Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Wendy Walters (Chief Executive, Carmarthenshire County Council), William Bramble (Chief Executive, Pembrokeshire County Council), Councillor David Simpson (Pembrokeshire County Council), Councillor Rob Stewart (Leader, Swansea City and County Council), Mark Campion (ESTYN) and Karen Newby Jones (ESTYN).

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on the 7^th October, 2022 be signed as a correct record.

17^th October, 2022 – Minutes Item 6

In response to a query on office space, members were informed that there was a 50% reduction in usage of office space and a single business address for Partneriaeth would be looked into.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that :

5.1  Martin Nicholls be appointed Lead Chief Executive

5.2  Helen Morgan Rees be appointed Lead Director

The Joint Committee received a letter from the Chair of Scrutiny Councillor Group reflecting on the views following last meeting of the Partneriaeth Scrutiny Councillor Group on the 24^th October, 2022.

Future Scrutiny Councillor Group meetings will coincide with the Joint Committee Meetings.

The Joint Committee received an update on the financial position of Partneriaeth at the end of December 2022.

It was noted that the report provided specific detailed information in relation to:

·         Service Level Agreements

·         LA Contributions

·         Budget Monitoring – December 2022

·         Grant Income for 2022-23

·         Risks and Opportunities

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that :-

7.1  The financial report as at December 20022 and the projected

        outturn for 2022-23 be noted;

7.2  The revised budget for 2022-23 and the grant income and

        allocation for 2022-23 be approved

The Joint Committee received Partneriaeth’s 2022-23 Internal Audit Work Programme to consider.

The Work Programme sets out the key objective, scope, approach and reporting arrangements.  The Work Programme has been developed in consultation with the Lead Director of Education, the Section 151 Officer, the Monitoring Officer and the Lead Officer for Partneriaeth.

The Internal Audit fieldwork will be conducted between March and May 2023.  On conclusion of the internal audit fieldwork, an Internal Audit report will be issued to respective Officers for consideration.  Once feedback has been provided to Internal Audit, the report will be presented to the Joint Committee during the Summer term.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the 2022-23 Internal Audit Work Programme be approved.

The Joint Committee received a presentation with an update of current provision in Partneriaeth.

During the first six months, Partneriaeth officers have received honest feedback from LA officers in order to refine provision to meet local needs. As a result, engagement, trust and quality has improved. It is expected that open and direct feedback between LA and Partneriaeth officers will be mutually beneficial to shape professional learning and leadership development.

In response to a query raised, the Lead Officer for Partneriaeth informed the Joint Committee, that data would be provided at next meeting to plan for the future.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the update be noted. 

The Joint Committee received the overall risk profile of the region. It was indicated that the following risks were of medium probability and High impact:

·         Failure to support LA’s in relevant areas during their engagement with  

      Estyn

·        Timeliness of Welsh Government Funding

·         Lack of Clarity regarding functions of Partneriaeth

An additional comment has been added to Central Risk 1 to reflect risk linked to Curriculum for Wales.

 UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that:-

10.1.      The risk profile be noted;

10.2.      The risk report be accepted

There were no items of urgent business.