Highland Council ECS Committee Minute 15-01-2009

Agenda

Minutes of Meeting of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee held in the Council Chamber, Council Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness on Thursday, 15 January 2009 at 10.30 a.m.

Present:

Mr W Fernie, Mr A M Millar, Ms L Munro, Lady M Thurso, Ms K MacNab, Mrs D MacKay, Mrs I Campbell, Dr A Sinclair, Mrs J Urquhart, Ms M Smith, Mr M Finlayson, Mrs M E Paterson, Mr C Fraser, Mr E Hunter, Mr D Hendry, Mr H Wood, Mrs E McAllister, Mr K MacLeod, Mr R A C Balfour, Mr L Fraser, Mr A S Park, Ms J Douglas, Dr M E M Foxley, Mr B Gormley, Rev A Glass, Rev D Kay, Miss C Burns

Non-Members also present:

Mr G Farlow, Mr G Smith, Mr R Greene, Mr A Rhind, Mrs A MacLean, Dr D Alston, Mrs I McCallum, Mr B Clark, Mrs M C Davidson, Mr G Rimell, Mr D Cameron

In Attendance:

Mr H Fraser, Director of Education, Culture and Sport
Mr R MacKenzie, Head of Support Services, Education, Culture and Sport
Mr I Murray, Head of Community Learning and Leisure, Education, Culture and Sport
Mrs B Dunthorne, Finance Manager, Finance Service
Mr B Hemming, Estate Strategy Manager, Education, Culture and Sport
Ms J Menabney, Principal Cultural Officer, Education, Culture and Sport
Mr J Allison, Principal Administrator, Chief Executive’s Office
Miss J Maclennan, Committee Administrator, Chief Executive’s Office

Also in Attendance:

Ms F Hampton, Director, Highland 2007

Mr W Fernie in the Chair

Business

An asterisk in the margin denotes a recommendation to the Council. All decisions with no marking in the margin are delegated to the Committee.

Preliminaries

Rev A Glass opened the meeting with prayer.

1. Apologies for Absence

An apology for absence was intimated on behalf of Rev D C Meredith.

2. Fèis Rois Presentation

The Chairman indicated that Rita Hunter, Director of Fèis Rois had retired after 20 years as its leader. Fèis Rois had grown into a significant organisation, delivering a wide programme of work and, as its leader, she had been involved in notable events, such as the Ceòlriadh concerts. Also, much of the Council’s Youth Music Initiative work had been delivered by Fèis Rois. Rita Hunter had been a key member of the original steering group that had helped the Council create the Blas Festival as well as the Blas Action Group which had made each festival happen. She had inspired many young people who had gone on to become some of the Highlands’ finest traditional musicians and, to mark this contribution, Dougie Beck, an accomplished piper, performed.

Warm tributes having been paid by Members, Rita Finlayson was then presented with a token of the Council’s appreciation.

3. Kingussie High School Presentation – Renewable Energy

Representatives of pupils from S2-S4 Kingussie High School made a presentation on their ambition to make their school as energy efficient as possible. In 2008 about £72,000 had been spent on electricity and oil in heating the school and, with potential future rises in energy costs, this could increase. The school’s fuel consumption was too high with fossils fuels accounting for 74% of the energy used. The school had been listed in the top 100 worst buildings in Highland for energy efficiency. Its insulation and efficiency was too low and the fabric of the building was poor. By becoming more efficient, resources would be saved and various aspects of education enhanced. Keen to improve the environmental impact of their school and with the help of a petition, pupils had lobbied for improvements and a wind turbine to meet some of the school’s energy needs was to be installed in March 2009. Further improvements could be achieved if single glazing was replaced, proper insulation was used and the heating system was more efficient thus allowing renewable energy to be used to its full potential.

In discussion, Members congratulated the pupils for their interesting and proactive approach. The impact of the school on its environment, bearing in mind its location in the Cairngorm National Park, was important. By “spending to save” significant improvements could be made, not only in Kingussie but throughout Highland schools. The Chairman welcomed the message the pupils had put across about how to mitigate the effects of climate change and support was extended to assist them with promoting their energy efficiency and renewable energy message and which might include a presentation to the Scottish Parliament.

The Committee NOTED the presentation.

At this juncture the Chairman introduced Robin Falconer, Wick High School and Lewis Munro, Plockton High School who had recently been elected as Convener and Vice Convener of the Highland Youth Parliament. Robin Falconer would be leading the youth parliament and representing young people across Highland, feeding back their views to Highland Council services and other public and voluntary organisations.

4. Successes

The Committee NOTED a circulated list of recent Successes in the Education, Culture and Sport Service. The Chairman, together with representatives of Lyreco, also presented prizes to the winners, runners-up and to teachers representing the schools which took part in the annual Lyreco Design Competition.

