Loading
The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED: That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.
RESOLVED: (a) That the Forward Work Programme be noted; (b) That the Facilitator, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises; (c) That the progress made in completing the outstanding actions be noted
RESOLVED: (a) That the Committee note the report; (b) That a letter be written to Joint Trade Union to further clarify the allocation of funding on a un-hypothecated basis from Welsh Government; (c) That the Committee encourage the Cabinet Member and officers to meet with the Joint Trade Union to discuss concerns; and (d) That advice be sought on the appropriateness of the Committee inviting the Joint Trade Union to attend a special meeting of the Committee.
RESOLVED: (a) That the Committee acknowledge the work undertaken by officers of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Education, Welsh Language, Culture and Leisure to bring the regional school improvement service to a proper conclusion with all employment matters appropriately conducted; (b) That the Committee confirms they are reassured by the first stage of implementation of the new Flintshire School Improvement Service and are confident that the support for schools remains effective during this period of transition; (c) That the Committee note that the new model was still being embedded and acknowledge the importance of co-constructing the school-to-school element of the service with Flintshire headteachers to secure their engagement and commitment in line with the revised national guidance; (d) That the Committee acknowledge that the full cost profile of the service would take some time to be confirmed whilst the new model embeds, the final closedown costs from the host authority are received and the new National Professional Body starts its operations, replacing some of the functions which will temporarily continue be undertaken by local authorities; and (e) That the Chair, on behalf of the Committee write to the Senior Manager, School Improvement and Head Teachers involved in the Working Group to thank them for their hard work as part of the implementation of the new Flintshire School Improvement Service
RESOLVED: (a) That the Committee is assured by the report on the work undertaken by the School Performance Monitoring Group; and (b) That Members of the Committee contact the Facilitator if they would like to represent the Committee at future meetings of the School Performance Monitoring Group.
RESOLVED: That the Committee notes the contents of the report and is assured by the progress of the Young Flintshire Participation Model.
None were received.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.
The minutes of the meeting held on the 19 June 2025 were presented for approval. RESOLVED: That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: (a) That the Forward Work Programme be noted; (b) That the Facilitator, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises; (c) That the progress made in completing the outstanding actions be noted
The Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator presented the Forward Work Programme (Agenda item 4)which outlined the Committee’s current Forward Work Programme and progress with actions. It was confirmed that an updated version of the Action Tracking report had been circulated to Members prior to the committee meeting. Councillor Andrew Parkhurst referred to resolution (d) made by the Committee at the meeting held on 19th June in relation to the Specialist Provision and Additional Learning Needs (ALN) Funding, and asked how this would be investigated. The Facilitator agreed to follow this up following the meeting. Councillor Parkhurst referred to the current assessment of school condition and suitability data which had been shared with him outside of the meeting and asked why there was a difference in scores for suitability in this document and the Catholic Schools Consultation document. The Chief Officer said that she was aware Councillor Parkhurst had e-mailed the Senior Manager, School Planning and Provision with this query and would ensure a response was received. Councillor Parkhurst also referred to the cost of bringing the school estate to a good classification and asked whether he was correct in understanding that the costs to bring Saltney Primary School and St. David’s School, Mold up to a good standard was less than 1% of the total cost identified. The Chief Officer said that she would clarify this following the meeting. RESOLVED: (a) That the Forward Work Programme be noted; (b) That the Facilitator, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises; (c) That the progress made in completing the outstanding actions be noted
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: (a) That the Committee note the report; (b) That a letter be written to Joint Trade Union to further clarify the allocation of funding on a un-hypothecated basis from Welsh Government; (c) That the Committee encourage the Cabinet Member and officers to meet with the Joint Trade Union to discuss concerns; and (d) That advice be sought on the appropriateness of the Committee inviting the Joint Trade Union to attend a special meeting of the Committee.
