Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairperson for the Joint-Committee for the next two year period.

(The Joint- Committee’s Constitution states that a Member of one Authority shall be appointed Chairperson and a Member of the other Authority Vice-Chairperson – these posts to be alternated the consecutive term so that the chairmanship and vice-chairmanship alternate between the two authorities)

(The Chairmanship has been held for the previous two year term by a Member of the Isle of Anglesey County Council)

Councillor Caerwyn Roberts, Gwynedd Council was elected Chairman of the Special Educational Needs Joint Committee for the next two years.

To elect a Vice-Chairperson for the Joint-Committee for the next two years.

(The Vice-Chairmanship has been held for the previous two year term by Councillor Caerwyn Roberts, Gwynedd Council)

Councillor Llinos M.Huws from the Isle of Anglesey County Council was elected Vice-Chair of the Special Educational Needs Joint Committee for the next two years.

To receive any declaration of interest by any Member or Officer regarding any item of business.

No declarations of interest were received

The minutes of the previous meeting of the SEN Joint-Committee held on 14^th March, 2014 to be submitted for confirmation.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Joint Committee held on 14th March 2014 were submitted and confirmed as correct subject to the two references therein to Mr Darren Jackson being corrected to read Mr Garem Jackson.

To present a report on the activities of the SEN Provider Unit during the Spring 2014 Term. (Report to follow)

Submitted – The report of the Principal Educational Psychologist outlining the activities of the Provider Unit during the 2014 Spring term.

The Principal Educational Psychologist referred to the main considerations as follows –

•           The arrangements for administering assessment and review processes during the period.  At the beginning of the term, the administrative team had a full complement of staff and advantage was taken of that to respond well to new developments including the implementation of the new version of the ONE database.  In March, the Senior Administrative Officer who had been seconded to the post left, and returned to her previous post.  The office duties were reorganised in the meantime and the process of advertising the post to be filled until March 2015 was initiated.

•           With regard to the Specialist Teachers Service, advertisements were placed for specialist teachers in the area of language difficulties, communication and autism; vision impairment and hearing impairment.  A new teacher was appointed to join the language difficulties, communication and autism team to begin on a training course in September but external advertisement had to be placed for the posts in the other two areas.  The sickness absence of one of the two specialist vision impairment teachers had an effect on the service particularly on the other teacher who had to undertake the additional work.  The situation was exacerbated by the high number of visually impaired children transferring to the secondary sector in need of regular intense input as they required access to the curriculum through Braille.

•           With regard to the Educational Psychology Service, the report incorporated an analysis of the financial implications of the decision made in the previous meeting to arrange for the three assistant psychologists who work at present in the service to attend a training course in order to ensure a supply of qualified psychologists in the future.  Two of the assistant psychologists have secured a place on the three-year training course in Cardiff from September onwards, one without funding and the other on a funded placement.  The third assistant psychologist decided not to apply for a training placement and to continue to work in her present post with the Joint Committee for another year.  The report includes the cost of supporting two psychologists as trainee psychologist for the three year period.  The service will need to operate with 1.4 fewer psychologists for three years but it is felt that this is a valuable investment which will bear fruit in the future.  Some of the fieldwork of the two students will be carried out locally.

•           In relation to the training of the educational psychologists’ team, most of the psychologists, during the term, attended a course on the Person Centred Planning method of arranging meetings.

•           The data for Gwynedd suggests that fewer statements than normal were completed within the statutory period for this term.

The Isle of Anglesey County Council’s Special Educational Needs Officer confirmed that Anglesey’s figures with regard to the number of statements completed within the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To present the Joint-Committee’s pre-audited final accounts for the financial year ended 31 March, 2014.

Submitted for the consideration of the Joint Committee – the Report by Gwynedd Council’s Head of Finance incorporating a report on the income and revenue expenditure of the Joint Committee for 2013/14 along with the statement of the accounts in a statutory format which have been certified but not audited.