5. Revenue Budget 2008/09 - Monitoring

Prior to discussion of this item, the Chairman referred to recent press reports regarding cleaning services. He stated that, in consideration of the Service’s savings, there was no proposal for the involvement of the private sector in cleaning or janitorial services.

Returning to the Revenue Budget Monitoring Statement, there had been circulated Report No ECS-1-09 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport setting out the position for the period 1 April 2008 to 30 November 2008 and which showed a projected overspend of £982,000. It detailed the significant issues relating to projected budget pressures, including potential shortfalls in the achievement of the savings target, amongst which was the continuing reduction in school meal numbers. The corrective actions proposed, both in the medium and long term, to address the overspend included an embargo on expenditure which would not impact on front-line delivery and close attention being paid to ensuring appropriate staffing levels were in place for the August 2009 session.

Free school meals for P1-3 were to be introduced, as part of the Single Outcome Agreement, with the aim of encouraging healthy eating from an early age. However, in considering the downturn in numbers, an analysis of school meals uptake by age, together with the content and pricing of the meals, would help to identify at which stage numbers were lost. A breakdown of initiatives being considered to increase the uptake of school meals was requested and which could include inviting parents along to demonstrate the benefits school meals could provide.

In regard to the traffic-light indicator system adopted to categorise current estimates for devolved school budgets, additional information was sought as to the nature of those schools categorised as red. Concern was expressed that some may be categorised as red due to the nature of their buildings resulting in them being uneconomical to heat and light in comparison to the more modern PPP schools. However, it was acknowledged that revised projections were being prepared which would give a more accurate analysis behind any deficit.

The Committee NOTED the budget pressures outlined in the report and AGREED:-

i.   the corrective actions identified;
ii.  a report and presentation by the Catering and Cleaning Manager be
     submitted to the next meeting of the Committee examining the various
     factors affecting the uptake of school meals;
iii. consideration be given as to how best to present information to Members
     on those schools under category red in the traffic-light indicator system
     used for devolved school budgets; and
iv. a report on energy use be brought back to a future meeting.

6. Capital Expenditure 2008/09 – Monitoring

Mr H Wood declared a non-financial interest in this item as a Director of Caledonia Community Leisure Limited but, having applied the test outlined in Paragraph 5.18 of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, concluded that his interest did not preclude his involvement in discussion.

There had been circulated Report No ECS-2-09 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport on the Education, Culture and Sport Service for the period 1 April 2008 to 30 November 2008 and projected year-end estimates based upon the current approved Education, Culture and Sport Capital programme. It showed a projected underspend of £306,000 but detailed measures proposed to manage programme slippage.

During discussion, issues surrounding the options appraisal for pre-school and primary education provision for Greater Fort William area were explored. Amongst the points raised included:-

•   a new consultation process should commence given the time that had
    elapsed since the proposal had initially been raised and the demographic
    changes which had occurred.
•   the need to move forward the project expediently.
•   the existing Upper Achintore site was perceived as an unsuitable option.
•   a neutral site acceptable to both the Caol and Banavie communities was
    requested as a number of the options detailed in the Consultant’s
    specification had previously been ruled out.
•   it was important to secure capital receipts for sites which were no longer
    required.
•   consideration be given to two new potential sites which had now become
    available.
•   if successful the mechanism to provide Nursery and Pre-School provision
    could be used as a model elsewhere in the Highland Council area.
•   the consultant’s brief take count of other issues including the potential for
    business development and housing in the area as referred to in the Draft
    West Highlands and Islands Local Plan.

The Committee NOTED:-

i.   the report;
ii. that the three year contract for installation of dust extraction systems had
     been awarded and would start with full installations at four secondary
     schools;
iii. that the installation programme would be managed by Education, Culture
     and Sport officials in consultation with practitioner groups;
iv. the points raised in relation to the options appraisal for educational
     provision for Pre School and Primary Education in the Greater Fort William
     area;

and AGREED:-

v.   emergency repairs to Poolewe Swimming Pool;
vi. repairs to Queens Park Athletics Stadium and Track;
vii. the multi agency development of Lochaline Primary School;
viii.the appointment of consultants to identify the future needs for pre-school
     and primary education provision within the Greater Fort William area and
     that the brief take into account the Draft West Highlands and Islands Local
     Plan in relation to the expected changes in the whole dynamic of Fort
     William;
ix. the Major Fabric Improvement Allocation discussion and reporting process;
x.   that Members be informed of the source of the £50,000 allocated for
      Gaelic Signage to Schools; and
xi. that, as the building construction part of the PPP2 contract was largely
      completed to the agreed timescales, future reporting to Members be
      reduced to twice yearly, with the first report due in March 2009.

