Minutes:
The
Committee chose to scrutinise the following Cabinet Board items:
3.1 Internal arrangements for Families First
Funded Services
Members received an overview of the Internal
arrangements for Families First Funded Services as detailed in the circulated report.
It was highlighted that following the Welsh Governments
publication of the new Families First guidance in April 2017, Neath Port Talbot
County Borough Council has developed specifications for a number of new
services with the intention to continue the arrangement to deliver some of
these in-house. The services to be
delivered in-house are the Youth Services, Parenting Support and the Team
Around the Family with the addition of services for young carers, which is
currently delivered by an external provider, be brought in-house and integrated
into the Youth Services which would have a benefit for the young carer through
greater support and access to additional services form the wider youth
service.
·
Members were pleased to see services being provided internally and that
as a result Young Carers would benefit from an improved service and that any
savings would be invested in the delivery of other services. It was queried what ranking was Neath Port
Talbot in regard to the number of Young Carers?
Officers explained that Neath Port Talbot had the
highest number of young carers in Wales and in the United Kingdom.
·
Members were also pleased that staff effected by transferring the service in-house would be
transferred under TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employees
Regulations).
Officers explained that at present only one member
of staff has been identified.
·
Members asked would the monitoring of an internal service be as rigorous
as an external service?
Officers explained that all providers whether
internal or external have to meet the expectations contained within the Service
Level Agreement and monitoring officers exercise the same rigorous inspection
whether internal or external.
·
Members asked what is the timescale for the new contracts?
Officers explained that the new contracts will be
active from the 1st April 2018 and an update report would be brought
back to a future meeting of Education, Skills and Culture.
·
Members asked was the savings of £50,000
achievable?
Officers explained that the savings were achievable and
would be reinvested back into other services.
·
Members asked in the report it states that a benefit would be greater
support and access to additional services from the wider youth service – what
would these be?
Officers explained that being part of the Youth
Service young carers could access support services that are already available
through the Youth Service and the partners they work with. In addition, due to the links with schools it
would mean easier identification of young carers and the ability to have more
contact with them and to ensure they receive the support they need. Also, 3 co-ordinators would be employed to
work in the Youth Service to ensure that the links are made for young carers to
receive the support they need.
Following
scrutiny, the Committee were supportive of the proposals to be considered at
Cabinet Board.
3.2 Admission to Community Schools:2019/2020
Members received an overview of the Admission to Community
Schools 2019/2020 as detailed in the circulated report. In addition, Officers highlighted an error on
Page 25 of the circulated report 1st paragraph should have read:
To
obtain Education, Skills and Culture Cabinet Board approval to consult and
not as stated in the circulated report.
Officers confirmed that the consultation document is the
same as previous documents and has been subject to legal advice.
·
Members asked how many instances of oversubscription had been received previously?
Officers said that only recently appeals had been
received because previously schools had a large number of surplus place but as part of the Strategic Schools Improvement
Programme the numbers of surplus places had been reduced which is part of the
aim of the improvement work. Also, all
of the appeals who were not successful with their first choice did receive
their second preference of school. In
addition, all children in school catchment areas were allocated places in those
schools.
Following Scrutiny, the Committee was supportive of
the proposals being considered by Cabinet Board.
3.3 Quarterly Performance Management Data
2017-2018
Quarter 2 Performance (1st
April 2017 – 30 September 2017)
Members received an overview of the
Quarter 2 Performance Management Data
2017-2018 as detailed in the
circulated report.
·
Members asked what was the reason for Neath
Port Talbot being ranked 22 in Key Stage 2 and 3 and what mitigating measures
were being put in place to rectify this.
Also, was the teachers assessment that ranks
out children at Key Stage 2 and 3 more rigorous than other local authorities.
Officers explained that teachers
assessments within Neath Port Talbot are very accurate and give an accurate
position of a child Educational needs entering Key Stage 4 with 47% at the expected
level. Also investment has been made in
providing additional primary and nursery school places which has a positive
outcome on a childs
educational outcomes throughout school.
It was also highlighted that the Welsh Government are developing a new
system for measuring teacher assessment to ensure consistency across all local
authorities. Welsh Government are looking at moving away from data analysis and looking at
pupil skills and as part of new system will be asking pupils how they find
their educational experience.
·
Members asked whether Estyn verify Key Stage 2
and 3?
Officers explained that this forms part of the self evaluation that is undertaken by schools and as part
of that self evaluation teachers and children are
asked how they rate their education experience.
Members asked that a report outlining the new Estyn
Framework/criteria for undertaking inspections would be brought to a future for
Members to gain a better understanding of the changes.
·
Members queried whether there was any data available on the impact of
children who attend a Flying Start provision prior to attending mainsteam school.
Officers confirmed that the feedback from Headteachers was that children who attended a Flying Start
provision are far better prepared for school, have better speech and language
skills compared to children who do not.
This is also reflected in All Wales data.
Officers confirmed that a report regarding Flying
Start is scheduled to be considered by
Education, Skills and Culture Cabinet
Board in February 2018 and Officers will
include comparison data in that report
highlighting children’s
performance from Flying Start areas compared to non Flying
Start areas.
·
Members asked whether Officers had seen an increase in the numbers of
children with additional learning support?
Officers explained that more than 50% of children
are not where they should be educationally and those children need to be in a
school setting as soon as possible where they can access early interventions
for example literacy interventions. It
was highlighted that the Head of Children and Young Peoples Services was
looking at the impacts of poverty on children and developing a multi-agency
approach based on the needs of the child.
Members asked that a report on the pilot scheme
“Combating Poverty” would be brought for Members consideration to a future
meeting.
·
It was queried why was there a delay in issuing educational statements?
