Agenda and minutes

Apologies of absence were received from County Borough Councillors Smith and Wood and Co-opted Member Mr Booth.

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 Council’s Code of Conduct, there were no declarations made pertaining to the agenda.

To approve as an accurate record the minutes of the meeting of the Education and Inclusion Scrutiny Committee held on the 27^th April 2023 and 20^th June 2023.

It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the 27^th April and 20^th June 2023 as an accurate reflection of the meetings.

Information is provided in respect of relevant consultations for consideration by the Committee.

Members were reminded that following circulation of the open consultations being run by Welsh Government (WG) recently, there was one consultation, which they may be interested in completing.

To consider and agree the Education and Inclusion Scrutiny Committee Work Programme for 2023-24.

The Service Director Democratic Services and Communications presented his report which sought Members’ comments and approval on the Committee’s draft Work Programme for the 2023-24 Municipal Year. Members were provided with the background at Section 4.1 to 4.3 and advised that a revised programme was considered by Cabinet, which the Overview and Scrutiny Committee would consider in September which would feed back into this Committee. The Service Director Democratic Services and Communications then continued through Section 5 of the report, Scrutiny areas for consideration, and highlighted to Members that in considering any areas they may wish to amend or add to, it was important to identify where maximum value could be achieved, acknowledging that this was a particularly busy committee with a wide-ranging remit, so it was important to provide that focus and identify matters that could add value and form policy development.

The Chair thanked the Service Director Democratic Services and Communications for presenting the report.

Following discussion between Members and Officers the following amendments / additions to the FWP, were agreed:

Ø  Move the report on Estyn Recommendations from unallocated to the Autumn term;

Ø  Move the School Attendance data report forward, from the Spring term to the Autumn term;

Ø  Move the report on Post 16 Curriculum offer from unallocated to the Spring term.

Ø  Add an item on Travel Plans, to the unallocated.

Following consideration, it was RESOLVED to:

1.    Agree the issues for inclusion on the Education and Inclusion Scrutiny Committee’s Work Programme for the 2023/24 Municipal Year (as set out in Appendix A) with appropriate amendments as necessary;

2.    Request that the Service Director Democratic Services & Communications notifies the appropriate Cabinet Member and responsible Officer, of the matters identified for pre-scrutiny in advance of Cabinet consideration;

3.    Agree that the Work Programme be reviewed at regular intervals to ensure the items identified for inclusion are relevant and that any additional referrals are incorporated; and

4.    Consider, where appropriate, any items which could be presented to the Committee as Information Reports, to allow Members the flexibility to consider any urgent item or the  opportunity for some unallocated items already identified by the Committee to be brought forward for Members consideration.

5.    Consider and determine any other matter that Members may wish to scrutinise over this period.

To update Members on the establishment of a task and finish group.

The Service Director, Democratic Services and Communication provided Members with information regarding the report on a Task and Finish Group in relation to the report on School Modernisation – update on Band B Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme. The Service Director, Democratic Services and Communication took Members through the background at Section 3, noting in particular, that Members had received Estyn’s Report on Education Services in Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, at their meeting on the 20th June 2023, and highlighted the response from Estyn, at 3.4 of the report, before taking Members through the proposed way forward and next steps.

The Chair thanked the Service Director, Democratic Services and Communications for presenting the report.

A Member was fully supportive of the T&F Group but saw this as a two-track process, so the need for some kind of written report or analysis to compliment any visits.

The Service Director, Democratic Services and Communications explained that through scrutiny resources, it was hoped to capture and provide the feedback provided through the forums and then at key junctures, throughout that process, and feedback those findings to the Committee. He hoped from a scrutiny perspective it would be how the Committee could provide meaningful recommendations, so should Council ever consider taking forward strategic re-organisation proposals, that those were the issues they could be mindful of, and then it would be on the part of Cabinet, advised by the Director, in terms of which recommendations, all or part, that they adopted.

The Director of Education and Inclusion Services explained she was mindful of the fact that the Band B Programme was currently in implementation, so if the Committee was seeking an evaluation of the impact of this investment, then they should perhaps be looking at Band A schools as this programme had been finalised for a number of years. A robust assessment and evaluation of the issues, challenges, and benefits of the Band B programme at this point in time would be more challenging as these developments were ongoing.

A Member, having read the report, and noting Section 3.4 of the report, asked for clarification of the value of the T&F group, given that Band B schools were in the implementation stage now.

The Service Director, Democratic Services and Communications acknowledged there was always a challenge with scrutiny work programming that sometimes the ability for Members to have that broader understanding of some of the issues, was restricted by a Committee environment. The T&F group added value in terms of Members delving deeper, and so it was about approaching this with the view of seeking to develop very specific recommendations, to inform future proposals, would in effect be the purpose of the task and finish group.

The Chair suggested, it was almost starting with the end e.g., what does the group want to achieve, what are the learnings, etc., so it was absolutely clear, before embarking on that piece of work, whilst acknowledging the positive feedback from Estyn.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

For Committee Members to scrutinise and challenge the report on the Education Workforce Data.

