Consortiwm De Orllewin a Chanolbarth Cymru South West and Mid Wales Consortium Bwrdd Gweithredol / Executive Board 26ain Mehefin 2015/ 26th June 2015 Y Llwyfan Carmarthen 11.30 a.m. – 1.00 p.m. PRESENT: Eifion Evans [Chair] Lead Director ERW Ceredigion County Council; Aled Evans Neath Port Talbot; Betsan O’Connor Managing Director ERW; Rob Sully Carmarthenshire County Council; Ian Thompson Head of Leadership and Development for ERW; Lindsay Harvey Swansea CC Martin S. Davies Carmarthenshire County Council; Also in attendance as observers: Gwion Dafydd Statistical Advisor; Martin Grey Welsh Government; Joanne Hendy Internal Audit - Pembrokeshire County Council 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from Alun Charles (Independent Member of Board), Sarah Fulthorpe Welsh Government Jonathan Haswell (Section 151 Officer, Pembrokeshire), Geraint Rees (Welsh Government) and Mike Gibbon (Sandfilelds School Neath Port Talbot, Vice Chair, HT Board). 2. DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTERESTS There were no declarations of personal interests. 3. RECORD OF MEETING HELD ON THE 27TH MARCH 2015 AGREED that the record of the meeting held on 27th March, 2015 be confirmed as a true record. 4. ANNUAL GENERAL STATEMENT AGREED that a copy of the Annual General Statement be forwarded to each constituent Council represented on ERW. 1 Consortiwm De Orllewin a Chanolbarth Cymru South West and Mid Wales Consortium 5. RISK REGISTER The Board was circulated with a copy of the Risk Register which would help ERW to support its objectives, make effective use of resources and deliver outcomes as intended. AGREED to endorse the Risk Register. 6. COMPLAINTS POLICY The Board was circulated with a copy of ERW’s complaints policy. NOTED. 7. SHARED FUNCTIONS FRAMEWORK The Board was circulated with a copy of a Shared Functions Framework which would support the design and delivery of services throughout ERW. The Chair suggested that any issues of concern should be tabled at the monthly Directors Group meeting. AGREED that the Shared Functions Framework be used to make amendments to the roles of each local authority within ERW as set out in the Legal Agreement. 8. DEMOCRATIC ACCOUNTABILITY AND SCRUTINY The Board was circulated with a paper setting out the planned arrangements for ERW’s democratic accountability and scrutiny. It aimed to define clearly the expectations for effective joint scrutiny and accountability arrangements to key stakeholders within the democratic accountability processes of each constituent local authority. Arrangements were in hand to convene a seminar in September for all scrutiny chairs. AGREED that the current arrangements be endorsed. 9. FOUNDATION PHASE The Board was circulated with a paper which provided details as to how support for the Foundation Phase in ERW would operate and work effectively as a workstream to deliver the Business Plan priorities. BO’C stated that there was a need to ensure that ERW did not overlap the functions of the local authorities and parameters therefore had to be established. The Chair expressed concerns over the lack of clarity at National level on what was a complex issue and considered that there was a need for a debate as to what ERW was comfortable with at a regional level. AGREED that the matter be discussed at the next meeting of the Directors Group. 10. SCHOOL GOVERNOR E-LEARNING TRAINING The Board was circulated with a paper appertaining to the provision of access to E- learning modules for statutory and non-statutory training for all school governors. The ERW Governor Support Group had prioritised training as a key element of 2 Consortiwm De Orllewin a Chanolbarth Cymru South West and Mid Wales Consortium regional working and in the current year had shared its training programmes, developing a region wide programme. Whilst the report recommended approving the purchase of E-Learning Governor Training for implementation across the region with a one-off payment of £6,000.00 to be paid by ERW it was suggested that the matter be deferred in order that the quality of other freely available on-line training which was available could be established. AGREED to defer consideration of this matter to the next meeting. 11. OPERATIONAL LEGAL GROUP The Board considered a paper proposing termly meetings of operational legal officers which, it was suggested, would help the constituent local authorities with additional information and provide Directors with briefings when required. AGREED 11.1. that meetings of operational education legal officers be convened once a term and that the Group be chaired by Stephanie Williams [Swansea CC]; 11.2. that the Group be asked to look into the operation of fixed-penalty notices by the constituent local authorities of ERW. 12. WELSH IN EDUCATION – UPDATE The Board considered a report which provided an overview of the Welsh in Education ERW group and detailed how support for Welsh in Education Business Plan across ERW would operate. The Plan would ensure consistency in the approach to bilingualism across ERW and improve standards in teaching and learning of Welsh 1st and 2nd language. AGREED that officers be authorised to progress with the plan as outlined in the report. 13. PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND NEW DEAL Ian Thompson presented a Table [available on the ERW website] which provided an at-a-glance overview of the key actions with regard to Professional Learning in implementing the New Deal as well as offering a strategic look forward. It was anticipated that all schools would become a professional learning school for some aspect of their work. Three case studies were due to be uploaded onto the ERW website for all schools to view. Whilst a training day for school Heads was scheduled for September it was commented that they should also have pastoral support to maintain a work / life balance. RS welcomed the Table but expressed concerns about the direction of travel nationally and the capacity of schools to take on board the proposals. He expressed the view that although it presented an opportunity for good schools to get better other schools might struggle. The Chair stated that it was important the ERW lent its weight to the proposals as a collective body. NOTED. 3 Consortiwm De Orllewin a Chanolbarth Cymru South West and Mid Wales Consortium 14. DATA SHARING The Board was provided with an update on the position of ERW and the 6 local authorities with regard to data sharing across the region and the subsequent use and protection of pupil-level data. All 6 local authorities were required to sign declarations regarding the Information Sharing Protocol which would be kept centrally in ERW. Gwion Dafydd was thanked for the work he had undertaken. NOTED. 15. DATE OF NEXT MEETING: NOTED that the next meeting is scheduled for 24th July 2015. 4 .