Agenda item

Reference was made to the correction recorded in minute 3 i.e. “establish clear plans to secure and maintain effective communication with and engagement of the six Directors of Education …….” Views were expressed that the minute was incorrect, and the reference to the six Directors of Education should be retained.

It was also noted that whilst engagement with Head Teachers would form part of the review process, they were not nominated as members of the review panel.

AGREED that the minutes of the meeting of the meeting held on the 1^st December, 2017 be signed as a correct record subject to the first part of the resolution to Minute 3 being amended to include reference to the six Directors of Education i.e:-

Ø  “establish clear plans to secure and maintain effective communication with and engagement of the six Directors of Education, Head Teachers, throughout the process and secure consistent implementation of the Business Plan”

Matters Arising from the minutes:-

1.       Minute 3 – Minutes – 21^st September, 2017

Reference was made to the closing comment within Minute 3 on the G.C.S.E results and clarification sought on why that report had not been included on the agenda for the meeting that day, as agreed by the Joint Committee.

The Managing Director confirmed that a copy of the results could be forwarded direct to the Joint Committee Members and an item thereon placed on the Agenda for the next meeting.

Arising from the above, Mr Gareth Morgans suggested that it may be beneficial for a report to be submitted to a future meeting of the Joint Committee on the Welsh Government’s consultation on future directions and moving to new accountability standards/measures based on the best nine GCSE Results. The Chair, expressed the view that a report should be submitted to the next meeting on level 2 performance and trends in order to ensure clarity on ERW’s future direction

AGREED:

2.       Minute 5 – Letter from Scrutiny

Reference was made to the letter received from the Scrutiny Councillor Group and to the Group’s meeting held on the 9^th March, 2018 where it received a presentation from the Programme Manager. Clarification was sought on how that presentation had been made without having first been made to the Joint Committee.

The Managing Director advised that the presentation was made at the request of the Councillor Group.

AGREED that copies of the presentation to the Scrutiny Councillor Group be circulated to the Joint Committee and that the same presentation be made to the Committee at its next meeting.

3.       Minute 6 – ERW Financial Update – Quarter 2 2017-18

Reference was made to resolution 6.4 and clarification sought on whether letters had been sent to Mr Mark Drakeford A.M. and Kirsty Williams A.M. The S151 Officer advised that whilst he was not aware if the letters had been sent, a meeting had subsequently been held with the Minister where it was confirmed previous difficulties encountered with the grant processes were being addressed and new measures would be in place for the 18/19 grant awards.

A suggestion was made that in order to ensure decisions made by the Joint Committee were implemented that they be allocated to set officers to action.

AGREED that the Lead Chief Executive be requested to introduce arrangements to ensure implementation of the Joint Committee’s decisions.

4.       Minute 11 – Office Space

The Managing Director was asked to explain why the initial draft report stated the lease would lapse in late May, 2018 when there is in fact no lease in place? In response to a query regarding ERW’s lease of office space at Y Llwyfan, the Managing Director confirmed that whilst no evidence of a lease could be found in respect of ERW’s accommodation on the ground floor of the premises, on which it was paying rent, a sub-lease existed in respect of its occupation of three rooms on the first floor. She advised that as the premises had been operational for ten years, the occupation by the existing tenants was due for review and discussions in that regard were on-going with the landlord. It was confirmed that ERW’s occupation of the premises was secure whilst those discussions were taking place.

The Monitoring Officer suggested that as those discussions were on-going, a report on their progress be submitted to the next meeting and that she be involved with those discussions.

The Managing Director advised that as part of those discussions, ERW had expressed Health and Safety concerns in relation to desk and other space areas and had commissioned work to be undertaken in that regard, the outcome of which could be submitted to the next meeting of the Joint Committee.

AGREED: