Minutes of Meeting of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee held in the Council Chamber, Council Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness on Thursday, 6 August 2009 at 10.30 a.m.
Present
Mr W Fernie, Mr A M Millar, Ms K MacNab, Mrs D MacKay, Mrs I Campbell, Dr A Sinclair, Mrs J Urquhart, Mr M Finlayson, Ms M Smith, Mrs M E Paterson, Mr E Hunter, Mr D Hendry, Mr H Wood, Mrs E McAllister, Mr K MacLeod, Mr L Fraser
Ms J Douglas, Mr B Gormley, Rev D Kay, Mr A MacLean, Miss C Burns
Non-Members also present:
Mr D Mackay, Mr J Rosie, Mr D Flear, Mr J McGillivray, Mr A Rhind, Dr D Alston
Mr J Laing, Mr B Clark, Mr A Henderson, Mrs M C Davidson, Mr P Corbett, Mr D Fallows
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
Mr B Hemming, Estate Strategy Manager, Education, Culture and Sport
Mr T McCulloch, Quality Improvement Manager, Education, Culture and Sport
Mr G Watson, Community Development Manager, Education, Culture and Sport
Mr P Mascarenhas, Principal Adult and Youth Services Officer, Education, Culture and Sport
Mrs R Raynes, Senior Youth Development Officer(Achievment), Education, Culture and Sport
Mr K Allan, PPP Project Officer, Education, Culture and Sport
Mr C Forbes, Disability Sport Officer, Education, Culture and Sport
Mr R Campbell, Principal Projects Manager, Housing and Property Service
Miss J Maclennan, Principal Administrator, Chief Executive’s Office
Mrs R Daly, Committee Administrator, Chief Executive’s Office
Also in Attendance:
Mrs J Home, Chair of Disability Sport Highland
Mr M Sullivan, Head Teacher, Mallaig High School
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 D Kay opened the meeting with prayer.
1. Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Ms L Munro, Lady Thurso, Mr C Fraser, Mr R A C Balfour (OCD), Mr A S Park, Dr M E M Foxley and Rev A Glass.
2. Successes
There was tabled a list of recent successes in the Education, Culture and Sport Service. Since the list had been compiled, the SQA results had been issued and initial indications were that S4 and S5 attainment were showing the best performance in three years. A more detailed analysis of the results would be presented to the next meeting.
The Committee were also informed of the success of the Highland Team at the recent Special Olympics held in Leicester. Some medal winners were present and a DVD showing particular highlights from the Games was shown.
As it was the last meeting of Catriona Burns, the Chairman took the opportunity to express the Committee’s appreciation for the work she had undertaken during her year as Youth Convener. Robin Falconer, Chair of Highland Youth Voice, was also about to leave to study Community Education while Lewis Munro, Vice-Chair, was intending to continue his involvement with Highland Youth Voice for another year.
Thereafter, the Committee NOTED:-
i. the list of recent successes in the Education, Culture and Sport Service;
ii. the initial positive indications of the SQA examination results in Highland;
and AGREED:-
iii. to express their congratulation to Highland medal winners from the recent
Special Olympics and their appreciation to Mr C Forbes, Disability Sport
Officer, and Mrs J Home, Chair of Disability Sport Highland, for their hard
work and support given to the team; and
iv. to thank Mr Robin Falconer, Chair of Highland Youth Voice, and Miss
Catriona Burns, Youth Convener, who were shortly to leave office.
3. Recess Powers
The Committee NOTED that the Recess Powers granted by the Council at its meeting on 25 June 2009 had not been exercised in relation to the business of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee.
4. Revenue Budget Outturn 2008/09 and Monitoring 2009/10
There had been circulated Report No ECS-26-09 dated 25 July 2009 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport setting out the Revenue Budget outturn position for 2008/09 and the monitoring position on the 2009/10 Revenue Budget for the 3 months to 30 June 2009.
It was noted that the net expenditure position for the non-devolved sectors of the budget at the end of financial year 2008/09 was £631,000 overspent while, under the terms of the Devolved School Management (DSM) scheme, schools had carried forward a surplus of £1.754m. Surpluses of £0.30m and £0.093 had also been achieved on the Catering and Cleaning Trading Accounts respectively.
In relation to the issues which had affected the budgets, Members were informed that legal advice was being sought on whether or not to pursue damages from the facilities management specialist adviser in relation to the higher than anticipated rates payable bill for the new PPP2 schools and this would be reported to the next meeting.
The actions being taken to address those schools categorised as red under the traffic-light indicator system used to categorise current estimates for DSM budgets were also outlined and Members were informed that a school by school financial statement would be provided to the next meeting. Further, in relation to financial year 2009/10, an overspend of £0.254m was predicted but details of proposed savings to address the continuing pressures were also provided.
