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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 be agreed.
AGREED – (i) That officers be thanked for the information in the report and request that reports include a summary/appendix providing benchmark data. (ii) That the Committee support a review of WESP related targets and the Chair write to Education Minister to pursue such a review.
AGREED – That Councillor Frank Hemmings be appointed Chair of the Lifelong Learning Scrutiny Committee for the coming year.
Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Alison Fisher and George Greenwood.
AGREED – That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 26 March 2026 be signed as a correct record.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – That the work programme be agreed.
The Chief Officer Governance and Customer submitted a report (COGC/56/26) to consider the work programme of the Lifelong Learning Scrutiny Committee. The Scrutiny Facilitator advised Committee that consideration would be given to scheduling items for the remainder of the year and invited Members to submit topic selection forms for any items of interest. AGREED – That the work programme be agreed.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – (i) That officers be thanked for the information in the report and request that reports include a summary/appendix providing benchmark data. (ii) That the Committee support a review of WESP related targets and the Chair write to Education Minister to pursue such a review.
The Lead Member for Education submitted a report (COEEI/12/26) to consider the progress made in relation to the Council’s Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP) 2022-2032 that was approved by the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles MS, on 20 July 2022. The WESP had been publicly available on the Council’s website since September 2022 in accordance with the Welsh in Education Strategic Plans Regulations 2019. Presenting the report the Lead Member advised that any recommendations from the Committee could be incorporated into the annual WESP submission to Welsh Government. He reported that the pandemic had negatively impacted the confidence of some English speaking families in choosing bilingual education. Furthermore, declining pupil numbers overall made progress towards targets challenging. The Welsh Education Transformation Manager provided the Committee with a detailed overview of the actions that had been undertaken during the six months that she had been in post and the progress being made in relation to the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan 2022-2032 as outlined in the report. Members were informed that positive progress had been made despite challenges. Members were invited to ask questions of the Lead Member and Officers present. During debate reference was made to the following matters: · Thanks to the officer and team for the progress made to date and the comprehensive report · Positive progress in areas such as increased Welsh medium enrolment in reception age pupils and the work of early years services and Flying Start · The importance of linking information to the WESP outcomes · Request for further information regarding ALN · Challenges remain regarding the recruitment of suitably qualified Welsh medium teachers · Congratulations on the service’s exemplary Estyn inspection report that included spotlights on good practice following the full Estyn inspection in December 2024 · Queried if it would be possible to track the progress of pupils who chose to attend out of county at Ysgol Dinas Bran. · Concern that the WESP targets were unrealistic. Support for a review of the targets with Welsh Government AGREED – (i) That officers be thanked for the information in the report and request that reports include a summary/appendix providing benchmark data. (ii) That the Committee support a review of WESP related targets and the Chair write to Education Minister to pursue such a review.
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