Agenda and minutes

To receive disclosures of personal interest from Members in accordance with the Code of Conduct

Note:

1.    Members are requested to identify the item number and subject matter that their interest relates to and signify the nature of the personal interest: and

2.  Where Members withdraw from a meeting as a consequence of the disclosure of a prejudicial interest they must notify the Chairman when they leave.

In Accordance with the Councils Code of Conduct, there were no declarations of interest made parenting to the agenda.

To approve as an accurate record, the minutes of the meeting of the Central South Consortium Joint Education Service Joint Committee held on 13^th December 2022.

It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the 12^th December 2022 as an accurate reflection of the meeting.

The Service Director, Finance Services updated the Joint Committee briefly that further to last December’s meeting at which the MTFP and 23/24 budget were presented, all constituent LAs had set their budgets and there was no further feedback or objections regarding the 23/24 contributions.

To receive a joint report from the Managing Director and Treasurer.

The Service Director, Finance Services, advised that the budget of £3.6M was agreed by Joint Committee on 22^nd Dec 2021 and the current position showed an estimated underspend for the year of £224k compared to £187k reported in December.  The majority of the underspend was attributed to Employee budgets of £259k which was mainly due to the timing of recruitment and the utilisation of grant funding, and there was an offset of additional IP capacity to support ongoing business requirements.  Premises showed a projected net underspend of £47k where there were savings on the Valleys Innovation Centre accommodation, offset by external premises hire.  Transport showed a projected overspend of just under £9k, resulting from increased face to face meetings in line with the lifting of Covid restrictions.  Supplies and services projected an overspend of £46k as a result of investment in ICT equipment and there was also additional work undertaken for translation, advertising, promotional materials and website development.  In addition, there was also an overspend on Support Services as a result of the business need for further services to be delivered by the host authority relating to ICT, data protection and some administrative support.

The Service Director, Finance Services, continued that paragraph 3.4 referred to the Service Remodelling Earmarked Reserve, to support the setting and delivery of budgets over the medium term. As detailed at the previous Joint Committee meeting, this reserve stood at £200k and no drawdowns were required in 22-23, to date. At the previous Joint Committee meeting, Members authorised the lead S151 officer to allocate any year end underspend to this Earmarked reserve, to support the setting and delivery of balanced budgets going forward and that would be picked up in the year-end position report, to be reported in a future Joint Committee Meeting.  The Service Director, Finance Services completed her presentation by advising Members that section 4 covered the use of grant funding and details were presented at Appendix 1 and demonstrated that nearly 93% of funds were delegated to schools and the local authorities.

The Chair complimented officers on the compilation of the report.

Following consideration by Members it was RESOLVED to:

-       Note the current projected outturn position for 2022/23 (paragraph 3.2) and the allocation of any year-end underspend, after taking account of specific financial risks, to the existing Service Remodeling Earmarked Reserve to support the setting and delivery of balanced budgets over the medium-term (as approved by the Joint Committee on 13th December 2022).

Note the current grant funding position for 2022/23

To receive an update from the Deputy Managing Director in relation to variation received to Regional Consortia School Improvement Grant (RCSIG).

The Deputy Managing Director CSC presented Members with an update on the grants received by the Consortium in 2022/23, for which notifications have been received, and provided the methods of allocation of each. She noted the recommendations at section 2 and, following a discussion with Directors, it was their recommendation to approve the distribution of those grants, as in section 4. The background to the report, was provided for Members in section 3, and it was highlighted to Members that as host authority Rhondda Cynon Taf would act as ‘banker authority’ and under the terms of the grant agreements, was responsible for accepting the terms and conditions on behalf of the Joint Committee. The method of apportionment of each of the grants varied, depending on its nature, the intended recipients, and the purpose and terms and conditions of those grants.  For each grant received, the process adopted was outlined in section 4.2 of the report.  The Consortium prepared a proposal distribution method that was taken to the Management Board and Directors of Education that approved that basis and then provided recommendations to Joint Committee. The report in front of Members today, was the recommendations of the Management Board.

