Minutes of meeting
Renfrewshire Council · 18 August 2022
Back to Education and Children's Services Policy Board — 18 August 2022 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, 18 August 2022 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 Carolann Davidson, Councillor Audrey Doig, Councillor Edward Grady, Councillor Gillian Graham, Councillor John Gray, Councillor Anne Hannigan, Councillor Lisa-Marie Hughes, Councillor Robert Innes, Councillor David McGonigle, Councillor Iain McMillan, Councillor Will Mylet, Councillor Jim Paterson, Councillor Emma Rodden, Councillor Ben Smith Chair Councillor Rodden, Convener, presided. In Attendance S Quinn, Director of Children's Services; J Calder, Head of Service (Curriculum & Quality), T McGillivary, Head of Education and J Trainer, Head of Childcare & Criminal Justice (all Children's Services); J Connolly, Senior Communications Officer (Chief Executive's); and R Conway, Finance Manager, E Gray and C MacDonald, both Senior Committee Services Officers, J Barron, Assistant Committee Services Officer and D Pole, End User Technician (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 via the Council's internet site. Declarations of Interest There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.
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1 Church Representatives on Committees Appointed by Education Authorities There was submitted a report by the Director of Finance & Resources relative to the appointment of religious representatives on committees appointed by Education Authorities. The report intimated that Section 124 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, as amended by Section 31 of the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994, provided that where an education authority appointed a committee whose purposes included advising the authority on any matter relating to the discharge of their functions as education authority, or discharging any of those functions of the authority on their behalf, three of the members to be appointed (who should not be members of the education authority) should be church representatives. One of the three places required to be filled by a nomination from the Church of Scotland and one by the Roman Catholic Church. The report advised that no nomination had been received from the Roman Catholic Church by the meeting of Renfrewshire Council held on 19 May 2022 and that it was thererefore agreed at that meeting that authority be delegated to this Policy Board to approve the nomination. Correspondence had since been received from the Roman Catholic Church nominating Jack Nellaney. It was noted that, in accordance with advice issued by the Standards Commission, nominating bodies would be asked to confirm that they would require their nominees to comply with the Councillors’ Code of Conduct in so far as it was relevant to them in their role as church representatives and that the Council, at its statutory meeting held on 18 May, 2017 had agreed that allowances and expenses be paid to the representatives on the Education Policy Board representing religious bodies. DECIDED: (a) That Jack Nellaney, the Roman Catholic nominee, be appointed to the Education and Children’s Services Policy Board; and (b) That the Council note that, in accordance with advice issued by the Standards Commission, that the Roman Catholic Church be asked to confirm that they would require their nominee to comply with the Councillors’ Code of Conduct in so far as it was relevant to them in their role as a church representative. Sederunt At this point Jack Nellaney was asked to join the meeting as the representative of the Roman Catholic church. 2 Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring Report There was submitted a joint revenue and capital budget monitoring report by the Directors of Children's Services and Finance & Resources for the period to 24 June
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2022. The projected Revenue outturn at 31 March 2023 for Children’s Services was an overspend of £4.390 million (2.0%) against the revised budget for the year. The projected Capital outturn at 31 March 2023 for Children’s Services would be an underspend of £0.100 million (0.6%). DECIDED: (a) That the projected Revenue outturn position for Children’s Services detailed in Table 1 of the report be noted, and further note that the forecast position is based on best estimates and confirmed government support at this point in time; forecasts are likely to be subject to fluctuation as the year progresses; (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 4 and 6 of the report be noted. 3 Children’s Services Health, Safety & Well Being Plan There was submitted a report by the Director of Children’s Services relative to the Children’s Services Health, Safety & Wellbeing Plan. The report advised that the Council’s Health and Safety Strategy placed a responsibility on each service to prepare an annual report evaluating the management of health and safety within the service. The Children’s Service’s Health, Safety and Well Being Strategy 2021/2022 update report set out the health and safety activity within the service in 2021/2022 and demonstrated the service’s commitment to continuous improvement in health and safety performance. The Children’s Services Health and Well Being Plan 2022/2023 detailed the areas of health and safety performance the Children’s Services Department would like to work on over the forthcoming year. The plan for 2022/2023 included areas of health and safety within social work and education. DECIDED: (a) That the progress of Children’s Services Health and Well Being Strategy 2021/2022 be noted; and (b) That that the Children’s Services Health and Well Being Strategy 2022/2023 be approved. 4 Paisley Grammar School Community Campus: Update There was submitted a report by the Director of Children's Services relative to the relocation of Paisley Grammar School. The report advised that formal consultation on the proposal to relocate Paisley
