(copy
enclosed)
Minutes:
A report by GwE’s
Lead Director / Chair of the Management Board and GwE’s
Managing Director was presented updating the Joint-committee members on the
report on the quality of the school improvement services provided by the North
Wales Consortium.
The Lead Director / Chair of the
Management Board referred to the conclusions and recommendations of the Estyn
inspection published on 30 June. He noted that two areas in particular needed
to be addressed:-
1) The work undertaken to promote higher
standards in schools, especially in key stage 4.
2) Matters relating to value for money and
business processes, as well as the question of the effectiveness of the
programme’s delivery and consistency across the region.
The Assistant Director provided details
on the recommendations individually and on the work of drafting an initial
action plan in response to those recommendations.
The Assistant Director further
stated that they welcomed the positive elements in the report, and accepted the
accountability on the service.
The Lead Director / Chair of
Management Board noted that he was confident that the steps of action would
ensure that the lines of accountability were completely clear.
The Assistant Director thanked the
Lead Director / Chair of the Management Board for his support during the period
of the inspection.
During the ensuing discussion, the following
points were highlighted:-
Middle term funding was discussed.
Gwynedd Council’s Head of Finance noted that the decision for 2016/17 was to
apply the same funding cut to GwE as was applied in the 6 authorities, but that
currently there was uncertainty across all of the United Kingdom’s Government
departments in relation to 2017/18 and onwards. He added that he would be
working with GwE’s business and finance manager to
seek more certainty before planning on the basis of continued funding for GwE
on a proportional level to the six councils’ settlement,
IT WAS DECIDED TO note the content of the report and consider the Post
Inspection Action Plan in the September meeting.
Supporting documents: