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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
AGREED – That the Work Programme set out in report COGC/73/25s be agreed.
AGREED – (i) That Officers be thanked for the report, recent improvements and the underpinning work over the last three years. (ii) That a further report be submitted in 12 months when further data is available to incorporate issues such as persistent absences, changes in demand, resources levels and alternative curriculum offers. (iii) That a workshop be arranged on this subject to take place in conjunction with the item returning to the Committee Work Programme.
AGREED – That the current members from Lifelong Learning Committee on the Groves Task & Finish Group be retained.
Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Dana Davies, Becca Martin, Alison Tynan and Robert Ian Williams. The Chair welcomed new Committee members Councillors Ronnie Prince and Robert Ian Williams.
AGREED – That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 16 July 2025 be signed as a correct record.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – That the Work Programme set out in report COGC/73/25s be agreed.
The Chief Officer Governance & Customer submitted a report (COGC/73/25s) to consider the work programme of the Lifelong Learning Scrutiny Committee. Members were reminded that a draft Work Programme for 25/26 had been considered and topics until December 2025 identified for approval. Further topics would be identified for post January 2026 at the December Committee meeting Clarification was sought in respect of the date of the next School Improvement Monitoring Group meeting. The Scrutiny Facilitator advised that this would be considered and fed back. AGREED – That the Work Programme set out in report COGC/73/25s be agreed.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – (i) That Officers be thanked for the report, recent improvements and the underpinning work over the last three years. (ii) That a further report be submitted in 12 months when further data is available to incorporate issues such as persistent absences, changes in demand, resources levels and alternative curriculum offers. (iii) That a workshop be arranged on this subject to take place in conjunction with the item returning to the Committee Work Programme.
The Lead Member for Education submitted a report (COEEI/24/25s) to provide information on pupil attendance and exclusions data. Presenting the report the Lead Member highlighted Wrexham’s commitment to the achievement of high levels of attendance as this was critical to achievement and positive transitions for pupils. The Chief Officer Education and Early Intervention (COEEI) reminded the Committee that since the Covid-19 pandemic, schools across Wales had experienced a marked increase in behavioural concerns and the local authority exclusion data reflected the national challenge. The Local Authority in partnership with schools had undertaken work in supporting and managing attendance as outlined in the report. The positive impact of the work undertaken was demonstrated in the sustained trend of improvement in the attendance rate over the last three years. However challenges remained in respect of attendance and exclusions. Members considered the report and asked questions. During debate the following matters in particular were noted: · Explanation provided in respect of the Fixed Penalty Notice process. Noted that should schools have concerns that a child’s attendance was increasing they could apply for an FPN as an intervention to improve attendance where appropriate. · Noted that staff from the ESW service worked very closely with school leaders and key personnel in schools regarding the policy, barriers to engagement and early intervention offers. · Noted that some interventions sat outside of Education eg. with Health Services. Support and intervention was a multi-agency approach. · The significant and ongoing impact of the disruption caused by the pandemic on learners. Noted that some learners were presenting with challenges that they would potentially not have had pre pandemic and some younger children were demonstrating developmental delays and additional learning needs. · Noted that all schools were asked to adopt the WCBC School Attendance Policy for consistency. · Noted that Community Education Patrols had not taken place past 2 years due to resources. · The improvement in attendance levels was encouraging and schools and LA staff were to be thanked for their hard work. · Noted that there was a correlation between schools with highest level of deprivation and attendance levels. · The impact of the financial challenges on both schools and the LA in providing support. · Targets and methodologies to address exclusions in schools. Noted that behaviours presented by some learners had led to the decision to exclude. The process to move to exclusion was set out. · Noted that a team of officers worked with schools in providing an alternative curriculum offer for pupils who struggled with accessing education in a mainstream setting. · There were various reasons for persistent pupil absence and ESW officers and schools worked together to understand the data to provide the right intervention. AGREED – (i) That Officers be thanked for the report, recent improvements and the underpinning work over the last three years. (ii) That a further report be submitted in 12 months when further data is available to incorporate issues such as persistent absences, changes in demand, resources levels and alternative curriculum offers. (iii) That a workshop be arranged on this subject to take place in conjunction with the item returning to the Committee Work Programme.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – That the current members from Lifelong Learning Committee on the Groves Task & Finish Group be retained.
The Chief Officer Governance & Customer submitted a report (COGC/71/25) to consider Membership of the Groves Task and Finish Group. AGREED – That the current members from Lifelong Learning Committee on the Groves Task & Finish Group be retained.
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