Agenda and minutes

County Councillor M. Groucutt was elected as Chair.

County Councillor L. Jones was appointed as Vice Chair.

County Councillor M. Groucutt declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest as a Governor of King Henry VIII Comprehensive School.

County Councillor R. Harris declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest as a Governor of Deri View Primary School.

Two members of the public were present at the meeting.  One did not wish to make a contribution to the meeting.  Also present was County Councillor David Jones of Powys County Council, and Mr. Geoff Burrows from Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) who were interested in the approach to scrutiny in Monmouthshire.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 17^th May 2018 were confirmed as a true record.

Purpose:

This report seeks approval to exempt all care leavers up to the age of 25 from paying council tax.

Recommendations:

1. To award 100% discretionary council tax relief to all care leavers aged  between 8 to 25 who are residing in the County.

2. To adopt the proposed relief scheme noted in 4.4.2 below

Key issues:

1. In October 2017, Torfaen County Borough Council became the first council in Wales to take the decision to exempt care leavers from paying council tax, effective from April 2018. Since then the Welsh Revenues Group and the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) have been lobbying Welsh Government to change Council Tax Legislation to exempt all care leavers across Wales.

2. To date the Welsh Government has decided not to update the Council Tax Legislation and have instead encouraged Council’s to introduce their own schemes under Section 13A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. This Act gives the Council power to reduce a liability for council tax in relation to particular cases or by determining class(es) of cases that it may determine and where national discounts and exemptions cannot be applied.

3. The Council has responsibility as a Corporate Parent to support young people in its care. In agreeing the Corporate Parenting Strategy on 6th June 2018, Cabinet agreed to ensure that young people in our care have the opportunity to live a safe, happy and fulfilling life.

4. In extending this relief to care leavers from both Monmouthshire and other Local Authorities this will enhance our corporate parent responsibilities and help to support all care leavers living in the County to move into adulthood.

Member Scrutiny:

The report was presented by the Asst. Head of Finance (Revenues, Systems & Exchequer) and Select Committee Members were invited to comment and ask questions. 

·         Members commended this small but worthwhile gesture. 

·         It was queried what other neighbouring counties do and explained that there is a mixture of approaches.  Some have introduced a scheme; others are developing schemes currently.

·         It was questioned if there was any impact on benefits or due to the roll out of universal credit.  It was explained that this exemption would be included after all other exemptions and discounts are applied.

·         It was also confirmed that the scheme would apply to care leavers from other authorities living in Monmouthshire.

Purpose:

The purpose of this report is to provide the committee with the opportunity to scrutinise andcontribute to the draft Monmouthshire NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training)Reduction Strategy 2018 -2021.

Recommendations:

1. The committee to scrutinise the draft Monmouthshire NEET Reduction Strategy 2018-2021 and make recommendations accordingly.

2.Subject to any recommendations made, Committee to endorse the Draft Monmouthshire NEET Reduction Strategy for submission to Cabinet for approval on 4th July 2018

Key issues:

1. This draft Monmouthshire NEET Reduction Strategy demonstrates our commitment as a Council to address NEET reduction in our county in order to create better opportunities and outcomes for our young people, through a partnership approach.

2. Committee have previously been made aware of the Welsh Government Youth Engagement and Progression Framework 2013 and the Authority’s responsibility to provide a delivery model centred on individual need. The six key areas of the framework are embedded in the draft Monmouthshire NEET Reduction Strategy and reflect added value whilst addressing the needs and aspirations of Monmouthshire’s young people.

3. The Strategy details a range of programmes to address NEET reduction which include

·         Inspire2Achieve which provides education and well-being support, qualifications for young people aged 11-16 years most at risk of becoming NEET; and

·         Inspire2Work which provides employability support, qualifications and work placements for unemployed young people aged 16 -24 years.

In order to meet the ambitions of the NEET Reduction Strategy, the Inspire programmes will need to be extended and additional match funding will be required. The extension will help sustain the reduction in the number of school leavers that are NEET and continue low levels of unemployment amongst 16 – 24 years olds. Without this additional match funding potentially 397 young people could be at risk of becoming NEET over the next four years. A report requesting the additional match funding will be presented to Economy and Development Select Committee for scrutiny on 19th July with a view to requesting a formal decision from Cabinet in due course.

Member scrutiny:

·         In response to a question about lessons learnt, it was explained that the previous strategy was vague, didn’t have targets and lacked reference to working with partners.  The new strategy has measurable performance targets that link to the Service Improvement Plan (SIP).  There has been positive feedback from partners and schools.  The Chair welcomed the inclusion of measurable targets.

·         A Member commended the policy to support young people who lack social and employability skills, and have limited qualifications.  Another emphasised the importance of finding out what the young person is interested in and for schools to engage with small companies to encourage employment/training placements.

·         Select Committee Members were reminded of the importance of celebrating young people’s successes and they were referred to Declan’s story on the Hub. http://hub/mcctoday/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=729

·         Answering a question about the early identification tool, it was accepted that there are some anomalies in the scoring arising from individual circumstances (e.g. due to unauthorised attendance) and noted that conversation with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Purpose:

This report seeks to provide Cabinet with an update on the statutory consultation exercise undertaken in relation to the proposed new delivery model of services for pupils with Additional Learning Needs and Inclusion services across Monmouthshire.

