Minutes of meeting
Renfrewshire Council · 13 March 2025
Back to Education and Children's Services Policy Board — 13 March 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Minute of Meeting Education and Children's Services Policy Board Date Time Venue Thursday, 13 March 2025 13:00 Council Chambers (Renfrewshire), Council Headquarters, Renfrewshire House, Cotton Street, Paisley, PA1 1AN Present: Councillor Jennifer Adam, Councillor Fiona Airlie-Nicolson, Ms Mary Jane Bird, Provost Lorraine Cameron, Councillor Audrey Doig, Councillor Gillian Graham, Councillor Anne Hannigan, Councillor Lisa-Marie Hughes, Councillor Marie McGurk, Councillor Iain McMillan, Mr Jack Nellaney, Councillor Iain Nicolson, Councillor Jim Paterson, Councillor Emma Rodden, Mr Ravinder Singh, Councillor Ben Smith Chair Councillor Rodden, Convener, presided. In Attendance J O'Neill, Director of Children's Services; E Henry, Head of Education, G McLaughlin, Head of Education (Strategy and Improvement), J Trainer, Head of Child Care & Criminal Justice and J Lochans, Education Manager (Resources) (all Children's Services); C Dalrymple, Head of Facilities and Property Services (Environment, Housing & Infrastructure); and R Conway, Finance Business Partner, E Gray, Senior Committee Services Officer and J Barron, Committee Services Officer (all Finance & Resources). Webcasting of Meeting Prior to the commencement of the meeting the Convener intimated that this meeting of the Board would be filmed for live or subsequent broadcast on the Council's internet site. Apologies Councillors Davidson, Grady and McGonigle.
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1 Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring as at 7 January 2025 There was submitted a joint revenue and capital budget monitoring report by the Director of Finance & Resources and the Director of Children's Services for the period to 7 January 2025. The report intimated that the projected revenue outturn at 31 March 2025 for Children’s Services was an overspend of £1.059 million (0.4%) against the revised budget for the year. The projected capital outturn at 31 March 2025 for Children’s Services was a breakeven position. A number of revenue and capital budget adjustments were detailed at sections 6 and 7 of the report respectively. DECIDED: (a) That the projected revenue outturn position for Children’s Services, detailed in Table 1 of the report be noted; (b) That the projected capital outturn position for Children’s Services, detailed in Table 2 of the report, be noted; and (c) That the budget adjustments, detailed in sections 6 and 7 of the report, be noted. 2 Distribution of Funding to Support Services for Children and Families – Funding Allocation for 2025/26 There was submitted a report by the Director of Children's Services relative to the allocation of funding to support a range of private and voluntary sector organisations which delivered services for families with young children. The report provided information on the proposed allocation of funding during 2025/26 to out of school care groups in the private and voluntary sector and for early years organisations, playgroups and toddler groups. An overview of the proposed allocation of £79,375 in grants to the private and voluntary sector organisations supporting children and families, out of school care services and pre-5 voluntary sector playgroups was set out at Appendix 1 of the report with more detailed breakdowns being provided at Appendices 2 and 3. DECIDED: (a) That the resource allocation to support the delivery of services for children and young people, as outlined in Appendix 1 of the report be approved; and (b) That the proposed allocation of grant funding for out of school care and pre-five voluntary sector (subject to the completion of satisfactory checks and assessments as detailed in Appendices 2 and 3 of the report) be approved.
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3 Report on Keeping The Promise in Renfrewshire There was submitted a report by the Director of Children's Services relative to the progress made within Renfrewshire within the first five years of the Keeping The Promise to Renfrewshire’s Infants, Children, Young People and Families programme. The report referenced the Report on Keeping the Promise to Renfrewshire’s Infants, Children, Young People and Families which was attached at Appendix 1 of the report and provided information on the work being undertaken to keep The Promise in Renfrewshire at the midway point of the project in the context of the wider vision of improving outcomes for those who were more likely to face poorer outcomes because of experience of inequalities, trauma and adversity. An alternate version of the Report, The Pinky Promise, was produced as a resource for younger readers and was attached at Appendix 2 of the report. DECIDED: That the content of both reports, Report on Keeping the Promise to Renfrewshire’s Infants, Children, Young People and Families; and Renfrewshire’s Pinky Promise, be noted. 4 Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Renfrewshire There was submitted a report by the Director of Children's Services relative to the implementation of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Renfrewshire. Documents detailing the implementation of the project in the United Kingdom and Renfrewshire were appended to the report. The report provided a background to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, a book gifting programme established by the Dollywood Foundation in conjunction with local partners which posted high quality, age-appropriate book to children at no cost to families, together with information on its operation in Renfrewshire since 2021 which provided a universal programme for all children aged two to five. The report referred to the decision taken at the meeting of Council on 27 February 2025 to allocate £100,000 of recurring funding to ensure sustainability of the project DECIDED: (a) That the progress to date in relation to the implementation of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Renfrewshire be noted; and (b) That the allocation of recurring funding of £100,000 by the Council to ensure the sustainability of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in Renfrewshire be noted. 5 Children’s Looked After Statistics - 28 February 2025 Under reference to item 4 of the meeting of this Policy Board held on 22 August 2024, there was submitted a report by the Director of Children's Services relative to information on the number of looked after children in Renfrewshire on 28 February 2025.