In response to points raised, it was explained that, although delays had been encountered in making a number of savings, this was as a result of ensuring coherent forward plans were in place in order to achieve these savings. Assurances were also given that the budget was under control and was subject to regular senior member scrutiny.
Thereafter, the Committee NOTED:-
i. the 2008/09 financial outturn position;
ii. the known pressures on the 2009/10 Revenue Budget as outlined;
iii. the progress being made with the achievement of budget savings as
outlined.
and AGREED:-
iv. the corrective actions identified within the report.
5. Capital Expenditure - Outturn 2008/09 and Monitoring 2009/10
There had been circulated Report No ECS-27-09 dated 24 July 2009 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport setting out the near final Capital outturn position for 2008/09, the monitoring position on the 2009/10 Capital Expenditure Budget for the 3 months to the end of June 2009, an overview of progress on Capital projects and information on other Capital matters.
Members were informed that, at the end of the financial year 2008/09, there had been an underspend of £0.175m which was a significant improvement from previous years. The 2009/10 programme showed an overspend of £432,000 but this was as a result of over-programming to accommodate any project slippage later in the year.
In addition, Members were informed of significant investment by the Scottish Government for the Scottish Schools Estate and the reasons why the current budget allocation for improvements work at Roy Bridge Primary School required to be increased.
During discussion, further information was sought in relation to the £10,000 grant for Resolis Memorial Hall from the sale of Newhall Primary School and it was explained that, when consultation on PPP2 had taken place, the community had indicated that, whilst welcoming the provision of a new Primary School, they still wished to continue to use the existing Hall. However, the Hall did require a public entertainment licence and an upgrading of its electrical supply, resulting in the proposed ring-fencing of the grant. Thereafter, clarification was sought as to the effect the award of this money might have on the provision of the affordable housing planned for the former school site and the merits of deviating from the usual policy of dealing with capital receipts.
The Committee NOTED:-
i. the content of the report and the progress made in programme output
achieved within the approved Capital Programme during 2008/09 and the
planned progress for the current financial year;
ii. that, to manage the overall Service Capital Programme for 2009/10 in
terms of both cash flow and project delivery, an element of over
programming had been introduced to the value of £1.363m as agreed
with the Finance and Housing and Property Services;
iii. Local Member involvement in the methodology in the Consultancy
Framework as agreed at the last meeting;
AGREED:-
iv. a Consultancy Framework Contract agreement for future Asset
Management options appraisal as detailed in the report;
v. the proposed budget revision for Roy Bridge Primary School as detailed;
vi. to make a request to the Resources Committee for the ring-fencing of
£10,000 from the capital receipt generated by the sale of Newhall Primary
School and that this sum be provided to the local community as a
contribution towards the upgrade of the Resolis Memorial Hall; and
vii. to seek clarification from the Housing and Property Service for Mr D Hendry
on the effect on the affordability of the property of the ring-fenced
£10,000 from the sale of Newhall Primary School.
6. Youth Work – Update and Future Development
Declaration of Interest
Mr H Wood declared a non-financial interest in this item as a result of a family connection, but having applied the test outlined in Paragraph 5.18 of the Councillor’s Code of Conduct, concluded that his interest did not preclude his involvement in the discussion.
Ms K MacNab also declared a non-financial interest in this item given her involvement in a youth work project but having applied the test outlined in Paragraph 5.18 of the Councillor’s Code of Conduct, concluded that her interest did not preclude her involvement in the discussion.
There had been circulated Report No ECS-28-09 dated 26 June 2009 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport updating Members on progress in implementing the Council’s youth work policy and setting the focus for future work plans.
In amplification, a presentation was undertaken at the meeting which detailed how the service was central to the delivery of a number of the Council’s Programme commitments and Single Outcome Agreement targets. The key areas of youth work were also outlined together with specific examples and detail of future focus.
The Youth Convener explained the positive impact which youth work projects had on young people’s lives and which resulted in them becoming active citizens in their community. She also pointed out that, because of close involvement with Youth Voice, resources were properly targeted which resulted in the best use of funds.
The Head Teacher of Mallaig High School also highlighted the youth worker role in a small community and detailed the enormous benefit which had taken place in his area as a result and expressed the view that it was a cost effective way of turning young people’s lives around.
In recognising the benefits which were being achieved, it was important to ensure an effective strategy was in place to include Looked After Children, particularly in the Feis movement, bearing in mind the correlation between academic attainment and opportunities to participate in cultural activities. There were already a variety of practical ways of involving Looked After Children and efforts would be made to ascertain current levels of opportunities offered to this particular group.
During further discussion, a number of additional points were made, including the need for Youth Workers to be readily available to young people and maximum use being made of external funding by encouraging and working in partnership with community groups and youth clubs to access funds otherwise unavailable to the Council. Examples of good practise were also cited, particular mention being made of the Youth Worker at Dornoch Academy.
Thereafter, the Committee:-
i. NOTED progress and examples under each of the five key areas of work;
ii. AGREED the future focus under each of the key areas;
iii. NOTED examples of good practice;
iv. NOTED widening expectations of the national agenda for youth work;
v. AGREED that further reports be brought to the Committee outlining the
developing local work and the national agenda and its impact on the
Council policies for youth work; and
vi. NOTED the need to ensure that Looked After Children could gain access
to Youth Work and, in particular, that the Chairman would investigate the
situation of Looked After Children in relation to participation in the Feis
movement.
7. School Manual – Revised Governance Framework
There had been circulated Report No ECS-29-09 dated 23 June 2009 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport seeking approval to extend the scope of the existing Devolved School Management manual and to introduce a revised governance framework for the extended document.
The Committee AGREED:-
i. the creation of a School Manual to replace the existing Devolved School
Management manual and that this document be available by June 2010;
ii. the principles and governance proposals as contained in the report;
iii. the review of the financial headings as identified in the report;
iv. the creation of the appropriate detailed administrative procedural and
guidance notes for the headings detailed in the report; and
v. that the School Manual should be a web based document which would be
reviewed and updated annually with appropriate procedures in place to
provide an audit trail of any changes.
8. Recent Actions to Develop Shinty
Declarations of Interest
The following Members declared non financial interests in relation to this item – as detailed below – but, having applied the test outlined in Paragraph 5.18 of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, concluded that their interests did not preclude their involvement in the discussion.
Mr D Fallows – Individual Member of the Camanchd Association, Life Member
of Newtonmore Camanachd Club and Chair of Badnoch
and Strathspey Coaching Committee
Mrs I Campbell – President of Kinlochsheil Shinty Club
Mr A M Millar – Life Member of Skye Camanachd
There had been circulated Report No ECS-30-09 dated 10 July 2009 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport on progress to implement the objective in the Council’s Programme to promote shinty.
During discussion, Members welcomed the positive developments which had taken place, including the increase in numbers now playing shinty. In particular, the support provided by Shinty Clubs in promoting and encouraging young players was recognised. However, further improvement could be achieved if young players could be encouraged to continue playing as they entered secondary education and if, during the selection process for PE teachers, their interest and knowledge of the sport was ascertained. Furthermore, the use of Gaelic in its terminology could enhance both the Gaelic language and the profile of shinty.
Thereafter, the Committee AGREED the details of the Service Level Agreement with the Camanachd Association as detailed in the report.
9. Curriculum for Excellence – Update
There had been circulated Report No ECS-31-09 dated 30 June 2009 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport on progress with the implementation of the Curriculum for Excellence and which provided further information on the implementation strategy, communication to stakeholders, the deployment of teachers for development as funded by the Scottish Government, the plans for a Learning Festival and an update on the next generation of National Qualifications.
Whilst welcoming the momentum of the roll-out of the Curriculum for Excellence, Local Member involvement in the process was requested. Some Members also felt that it would be beneficial for them to take part in the October Learning Festival in Dingwall Academy where it was intended good practice would be recognised and staff given the opportunity to draw on the experiences of colleagues.
The Committee NOTED the report and AGREED:-
i. that further reports be submitted as appropriate;
ii. the secondment model for the five experienced teachers; and
iii. that, when communicating with stakeholders and Parent Councils, Local
Members should also be involved and that they should be given details of
the October Learning Festival in order that they might attend if they so
wished.
10. Curriculum for Excellence – Policy on International Education
There had been circulated Report No ECS-32-09 dated 26 June 2009 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport detailing the Education, Culture and Sport policy on International Education which would further contribute to the enrichment of the learning experiences for young people under the Curriculum for Excellence.
Following discussion surrounding the delivery of modern languages in Highland schools, the Committee otherwise NOTED the terms of the policy as circulated.
11. Curriculum for Excellence – Draft Learning and Teaching Policy
There had been circulated Report No ECS-33-09 dated 26 June 2009 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which confirmed that the original Policy and Toolkit for Learning and Teaching had been very well received by teaching staff and other stakeholders and had stimulated a range of very good practice in schools. It set out the first revision of the Highland Learning and Teaching Policy which had been developed by the Curriculum for Excellence Learning and Teaching Group and which had been co-ordinated by a Quality Improvement Officer.
During discussion, and in recognising the challenges involved in the introduction of the policy, it was emphasised that the approach needed to be adopted through all stages, from early years upwards.
Thereafter, the Committee NOTED the Draft Learning and Teaching Policy as circulated.
12. Minutes of Meeting
There had been circulated, and NOTED, the Minutes of the Education Transport Appeals held on 19 May 2009, subject to the following amendment:-
Location of the alternative pick-up point being changed from the ‘Heather Centre’ to the ‘Croft James Junction’.
The meeting ended at 1.00 pm