This report also seeks permission from Cabinet to amend the consultation timeline, allowing for an opportunity for further reflection on the feedback received during the consultation process and consider how this may impact on the proposed delivery model going forward.

Recommendations:

To approve the amended timeline associated with this statutory consultation process, which proposes that Cabinet take their final decision on 5^thDecember 2018 rather than 7^th November 2018 as originally proposed.

Key Issues:

1. On 7th March 2018 Cabinet gave approval for the local authority to engage in the statutory consultation process which proposed a new model for the delivery of ALN and Inclusion services.

2. The proposed new delivery model outlined the following:

Establishment of a new special school that will deliver the full range of provision required to meet the needs of children and young people aged 3-19 with ASD, SEBD, PMLD and severe learning difficulties within the County. The existing Mounton House Special School will close as a result of the proposal and form the site of the new special school.

The new special school will offer provision for a wide range of Additional Learning and behavioural needs delivered through multiple satellite settings placed across the County. The proposal will ensure provision is provided locally to children whose needs cannot be met within mainstream settings and require more specialist support. The existing Pupil Referral Service (PRS) will also be enhanced to provide a greater range of outreach support and provision for children and young people at risk of exclusion.

3. The consultation period commenced on 16th April 2018 for a period of 6 weeks, concluding on 27th May 2018.

4. During the consultation period, officers engaged in an extensive consultation process with the community and key partners. Consultation sessions with children, staff, governors and parents were undertaken for the 8 schools identified as being directly affected by the proposed new delivery model. A consultation meeting with staff and management committee for the Pupil Referral Service was also undertaken.

5. Following the closure of the consultation period, officers are now analysing the responses received and preparing the consultation report required to engage in the next stage of the statutory process.

6. The consultation process thus far has identified many positives and on balance shows support for the proposed new delivery model. The general themes around the positive feedback received were:

- The proposals will ensure equity across the county in terms of the provision offered for children with ALN and behavioural difficulties through the delivery of a single management structure

- The proposals provide greater opportunities for children and young people to be educated within their communities alongside their peers.

- The proposals enhance the support to schools through the delivery of onsite

inclusion centres,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Purpose:

1. The purpose of this report is to provide Members with information on the revenue and capital outturn position of the Authority at the end of reporting period 3 which represents the financial outturn position for the 2017/18 financial year.

2. This report will also be considered by Select Committees as part of their responsibility to,

• assess whether effective budget monitoring is taking place,

• monitor the extent to which budgets are spent in accordance with agreed budget and policy framework,

• challenge the reasonableness of projected over or underspends, and

• monitor the achievement of predicted efficiency gains or progress in relation to savings proposals.

Recommendations Proposed To Cabinet

1. That Members consider a net revenue outturn unspend of £653,000, an improvement of £694,000 on period 2 (month 7) outturn predictions.

2. Members consider a capital outturn spend of £46.8 million against a revised budget of £47.2 million, after proposed slippage of £11.8 million, resulting in a net underspend of £395k.

3. Considers the use of reserves proposed in para 3.7.1,

4. Supports the apportionment of general underspend in supplementing reserve levels as described in para 3.7.3 below, i.e.:

Priority Investment Fund £155k

Capital Receipts Generation Reserve £50k

Balance Invest to Redesign Reserve £448k

Total £653k

5. Members note that the low level of earmarked reserves will notably reduce the flexibility the Council has in meeting the challenges of scare resources going forward.

6. Members notes the extent of movements in individual school balances placing emphasis on schools to review the extent that recovery plans can be delivered over shortened timescales, and appreciates a net use of balances of only £94k instead of the original budgeted intention of schools to draw on balances by £877k.

Member Scrutiny:

·         A question was asked about school transport for one off costs and if this included inter school sports and it was confirmed that this refers to support for home to school transport on specific routes at a school’s request.

·         It was queried what lessons can be learned from the experience of Chepstow School moving from deficit to surplus budget.  The school was congratulated upon this changed position amid intense scrutiny.  Some redundancies were made last year and an expensive photocopying contract has been ended; a cheaper contract has been negotiated.  All secondary schools can benefit from the lessons regarding staffing, and early intervention to address savings when necessary.  Schools are also generating income e.g. through working for the EAS

In response to a question about the Chepstow cluster of schools, it was confirmed that the Chepstow schools work together but budgets are monitored individually.  The newly appointed business managers in the four cluster areas are working together to share ideas on contracts and other work; some savings are being made. 

With regard to supply of utilities, a benchmarking tool is available  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The Action list from the last meeting was noted; all actions have been completed.

The Children and Young People Select Committee Forward Planner was noted.  The following addition was noted:

Special Meeting - 10^th July 2018 at 2pm to include:

·         Scrutiny of support for refugee children; King Henry VIII Comprehensive School and Deri View Primary School invited.

·         Performance of Looked After Children.

·         Supporting People Report

Suggestions for future meetings:

·         A Pioneer School could be invited to attend a future meeting to discuss changes to the curriculum with representation from the EAS;

·         Changing role of Estyn;

·         New teaching and leadership standards;

·         Results from the Summer examinations including scrutiny of individual schools for their outcomes at KS4.

The Chief Officer acknowledged the significant changes are in progress currently and noted that, from this year on, national comparison data will not be available.

The representatives from Powys County Council thanked the Committee for the opportunity to observe good practice.

The Cabinet and Council Forward Plan was noted.