The Chief Officer (Education & Youth) presented the report (agenda item 5)which provided an opportunity for the committee to discuss the recent correspondence to the Council from two Headteacher Trade Unions around the level of school funding in Flintshire. The report also included the response from the Cabinet Member for Education, Welsh Language, Culture and Leisure. Following the debate on this item the following actions were agreed:- That a letter be written to the Joint Trade Union to further clarify the allocation of funding on a un-hypothecated basis from Welsh Government. That advice be sought on the appropriateness of the Committee inviting the Joint Trade Union to attend a special meeting of the Committee. Councillor Parkhurst referred to the letter from the Welsh Government (WG) Minister confirming the 4% pay award and stated that the WG were committed to providing the additional funding to support schools to manage the increase. He asked if clarification could be provided on what this meant financially to the Council. The Facilitator suggested that this information be included in the School Reserves Year End report which was due to be presented to the Committee at the next scheduled meeting on the 25th September. RESOLVED: (a) That the Committee note the report; (b) That a letter be written to Joint Trade Union to further clarify the allocation of funding on a un-hypothecated basis from Welsh Government; (c) That the Committee encourage the Cabinet Member and officers to meet with the Joint Trade Union to discuss concerns; and (d) That advice be sought on the appropriateness of the Committee inviting the Joint Trade Union to attend a special meeting of the Committee.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: (a) That the Committee acknowledge the work undertaken by officers of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Education, Welsh Language, Culture and Leisure to bring the regional school improvement service to a proper conclusion with all employment matters appropriately conducted; (b) That the Committee confirms they are reassured by the first stage of implementation of the new Flintshire School Improvement Service and are confident that the support for schools remains effective during this period of transition; (c) That the Committee note that the new model was still being embedded and acknowledge the importance of co-constructing the school-to-school element of the service with Flintshire headteachers to secure their engagement and commitment in line with the revised national guidance; (d) That the Committee acknowledge that the full cost profile of the service would take some time to be confirmed whilst the new model embeds, the final closedown costs from the host authority are received and the new National Professional Body starts its operations, replacing some of the functions which will temporarily continue be undertaken by local authorities; and (e) That the Chair, on behalf of the Committee write to the Senior Manager, School Improvement and Head Teachers involved in the Working Group to thank them for their hard work as part of the implementation of the new Flintshire School Improvement Service
In presenting the report (agenda item 6) the Chief Officer (Education & Youth) outlined the changes made by Welsh Government (WG) which had resulted in the return of the delivery of the functions within the school improvement model to the local authority. An overview of the redeployment of GwE staff members and the work undertaken by the Regional Transition Board was provided. Work was still being undertaken by the host authority in relation to the final costs breakdown. Information was also provided on the development of the new National Body for Professional Learning together with an outline of the funding provided to schools by WG and the authority. In line with the information contained within the report, it was suggested that an update report on the cost model for the service be presented to the Committee at a future meeting. It was agreed that the Chair, on behalf of the Committee write to the Senior Manager, School Improvement and Head Teachers involved in the Working Group to thank them for their hard work as part of the implementation of the new Flintshire School Improvement Service RESOLVED: (a) That the Committee acknowledge the work undertaken by officers of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Education, Welsh Language, Culture and Leisure to bring the regional school improvement service to a proper conclusion with all employment matters appropriately conducted; (b) That the Committee confirms they are reassured by the first stage of implementation of the new Flintshire School Improvement Service and are confident that the support for schools remains effective during this period of transition; (c) That the Committee note that the new model was still being embedded and acknowledge the importance of co-constructing the school-to-school element of the service with Flintshire headteachers to secure their engagement and commitment in line with the revised national guidance; (d) That the Committee acknowledge that the full cost profile of the service would take some time to be confirmed whilst the new model embeds, the final closedown costs from the host authority are received and the new National Professional Body starts its operations, replacing some of the functions which will temporarily continue be undertaken by local authorities; and (e) That the Chair, on behalf of the Committee write to the Senior Manager, School Improvement and Head Teachers involved in the Working Group to thank them for their hard work as part of the implementation of the new Flintshire School Improvement Service
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: (a) That the Committee is assured by the report on the work undertaken by the School Performance Monitoring Group; and (b) That Members of the Committee contact the Facilitator if they would like to represent the Committee at future meetings of the School Performance Monitoring Group.
The Senior Manager for School Improvement presented the report (agenda item 7)which provided an update on the progress and learning from the School Performance Monitoring Group, which formed part of the portfolio’s school improvement process. The focus was to ensure that the resources of the Local Authority and the Regional School Effectiveness and Improvement Service for North Wales (GwE) were being appropriately directed to schools to support them in making progress and improving outcomes for their learners. Specific sections of the report were then highlighted to Members. RESOLVED: (a) That the Committee is assured by the report on the work undertaken by the School Performance Monitoring Group; and (b) That Members of the Committee contact the Facilitator if they would like to represent the Committee at future meetings of the School Performance Monitoring Group.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: That the Committee notes the contents of the report and is assured by the progress of the Young Flintshire Participation Model.
The Learning Advisor – Health, Wellbeing & Safeguarding introduced thereport (agenda item 8) which outlined the developments over the last year following the pilot. It was explained that the model would be developed further over the next year to incorporate improvements put forward by the young people. Sibella Fletcher from Castell Alun High School highlighted specific sections within the Annual Report and provided some background to the work of the governor representatives of all School Councils and Youth Council. Information on the Flintshire pilot and workshops carried out in schools was given together with information on the Young Flintshire project outcomes and positive feedback from the young people. Sibella answered a number of questions from Members who were impressed by her professionalism. RESOLVED: That the Committee notes the contents of the report and is assured by the progress of the Young Flintshire Participation Model.
The report (agenda item 9)was presented to the Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee but as there were sections relating to the Education & Youth Portfolio it was decided to include it on the agenda. If members had any questions with regard to the report they were invited to send them to the Facilitator.
There were no members of the press or public in attendance.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
The council hasn't recorded attendance for this meeting.
Lists the council's current councillors only. Co-opted members, officers and former councillors aren't shown.