Agenda and minutes

Apologies as noted above.

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

None received.

To submit, for confirmation, the minutes of the following meetings :-

·           Minutes of the meeting held on 12 November, 2015.

·           Minutes of the meeting held on 17 November, 2015.

The minutes of the meetings held on the following were confirmed :-

·           Minutes of the meeting held on 12 November, 2015.

·           Minutes of the meeting held on 17 November, 2015.

To submit a report by the Head of Learning in respect of the above.

Submitted – the report of the Head of Learning in relation to the above.

The Principal Youth Officer reported that Wales Youth Service Strategy 2014-2018 recognises the need for the service to remain a strategic educational service and not be part of leisure provision. Within the strategy there is an increasing emphasis on placing youth workers in schools to support young people to remain engaged in education, remaining in formal education and training. The strategy recognizes three distinct fields which were highlighted within the report where services should be focused.

It was stated that the Executive at its meeting held on 20 July, 2015 granted permission for the Youth Service to undertake a consultation exercise on Future Models of Delivery. The consultation findings were appended to the report. Based on the consultation findings the options to be considered will include :-

• Appointing a full-time worker to be based in each secondary school, delivering a range of the priorities;

• A reduced structure of clubs, run by the School Youth Workers and a smaller team of part-time staff;

• The possibility of supporting smaller village communities to run voluntary youth clubs, supported but not funded by the youth service;

• To extend the role of the Alcohol Project Worker to include all Substance Misuse, and associated sexploitation that result from this abuse;

• To work with the Department of Education to develop more responsibility for Department of Education/Accreditation Development to be undertaken within schools;

• That a half-time post is created for an Engagement Worker to work with 16-24 year olds who are NEET, funded through the Engagement and Progression Grant. This to be reviewed within 2 years to decide if youth service needs to be further reviewed to bring this work into core provision, rather than other grant funded work.

The Principal Youth Officer further reported that Anglesey and Gwynedd have retained the largest network of small rural clubs, throughout Wales, however there has been a 17% decrease in the numbers attending a youth club between 2013/14 and 2014/15. This in itself would have been a driver for a review on how the authority is engaging with young people, and has prompted the service, through the work of the Transformation Board to start the re-structure by consulting widely with young people, and asking them what service they require, for the future. This will need to be coupled with the Authority’s agenda of identifying its priorities while implementing an extensive programme of efficiency savings.

The Committee considered the report and raised the following main issues :-

• The views and requirements of young people is paramount within the Youth Service;

• Questions raised as to how many young people attend rural Youth Clubs on the Island. The Principal Youth Officer responded that a decline in young people attending rural Youth Clubs is of concern and it was anticipated that consideration will need to be given to close a further 4 Youth Clubs this year;

• Questions raised as to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To submit a report by the Head of Housing Services in relation to the above.

Submitted – the report of the Head of Housing Services in relation to the above.

The Housing Strategy and Development Manger reported that undertaking the Gypsy and Travellers Accommodation Needs Assessment (GTAA) is a statutory requirement to identify the number of Gypsies and Travellers who need pitches now or over the next 5 years (residential needs). The GTAA is also an assessment of the need for transit pitches for Gypsies and Travellers who are passing through the local authority and have their main residence elsewhere. The study has fully complied with statutory guidance from the Welsh Government. As recommended in the guidance a Steering Group was established with Gwynedd Council and Anglesey County Council Members, Officers and membership from the Gypsy and Travellers community. The Group has met regularly to oversee the study. As required the evidence used in the assessment included one to one interviews with Gypsies and Travellers, secondary data including census and education records and records of unauthorized encampments occurring in the study area. The recommendations of the report for Gwynedd and Anglesey area were included as 6.2 of Appendix 1 attached to the report. The report concentrates on the recommendations which relate to Anglesey as noted within the report.

The Housing Strategy and Development Manger further reported that she has visited the travellers on the Pentraeth Road site on a number of occasions and spoke to people who live on the site. However, of the four households on the site, only 2 persons filled a questionnaire which the Welsh Government recommended that the assessment process should be used.

The Committee considered the report and raised the following main issues :-

• Profound concerns was expressed that the local community, local businesses and the gypsy and travellers community have not received ample consultation;

• It was considered that the County Council has not attempted to have any community cohesion with the local community and the gypsy and travellers community to understand their different needs and integration with the community;

• The residents of the Pentraeth Road site have expressed that they do not want to change their way of life;

• The report discussed at the meeting states that there is a requirement for 4 pitches; there are 7 caravans in total at the Pentraeth Road site;

• The residents of the Pentraeth Road travellers site were not aware of the Gypsy and Travellers representative on the Gwynedd and Anglesey Steering Group; they had told their local Councillor that they would like to see one of the residents of the Pentraeth Road site being nominated on the Steering Group;

• A site within the south of Anglesey would be favourable to the residents of the Pentraeth Road site if the Authority was minded to designate the site as a permanent gypsy/travellers site;

• It was considered that insufficient data was collected from the new age travellers on Anglesey as only 2 questionnaires had been completed. Gwynedd Council seem to have been able to receive more data from  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To submit a report by the Head of Learning in relation to the above.