Officers explained that it can take up to 45 weeks to
issue statements and the Welsh Government would only accept certain health
criteria to have issue an educational statement. In addition, parents have to agree with the
health advice before it can be issued and most prefer to wait until
confirmation is received which is based on the child’s needs.
·
It was asked why was there a decrease in the
numbers of people using Libraries?
Officers explained that the member of staff who
organised all the activities held in Libraries was absent due to illness which
resulted in reduced numbers attending the library. Numbers had now increased
with the return of the member of staff who has organised events in the
libraries and there had been no further staff absences. In addition, some issues had arisen with the
internet connection in one of the libraries which resulted in errors on the
system.
·
Members asked if Officers could investigate if any fines had been
incurred by users of the library as a result of the technical problems with the
I.T. system.
·
It was also queried why there was a dip in pupils achieving 5 GCSEs at
grades A+ to C and what mitigating measures are being put in place?
Officers explained that there had been a dip across
Wales but because of the economic deprivation in Neath Port Talbot County
Borough the impact was greater on the authority. It was highlighted that the lack of
information to schools on the grade boundaries and the new curriculum had a
negative effect on the results.
Education through regional working had undertaken an analysis and put in
additional support where needed going forward. Also, noted was that Neath Port Talbot
schools had an excellent track record of preparing children for their GCSEs.
·
Members asked whether different indicators would be put in place in
terms of the changes by Estyn?
Officers explained that Estyn are looking at a
broader range of teaching skills and will be asking pupils how they felt their
educational experience was. Estyn will
also be looking for more evidence based information. In addition, Welsh Government are looking at developing new indicators to support these
changes.
·
Members asked if arrangements could be made for them to visit schools on
an informal basis starting with Ysgol Bae Baglan.
Officers highlighted that the Cabinet Member and
Director of Education,Leisure and Lifelong Learning regularly visit schools
and discuss with pupils their learning experience.
·
It was asked what would the implications of the Donaldson report have on
Education?
Officers explained that the Donaldson’s report would
have a major impact on education but that its
that its implementation has been delayed until 2022.
·
Cabinet Member for Education asked all Members to keep highlighting the
importance of school attendance in their role as school governors.
Following Scrutiny, the
report be noted.
3.4 Ongoing delivery of the UK Governments
Work Programme
Members received an overview of the
current Work Programme Performance
funded by UK Government as detailed
in the circulated report.
Following Scrutiny, the report be noted.
3.5 Annual Report on NEETs 2017
Members received and overview of the outcomes and progress
made with young people who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) or those young people who are at risk
of becoming NEET and how new development may affect this area of work as
detailed in the circulated report.
It was highlighted that the annual NEETs figure based on
destinations of year 11 leavers for 2016 was ranked as the worst in Wales
ranked at 22. But with improved collaboration
between the Youth Service, Careers Wales, Schools and multi-agency working the
aim is for the figure to reduce. This
improved figure will not be available until April 2018.
·
Members asked if there were any opportunities for early intervention at
school to try to prevent children reaching this stage?
Officers explained that the difficulty has been in
identifying the young people at an early stage.
Youth Workers are based in schools on a 2 day a week basis who work with
young peoples and their families. If
young people continue to need support post 16 they are referred to the Post 16
Team.
·
Members asked what the impact would be as a result of the withdrawal of
the Communities First funding?
Officers explained that it is an ongoing challenge
but cost efficiencies have been made in the service which has enable the service to go forward. In addition, the Legacy Fund would replace
some of the funding from Communtiies First which
would enable additional Youth Workers to be employed on a 2 year basis. A further report would be brought for Members
information on the Legacy Fund.
·
Members also asked if there were any other funding streams available?
Officers explained that they consistently look for
additional funding but that short term funding does not give consistency to
staff or the service when planning for future development. Views had been given to the Welsh Government
on the need to have funding over a longer period. It was highlighted that the
Legacy Fund does allocate funding over a 2 year period.
Following Scrutiny, the report be
noted.
3.6 Skills and Training Update
Members received an overview of the progress of
Skills and Training in Neath Port Talbot as detailed in the circulated report.
It was highlighted that the Skills and Training
delivers Welsh Government funded specialist programmes of learning and training
offering Work-Based Learning opportunities and bespoke commercial training to
meet the needs of local residents, employers and their employees. Funding has been secured from the Welsh
Government until March 2019.
·
Members asked that their appreciation of all the work undertaken by the
team is cascaded to all the staff and requested that arrangements be made at a
future date to visit the different schemes.
It was also suggested that a prospectus of the different schemes be
developed and circulated to secondary schools for them to be made aware of what
is available for young people.
Following Scrutiny, the report be
noted.
3.7 Youth Service Update 2017
Members received an update on the work
carried out by Neath Port Talbot
Youth Service as detailed in the circulated report.
·
Members asked if the Youth Service has seen an increase in take-up in
regard to the Duke of Edinburgh Awards?
Officers explained that across Wales numbers have
remained static. One of the difficulties
was that young participants who achieve Gold in the past have continue to teach
new participants but now they go straight to University so they no longer are
available to cascade their learning to others.
Officers are looking at how schools could help to take this forward in
future.
·
Members queried whether there were any options to extend the Youth
Service to work in areas that are affected by the withdrawal of Communities
First Funding? Also, are there any
arrangements being made to replace the Youth Service provision in the areas
where schools have been closed?
Officers explained that resources are limited but
that a mapping exercise of what provision is available needs to be undertaken
to identify the gaps in the service and what measures can be put in place to
assist in those areas. Also, the Legacy Fund would provide monies to assist
support the Youth Service. Officers
confirmed that they would be happy to discuss with Members the needs in their
wards.
·
Members confirmed that a mapping exercise should take place and that
Members were happy to identify what is available in their individual wards and
if there are any partner organisations that could assist the Youth Service.