The Deputy Managing Director CSC continued that section 5 highlighted the revised award of funding to the value of £48,236 which was an addition to the Regional Consortia School Improvement Grant. The aim of that funding was outlined in section 5 and was to continue to support curriculum reform. The breakdown of the apportionment could be found at Annex A, and she highlighted a few of the areas included, from Annex A, the funding had been awarded for.

A Member asked for clarification around the Design resource development working group.

The Managing Director CSC explained that it was a group that was working with Welsh Government (WG) on curriculum design, so they could then generate materials and resources and share them across the country. She advised that she could provide a list, which could be circulated to Members, of CSC schools that were participating, as this was a matter of public record.

Following consideration by Members it was RESOLVED to:

Approve the distribution of grants as detailed in section 4 of the report (and Annex A).

To receive a report from the Deputy Managing Director.

The Deputy Managing Director CSC advised that section 3 provided background to the report and explained how CSC was responsible for putting in place the arrangements for the governance of its affairs and to facilitate the effective exercise of those functions, one of which was the system of internal control, and audit work, that was undertaken each year, independently, to assess that work in line with the Legal Agreement.  Members would be aware that CSC was also responsible for undertaking an assessment of its overall governance each year, and this included internal control, the findings of which, were set out in the Annual Governance Statement (AGS). The conclusions from the two reports presented today, would also form part of that report of the AGS for this period (with the AGS being reported to the 23rd May 2023 Joint Committee meeting).

The Deputy Managing Director CSC continued that section 4 went through the two audit reports, one of which was the Regional Consortia School Improvement Grant (RCSIG), and this detailed report could be found in Appendix A, starting on page 29. Members attention was drawn to the report, which said there was substantial assurance, with many areas of strength identified, and no recommendations.  The other grant that was audited by Regional Internal Audit Service was the Pupil Development Grant (PDG), and this report could be found in Appendix B, starting on page 37.  Members were again advised that substantial assurance had been provided, with a number of areas of strength, and no recommendations.

The Deputy Managing Director CSC drew Members attention to the conclusion at section 5 of the report and noted that Internal Audit played an important role in providing that independent assurance on systems of internal control and based on the work undertaken by the Service during the year, there were no recommendations for improvement that were deemed necessary in respect of the internal control arrangements within the Consortium.

A Member asked the Deputy Managing Director CSC, to define Substantial Assurance.

The Deputy Managing Director CSC, advised that the definition of Substantial Assurance, could be found on each of the back pages of the Appendices, under Definitions, before reading aloud to Members.

Following consideration by Members it was RESOLVED to:

Note the Internal Audit report issued during 2021/22 and to raise no matters of governance requiring further actions.

To receive a report from the Deputy Managing Director on the performance of CSC during the academic year 2021/2022.

The Deputy Managing Director CSC advised that previously CSC would have produced an annual Efficiency and Effectiveness report, however as part of the recommendations to Joint Committee, on the reporting and work of the Consortium, this had moved to twice yearly reporting, so there would be the annual Academic Scrutiny Report, which was being presented to Members today, and at the end of the financial year, in the summer term, the annual Financial Report, would be presented.   Usually this would be done as one report, but Members would notice the body of the report, and then a series of Appendices.

The Deputy Managing Director CSC began by advising that section 1, provided an overview of the work of the CSC, to provide assurances to Members and the general public, and stakeholders, on the work of the CSC to date.  Section 2 then provided the background to the CSC and as part of the reporting for this period, would look back at the first half year of the business plan and report on the progress that had been made. An annual report would then come back in the summer term, on the whole business plan. This section also provided an overview of the work of self-evaluation and how the priorities within the business plan, were achieved. Section 3 provided an overall overview of performance, which was very high level and this detail sat in the local authority scrutiny reports, which were presented to most local authorities in the spring term, as well as information about Estyn inspections from a regional perspective, with local authority perspectives provided in the local authority scrutiny reports, presented to Education Scrutiny Committees.

