the limited number of services it is currently commissioning, significant assurances would need to be evidenced regarding the extent to which proposed arrangements are fit for purpose in the new Covid-19 context as well as providing assurances that Council’s previous concerns about governance, value for money and effectiveness have been fully addressed.

A letter, a copy of which is reproduced at Appendix 1, has been sent to the ERW consortium, confirming this Council’s position for 2021/22 and beyond.

Financial Impacts:

Officers have requested details of the redundancy liability that has been estimated on dissolution of the existing ERW consortium but this is yet to be received. The attached letter at Appendix 1 formally requests that such information is provided.

Integrated Impact Assessment:

There is no requirement to undertake an Integrated Impact Assessment as this report is for information purposes and does not seek to change the current policy position.

Valleys Communities Impacts:

There are no specific impacts arising from this report.

Workforce Impacts:

There are no direct workforce impacts linked to the Council’s own workforce however, it is noted that a redundancy risk has been identified for the consortium arrangements. There is a potential financial impact arising from this which will be subject of a separate report once the information requested from the consortium has been received and assessed.

Legal Impacts:

The proposed extension of access to the national leadership programmes procured through the consortium will require a legal agreement to be established.

Risk Management Impacts:

The risk that the Council will be unable to support schools in their recovery and improvement programme is assessed as being low – the recent Estyn report on arrangements provides some assurances regarding this risk.

There is a risk that the Council would be a share of the estimated redundancy costs in the event that the consortium is dissolved. We would hope that the consortium has established suitable mitigating actions to address this. Once the information requested from the consortium is received we will provide further advice to Members on the impact and likelihood of this risk.

There is risk that the Council will be seen as being resistant to collaborative working in relation to the education agenda. Our letter to consortium partners makes clear that the Council is not resistant to partnership working and sets out the assurances that would need to be in place for the Council to change its policy position. The Council will also research other options for supporting school improvement beyond the existing consortium arrangements.

Consultation:

There is no requirement for external consultation on this item

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

Members note the update provided on ERW consortium developments and the proposed focus for reset and recovery actions for the Council’s education service in 2021-22.

Appendices:

Letter to ERW Consortium

List of Background Papers

Cabinet (27th March 2019), Education Through Regional Working (ERW)

http://moderngov.neath-porttalbot.gov.uk/documents/s45819/ERW.pdf

Estyn, The regional consortium’s work to support its schools and PRUs March-August 2020

https://democracy.carmarthenshire.gov.wales/documents/g4565/Public%20reports%20pack%2009th-Feb-2021%2014.00%20ERW%20Joint%20Committee.pdf?T=10

Estyn, Local authority and regional consortia support for schools and PRUs in response to Covid-19

https://www.estyn.gov.wales/thematic-report/local-authority-and-regional-consortia-support-schools-and-prus-response-covid-19?_ga=2.163580598.84200458.1610966385-2125091557.1610966385

Officer Contact:

Mrs K Jones, Chief Executive Tel: 01639 763284 E-mail:chief.executive@npt.gov.uk

Mr A Evans, Corporate Director of Education, Leisure and Lifelong Learning Tel: 01639 763393. E-mail: a.evans@npt.gov.uk

APPENDIX 1

Leaders of Council participating in the ERW Consortium

Dear Leader,

ERW Consortium – 2021/22 Provision of Services to Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council

Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council (‘The Council’) withdrew from the consortium on 31st March 2020 having served notice of its intention to do so in March 2019. On 13th November 2020, the ERW Joint Committee approved proposed changes to the ERW Legal Agreement, allowing Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council to purchase a limited number of services, namely the national leadership programmes, from the consortium during 2020/21.

We had understood that it was the ERW Joint Committee’s intention to dissolve the consortium by 31st March 2021. However, we understand that the ERW Joint Committee agreed at its meeting on 9th February 2021 to continue with arrangements until at least the end of August 2021. Given that is the case, I am writing to confirm that Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council wishes to extend the current arrangements until 31st March 2022 (or on the dissolution of the existing consortium, if earlier) on the current terms and subject to a formal contractual agreement. I would be grateful if you could confirm that this is acceptable to the consortium.

Our priority during 2021/22 will be on supporting learners to catch up following a significant loss of face to face learning during the last academic year and also on supporting schools with their recovery. As we work through these issues we will clarify future collaborative arrangements from our perspective, in particular how these might be shaped by the new collaboration vehicles being established by the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021. It would be helpful if we could establish clear lines of communication with the consortium over the next period. In particular, we have been advised that there is a potentially significant financial liability attached to the dissolution of the current arrangements. Officers have already asked for details of these potential costs and associated legal and HR advice, however, to date we have not received the information requested. I therefore formally request such information together with the plans that the ERW Joint Committee has approved to minimise the risk of these costs materialising.

Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council is committed to working in partnership where such arrangements improve outcomes for our learners. For the Council to deepen collaboration in the region beyond the limited number of services it is currently commissioning, significant assurances would need to be evidenced regarding the extent to which proposed arrangements are fit for purpose in the new Covid-19 context as well as providing assurances that Council’s previous concerns about governance, value for money and effectiveness have been fully addressed. I am sure you will agree that these are not trivial issues to be dealt with at pace but to be worked through in a measured way and on the basis of equal partnership.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Cllr R G Jones

Leader

Lost Time in Schools, Institute of Fiscal Studies, February 2021

Recruit, Recover, Raise Standards – the accelerating learning programme, Welsh Government, August 2020

Review of the impact of mass disruption on the wellbeing and mental health of children and young people, and possible therapeutic interventions’, Government Social Research, Welsh Government, September 2020