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No. | Item |
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Minutes: The
Committee noted that the Co-Opted Members did not appear on the minutes as
attendees. The Democratic Services Officer apologised for the administration
error and would rectify the minutes so that accurate attendance is portrayed. Cllr
Steffan Ap
Dafydd asked that his name be amended to be spelt correctly. With
the above amendments the Committee noted the minutes. |
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Scrutiny Forward Work Programme 2017/18. PDF 78 KB Minutes: The
Committee noted the Forward Work Programme. |
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PRE-SCRUTINY Minutes: The
Committee chose to scrutinise the following Cabinet Board items: 3.1 Christmas and New Year Opening Times, Libraries, Theatres,
Community Centres, Margam Country Park, Leisure
Centres and Swimming Pools 2017-18. Members received information
relating to the Christmas and New Year opening times as contained
within the circulated report. Members questioned the
difference in opening times between the different leisure
facilities. Officers explained that the discrepancies were due to the historical
use of facilities over the festive period, the number of direct debits
associated with the facility and the size of its membership. Following scrutiny the
Committee were supportive of the proposals to be considered at Cabinet
Board. 3.2 Financing Schools- Reviewing the Funding Formula to raise
standards. Members received information
in relation to proposed changes to the formula for funding primary
sector schools as contained within the circulated report. The
Committee noted that the school estate has changed significantly
since 2011 and the current funding formula no longer reflects
the balance between smaller and larger schools and that the
NPT Schools Forum had requested a review of the current arrangements. The Chairperson drew the
Committee’s attention to the fact that the recommendation before
the Cabinet Board was to approve consultation on the
proposed formula review and that the decision taken by the Cabinet
Board would be for immediate
implementation. Members noted an error in the report in that the results of the
consultation would be presented back to the Committee in mid -January
and not January 4th 2018 as stated. Officers explained in order
to deliver education the total amount of money to be distributed
to schools is determined by the current formula;
this formula neither increases or decreases the amount of
money in the Individual Schools Budget but is the mechanism by
which the Budget is distributed amongst individual schools and
Officers explained in detail how the current formula operates. Members heard how the
Review Group established had provided professional advice on how
the formula could deliver more equitable funding to
schools and comprised of Head Teachers from large and small schools
serving both rural and urban areas and had examined the current
primary sector formula line by line. Officers explained in
detail the review group’s proposal for the proposed changes to the
funding formula for primary sector schools. Members noted the proposal
to limit the financial benefit resulting from the revised formula
for those schools with reserves in excess of £75k and queried where
this figure had come from. Officers explained that the Welsh
Government limit is £50k but this figure has been derived from
careful analysis of the data via a fair and transparent process and they
believe it is a fair, realistic and manageable figure. Officers
stated that there are currently 8 schools with this amount of
reserves but at this stage the schools who will benefit from the
revised funding formula are unknown. The Committee asked if
compulsory redundancies were anticipated as a result of
this process. Officers stated that whilst this was a ... view the full minutes text for item 3. |