The Deputy Managing Director CSC continued that section 4 provided progress within the current business plan, looking at the period April to October 2022, and highlighted the different sections within the business plan, with page 50 showing a summary of progress that had been made, which was summarised in table 3. Members were advised there had been very good or strong progress made in almost 40% of the elements within the business plan, and satisfactory progress made in the further 47%. It was noted that there was some limited progress in some areas, although when reported in the summer term, all areas would have made progress. Section 4 then provided an overview of the impact and evaluation of the different areas within the business plan, noting on page 52 that each of the priority areas was worked through, using the success measures agreed at the beginning of the business plan cycle, and provided a summary of the progress and impact where it was available, within those sections of the report. Section 5 then provided a progress update with recommendations, from published reports, as detailed on page 56, table 4, with the 4 publications available in Appendix B. Section 6 then provided an overview of the main strands of activity, with the Deputy Managing Director CSC advising that each year, 4 different areas were looked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

To receive a report and presentation from the Managing Director.

The Managing Director CSC advised that it was felt inappropriate to bring the self-evaluation report to Members today, that did not take into account the views of stakeholders, following sharing that with a range of governance groups, so it was agreed to defer this item to a subsequent meeting of the Joint Committee.  

Joint Committee Members RESOLVED to defer consideration of this item to a subsequent meeting.

To receive a report from the Managing Director.

The Deputy Managing Director CSC advised that the report provided an update on the corporate risk register and noted that following a meeting of CSC Management Board in February 2023, Members of the Management Board (which included the LA Directors and CSC SMT), recommended to Joint Committee to consider and approve the revised corporate risk register, attached as Appendix B. Members were then provided with some background and advised that a revised risk management policy, outlined how risks were reported in the Operational Plan and how they were then categorised into themes and considered how they should be treated. This approach was embedded within the annual governance cycle and progress would be included when the AGS was reported back, in May 2023.  It was then for Members to determine whether these changes should be made, following those recommendations. Following the fourth quarter of the business planning cycle, a review of the organisations risk register, in light of the revised risk policy, took place, and was provided for Joint Committee as Appendix A. The Deputy Managing Director CSC then went through the changes, that Members were being asked to consider.

The Deputy Managing Director CSC, noted in respect of changes to Risk 1, that she had previously presented to Members the view that EIG would be allocated through LAs for the upcoming financial year, as well as PDG allocations.  Since the report, WG had advised, this was no longer the case for EIG, and EIG would now revert back to allocation through regional consortia. The Managing Director CSC had since written to schools, highlighting that they would work with colleagues in WG and LA colleagues, over the next few weeks, to get those allocations out, as swiftly as possible whilst working with WG officials to iron out any consistencies.  Members were then advised, the changes to Risk 5, in particular in respect of the impact of action short of strike and industrial action on being able to assess the impact of grants in schools as well as highlighting, Risk 10, changes to the narrative, with regards to schools causing concern and a revised policy would be taken back through governance in due course. The Deputy Managing Director CSC then highlighted to Members the 2 new risks, that the CSC Management Board had proposed to be included, as detailed in Risks 11 and 12.

A Member referred to Risk 2, the Implementation of Curriculum for Wales (CfW), and asked about the impact of Covid-19 with regard to this.

The Managing Director CSC advised that covid had impacted schools differently, with some having time and space to do a lot of curriculum work, during lockdowns, and schools that weren’t. All schools had worked incredibly hard to ensure they were compliant, but the curriculum was not finished. All primary schools had started developing their curriculum, as clusters, and that was continuing to evolve. She highlighted that the danger was where schools felt they had done the new curriculum, because it wasn’t that kind of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

To consider any items, which the Chairman, by reason of special circumstances, is of the opinion should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.

None.