Agenda item

To submit a report by the Head of Learning.

The report of the Head of Learning setting out the outcome of the non-statutory consultation on the reconfiguration of primary school education provision in the Llangefni area was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

Having declared a prejudicial interest in this matter, Councillor Richard Dew withdrew from the meeting for the discussion and determination thereof.

The Portfolio Member for Education reported on the background to the matter, the stakeholder consultation events held and the recommendation for moving ahead based on a detailed analysis of the range of options that were put forward as possibilities. The Portfolio Member commended the report to the Executive.

The Head of Learning reported that an informal consultation process with parents, governors, and staff of the six affected schools in the Llangefni area was held in the period from 3 October to 13 November, 2016. Local Councillors, the Welsh Government and other stakeholders were also consulted. The main drivers for change are set out in section 2 of the non-statutory consultation report and while reducing the number of empty places in primary schools has been a leading factor for schools in other areas of the Island which have undergone or are undergoing a modernisation process this does not hold true for Llangefni where there is a shortage of primary school places. This accounts for why permission has been granted to place Llangefni in Band A rather than in Bands B or C of the 21st Century Schools Scheme. The Officer referred to the substance of the responses from each of the six schools the greater percentage of which has come from Ysgol Bodffordd and from Ysgol Talwrn. A petition by parents of pupils at Ysgol Talwrn has also been received via the full Council meeting on 15 December, 2016. Among the issues highlighted in the stakeholder response were the advantages of smaller schools; the centrality of smaller schools in community life; the importance of the schools to the Welsh language in the area and the community use of the school buildings. Additionally young people from the Llangefni area were given the opportunity to put their views on the school modernisation proposals for the area and did so in an hour long session on 24th November, 2016.Their comments are summarised in section 11 of the report.

The Officer referred to the methodology used to evaluate the range of options and she outlined the criteria against which the options were assessed and scored. Two principal options – Options A and B in the report have emerged from the options analysis process and these are being proposed as the basis on which to undertake the formal, statutory consultation process on the reorganisation of primary education in the Llangefni area.

Councillors Dylan Rees and Nicola Roberts both addressed the Executive as Local Members. The former referred to the need to reduce the number of empty places as one of the main drivers of primary school reorganisation on the Island which he emphasised is not an issue in the Llangefni area where the opposite is true; he said that both Options A and B involve the closure of Ysgol Bodffordd and Ysgol Talwrn which the parents of pupils at the two schools strongly oppose as attested to in the report. Councillor Dylan Rees said that he hoped the Authority would prove itself to be the listening authority it says it is by taking into account the views expressed through the informal consultation process. In addition, the Welsh Government’s Minister for Education has recently announced new rules setting out a presumption against the closure of rural schools in Wales. Councillor Nicola Roberts (who cited an interest on the basis of her daughter’s attendance as a pupil at Ysgol y Graig) acknowledged the need to review primary education provision in the Llangefni area and said that the shortage of school places in the area needs to be resolved especially in light of added pressure from new housing developments. She sought clarification of the pupil numbers in the Officer’s report which she said differed from those issued in the reports by the schools. Councillor Nicola Roberts referred also to the announcement by the Welsh Government’s Communities and Children’s Secretary regarding the introduction of a scheme to provide 30 hours per week of free childcare for working parents of 3 and 4 year old children in Wales for which Anglesey will be one of the test authorities. She highlighted the fact that currently, the Authority cannot incorporate nursery provision within its school reorganisation plans because the method for assessing a school’s capacity does not allow authorities to take into account nursery school pupils only pupils of statutory school age. In light of the childcare scheme and the implications for capacity and provision in future she asked Officers to consider taking this issue up with the Welsh Government. She further made reference to the Safe Route to School scheme and sought assurance that the scheme will remain viable following the reorganisation of primary schools in the Llangefni area.

The Head of Learning said that the Authority is required within its plans to take into account the number of pupils in its schools as reflected in a census which is taken in January and provides a snapshot of pupil numbers at that time. She confirmed that school reorganisation plans are accompanied by a comprehensive traffic assessment which looks at the travel impact of reorganisation proposals on groups of children especially from a safety perspective. The Officer confirmed that the Authority had received support from the Welsh Government to implement the childcare pilot scheme and said that she would raise the issue of including nursery school pupil numbers in capacity calculations with Welsh Government Officials. The Leader said that the Portfolio Member for Education could also raise the matter by letter with the Welsh Government’s Minister for Education.

Councillor Llinos Medi Huws spoke to welcome the consultation with young people in the Llangefni area and said that she hoped this  would  be replicated not only in the formal consultation process regarding the reorganisation of primary schools in the Llangefni area but would also become a characteristic of consultation and engagement on future transformation plans.

The Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer while acknowledging that a number of factors need to be considered in coming to a determination on the model of primary school education provision in the Llangefni area emphasised that any plan needs to be affordable given that Welsh Government will only be contributing 50% of the costs with the Authority expected to fund the remaining 50%.A report on the affordability of the 21st Century Schools Scheme will be presented to the Executive in the New Year.

The Chief Executive drew attention to the fact that the school modernisation programme also seeks to ensure improved standards, consistency of education provision and equal opportunities for all pupils and while such decisions are not easy to make there are many factors in the equation.

The Executive considered and noted the information presented as well as the representations made.

It was resolved to authorise Officers to proceed to the formal or statutory consultation process when they consult on Options A and B as described in the report.