Wrthi'n llwytho
Y penderfyniadau fel y mae cofnodion y cyngor yn eu cofnodi. Bydd crynodeb mewn iaith glir yn dilyn pan fydd wedi'i ysgrifennu.
RESOLVED: The Committee agreed to exclude the Public from the meeting at this point. The Youth Council Representative left the room for this part of the item, and the recording of the meeting was paused. The Open Session resumed. RESOLVED that the Committee: · That the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations captured during the way forward ahead of Cabinet on the 18th December 2025.
RESOLVED that: That the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations captured during the way forward.
Apologies were received from Cllr Gunter.
The Chairperson reminded Members of their responsibility under Part III of the Members’ Code of Conduct to declare any interest in general terms and to complete personal interest forms at the start of the meeting and then, prior to the commencement of the discussion of the item in question, specify whether it is a personal or prejudicial interest. If the interest is prejudicial, Members would be asked to leave the meeting and if the interest is personal, Members would be invited to stay, speak and vote. The following declarations of interest were received in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct: Name Agenda item Nature of interest Reason for interest Cllr Robert Hopkins 4 Personal. Governor at Lakeside Primary which has an SRB. Carol Cobert 4 Personal. Governor of Bishop of Llandaff School including The Marion Centre.
The minutes of the meeting held on 7th October 2025 were approved by the Committee as a correct record and signed by the Chairperson.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED: The Committee agreed to exclude the Public from the meeting at this point. The Youth Council Representative left the room for this part of the item, and the recording of the meeting was paused. The Open Session resumed. RESOLVED that the Committee: · That the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations captured during the way forward ahead of Cabinet on the 18th December 2025.
This item allowed Members to undertake a pre-decision scrutiny on this issue, prior to its consideration by Cabinet on the 18th December 2025. This Item was split into two parts: · Part one was an OPEN session and Members were strictly required to only ask questions on Appendices A, 1,2,3,4 & 6. · Part Two was a CLOSED session and allowed Members to ask questions on exempt/confidential information in Appendix 5. The item started in open session, so Members were advised they must NOT refer to any Items in Appendix 5. The Chair welcomed: · Councillor Sarah Merry (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education) · Melanie Godfrey (Director of Education and Lifelong Learning) · Helen Williams (Assistant Director of Education and Inclusion) · Richard Portas (Programme Director for the School Organisation Programme) · Brett Andrewartha (School Organisation Programme Planning Manager) · Jennie Hughes (Inclusion Manager, Education). The Cabinet Member introduced this item explaining the continued demand and pressure for ALN places and the impact this is having on mainstream schools, and that the report reflected this. This is the first of three Cabinet reports to consult on proposals, and this is phase 1 of a wider plan to realign and expand provision for those with special needs in education. Phase one is to seek authority to go out to consultation to urgently progress the plans and aims to provide 462 additional places in specialist provision – 276 in Special Schools and 186 in SRB’s. This would include expansion of 4 existing Special Schools, 2 existing SRB’s, as well as plans for 9 new Specialist Resource Bases, by 2026/2027 academic year. The plan is for reports on the next phase being brought forward for consideration in early 2026, with consultation planned for Spring Term 2026. Officers also explained that this is Phase one of three phases and it is ambitious. It is linked to area action 4 of the Inclusion Strategy, which is a priority area, and these proposals relate to this. They thanked the teams involved for all the work that had been done to get to this point and the success of this collaborative approach with schools and thanked the Head Teachers and Governing bodies for their work too. It was re-enforced that the plan is to reduce the reliance on the private education sector and to improve educational outcomes. The Chair opened the floor to questions from the Committee. Members asked how decisions had been made on where the SRB’s would be based and the potential impact on parents moving their child from a mainstream school and Officers explained that they looked at all schools to identify surplus places to accommodate ALN provision across the City and then looked at need and geographical fit, and if there is a current SRB on site. 51 schools were identified, and this is in Phase 1 of the larger plan across the City. Local knowledge was then applied to this long listing exercise to avoid duplication, and a short list developed. Phase One is trying to deliver places as quickly as possible and plan is to provide a better spread across the City, as part of this. Members asked how different needs for different pupils would be accommodated, and Officers explained that children would still be included in mainstream schools where possible, and that schools have developed their skills and abilities to meet more complex needs, and that this would be considered as a priority. SRB’s would be considered where it is a better fit for the child, and their needs cannot be met in mainstream provision. Members asked about plans for additional staffing to support the additional spaces being created, and what the plans were for recruitment. Officers explained that they have created a Recruitment Strategy with schools for Teacher, TA’s and HLTA’s and numbers needed, and the Job Descriptions and Person Specifications have been reviewed to ensure the right fit is included. Schools have been worked with on this, so are aware. There are 3 strands to the approach: • Working with Comms to develop a Recruitment Strategy – This will be included on Social Media platforms – Instagram, Tik Tok, LinkedIn. • Locally, with CAVAC and other TA training providers, as well as Cardiff Met have been contacted to raise awareness of the posts. • Working with Special Schools to arrange for placements. Officers explained it is a lot of work that has taken place in a short space of time, it is ambitious, but there is support from schools and Head Teachers and is a real collaborative model. Members asked if there was further scope to explain the longer-term plan and strategy in the report, as it would be helpful to see the bigger picture. Officers explained that the report only referenced schools they have already spoken to, as part of the modelling exercise, and that other schools would be involved further down the line. It was explained that there is a structured approach, but it is a tricky balance. Members asked for an insight into whether the numbers of places created at Phase One would meet demand, and if not when that might be. Officers explained that there is a lot of data available and there is quality assurance of that data taking place, with the plan to review the April 2026 data against the April 2025 data, so that there is a level of assurance for the pitch. It was also explained that Phase One is focussing on extra spaces in the Specialist Sector, but that the longer term plan is to be more agile with bases co-located on mainstream sites, to allow for an increase and decrease in numbers of ALN spaces available, but to build in regular reviews of this, to move to a responsive agile system linked to the Inclusion Strategy. Members asked for clarification on the financial implications of these changes, and Officers explained that the Revenue implications for places and cost of borrowing for Capital were considered as part of the existing budgets and that the model relied on the release of funds currently paid for external places for this to work. SOP reserves had been earmarked for some projects within this. They assured Members that the financial model worked within existing budgets, and that more information on this could be provided when this is available. They also confirmed that funding from Welsh Government through the ‘Sustainable Communities for Learning’ funding would support this and accounted for 75% of it, which is included in the financial model, with assurances from Welsh Government that this will be available. Members also asked for reassurances that mainstream schools would not be negatively impacted by increasing spaces in SRB’s/Special Schools and taking those children from mainstream places, and Officers explained that the proposals under Phase One seek to alleviate pressure on mainstream schools and budgets for ALN provision. There is some ’churn’ expected from mainstream schools to special schools, as well as ‘Out of County’ places to ‘In County’. There are no assurances that this will improve school budget deficits, but this will reduce the pressure exerted through demand for ALN provision and improve outcomes for children who are in the right provision. Members asked when the cost of ‘Out of County’ and Independent provision might reduce and Officers explained that the financial model shows this would increase in the Independent sector initially but should reduce within the next few years. It is a complex picture and there are 3 areas of impact: ‘Out of County’ provision reduced; ALN places moving from mainstream to Special Schools; Future increased demand for ALN spaces. It is a balancing act, and Officers reiterated that it is about the right provision rather than being financially driven. However, by reducing ‘Out of County’ provision costs, which are predicted to rise by £6 million per year at the current rate, growth in that area is also reduced as well as spend. Members thanked Officers for the content and detail of the report and asked about early intervention and a more ‘umbrella’ approach to ALN support, especially around Speech and Language support and links to non-formal assessments. Officers explained that this was an important part of the Inclusion Strategy and specialist teams have worked with mainstream schools to embed these skills and knowledge, especially around autism and Speech and Language, WELLCOMM, Speech Links and Language Links. There has also been work done through a pilot with Speech and Language teams to look at possible additional needs and threats of exclusion. Members asked about the situation regarding numbers of schools in Condition C and if this will continue through the 3 phases of the plan. Officers explained that there is only one school currently in Condition C, but it is an ever-changing picture with school buildings, and this will continue to be monitored and reviewed as part of the asset programme. Members commented on the value of having an SRB on the site of a mainstream school, as at Cantorian and Cathays, so that children with Additional Needs can be part of mainstream lessons where that fits their needs and part of the SRB too, and Officers agreed. The Chair explained that for Part Two on this item, that the Committee was required to consider Appendix 5 in a closed session. Appendix 5 to this report is exempt from publication on the basis that it is exempt from disclosure as it contains information pursuant to paragraph 16 of schedule 12a of the Local Government Act 1972 and therefore must be considered as a confidential item. RESOLVED: The Committee agreed to exclude the Public from the meeting at this point. The Youth Council Representative left the room for this part of the item, and the recording of the meeting was paused. The Open Session resumed. RESOLVED that the Committee: · That the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations captured during the way forward ahead of Cabinet on the 18th December 2025.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED that: That the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations captured during the way forward.
This agenda item was to provide Members with details of any objections received to the statutory notice published and any changes to the proposal based on this. Members were asked to note that there were zero returns/objections, and the proposal remained the same as last scrutinised. The Chair welcomed: · Councillor Sarah Merry (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education) · Melanie Godfrey (Director of Education and Lifelong Learning) · Richard Portas - Programme Director – Schools Organisational Planning (SOP) The Cabinet Member introduced this item explaining that this was at the 3rd stage and there were no objections. The Chair opened the floor to questions from the Committee and there were none. RESOLVED that: That the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations captured during the way forward.
There were no urgent items.
The date of the next meeting is 13th January, 2026 at 4.30pm. The meeting ended at 5.40pm.
Rhaid i gynghorwyr ddweud pan fydd ganddyn nhw gysylltiad personol â rhywbeth sy'n cael ei drafod, fel swydd, eiddo neu aelod o'r teulu. Mae buddiant sy'n rhagfarnu yn ddigon cryf i'r cynghorydd adael yr ystafell fel arfer a pheidio â chymryd rhan.
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