Agenda item

[NOTE:  Councillor G. Jones and Mrs M. Jones had earlier declared an interest in this item.]

The Committee was informed that in line with the requirements of the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009 the Authority must publish an Annual Report on past performance by the end of October each year and under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2005 the Authority was also required to publish an Annual Report on its Well-being Objectives.

The Council’s draft Annual Report included the Well-being Objectives relevant to the Education & Children Scrutiny Committee.  The report provided an overview of 2017/18 performance, progress reports for all 15 Well-being Objectives and a link to track progress on every specific action and target set for each Well-being Objective.  The report also provided additional performance information on out-turn data (September) and National Survey for Wales Results (June), which would be updated when results became available.

The following questions/observations were raised on the report:-

·       Reference was made to the fact that 29.4% of children are overweight or obese.  Officers were asked about this data and what feedback is given to parents.  The Director informed the Committee that the data was generated by the Health Board.  He explained that, with regard to childhood obesity, there are many initiatives which are widely promoted e.g. healthy eating clubs.  Officers are working with colleagues from the Leisure Department on several initiatives;

·       Asked for further information regarding the greater alignment between the Team Around the Family (TAF) and Flying Start, the Head of Children’s Services explained that Flying Start is a government funded programme which provides support for children living in deprived areas of the county.   TAF is involved when it is recognised that children require additional support and a team approach is needed and allows agencies like health, social care etc. to come together and work closely together to address the needs of the child;

·       Reference was made to the fact that assessments undertaken through the Welsh medium have fallen to 39.9% and officer were asked for an explanation.  The Director explained that this could be due to a variety of reasons e.g. that more children went to English medium secondary schools this year.  He added that officers would undertake a detailed analysis of the figures and circulate the information to members;

·       Concern was expressed that if a child visits the orthodontist the school records this as an authorised absence instead of medical and officers were asked if anything could be done to address this anomaly.  The Director explained that officers are currently in discussion with the Welsh Government with regard to absence codes;

·       Asked what can be done about children who are regularly absent from school, the Director explained that there is only a small number in the county and the Welfare Team work with these families to support them.  In some instances legal action is taken and these powers are used as and when necessary.  The Head of Curriculum & Wellbeing added that attendance statistics are much better now than they were five years ago and because so much improvement has been made the focus has now shifted to pupils who attain less than 85% attendance.

RESOLVED that the report be received.