The Senior Finance Manager of Gwynedd Council noted that there were specific reporting requirements regarding the accounts and the audit of the accounts of joint committees as outlined in the body of the report.  He said that the documents were split into two as follows–

•           Income Accounts and Revenue Expenditure for 2013/14 along with a commentary on the main variances between the budget and the actual expenditure.  The Officer reported that the Joint Committee’s net underspend for 2013/14 was a £110,805.  When this sum is added to the reserve balance of the Joint Committee on 31 March 2013, i.e. £166,351 the total reserve balance is £277,156 at the end of March 2014.

The Members of the Joint Committee considered the information presented and asked questions regarding the expenditure under some headings including the increase in postage costs.  It was asked whether funding was available from the balances to improve office arrangements.  The Officers responded that effort has been made to modernise the office systems and that reducing postage costs was a priority.  On the other hand, confidentiality requirements must be borne in mind when circulating information and the medium used to do that along with the fact that some agencies conduct their business through paperwork.  In addition, although a plan is in place to reduce the Joint Committee’s balances, difficulties were experienced in the recruitment of individuals to specialists’ posts.  Therefore, efforts were made within the operational framework to relax the employment patterns to recruit staff when the need arises and to reduce the balances.  On the other hand, the Joint Committee could face cuts to its annual budget in the future meaning that it will have to plan for the longer term on a reduced financial basis.

Gwynedd Council’s Senior Finance Manager said that the joint Committee’s balances were one-off funding and that any permanent commitments should be made against the permanent budget.  The situation whereby the Joint Committee holds the equivalent of a quarter of its turnover of £1m in reserves is something to keep an eye upon although there could be specific reasons for that.

Gwynedd Council's Head of Education said that having reserves gave the Joint Committee flexibility and financial assurance that it can attract suitable individuals to its employ and also provide assistance in order to ensure that children have support as the need arises.

•           A statement of the accounts in statutory format certified but not audited.

Gwynedd Council’ Senior Finance Manager reported that the statement had been formulated and presented on the statutory standard format.  The accounts will be audited by the Wales Audit Office and the Appointed Auditor will produce an ISA260 report outlining the main findings of the Wales Audit  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To present the SEN Joint-Committee’s Annual Governance Statement for 2013/14.

Submitted – for the consideration and approval of the Joint Committee – The Annual Governance Statement for 2013/14 in accordance with the requirements of the Wales Accounting and Audit Regulation (Amended) 2012 which states that each Joint Committee must produce a Statement of Internal Control.

Gwynedd Council’s Senior Finance Manager reported that the Annual Governance Statement would be combined with the audited account to be presented as one comprehensive document to the meeting of the Joint Committee in September.

Anglesey’s Special Educational Needs Officer presented the statements formally to the Joint Committee and stated that it was based on the constitution of the Joint Committee which was last updated in 2014.  She suggested that in light of the expected proposed changes with the introduction of the Wales Government White Paper regarding additional learning needs, the constitution would need to be reviewed to ensure that it is current and fit for purpose.  In addition, the service level agreement with the two authorities needs to be revised in order to reflect any changes.

Attention was drawn to the fact that the Governance Statement had been designed to respond to the formal requirement for a statement of internal control and that the External Auditor had not made any comments on its contents in his audit last year.  It was suggested that any amendments to the constitution and / or the agreement could impact on the format and contents of the statement in future. 

It was agreed that members of the Joint Committee should receive a copy of the Joint Committee’s current constitution as a reference for the imminent review.

It was resolved to approve the Annual Government Statement for 2013/14 as presented.

ACTION ARISING: Committee Officer to circulate a copy of the Joint Committee’s current constitution to its members.

2:00 p.m. on Friday, 19^th September, 2014 in the Hywel Dda Chamber, Council Headquarters, Caernarfon (to receive audited accounts).

It was noted that the next meeting would be held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, 19^th September, 2014 in the Hywel Dda Chamber, Council Headquarters, Caernarfon (to receive audited accounts).