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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED That the surveys undertaken this year be noted.
RESOLVED That the current provision be endorsed for its effectiveness in ensuring that pupils are able to access appropriate provision of swimming tuition throughout their time in primary school education.
RESOLVED That the information provided within the Section 175 Audit Report for 2022-23, attached at Appendix A, be noted as evidence of the oversight of schools in relation to their responsibilities under Section 175 of the Education Act.
RESOLVED That the evaluations provided be noted.
RESOLVED That the Forward Work Programme be accepted, subject to the following additions: 1. That a report on the pressures that the Inclusion Service are facing. 2. That the Planning School Places be added for the November 2023 meeting. School Visits The Director of Education suggested that the School Scrutiny Panel visit Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi and Ysgol Caer Elen in the Autmn term of 2023. In response to Councillor Jordan, the Head of Democratic Services clarified that Councillors; Murphy, Ward, Skyrme-Blackhall and Tinley were members of the Schools Scrutiny Panel and Councillors Howlett and Cameron were the reserves. Mr Tom Moses’ term as the Parent Governor Representative had ended so a new one needed to be appointed. Councillor Howlett requested that he be removed from the reserve list as he has been unable to attend school visits recently. He proposed that Councillor Jordan is the new substitute. Moved by Councillor Howlett; Seconded by Councillor Murphy. The vote, undertaken by way of a hands, was carried. RESOLVED That Councillor Rhys Jordan replace Councillor David Howlett as a reserve member for the School Scrutiny Panel. Councillor Jordan requested that Ysgol Hafan y Mor be added onto the list of schools to visit as they were overcapacity and a Welsh Medium school in an English speaking community. In response to Councillor V Stoddart, the Director of Education suggested that Portfield School is visited after Easter 2024 due to the Head Teacher’s health concerns. RESOLVED (a) That the School Scrutiny Panel visit Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi and Ysgol Caer Elen in the Autumn term of 2023. (b) That Ysgol Hafan y Mor be added to the list of schools for the School Scrutiny Panel to visit. That Portfield School and Ysgol Hafan y Mor be visited in the Spring Term of 2024.
The Chair sought nominations for the role of Vice-Chair. Councillor Iwan Ward Moved that Councillor Anji Tinnley be duly elected; Seconded by Councillor David Howlett. Councillor Joshua Beynon Moved that Councillor Sam Skyrme-Blackhall be duly elected; Seconded by Councillor Bethan Price. The vote, undertaken by way of a roll call, was carried. The votes were recorded as follows: For Councillor Anji Tinley: Councillors: Huw Murphy, David Howlett, Rhys Jordan, Anji Tinley and Iwan Ward [5] For Councillor Sam Skyrme-Blackhall: Councillors: Mel Philipps, Bethan Price, Joshua Beynon, Maureen Bowen, Mike Stoddart, Vivien Stoddart and Alistair Cameron [7] RESOLVED That Councillor Sam Skyrme-Blackhall is elected Vice-Chair for the ensuing Municipal Year.
Councillor Marc Tierney who was substituted by Councillor Joshua Beynon Alison Kavanagh Rev. John Cecil non-elected Members with voting rights for educational matters.
There were no declarations of interests received.
Moved by Councillor Tinley; Seconded by Councillor Howlett. The vote, by way of show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED The minutes of the meeting held on 22 June 2023 were approved as a correct record
There was no public correspondence.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the surveys undertaken this year be noted.
The Committee considered a report by the Director of Education on the outcome of the School Governors Survey 2023 for schools in Pembrokeshire. The Chair welcomed the Principal Governors’ Support Officer to the meeting, who outlined the key points of the report and welcomed questions from Members. Clarification was sought by Councillor Beynon on monitoring the training of school governors and how they were appointed by Cabinet. The Chair noted that being a school governor was time consuming and this made it difficult for them to find time to do the necessary training. The Director of Education explained that there was a panel that monitored the appointments of school governors made by local authorities. When the mandatory training is not being completed then that governor is removed from the post. Training records were kept for each school governor but it was their responsibility to do the required training. The monitoring panel met every half-term to review vacancies which had reduced over the years. The Principal Governors’ Support Officer informed the committee that there were 134 school governor vacancies which was a 14.92% rate. Councillor Jordan praised the Governor’s Support Team for their help when he became a school governor. Councillor Howlett noted that there was a boundary review due for town and community councils which would likely lead to less councillors which would mean less school governors that could be appointed. The Director of Education recognised the work of Pembrokeshire’s school governors and there was an active recruitment policy for community governors as they were struggling to recruit town/community councillors. Moved by Councillor Jordan; Seconded by Councillor Howlett. The vote, undertaken by way of a hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the surveys undertaken this year be noted.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the current provision be endorsed for its effectiveness in ensuring that pupils are able to access appropriate provision of swimming tuition throughout their time in primary school education.
