Agenda item

(NOTE Cllr H Evans declared an interest during the meeting on the discussion relating to Model VA School and left the meeting during its consideration)

Councillor H Evans referred to her declaration of interest recorded in minute 2 and requested that it be amended to read “ Is a member of the Executive Board for St David’s Diocese Board of Finance”

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Board held on the 8^th February, 2021 be signed as a correct record subject to the above amendment.

Having approved the minutes of the meeting on the 8^th February, subject to the above amendment, the Leader of the Council advised that two issues had subsequently arisen which the Executive Board may wish to reflect upon as matters of urgency.

The first related to Minute 6 of the meeting on the proposal to change the nature of provision at the Model VA school and to correspondence received from the school’s governing body advising the Authority that, as governors, they had not been made fully aware of the proposal.

The Executive Board Member for Education and Children advised that while the proposal had been discussed with the Chair of the school’s Governing Body and the Headteacher, it appeared the wider membership of the Governing Body and wider school staff were not fully aware of the proposal. In view of that position, he expressed an opinion the authority may not wish to proceed with the consultation where the majority of the Governing Body or staff complement were not aware of the proposal. He therefore proposed, in the interests of fairness, that the Council discontinue the proposal (meant to commence that day - 22^nd February, 2021) to allow time to engage fully with the Governing Body and Staff.

The Leader advised that the Second item related to the Notice of Motion considered by Council on the 10^th February 2021 on the appropriateness of conducting consultations on matters such as education provision during a pandemic which had been referred to the Executive Board for its consideration.

The Executive Board Member for Education and Children advised that while that Notice of Motion was to be considered by the Executive Board on the 1^st  March 2021, the Welsh Government on the afternoon of the 10^th February, following the Council meeting, had extended the temporary changes to certain requirements of the School Organisation Code for a further period so as to enable consultations to continue despite the pandemic. Subsequently, on the 15^th February, the Welsh Government had issued revised Guidance on “Consultation on School Organisation Proposals During a Pandemic” and the Executive Board would need to take those intervening documents into account when it debated the Notice of Motion.  As the Council had some consultations which technically expired on the 21^st February, and in view of the imminent debate on the Notice of Motion, he suggested the Board may consider it unfair to close those consultations whilst there was a live issue to be debated. He therefore proposed, as a matter of urgency, that the period for making representations on those consultations be extended until the Executive Board had debated the Notice of Motion on the 1^st March 2021.

FURTHER UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED