MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE EDUCATION, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND LIFELONG LEARNING SELECT COMMITTEE HELD AT COUNTY HALL, NEWPORT, ISLE OF WIGHT ON MONDAY, 11 NOVEMBER 2002 COMMENCING AT 9.30 AM
Present :
Mr J F Howe (Chairman), Mrs B D Clough, Mrs D Gardiner, Mr C M Gauntlett, Mr C R Hancock, Mr P D Joyce, Mr G S Kendall, Mr A J Mellor, Mr V J Morey, Mr K Pearson, Mr R C Richards
Co-opted (voting) :
Archdeacon M Banting, Mr N Mitchell, Sister Patricia
Portfolio Holder :
Mrs J L Wareham
Apologies :
Mr C B W Chapman, Ms M Wilson
Also present :
Mr R G Mazillius
31. MINUTES
RESOLVED :
THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 14 October 2002 be confirmed.
32. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
There were no declarations made at this stage.
33. COMMUNITY USE OF SCHOOL FACILITIES
The Select Committee had, at its Awayday, identified that it should consider the issues surrounding the community use of school facilities. To assist in discussions the Chairman welcomed Mrs Mary Hoather (Headteacher - Carisbrooke High School), Mr John Dear (Headteacher - Sandham Middle School), Mrs Ann Watts (Headteacher - Newchurch Primary School), Mr John Lucas (Governor - Cowes High School), Mrs Helen Wilks (Governor - Mayfield Middle School), Dr Tara Dean (Governor - Newport C of E Primary School), Mrs Celia Jordan (Isle of Wight Special Olympics) and Mr Alan Burnett (Orphus Singers).
The Select Committee was advised of the background to the existing community use of school facilities. Much of this was either on an informal basis or part of a formal dual use agreement. The Education Act 2002 included provisions which gave Governing Bodies the ability to be involved in operating community services. The Council’s Adult and Community Learning Plan referred to non school activities. Schools could not utilise its funds for community activities but if a surplus was made through any charging mechanism this could then be used for educational purposes.
As the result of increased awareness of risk management there was some reluctance to make provision for use of school premises outside of normal hours. Officers were investigating the introduction of a protocol that schools could adopt.
The Select Committee was told by the Headteacher and Governor representatives that schools were not resourced to deal with community use. Whilst there could be a clear separation for accounting purposes this was not possible for staffing. Issues relating to security, including child protection, would need to be resolved and covered in any protocol. Another major concern would be the effect on IT equipment, and associated systems, if these were made available to the community outside school hours. This could be overcome by the development of relevant web-sites that could be accessed from non school sites. Additional use of school sites could also lead to extra maintenance costs.
Members discussed the feasibility of schools working on a zone principle so that schools were not providing all the same range of activities. This approach would be more appropriate in towns. The use of school playgrounds in rural areas was another matter that required further consideration.
Mrs Jordan and Mr Burnett outlined the co-operation that they received from schools for the activities that they were involved in.
RESOLVED :
(a) THAT the Council continue to encourage and support schools to utilise their facilities for community use.
(b) THAT an additional section is produced for the Scheme of Financial Management to meet the community facilities power as detailed in the 2002 Education Act.
(c) THAT the Strategic Director of Education and Community Development draft a Protocol on the community use of school facilities, in conjunction with key stakeholders, and submit this for consideration to a future meeting of the Select Committee.
34. BEST VALUE REVIEW - YOUTH AND COMMUNITY SERVICES
The Select Committee received a presentation from the Principal Youth and Community Officer on the Best Value Review that had been undertaken on the Youth Service. The Review highlighted that the service provided gave good value for money but there were areas where improvements could be made. It was also noted that the Government were proposing to revise grant arrangements for Youth and Community Services and details of this would not be known until mid December 2002.
Members were advised of the need for the Service to formulate a short and long term strategic plan. This would require an annual review to ensure that targets were being met. It would be necessary to restructure the existing service and this would include the appointment of an Assistant Principal Youth and Community Officer with responsibility for ensuring that the strategic plan was delivered. Changes to the role of the existing management team would take place with specific officers being responsible for quality assurance and curriculum development. Salary scales would be reviewed in the light of recruiting suitable candidates to the profession.
An outline was given of the partnership arrangements that would be further developed with appropriate organisations. An important element raised in the review was the profile of the Youth Service and how it could be better marketed. It was accepted that the image required modernisation and this would be a key issue within the improvement plan. To assist with this and raising the quality of the service provided it was intended to that it would concentrate on thos e aged between 13 and 19 years of age. Some limited work would also be undertaken with year 8 pupils.
The management and role of youth centres would be revised with the establishment of a one stop shop being investigated for Newport. The basis of such a facility was outlined. The development of non-centre based youth work would assist in aiming to be fully inclusive.
During the Best value process the Youth and Community Service also underwent a re-licensing process in connection with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme. This was successful and helped to identify some areas where improvements in service delivery were required.
In considering the draft improvement plan members believed that there was insufficient details relating to responsibilities for action, target dates, priorities and cost implications. The Select Committee believed that it was necessary to have this information before it could agree to the Review proceeding to the Executive for adoption.
RESOLVED :
THAT whilst accepting the Review in principle the Appraisal Group re-examine the draft improvement plan so that complete details relating to responsibilities for action, target dates, priorities and cost implications are fully incorporated and this is considered by the Select Committee in January 2003 before it is submitted to the Executive for approval.
35. MEMBERS’ QUESTION TIME
Mr P Joyce raised an oral question in relation to the statementing process for special educational needs. The Chairman indicated that he would ask officers to investigate this and if necessary an appropriate item could be included on a future agenda.
CHAIRMAN