The Committee considered a report by the Leisure Services Manager on the outcome of the Schools Swimming Programme for schools in Pembrokeshire. The Chair welcomed the Leisure Services Manager to the meeting, who outlined the key points of the report and welcomed questions from Members. Councillor Jordan highlighted that Covid-19 stopped children from learning to swim for years. In response to Councillor Jordan, the Leisure Services Manager clarified that this swimming programme only covered primary schools and secondary schools ran their own programmes if any. All primary schools were taking part in the programme but some schools attended less because of budget constraints and not due to not being able to afford transport. Councillor Jordan made reference to ‘long course weekend’ and the utilisation of this funding. The Leisure Services Manager confirmed that they funded an additional swimming instructor but they would need to talk to the organisation to see if it could be used to fund a school to attend swimming lessons. The Director of Education clarified that funding for transport to swimming pools could be obtained through the PDG (pupil development grant) or private funds/events. In response to Councillor Ward, the Leisure Services Manager stated that the new 20mph speed limits should not affect the swimming instructors or lessons but it may affect the time to get there and back. Councillor Skyrme-Blackhall praised the work done by the swimming teams and suggested that members could engage with them to help with struggling schools in their area. Councillor Jordan concurred with this. In response to the Chair, the Leisure Services Manager said that no discrepancies between genders or ethnicity had been highlighted to him regarding swimming lessons but he could look into this. Councillor Price informed the committee that an external organisation based at Porthmawr near St David’s taught children life-saving skills and how to swim in the sea. The Chair stated that more people drown following a car collision than drowned following a car collision. Moved by Councillor Jordan; Seconded by Councillor Skyrme-Blackhall. The vote, undertaken by way of a hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the current provision be endorsed for its effectiveness in ensuring that pupils are able to access appropriate provision of swimming tuition throughout their time in primary school education.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the information provided within the Section 175 Audit Report for 2022-23, attached at Appendix A, be noted as evidence of the oversight of schools in relation to their responsibilities under Section 175 of the Education Act.
The Committee considered a report by the Safeguarding in Education Manager on the outcome of the Section 175 Safeguarding Audit. The Chair welcomed the Safeguarding in Education Manager to the meeting, who outlined the key points of the report and welcomed questions from Members. Councillor Tinley suggested taking ‘woman’ out of point 17 in the report as part of the domestic violence training because men could also be victims of domestic abuse. Councillor Ward concurred with this and noted that men who are victims of domestic abuse feel that they cannot come forward to report abuse. The Safeguarding in Education Manager informed the committee that the wording came from Welsh Government and she agreed to put it on their next agenda within their safeguarding and education group across Wales. ‘Women’ was put in the title because they were informed that 90-95% of abuse cases were against women. The Director of Education agreed to have this wording changed in their internal audit so it covered men and women. In response to Councillor Bowen, the Safeguarding in Education Manager stated that schools were being trained to monitor misogynistic behaviours. Councillor Tessa Hodgson the relevant Cabinet Member for Safeguarding expressed her concern that changing the language in the report could shift emphasis away from the domestic abuse cases reported by woman and this could lead to a loss in resources. Councillor Beynon concurred with this. In response to Councillor Howlett, Councillor Hodgson noted that most safeguarding referrals for children came from schools. She was concerned when children missed school and the workforce pressures against referrals. Early on preventative measures were essential before safeguarding concerns were raised. Councillor Guy Woodham the relevant Cabinet Member for Education & Welsh Language added that his main concerns were that safeguarding procedures were being followed correctly. When something went wrong it was important to learn lessons from mistakes and ensure that a robust policy was implemented. In response to Councillor Beynon, Stephen Richards-Downs Councillor Beynon queried the impact that cuts would have on the Council’s partners with safeguarding and the success of the boosting school attendance campaign. The Chair concurred with the latter point as home schooling had increased in Pembrokeshire. He added that there had likely been a cultural change with school attendance post-Covid. Councillor V Stoddart agreed with the Chair and added that some parents saw school attendance as optional. She agreed with the Director of Education that this needed to be challenged. The Director of Education stated that the attendance campaign was successful. It was advertised through local media and schools but school attendance levels had not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Pre-pandemic attendance levels were 94-95% and at the time of the meeting they were 86% in some areas. Schools were supported with this and they continued the campaign to follow up all unauthorised absences. The campaign was focusing on the social aspect importance of school. Extra support around attendance was provided during exam season. In response to Councillor M Stoddart, Cara Huggins clarified that there were late submissions from schools on their statistics. It was a live document and the overall score was 8.41 at the time of the meeting. Moved by Councillor Murphy; Seconded by Councillor Howlett. The vote, undertaken by way of a hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the information provided within the Section 175 Audit Report for 2022-23, attached at Appendix A, be noted as evidence of the oversight of schools in relation to their responsibilities under Section 175 of the Education Act.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the evaluations provided be noted.
