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.
1.1 Apologies were received from Councillor Cowles, Councillor Simons and Councillor Tew. 1.2 Councillor Richard Clark, the Executive Member for Children, Families and Education also gave his apologies.
2.1 The following declarations of interest were made: • Mr. Cunningham declared a personal interest as a Governor at St. Albans Roman Catholic High School. • Victoria Horlor declared a personal interest as a Governor at Ysgol Panteg. • Councillor Jones declared a personal interest as a Governor of Blaenavon Heritage VC Primary School. • Councillor Jones declared a personal interest as her Grandson attends Abersychan Comprehensive School • Councillor Seabourne declared a personal interest due to being a Pupil Referral Unit Management Board Member. • Councillor C Thomas declared a personal interest as a Governor at Nant Celyn Primary School. • Councillor C Thomas declared a personal interest as her Grandchild attends Cwmbran High School. • Councillor C Thomas declared a personal interest as a family member worked in Croesyceiliog School. • Councillor D Thomas declared a personal interest as a Governor at Llantarnam Primary School. • Councillor D Thomas declared a personal interest as his son attends Croesyceiliog School. • Councillor Watkins declared a personal interest as a Governor of Our Lady of the Angels Primary School and Cwmbran High School.
3.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 10th of July 2024 were confirmed as an accurate record.
4.1 The Committee noted the action sheet.
5.1 The Head of Resources and Planning gave a brief introduction to the report, highlighting the following areas: • There were fewer schools sitting at the lower end of the grades and categories for condition and suitability than in previous years, which highlighted recent progress. • The responsibility for maintenance sat with both the Local Authority and the School. • Maintenance schedules had been produced based on information shared by surveyors. These maintenance schedules had been shared with schools and clearly set out the work responsibilities of both the School and the Local Authority. • The funding for 2020 and 2021 had been high due to Covid-19. This current year there had been £500,000 allocated for maintenance of all Council assets. It had now been shared that there would be an additional £693,454 made available from Welsh Government for schools capital maintenance that would be spent in accordance with the priority list. • All grants were prioritised in order to ensure they were used within their designated deadlines. 5.2 Following Members’ questions and comments, the Officers made the following main points: • HoEDAM&P -Property Management Teams were present in schools each day. This allowed for a continual evaluation and assessment of maintenance needs. There was an updated and more structured annual assessment which takes place in advance of the upcoming year’s funding in order to plan an overall programme of work. • HoEDAM&P – All schools were aware of the property helpdesk. • HoEDAM&P - The priority list and work programme was built on a risk assessment system. The highest priority was identified based on the highest perceived risk, whether this was Health and Safety, Structural or Premises based. This schedule of work was agreed by Property Management, Education and the relevant Headteacher. • HoA&E – Suitability assessments were based on guidance supplied by Welsh Government which could be seen in the appendices of the report. The guidelines for classroom sizes were also included within this and all Torfaen classrooms were considered adequate. • HoR&P – The condition of the science laboratories within schools were an issue to be discussed in respect of long-term capital rather than maintenance. It was noted that there could be a further discussion regarding these concerns after the meeting. • HoR&P – New buildings were guided by accessibility regulations. In respect of old buildings, reasonable adjustments were made where possible to ensure no limitation to the education of disabled children. • HoEDAM&P – There was part of the work allocation budget that was specifically held for Disability Discrimination Act adjustments as a priority. • HoR&P – Reasonable adjustments consisted of work such as: adding ramps, lowering wash facilities and desks and adding disabled toilets. This work would be completed in conjunction with the Additional Learning Needs team and an Occupational Therapist. There had not been an occasion where a learner’s needs had not been met but it was acknowledged that this may require the school to be open and flexible in how they use their space. • HoR&P – If there was no money available in the budget to undertake Disability Discrimination Act work, this would still be done and money sourced from elsewhere. However, this had not been an issue previously. • HoR&P – There had not been any issues raised by Cwmbran High School regarding disability access. • HoR&P – The designs of new schools and those that had been refurbished had been thoroughly discussed with, and agreed by, the Leadership team within each relevant school. • HoR&P - Due to limitations it was much more efficient to have multiple sittings within a canteen rather than a big space which is unused for the majority of the day. • HoA&E – There was a heavy focus on multifunction spaces within the Welsh Government guidance as schools were smaller than previously. In light of this, there had been support and advice provided to schools on additional catering points to ease the strain on the canteen. • HoR&P – The information regarding the number of secondary and primary schools in each grade and category within paragraph 4.1.6 of the report would be provided to the Committee. • HoR&P – Due to the Welsh Government commitment to the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan target, it was expected that there would be an increase in Welsh Medium students. It was unsure at this point whether the cost of this capacity increase would be funded or partially funded through the Section 106 commitments in respect of new developments. • HoEDAM&P – With regards to maintenance responsibilities, the purple book was issued by Welsh Government and the green book was agreed between the Local Authority and Schools. Both books were shared with the relevant staff at each school. • HoEDAM&P - There had also been an informal Headteacher Subgroup running for the previous 18 months in an attempt to improve working systems and relationships between schools and the Local Authority around property maintenance. During these meetings the green and purple books were evaluated and discussions were held around the potential need to update them. • HoEDAM&P - The response time provided by the property helpdesk depended on the initial response time requested by the school when logging their issue. This could be as soon as an hour or as long as a few days. If it was felt this was not being managed appropriately a conversation could be held in an alternative forum to address this. • HoEDAM&P - The condition of buildings are both surveyed internally by officers and externally commissioned. Standard good practice for externally commissioned surveying was every 5 years. • HoA&E – There had been funding from Welsh Government which had been heavily invested in