Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Darren Price (Leader, Carmarthenshire County Council), Councillor Rob Stewart (Leader, Swansea County Council) Councillor Jon Harvey (Leader, Pembrokeshire County Council) William Bramble (Chief Executive, Pembrokeshire County Council) Wendy Walters (Chief Executive, Carmarthenshire County Council) Jonathan Haswell (Partneriaeth S151 Officer) Sarah Edwards (Partneriaeth Deputy S151 Officer).

Apologies were also received from Councillor Lyndon Jones (Chair of Scrutiny Committee).

The chair welcomed the new Director of Education from Carmarthenshire County Council and extended his thanks to the retiring Director for his years of work.

Councillor Glynog Davies was proposed as Chair, and Councillor Robert Smith and Councillor Guy Woodham were proposed as Vice-Chairs.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED

1.    That Councillor Glynog Davies be appointed as Chair of the Committee for a one year term.

2.    That Councillors Robert Smith and Guy Woodham be appointed as Vice-Chairs for a one year term.

There were no declarations of personal interest.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the minutes of the Partneriaeth meeting held on 16^th July , 2024 be signed as a correct record.

There were no matters arising.

The Lead Officer for Partneriaeth informed the Joint Committee that the  role of Lead Director for Partneriaeth  rotated on a biannual basis. It was recommended that Steven Richards-Downes, Director of Education in Pembrokeshire be appointed to undertake the role of Partneriaeth Lead Director from November 1st, taking over from Helen Morgan Rees (Swansea).

It was reported that the  role of Lead Chief Executive would  remain unchanged until April 2025.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED

1.    that Steven Richard Downes be appointed Partneriaeth Lead Director for a two year term from November 1^st  2024.

2.    That the role of Lead Chief Executive remain unchanged until April 2025.

The Joint Committee received a letter from the Chair of Scrutiny Councillor Group, reflecting on the views following the last meeting of the Partneriaeth Scrutiny Councillor Group held on the 24^th June 2024.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the letter be received.

The Joint Committee received a report on a proposal to change the governance and running costs for Partneriaeth by transferring from the current Legal Agreement to a Collaboration Agreement on 1 April 2025.

In response to a query as to whether the collaboration agreement itself or the principle of the agreement would be taken to the member authorities, the committee was advised that the revised agreement would be taken to each council's cabinet for approval in December 2024. 

It was agreed that a copy of the final draft collaborative agreement would be shared with the Joint Committee members once available and for comment prior to the final draft being submitted to the individual authorities for approval.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED

1.            To note that the transfer to a collaborative agreement is timely, cost effective and meets minimum requirements for governance.

2.            To agree to the reduction in running costs for Partneriaeth.

3.            To note the requirement for each constituent Council within the current Legal Agreement to decide (by 31 December 2024) on transfer to collaboration agreement on 1 April 2025.

The Partneriaeth Head of Internal Audit outlined the  Internal Audit Work Programme which set  out the arrangements for the 2024-25 Internal Audit review of Partneriaeth.

The Internal Audit Work Programme for 2024-25 has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards.

The Work Programme sets out the key objective, scope, approach, and reporting arrangements and included follow ups  of previous Internal Audit recommendations and Annual Governance Statement actions, governance, business planning, financial management and risk management.

The Joint Committee was advised that the Work Programme had been developed in consultation with the Lead Chief Executive, the Lead Director of Education, the Section 151 Officer and the Lead Officer for Partneriaeth.

Once approve by the Joint Committee, it we  envisaged that the Internal Audit fieldwork would  be conducted during Spring 2025. On conclusion of the Internal Audit fieldwork, an Internal Audit report would be issued to respective Officers for consideration. Once feedback has been provided to Internal Audit, the report would be presented to the Joint Committee in the Summer Term.

RESOLVED that the proposed 2024-25 Internal Audit Work Programme be approved.

The Joint Committee received a report updating of the financial position of Partneriaeth at the end of August 2024.

In response to a query regarding business objectives funding, officers advised that this will be addressed in the next financial year.

The Lead Director sought clarification on the agreement to earmark £20k of funding for business planning and the Finance and Business Review officer advised that he would make enquiries thereon. The Lead Director advised that the Directors of the three authorities would discuss the matter at a meeting later that afternoon and would feed back to the Joint Committee members.

UNANIMOUSLYRESOLVED

1.            That the financial report as at August2024 and the projected outturn for 2024-25.be noted.

2.            To note the increase of funding required from Reserve as part of the additional spend to cover the Prepayments from 2023-24 and the additional staff exit cost due to Pay In Lieu of Notice

The Joint Committee received a report updating them on the current provision in Partneriaeth. This is to ensure delivery of regional priorities in line with LAEG funding expectations.

The report summarised the support currently offered across Partneriaeth and that it was at an appropriate level and on track to deliver on expectations. The Partneriaeth Lead officer advised that there was increasingly strong collaborative working with local authorities and that resources and performance are discussed regularly with Directors of Education in the Strategic Group. A full annual report will be produced against the business plan at the end of the business year including stakeholder perception and feedback. The Professional Learning offer has been 'slimmed down' to reflect the reduced capacity of the organisation and in response to feedback from stakeholders. The whole offer will be evaluated throughout the year and case studies provided. The offer reflects local authority and national priorities, and it is being continually monitored with local authorities to ensure it meets their needs.

The Lead Director referred to a recent announcement from the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Lynne Neagle MS on bringing together the current functions of the National Academy for Education Leadership and some of the functions of the regional consortia and local authority partnerships into a new national body. The body would be responsible for designing and delivering professional learning and leadership support on a national level in response to changing practitioner and Welsh Government priorities.  Local authorities would work with the body to support delivery on a local level and  continue to deliver the more bespoke school-based professional learning in response to local priorities and needs. 

RESOLVED that the report and update be accepted.

The Joint Committee received a report informing them of the regional risk profile for the Partneriaeth Business Plan from September 2024.

The Lead Officer Partneriaeth  highlighted the following risks:

Medium Probability and High Impact:

-          Lack of clarity regarding functions of Partneriaeth.

Medium Probability and Very High Impact:

-          LAs provide insufficient funding to meet the running costs of Partneriaeth.

The latter risk has been mitigated as funding has been agreed for this year 2024/25.

The Joint Committee was advised that there has been a reduction of number of risks as one of the risks to governance has been removed as the communication with stakeholders risk is now a risk control measure in one of the governance risks.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED to note the risk profile and accept the report.

Further to the meeting of the Committee held on the 16^th July 2024 (Minute 15 refers) the Joint Committee considered a report on the renewal of the lease for Y Llwyfan through to October 2025.

It was reported that the current lease ends in October 2024. Partneriaeth has reduced needs due to staffing reductions and this is now reflected in the new lease terms. The Lead Partneriaeth Officer advised that it is now an annual rather than 3-year lease.

The committee was advised in response to a query that the savings were of £7.2k per annum due to giving up a hot-desking room.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED to approve the renewal of the lease, with reduced capacity from October 2024 through to October 2025/

The Chair noted that there were no  items of business that should be considered as a matter of urgency.