Councillors Skyrme-Blackhall and Tinley left the meeting at this juncture at 11:28 The Committee considered a report by the Director of Education on the Education Quarterly Evaluation. The Director of Education outlined the key points of the report and welcomed questions from Members. In response to Councillor Bowen, the Director of Education clarified that school staffing decisions were made by the governing bodies of the individual schools. Schools are expected to balance their budgets or have a licensed deficit over a three-year period where they can return to a balanced and/or surplus budget. Due to school budget constraints, there had been an increase in referrals to the services and inclusion teams as cuts were being done to school support staff. Referrals to the pupil outreach and referral team had doubled post-Covid. The demands on Council services from schools meant the Council could offer as many services. They wanted to do more work on emotional issues at school when this was stopping children attending. Councillor Bowen praised the support team’s work as they were good back up for teachers struggling with pupils in school. In response to the Chair, the Director of Education agreed to get an update on school attendances next time. Moved by Councillor Murphy; Seconded by Councillor Ward. The vote, undertaken by way of a hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the evaluations provided be noted.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the Forward Work Programme be accepted, subject to the following additions: 1. That a report on the pressures that the Inclusion Service are facing. 2. That the Planning School Places be added for the November 2023 meeting. School Visits The Director of Education suggested that the School Scrutiny Panel visit Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi and Ysgol Caer Elen in the Autmn term of 2023. In response to Councillor Jordan, the Head of Democratic Services clarified that Councillors; Murphy, Ward, Skyrme-Blackhall and Tinley were members of the Schools Scrutiny Panel and Councillors Howlett and Cameron were the reserves. Mr Tom Moses’ term as the Parent Governor Representative had ended so a new one needed to be appointed. Councillor Howlett requested that he be removed from the reserve list as he has been unable to attend school visits recently. He proposed that Councillor Jordan is the new substitute. Moved by Councillor Howlett; Seconded by Councillor Murphy. The vote, undertaken by way of a hands, was carried. RESOLVED That Councillor Rhys Jordan replace Councillor David Howlett as a reserve member for the School Scrutiny Panel. Councillor Jordan requested that Ysgol Hafan y Mor be added onto the list of schools to visit as they were overcapacity and a Welsh Medium school in an English speaking community. In response to Councillor V Stoddart, the Director of Education suggested that Portfield School is visited after Easter 2024 due to the Head Teacher’s health concerns. RESOLVED (a) That the School Scrutiny Panel visit Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi and Ysgol Caer Elen in the Autumn term of 2023. (b) That Ysgol Hafan y Mor be added to the list of schools for the School Scrutiny Panel to visit. That Portfield School and Ysgol Hafan y Mor be visited in the Spring Term of 2024.
Councillor Cameron left the meeting at this juncture at 11:46 The Chair introduced the report on the Committee’s Forward Work Programme and asked Members if they wished to add any future items to the Programme. In response to Councillor V Stoaddart, the Director of Education confirmed that attendance on Fridays for schools will be included in November’s attendance report. Councillor Howlett requested that a report be added on the struggles that the Inclusivity Team were having as mentioned in item nine. The Director of Education stated that the Planning School Places report was completed ad could be added to the agenda for November’s meeting. Councillor Beynon left the meeting at this juncture at 11:50 The Committee noted the report. RESOLVED That the Forward Work Programme be accepted, subject to the following additions: 1. That a report on the pressures that the Inclusion Service are facing. 2. That the Planning School Places be added for the November 2023 meeting. School Visits The Director of Education suggested that the School Scrutiny Panel visit Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi and Ysgol Caer Elen in the Autmn term of 2023. In response to Councillor Jordan, the Head of Democratic Services clarified that Councillors; Murphy, Ward, Skyrme-Blackhall and Tinley were members of the Schools Scrutiny Panel and Councillors Howlett and Cameron were the reserves. Mr Tom Moses’ term as the Parent Governor Representative had ended so a new one needed to be appointed. Councillor Howlett requested that he be removed from the reserve list as he has been unable to attend school visits recently. He proposed that Councillor Jordan is the new substitute. Moved by Councillor Howlett; Seconded by Councillor Murphy. The vote, undertaken by way of a hands, was carried. RESOLVED That Councillor Rhys Jordan replace Councillor David Howlett as a reserve member for the School Scrutiny Panel. Councillor Jordan requested that Ysgol Hafan y Mor be added onto the list of schools to visit as they were overcapacity and a Welsh Medium school in an English speaking community. In response to Councillor V Stoddart, the Director of Education suggested that Portfield School is visited after Easter 2024 due to the Head Teacher’s health concerns. RESOLVED (a) That the School Scrutiny Panel visit Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi and Ysgol Caer Elen in the Autumn term of 2023. (b) That Ysgol Hafan y Mor be added to the list of schools for the School Scrutiny Panel to visit. That Portfield School and Ysgol Hafan y Mor be visited in the Spring Term of 2024.
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.
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