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Grammar School to a new community campus building at Renfrew Road in Paisley commenced on 31 August 2020 and closed on 20 October 2020. The proposal gained support from the school, wider community and Education Scotland and the recommendation to progress the new build community campus were approved by the meeting of this Policy Board held on 21 January 2021. The report intimated that the estimated cost for a new build community campus would be around £72 million. This estimate was based on various assumptions about project cost drivers that, at an early stage, were difficult to precisely quantify. This cost estimate was be subject to ongoing refinement as the impact and extent of these cost drivers became clear. At this time, the Council had agreed a capital investment of £41.85 million for the project and would require to fund an additional amount of approximately £30 million from borrowing. To supplement its investment and fund further borrowing, the Council had secured Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP) funding of £1.45 million per annum over a 25 year period. Conditions of funding included completion of the project by December 2025. Detail of LEIP funding conditions were outlined in section 7 of the report. The new community campus would provide facilities for the full breadth of the curriculum, accommodating approximately 1,200 pupils. It would incorporate a flexible learning resource for young people with additional support needs and a variety of facilities to support community learning and enterprise activity for the wider community. DECIDED: (a) That the progress made to date and the development of a strategic brief and outline business case, set out at appendices 1 and 2 to the report respectively, for the new Paisley Grammar School Community Campus be noted; and (b) That it be noted that further progress reports would be brought to this Policy Board. 5 Renfrewshire Inclusion Strategy There was submitted a report by the Director of Children’s Services relative to the Renfrewshire Inclusion Strategy. The report advised that this Policy Board at its meeting held on 18 January 2021 had agreed that a strategic review of educational provision and approaches in Renfrewshire to support children and young people with additional support needs would be undertaken. The purpose would be to provide an update on the Lessons Learned from the Additional Support Needs (ASN) Review, as set out at Appendix 1 to the report, and on how these lessons would be used to improve the wellbeing and learning of children and young people with additional support needs in mainstream school settings. DECIDED: That the update provided on the Lessons Learned from the Additional Support Needs (ASN) Review, as set out at Appendix 1 to the report, and on how these lessons would be used to improve the wellbeing and learning of children and young people with additional support needs in mainstream school settings be noted.
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6 Revised Devolved School Management (DSM) Scheme There was submitted a report by the Director of Children's Services relative to the revised Devolved School Management Scheme (DSM). The report advised that Devolved School Management (DSM) had been introduced in 1993 to enhance and improve the management of resources at school level. Following the publication of the revised DSM guidelines in June 2019, a working group had been established to review the Council’s existing DSM scheme. The proposed changes to the DSM scheme would allow for greater transparency regarding how school budgets were calculated and allocated to schools. DECIDED: (a) That the Revised Devolved School Management Scheme (DSM), as set out at Appendix 1 to the report, be approved; and (b) That the Board agreed that authority be delegated to the Director of Children’s Services to amend the Devolved School Management (DSM) Scheme to reflect any future Council decisions which impact it. 7 REN 10 - Update on Activity There was submitted a report by the Director of Children's Services relative to the Ren 10 – Update on Activity. The report provided an update on the Renfrewshire Children’s Services Partnership Children and Young People Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy. This strategy was known across Renfrewshire and beyond as Ren10. The strategy aimed to develop Ren10 as a community mental health and wellbeing network to support children, young people, and families by ensuring they get the right type of support at the right time by the right people to prevent small issues affecting wellbeing escalating into big problems. Ren10 offered early level support in communities to assist with mental health recovery in a way that was personal to each individual's journey, and which focused on their rights. DECIDED: That the report be noted. 8 The Promise There was submitted a report by the Director of Children's Services relative to Renfrewshire’s Promise. Following a review of Scotland’s care system a report, called The Promise made a number of wide-ranging recommendations about the future of Scotland’s care system and the changes required to improve it. At the meeting of this Policy Board held on 21 January 2021 a report on how Renfrewshire planned to deliver on The Promise was considered and an update report was considered at the meeting held on 20 January 2022.
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The report provided an overview of the work in relation to The Promise for newly elected members and an update on the significant progress achieved since January 2022. DECIDED: (a) That the progress being made within Renfrewshire to “Keep the Promise” be noted; (b) That regular updated reports would be brought to Board which would outline implications for policy and practice in Renfrewshire as our Promise work progresses be noted; and (c) That the opportunity for elected members to become a Promise Keeper, as detailed in paragraph 3.11 of the report, be noted. 9 Children’s Services (Resources) Standard Circular Updates There was submitted a report by the Director of Children’s Services relative to standard circulars provided to schools and early learning and childcare centres with robust and definitive guidance to protect and support staff and children and young people. The updates presented in the report related to legislation and regulations relevant to property, security, and health and safety matters. DECIDED: That the revised standard circulars detailed in appendices 1 – 6 be approved.