Agenda and minutes

The following Members made a declaration of interest at the

commencement of the meeting:

Cllr S Reynolds                               Re: Admissions/Capacity in Schools as she is a Governor at YGG Gawun-Cae-Gurwen but has dispensation to speak and vote.

Cllr R Mizen                                     Re: Admissions/Capacity in Schools as he is a Governor at Cwmafan Primary School and Ysgol Cwm Brombil but has dispensation to speak and vote.

Cllr M Crowley                                 Re: Admissions/Capacity in Schools as he is a Governor at Awel y Môr Primary School and Tywyn Primary School but has dispensation to speak and vote.

Cllr D Keogh                                    Re: Admissions/Capacity in Schools as he is a Governor at Ysgol Cwm Brombil but has dispensation to speak and vote.

Cllr S Miller                                      Re: Admissions/Capacity in Schools as she is a Governor at Melin Primary School but has dispensation to speak and vote.

Cllr D Whitelock                               Re: Admissions/Capacity in Schools as he is a Governor at Ysgol Cwm Brombil but has dispensation to speak and vote.

Cllr R Wood                                     Re: Admissions/Capacity in Schools as he is a Governor at Ysgol Bae Baglan but has dispensation to speak and vote.

The minutes of the 22^nd July 2021 were approved.

Following the request from a previous Education, Skills and Culture Forward Work Programme Session. Members were provided with information and data in relation to the admission, capacity of pupils and placements to Neath Port Talbot schools.

Officers highlighted that the figures in the report may fluctuate as a result of last minute admission changes following the first day of school at the beginning of the new academic year.

A question was raised around the number of pupils that were enrolled at Ysgol Bae Baglan. Officers explained that in the report it stated that there were 1352 pupils, however, the figures consisted of admission figures as per the Council’s Admission Policy and were not inclusive of Nursery pupils or pupils within the special unit. It was discussed that Members would prefer to have all pupils within a school presented rather than those of statutory school age admitted via the Admissions Policy. Therefore requested that a further report be brought back to a future meeting containing the additional figures.

Discussions took place around the successful appeals within the report. It was noted that following the successful appeals procedure the pupils would have access to their first choice of school.

The Chair received notification of a question from a Co-opted Member of the Committee, which was shared with the committee. It read:

The following question was raised on behalf of a co-opted member of the Committee.

·        ‘How has the calculation of student places in school been calculated and generated? Is it based on overall area of school buildings, cleaning area of schools or the size of class rooms?

·        What are the class sizes within the schools on the list?

·        What are the teaching numbers in each of the schools?’

Officers explained that they would need to gather this information from the schools and would respond directly with the Co-opted member and share the response with the Committee.

Following scrutiny, the report was noted.

The Forward Work Programme was noted, subject to the inclusion of the following items:

·        The admission/capacity report to be brought back to a future meeting with the inclusion of nursery and special unit pupil figures for further discussion.

·        Childcare Capacity in the County Borough and the effect that the pandemic has had on the service.