Submitted – the joint report by the Head of Learning and Scrutiny Officer in relation to the above.

The Head of Learning reported that the School Progress Review Group was established on the 21st November, 2012 by the Education and Leisure Scrutiny Committee following recommendations made by Estyn on the quality of Education Service for children and young people on Anglesey. The aim of the group is to assist the Education Service in improving the performance of schools on the Island, by increasing and developing local accountability for school performance and enhancing local members’ knowledge about key performance drivers and challenges that face schools on Ynys Môn. With the establishment of a new Scrutiny Committee structure during May 2013 it was agreed that Members of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee and the Partnership and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee would continue with the work of the School Review Group.

She reported that the Senior School Standards and Inclusion Manager provides guidance to the Panel about which schools should be invited to appear before them. A list of the schools which appeared before the Panel during 2015 was noted within the report. The Head teacher, Chairperson of Governors and the relevant GwE (Regional School Improvement Service) Challenge Adviser are invited to attend the Panel meeting to discuss attainment standards, inclusion issues, attendance and the management of resources which includes financial and management aspects. The smaller the school the more likely its performance will be variable, and this can vary significantly from year to year and affect its overall categorisation within the national model. A minority of schools experience difficulties in maintaining consistency of staffing levels due to maternity and special leave obligations, and its effects are more evident in the smaller schools.

Following the appointment of a new officer to the post of Senior School Standards and Inclusion Manager, a number of schools will be invited to appear before the Panel between January 2016 and December 2016.

Councillor K.P. Hughes said that as the Portfolio Holder (Education) his aim is to raise the standards of education on Anglesey. A number of schools on the Island have improved and the work of the School Review Group has produced evidence of improvement within the service.

The Committee considered the report and raised the following main issues :-

•     Questions were raised if there were difficulties in the recruitment Head teachers on Anglesey and whether adequate ‘production line’ of teachers are available and wish to be considered as Head teachers. The Head of Learning responded that difficulties are experienced to recruit Head teachers which is mainly attributed to the pressure associated with the post and sometimes the Head teacher might have to also be teaching in front of a classroom for 90% of the time;

·           Questions raised regarding schools learning and incorporating good practices from schools that are performing well. The Head of Learning responded that incorporating good practices and sharing experiences between schools is parmount i.e. a school performing well with pupils in ‘writing skills’  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To submit a report of the Head of Economic & Community Regeneration in relation to the above.

Submitted – the report of the Head of Economic and Community Regeneration in relation to the above.

The Chair welcomed Mrs. Sasha Davies, Strategic Director (Economy and Place), Conwy County Borough Council to the meeting. Mrs. Davies gave a presentation on the Regional Engagement Team as EU Workstream Senior Responsible Officer. It was noted that Conwy County Borough Council is the Lead Body during the 2014/2020 programme. A copy of the presentation was circulated to the Members at the meeting.

It was reported that the Regional Engagement Team will be in a position to ensure that proposed operations have the potential for integrated working across all funding streams, and where they may duplicate provision already in place or under development. The Team will have the ability to work strategically and seamlessly with the North Wales Economic Ambition board and its workstreams as well as other organisations across the region to facilitate understanding of proposals for European funds, and in particular how they contribute to the vision for concentrated, integrated investments targeting strategic priorities in the region.

The Business Plan is currently being assessed by WEFO and approval expected during February 2016.

RESOLVED to note the report and to thank Mrs. Sasha Davies for her presentation to the Committee.

ACTION : To receive update on the Regional Engagement Team at a future meeting of this Scrutiny Committee.

To receive a verbal update by the Chair/Vice-Chair.

The Chair and Vice-Chair stated that they attend the monthly meetings of the Chairs and Vice-Chairs of the Scrutiny Committees; the next meeting will be held on 25 February, 2016.

Members were reminded if they wish to include any item on the Agenda of the Partnership and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee to contact the Scrutiny Officer.

To submit the Work Programme by the Scrutiny Officer.

Submitted – the draft Work Programme.

The Scrutiny Officer outlined the items for the next meeting of the Partnership and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee :-

Annual Community Safety Partnership Report

Transformation of Cultural Services

Policy Document – Partnerships

The Scrutiny Officer further stated that an extra report will need to be discussed at the next meeting regarding the Communities First – Annual Report.   It was agreed that the meeting should commence at 2.00 p.m.

It was RESOLVED accept the draft Work Programme.