solar panels on school buildings. There had been planning undertaken on how to best spend the next allocated budget for energy efficiency. • HoR&P – There were funds such as the Shared Prosperity Fund that were available to schools to help fund their facilities. • HoA&E – There were Welsh Government Community Focused School Grants that were advertised to schools. Thus far there had not been a school application within Torfaen that had been unsuccessful for these grants. • HoR&P – The priority list for maintenance work was ranked in order of the impact on learning and health and safety, rather than being prioritised by the amount of time an issue had remained on the list. • HoR&P – The Governor checks regarding buildings were process guided and support for this was provided by site managers, School staff and Local Authority staff. • DoE – The Local Authority would support the establishment of a Site Managers Peer Group, and committed to attending such a forum, but ultimately it was the responsibility of the Site Managers to arrange this. • HoEDAM&P – There would be an increase in the Core Capital Maintenance funding across the whole Council of £5.7 million over the next five years. It was unsure how much of this would go directly to schools as this would need to be based on a prioritised list of all council assets. • HoEDAM&P - The work undertaken around security fences was of top priority, all schools that had not already been addressed would be addressed within the next 12 months. • HoR&P – There was an issue raised last year in respect of the funding formula and it was decided that it would be simplified as much as possible; however this could be revisited in terms of consideration for age, condition and listed status of school buildings. The funding formula accounted for a small amount of the overall budget. • HoR&P – CRAMP grants from Welsh Government were match funded by the Local Authority. • HoR&P – Officers were confident in the categorisations they submitted to Welsh Government each year, and as a result they did not see a benefit in reviewing the categories or grades of schools within Torfaen at the current time. • HoR&P – The information surrounding schools that had benefited from other Welsh Government grants, within paragraph 6.2 of the report, would be circulated to the committee in due course. • DoE – There was a high amount of support provided to schools and they were able to contact the Local Authority if they required any further support. • DoE – Conversations had taken place amongst officers regarding procurement and the suggestion from Members around multi-school procurement of equipment was a possibility in future. • DoE – There had not been any consideration into merging schools. • HoEDAM&P – The information regarding the progress of the work being undertaken to review the service level agreements between schools and partners who co-occupied sites, such as Torfaen Leisure Trust, would be circulated to the Committee. 5.3 The Chair thanked the Officers for their contributions to the meeting and they left the meeting. 5.4 On completion of their scrutiny activity, the Committee concluded by offering the following comments and recommendations for consideration: Recommendation 1 – Members were concerned regarding the size, availability and condition of science laboratories and cookery classrooms within some secondary schools, and stressed their importance to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) priorities. Members were also concerned regarding disability access across secondary schools and felt that the Local Authority (LA) could be more proactive in addressing these issues, rather than responding to issues once they were raised by schools. Members recommended that a more pro-active approach be used in order to address the issues above, and that pupil voice should also be a key feeder into any possible improvements. Recommendation 2 – Members recommended that a more graded approach be used for building condition and suitability assessments, rather than an overall whole-school grade/category, especially in terms of larger schools with buildings of differing ages/condition. The above would provide a full and accurate picture of the building maintenance that is required. Members added that those schools in the poorest condition should be re-assessed in order to confirm their grade/category. Recommendation 3 – Members supported those schools that wanted to improve their facilities in order to serve their local communities, which can also bring in much needed revenue or make energy savings, both of which could assist with future maintenance costs. Members recommended that these financial opportunities be prioritised, where possible. Recommendation 4 – Members agreed with officers that it was timely to review the content of the Green and Purple Books regarding schools’ capital maintenance, due to their age, and therefore recommended that these books be reviewed to ensure they are fit for purpose and up to date. Recommendation 5 – Members were pleased to hear that the LA would support the establishment of a School Site Managers Peer Group, in order to share best practice and potentially save money spent on external contractors. The LA made a commitment to attend such meetings; however Members also appreciated that it would be the responsibility of Site Managers to form the group and co-ordinate its meetings. Members therefore recommended that the LA informs School Site Managers of the above, and commits to attending the Group’s meetings, should Site Managers decide to establish a Peer Group. Recommendation 6 – Members were pleased to hear that the LA shared a wide range of information around potential funding avenues with Torfaen schools; however there were possibly some gaps in this process, e.g. the funding information available from organisations such as Torfaen Voluntary Alliance (TVA). Members recommended that officers explore ways in which to strengthen the approach to this area, in order to ensure that as many funding opportunities as possible are shared with Torfaen schools. Recommendation 7 – Members were concerned that the current schools funding formula did not take age, condition, listed status, etc of buildings into consideration, and therefore recommended that this be considered during the next budget setting process with schools. Recommendation 8:- The Committee stated that all Members would appreciate the opportunity to understand and offer views regarding the future funding and prioritisation applied under Sustainable Communities for Learning, and therefore recommended that a Member Seminar be organised in order to achieve this. The committee also made the following comments: In response to Councillor David Thomas’ suggestion to explore the potential financial benefits associated with school mergers (such as aged 3-16 school sites); Members acknowledged that all possible options should be considered in time; however this meeting was not the appropriate forum or time to raise it.
6.1 The SO presented the report and invited members to review the information contained in the appendices to the report and agree an item for scrutiny at the next meeting. 6.2 The Committee agreed to scrutinise Education Achievement Service – Mid Tier Review.
7.1 The date of the next meeting was noted.
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