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The report referred to the decision taken by this Policy Board at the meeting held on 22 August 2024 that a report on the latest available data on looked after children in Renfrewshire would be submitted to every second meeting of this Policy Board. A report was due to be submitted to the meeting held in January 2025 however due to the meeting being held close to the new year the data was not available at that time. The report advised that the number of looked after children in Renfrewshire continued to reduce and that on 28 February 2025, 576 were children looked after by Renfrewshire Council, 58 were children named on the Renfrewshire child protection register and 4 unborn children were recorded on the Renfrewshire child protection register due to the risk of identified potential harm at birth. A detailed breakdown of the statistics was provided in section 3 of the report. DECIDED: That the information contained in the report on the number of looked after children in Renfrewshire on 28 February 2025 be noted. 6 Scottish Equity Framework (SEF) Progress and Next Steps There was submitted a repot by the Director of Children's Services relative to current Scottish Equity Framework workstreams and associated projects and their impact. The report provided detail on the four attainment challenge workstreams: Data Analysis; Learning and Teaching; Families and Communities; and Leadership which each had a number of associated projects with a focus on tackling the poverty-related attainment gap. A breakdown of the funding, which had been reducing since 2022/23, was provided in section 3 of the report together with an analysis of each of the work streams and proposed future additions. DECIDED: That the progress made and the future plans for 2025/26, in particular new additions such as funding for the West Partnership activities and a police youth development officer pilot which was proposed to be joint funded by selected schools, be noted. 7 Learning Estate Programme Update There was submitted a report by the Director of Children's Services relative to the programme of large-scale investment into the learning estate and the works which were underway including four major projects to enhance and expand the current estate. The report outlined the Council's Learning Estate Programme which aimed to deliver large scale investment to enhance and expand the current estate and contained updates in respect of Paisley Grammar School Community Campus; Park Mains High School extension and alterations; the new Dargavel Primary School; and the Thorn Primary School new build. The Head of Education (Strategy and Improvement) gave a presentation and displayed images detailing the progress made with the projects. DECIDED: That the contents of the report be noted.
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8 Learning Estate Strategy Update There was submitted a report by the Director of Children's Services relative to the development of the Learning Estate Strategy including proposals to progress the assessment of the next phase of delivery. The report referred to the decision taken at the meeting of this Policy Board held on 22 August 2024 to adopt an objective prioritisation criteria and assessment methodology to support a structured review of the overall learning estate. It was noted that this work had been completed and that 10 primary and four secondary schools had been identified as a priority for the next stage of the process. A full list of the schools in the estate and where they ranked in terms of prioritisation was set out at Appendix 1 to the report. The report provided a detailed overview of the Strategy, scoring methodology, prioritisation matrix and the finance plan together with information in relation to the Lifecycle Maintenance strategy which would sit alongside the Learning Estate Strategy. DECIDED: (a) That it be noted that a proposed business case framework, which would underpin a standardised approach to be adopted as part of the Learning Estate Programme moving forward, would be submitted to the next meeting of this Policy Board for consideration and approval; (b) That it be noted that a proposed business case development programme and indicative timeline would be submitted to the next meeting of this Policy Board for consideration and approval for the 14 priority schools identified in the report; (c) That the strategic assumptions, set out in section 7 of the report, that would support the future planning in relation to long-term lifecycle maintenance arrangements be noted; and (d) That it be agreed that an options appraisal be undertaken for the wider Johnstone learning estate, by widening the scope of Thorn Primary School development. 9 Gaelic Medium Education Provision in Renfrewshire There was submitted a report by the Director of Children's Services relative to progress made in terms of the the duty placed on the Council, as an education authority, by The Education (Scotland) Act 2016 to promote and support Gaelic Medium Education (GME) and Gaelic Learner Education (GLE) and the process by which parents could request Gaelic Medium Primary Education (GMPE) from their education authority. The report provided detail on the current provision of GME in Renfrewshire which had been provided since August 2022 at West Primary School together with information of the short, medium and long-term plans of the strategic planning group which had been established to further the provision of GME in Renfrewshire.
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DECIDED: (a) That the progress made to date in relation to Gaelic Medium Primary Education be noted; and (b) That officers be authorised to explore options in relation to the growth of Gaelic Medium Primary Education within Renfrewshire, to be conducted in a phased assessment looking at short, medium and long term, with the objective of developing an expansion of Gaelic Medium Education provision to early years and secondary in order to provide a 3-18 pathway for Gaelic education. 10 Mobile Phone Guidance for Schools There was submitted a report by the Director of Children's Services relative to the findings of a working party which had been set up to review the Scottish Government’s Guidance on Mobile Phones in Scotland’s Schools and to provide schools with guidance on how to develop a local school policy. The report summarised the process which had been followed to update the guidance on mobile phone use for schools which involved the establishment of a short-life working group comprised of the Head of Education, the Digital Learning Manager, head teachers (Primary and Secondary) and teacher union representatives. The proposed guidance was set out in full at Appendix 1 of the report. DECIDED: That the guidance on the use of mobile phones for schools, set out at Appendix 1 of the report, be approved with a view to a soft launch in Term 4 of the current session and full implementation across all schools from August 2025. 11 Education Scotland Inspection of Bargarran Primary School There was submitted a report by the Director of Children's Services relative to the results of an inspection of Bargarran Primary School carried out by Education Scotland. The letter sent by Education Scotland to the parents and carers of pupils detailing the outcome of the inspection was set out at Appendix 1 of the report. The report advised that an inspection of Bargarran Primary School had been carried out by Education Scotland during October 2024 with a focus on four quality indicators: leadership of change; learning, teaching and assessment; ensuring wellbeing, equity and inclusion; and raising attainment and achievement. The inspection report detailed five areas of key strength and one area for further improvement. DECIDED: That the key strengths in the Education Scotland report on Bargarran Primary School be noted and celebrated and the area for further improvement be recognised.