Agenda item

The Committee received the updated financial position for the year 2018-19 which provided specific detailed information in relation to:

·       2018-19 Central TeamBudget

·       Service LevelAgreements

·       2018-19 Grant Allocations

·       2018-19 Grants – LAC PDG

·       2018-19 Grants – Regional Consortia School Improvement Grant(RCSIG)

·       2018-19 ERW Business Plan Priorities

·       ERW Review and ReformProgramme

·       Risks

·       Reserves

With reference to Minute 5 of the last meeting where clarification was sought regarding Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council’s (NPTCBC) situation on payment of its contribution towards ERW’s core costs for 2018/19, it was reported that NPTCBC would be reducing its contribution to ERW in future.  The decision was made by Elected Members in the context of the Council’s 2018/19 revenue budget determined on 21^st February, 2018.  Mr Steven Phillips Chief Executive, NPTCBC clarified their position in a letter appended to the report.

The Lead Chief Executive reported that a letter had been written to NPTCBC in consultation with the Chair of ERW which was appended to the report and that a response had been received from the CEO of NPTCBC.  However, a further response was currently being prepared.  It was acknowledged that payment would not be required until October 2018 and that there was still time to come to an agreement via informal mediation.  The Chair requested that this matter be deferred and discussed further at the next Joint Committee meeting.

It was commented that, for consistency purposes, it would be beneficial to explore those Local Authority’s that currently had a full complement of challenge advisors in order to ascertain how much was being spent in this area. 

The Chair agreed that it would be beneficial to receive the number of Challenge Advisors employed and the cost within each Local Authority and requested that this information be considered at the next Joint Committee meeting.

The Joint Committee noted the letter appended within Annex 2 of the report which stated that results of the recent evaluation identified that significant work was required in order to strengthen the current arrangements. Whilst the letter acknowledged that the evaluation considered arrangements during 2015-16 and 2016-17 period, positive progress to strengthen arrangements had been made since then, albeit more work was required.

The ERW S151 Officer raised concerns regarding ERW’s cash flow, given that Welsh Government had not processed any payments to the region for 2019-20 and informed the Joint Committee that he would have to write to all S151 Officers to inform them that no payments would be processed to Local Authorities or schools until Grant clearance had been received from Welsh Government.

Strong concern was expressed regarding the need for good quality leadership in teaching.  It was felt that many quality teachers were being seconded in consortia, diminishing quality teachers.  The Managing Director stated that in order to support the changes ahead, she was currently liaising with head teachers and that she would provide a report to a future Joint Committee meeting.

AGREED that

7.4.1     the updated Central Team budget for2018-19 be approved;

7.4.2     the action to be taken in the event of Neath Port Talbot County Council not paying their share of the £250k Local Authority Contribution for2018-19 be deferred to the next Joint Committee meeting;

7.4.3     i) the 2018-19 grant allocations and current issues in meeting four of the RCSIG terms and conditions is noted and;

ii) that a formal letter from Welsh Government is sought to clarify the terms and conditions of the grant.

7.4.4     the2018-19 grantallocation andcurrent issuesin meeting the LAC PDG terms and conditions be noted;

7.4.5     theallocation ofthe RCSIGto theERW BusinessPlan 2018-19 priorities be noted;

7.4.6     thecurrent issuesin respectof (a)the meetingthe RCSIG termsand conditionsand (b)the formulafor distributionof theformer EIG,included within the RCSIG for 2018-19 as a transitional arrangement, to the six Local Authorities, be noted;

7.4.7     clarification to be sought from Welsh Government as to the offer/arrangements in respect of the £250k Welsh Government funding for the Review and Reform Programme, and with regards its requirements regarding  return of any monies already spent;

7.4.8     the determination on how to replenish the ERW Reserves, either with a one-off contribution from the six Local Authorities or an increase in the existing £250k annual contribution be deferred to the next Joint Committee meeting;

7.4.9     the decision to appoint a Finance & Business Improvement Manager on a 12 month fixed termcontract be withdrawn.