Wrthi'n llwytho
Does dim crynodeb o'r cyfarfod hwn eto. Caiff crynodebau eu hysgrifennu pan fydd y cyngor yn cyhoeddi'r cofnodion, sef ei gofnod swyddogol o'r hyn a benderfynodd cyfarfod. Maen nhw fel arfer yn ymddangos ychydig wythnosau ar ôl y cyfarfod.
Apologies were received from Cllr D Isaac, Cllr G Preston, and H O’Neill.
Cllr M Jones declared a personal interest in Item 5 due to her employment with an agency that places staff in schools.
The minutes of the meeting held on 8th June 2026 were approved as an accurate record.
Members received the Action Log and noted that all actions from the previous meeting had been completed. It was noted that the item on Attendance was scheduled for the 1st March 2027 and Members would have opportunity to potentially consider engagement activity through the WLGA at this time.
The Cabinet Member introduced the report and advised that schools continue to face significant financial pressures and that schools were forecasting an overall deficit of £1.23 million by March 2027. In response to questions from committee members, officers confirmed: · No further reduction had been applied to school budgets for 2026/27; however, previous reductions remained embedded. · Schools continue to review staffing, expenditure, and curriculum delivery in response to falling pupil numbers. · The school funding delegation rate was around 80%. Centrally retained funding is used to support services including school transport and youth services. · The budget-setting process remained at an early stage. Members’ views on education funding would be considered as part of that process. · Benchmarking is regularly reviewed and reported to the School Budget Forum. · Estyn recognised strong practice in medium-term financial planning and licensed deficit arrangements but identified benchmarking as an area for further development. · School budget pressures include rising ALN, staffing and specialist costs, falling pupil numbers, recruitment and retention challenges, and uncertainty over pay awards. · Many schools are heavily dependent on grant funding, which is increasingly used to support core provision and any reduction in grant funding would create a significant sustainability risk. · Birth-rate data informs the Council’s ten-year pupil projections and school-place planning, with an overall decline in pupil numbers. For September 2026, surplus places are approximately 18% in primary schools and 3% in secondary schools, equating to 12.5% across the school estate. · The school places plan would inform the estate strategy and asset management planning. Additional 3-16 provision is not currently a specific planning objective as the greatest surplus capacity is within the primary sector. · Where a new 3–16 school replaces existing schools, it begins with a new financial position, with the Local Authority having discretion over any existing school debt. In the example discussed, the new school opened with a surplus balance. Members noted the report and requested comparative funding and benchmarking information be circulated to Members.
The Cabinet Member introduced the report and advised the draft Bright Futures Education Strategy, replaces the Raising Aspirations, Raising Standards Strategy (RARS). In response to questions from committee members, officers confirmed: · Delivery of the Strategy will be reviewed annually, with the delivery plan setting out actions and KPIs to enable Scrutiny to monitor progress against the five-year outcomes. · Partners include schools, early years and youth services, Social Services, the College, businesses and community organisations. Schools remain central to parental engagement, with further work required to understand barriers and better align support for families. · A wider discussion on barriers to parental engagement, including attendance approaches and fixed penalty notices, would be valuable and this could be discussed when members consider the item on Attendance. · The broad goals and commitments in the strategy allow new headteachers and individual schools to determine how the agreed outcomes are delivered within their own context. New headteachers would be introduced to the Council’s vision and Strategy through induction. · The Strategy focuses on high-quality teaching and learning rather than subject-specific schemes. · Specific KPIs would sit within the annual delivery plan rather than the five-year Strategy, enabling targets to remain challenging, realistic, and responsive to performance and emerging issues. · The draft Strategy would proceed through the formal decision-making route to Cabinet and Full Council, with anticipated Full Council consideration in November. Members noted that, following Scrutiny consideration and the Member workshop, the new Education Strategy would be presented to Council for approval in November 2026.
The Chair referred to the Forward Work Programme 2026/2027, Members noted and agreed: · Arrange a Team Around the School Workshop. · Arrange a Site Visit to the new 3-16 school. · At the QTM agree the scrutiny focus for the report on SLAs (including links to Marmot Principles) The Chair advised that the next meeting will be held on 30th November 2026, to include the Annual Library Service Report and Service Level Agreements.
No Scrutiny referrals were reported.
Members noted the workshop held in 8th June 2026 which considered the new Education Strategy.
Members requested that the Scrutiny self-evaluation findings inform future effectiveness, direction and public communication. The findings would be reflected in the Annual Scrutiny Report, which would be presented to Council, with a subsequent workshop to develop Committee action plans.
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.
Caiff datganiadau eu darllen o'r cofnodion unwaith y byddan nhw wedi'u cyhoeddi.
Yn rhestru cynghorwyr presennol y cyngor yn unig. Nid yw aelodau cyfetholedig, swyddogion a chyn-gynghorwyr yn cael eu dangos.