7. Determining Primary School Capacities

There had been circulated Report No ECS-3-09 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport setting out a framework for determining Primary School capacities that could be used both internally and externally and which reflected both current legislative requirements and Government policy and guidance. In calculating capacity it would be necessary to determine which rooms/spaces would be taken into account and a proposal as to what should be included/excluded had been made.

The Committee AGREED:-

i.   the determination of educational rooms/spaces to be taken into account
     when deciding school capacity figures, as detailed in Annex 1, Section A,
    of the report;
ii. the planning capacity figure to be used for the purposes of investment
     planning, statutory performance indicators and informing decisions relating
     to developer contributions;
iii. the working capacity figure to be used to inform decisions relating to
     placing requests;
iv. that individual Head Teachers, in conjunction with Area Business Support
     Officers, be responsible for completing the template exemplified in Annex
     2 of the report; and
v.   that the resultant information be published on the Council’s website
      thereby making it available to all relevant stakeholders.

8. Fourth Employee Survey 2007

There had been circulated Report No ECS-4-09 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport providing Members with an update on the actions being taken by the Education, Culture and Sport Service in response to the findings of the fourth Employee Survey carried out during November and December 2007. Although some progress had been made, there was still room for further improvement and details were provided as to how this was to be achieved.

To monitor the effect of the proposed measures, regular updates were requested detailing what had actually been achieved. It was also suggested that pupils themselves be asked, as service users, for their views although it was pointed out that a Senior Pupils Interaction for Consultation Event had already been held in September 2008 and which it was hoped to repeat on an annual basis. Some statistics relating to stress and morale gave particular concern and a more detailed breakdown, including the different elements of the Service, might help to identify causes.

The Committee AGREED:-

i.   the proposals for developing Education, Culture and Sport Service specific
     improvements as outlined in the report;
ii. progress reports on the effects of the various proposals be submitted to a
    future meeting of the Committee;
iii. that future surveys seek a more detailed breakdown of the issues
    impacting on stress and morale; and
iv. a further breakdown of the survey’s findings into the various elements of
     the Service be provided to Members.

9. Highland 2007 Evaluation

There had been circulated Report No ECS-5-09 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport presenting the findings of the independent evaluation of Highland 2007 undertaken by the Centre for Cultural Policy Research within Glasgow University. The report highlighted some of the key successes and lessons learned from managing and delivering Scotland’s first themed year. In particular, Highland 2007 had demonstrated exemplary public sector partnership working and, as a result of attracting £13.1m in funding, a more ambitious programme had been delivered than had initially been anticipated. It had also had a considerable economic impact which was likely to have a continuous positive effect for years to come.
In acknowledging the lessons to be learnt from Highland 2007, the overall positive impact and the lasting legacy of Highland 2007 were welcomed and Members expressed their appreciation of the effort made by all the agencies involved. However, given the estimated number of additional day visits reported, concern was expressed at what appeared to be a low level of additional overnight stays and associated expenditure. Further investigation of these statistics was requested.

The Committee:-

i.   NOTED the contents of the report;
ii. AGREED that clarification be sought on the number of additional day visits
    which translated into overnight stays by non residents of the Highlands and
    Islands and the expenditure associated with these additional visitors.

10. Inverness Leisure Revenue Funding

Inverness Leisure received a management fee of £900,000 from the Council for the operation of the facilities which comprised Inverness Leisure. The second three year funding agreement with Inverness Leisure was to come to an end on 31 March 2009. In this connection, there had been circulated Report No ECS-6-09 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport regarding a projected deficit at the end of financial year 2008/09 for Inverness Leisure which had arisen as a result of unforeseen rising costs, primarily in utilities, despite user numbers having improved significantly.

The Committee NOTED:-

i.   the improvement in the performance of Inverness Leisure over the past six
     years;
ii. the challenge posed by increased utility costs;
iii. the ongoing calculations regarding income interruption insurance and the
    Council’s management fee for 2008/09;

and AGREED:-

iv. to relax the previously agreed criteria of the Loch Ness and Highland
      Horizons balances so that they could be used to increase this year’s
      management fee in recognition of the increased user numbers, which
      would address the deficit at the end of 2008/09;
v.   that officers continue to carry out the preparatory work for a further
      three year agreement with Inverness Leisure, based on a refreshed
      business plan for the facility and which would include reviewing the
      management fee; and
vi. that the rental terms and conditions for the “wet” facilities be agreed with
      the Director of Finance.

11. Minutes of Meetings

There had been circulated and NOTED, the Minutes of the Education Transport Appeals Committee held on 11 November 2008 and 11 December 2008.

The meeting ended at 1.00 p.m.