The Director of Education and Inclusion Services provided Members with information regarding the update on education workforce data across the 115 schools in Rhondda Cynon Taf, and specific data relating to the Welsh medium workforce, noting this was a joint report with colleagues from HR, which drew on 3 key data sources. The Director of Education and Inclusion Services took Members through the background at Section 4, before taking Members through Section 5, in relation to the iTrent data, and provided an overview of teaching data (all sectors) as detailed in Appendix 1; teaching staff (Welsh medium) data in Appendix 2; and support staff data as highlighted in Appendix 3, before taking Members through the PLASC data, at Section 6. The Director of Education and Inclusion Services continued to take Members through Welsh Language Data at Section 7 before summarising the  conclusions at Section 14, of the report.

The Chair thanked the Director of Education and Inclusion Services for presenting the report.

A Member sought clarification about retention in core subjects e.g., Physics.

The Director of Education and Inclusion Services acknowledged that recruiting teachers for core subject areas was a challenge in both English and Welsh medium sectors, but particularly so in the Welsh medium sector. It was challenging to grow the numbers of teachers available, and she was uncertain how successful Universities were in meeting Welsh Government’s  ambitious targets for initial teacher education. The service was very cognisant that there was movement in the system, and the challenge was retaining staff.

A Member asked what was being done to encourage non-speaking Welsh school staff to take up opportunities to learn Welsh.

The Director of Education and Inclusion Services explained that as part of the recruitment campaign, HR had been going out to record people, in order to share their different experiences, and put those success stories on the Council website, to demonstrate how people can transition into different roles and sectors. As part of outcome 7 of the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan, which focuses on sufficiency of staff in the Welsh medium sector, we can see that there hasn’t been enough growth in this area. There is more to  more to do, to encourage access to the training that is available. There is a marketing sub-group, which promotes the message, alongside the re-vamping of the website to attract potential staff. There are also staff in the English Medium sector, that lack the confidence to teach in Welsh, but with the right support could potentially move to the Welsh medium. There is  lots of work to be done and it was going to be challenging to secure this growth in staffing, but there was a commitment to try and improve this aspect.

A Member asked how many times did children have a class where the teacher was not a specialist.

The Director of Education and Inclusion Services explained that the data, wasn’t collated but the Welsh Medium sector in particular have to be really creative about upskilling  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

For Committee Members to scrutinise and challenge the annual school admissions process summary.

The Head of Service Transformance, Admissions and Governance provided Members with a summary of the annual school admissions process, which provided an update on developments within school admissions in the admissions year 2022/2023 and application dates for the forthcoming 2023/2024 admissions year. The Head of Service Transformance, Admissions and Governance then took Members through Section 4, which  provided a summary of the normal/annual routine admissions, applications for the academic year 2022/23, appeals processes, late applications, parental responsibility, all through schools, the timetable for 2023/2024, waiting lists and admissions at other times. Section 5 then clarified in more detail the Welsh Medium transfers, with a breakdown provided. Section 6 then outlined the admissions for learners with special education needs, and the Head of Service Transformance, Admissions and Governance concluded with Section 7, which detailed the Fair Access Panel.

The Chair thanked the Head of Service Transformance, Admissions and Governance for presenting the report.

A Member sought clarification in relation to transfers from Year 6 to Year 7.

The Head of Service Transformance, Admissions and Governance noted there was parental choice, noting there was no such thing as feeder primaries, just associated schools, so this meant adhering to the statutory admissions code. This meant a child from Year 6 in an All-through school could apply to Year 7, in another school.

A Member referring to in-year transfers, sought clarification if these were internal transfers in RCT only, or included pupils coming into the county borough. The Member also noted in the case of secondary schools, the number of in-year transfers seemed high, and asked if it was known why.

The Head of Service Transformance, Admissions and Governance explained in relation to in-year transfers, that 51.81% were due to house moves, although there were other issues, but unfortunately, there was no legal right to ask for the reasons why. With regards to secondary schools, there was an in-year transfer officer, and when parents moved between schools, the officer met with parents, to try and understand the reasons, before the transfer took place.

A Member sought clarification around why people were opting to send their children to a church school, for example, rather than their associated school.

The Head of Service Transformance, Admissions and Governance explained that faith schools were their own admissions authority, and it was entirely parental choice, with parents often applying to 2 schools, 1 RCT school and 1 faith school.

The Member noted that it was difficult trying to plan strategically, when there was significant changes in numbers, and asked if there was any work that could be done.

The Head of Service Transformance, Admissions and Governance explained that one thing that had been done was to email all primary schools with their pupil number projections, in order to identify which secondary schools, the potential children they’ve got, so they could work closely with associated primary schools. The other thing that was done with secondary schools, when the admission process shuts in October, was to cross reference with faith  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

To reflect on the meeting and actions to be taken forward.

The Chair thanked Officers for their detailed reports and diligence in answer questions and thanked Members for their engagement and contributions, before reminding Members that the next meeting of the Committee was on Thursday 28th September 2023, and reminded Members to contact the Senior Democratic and Scrutiny Officer regarding the 'Food and Fun’ School Holiday Enrichment Programme, which would take place on Wednesday 9th August 2023, it they wished to attend.

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.