The Committee NOTED a list of recent successes, including the following, and AGREED that their congratulations be conveyed to those concerned:-

·      Six Highland pupils had won top prizes in the annual competition to design the Lyreco stationery catalogue cover:

•         Overall winner:  Som Hush (12) 1st year pupil at Invergordon Academy

•         P1-4 winner, Stephanie Webster (7), Wick North Primary

•         P5-7 winner, Marie-Jane Campbell (10), St Josephs RC Primary, Inverness

•         Special Needs winner, Liam Larnach (11), Pultneytown Academy, Wick

•         S1-2 winner, Catriona McIntosh (12), Glen Urquhart High School

•         S3-6 winner, Greg Gibson (14), Grantown Grammar School

·   The Education, Culture and Sport Service had taken the honours at the Scottish Loo of the Year Awards in November and won the following national awards in Birmingham in December: 

•         Scottish and National Awards:

            “Health Award” – Aviemore Day Centre

      “Commercial Offices” – Community Learning & Leisure, Wick

“Education Award” – Ullapool High School

“Sports Venue Clubs” – Charleston Community Centre

•         Major National Award Winner in the Individual Category entries was Ullapool High School.

•         In addition, the Highland Council had been presented with a Standard of Excellence Award – there were only 10 of these in Britain, 2 being in Scotland.

·       Bryony Nelson, S1 at Kinlochleven High School, had won a bursary to the British Ski Academy in Chamonix.

·       Sarah MacKenzie, S4 at Kinlochleven High School, had won a bronze medal as part of the Scottish Team in the British Hill Running Championships.

·       Gairloch High School had been awarded Investors in People Status.

·       Gairloch High School kitchen had been awarded the Scottish Healthy Choices Award for a further 2 years.

·       The following ten schools in Highland had received recognition from The Highland Council and NHS Highland for their achievements in health promotion, and were the first in the Council’s area to receive formal accreditation as Health Promoting Schools:-  Alness Academy, Cromarty Primary, Dornoch Academy, Invergordon Academy, Grantown Primary, Glen Urquhart High School, Portree Primary, Raigmore Primary, Roy Bridge Primary and Smithton Primary 

·       The Nairn primary schools had successfully implemented a pilot to introduce teachers’ non contact time.  This pilot had been featured in the Times Educational Supplement.

·       Alness Academy Pupil had had the following successes:

David MacPherson & Fiona McBeath had won Silver and Frazer McBeath & Roy Shepherd, Bronze in the Scottish Schools Judo Championships, Dec 2003

Fiona McCrumb had been selected for the Scottish Schools under 16 hockey squad.

·       Patricia Weeks, Assistant Curator at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, had been elected to the governing Council of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in recognition of her work for Scottish Archaeology.

·       Dalwhinnie, Gergask, Muck and Inverie primary schools had been awarded Scottish Executive funding via the Council’s Quality Development Team to develop the “Assessment is for Learning” strategy.

·       Lucy Smirthwaite, S3 at Nairn Academy, had been selected to play cello in The National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and would tour with them to China in July and August 2004.

·       In the past two and a half years, Kilchuimen Academy had succeeded in attracting £22,910 of British Council grants to forge links with schools in France and Germany involving exchange visits.   Part of this funding had included a £10,000 Comenius award for a language project with a school in Germany including exchange trips and resulting in a teacher and 3 pupils giving a presentation to a prestigious British Council conference in November.

·       Highland pupils, past and present, had featured large in the opening concert at the current year’s Celtic Connections, with 48 of the 77 young people participating being from Highland.  The concert had been highly successful and had gained national acclaim.

      After officials had answered points raised by Members, the Committee APPROVED the actions outlined in the report in particular:-

(i)                  the on-going commitment to address the Out of Authority budget pressures from within Service budgets and in parallel to submit a request for supplementary funding from the Resources Committee; and

(ii)                the measures identified in paragraph 3.2 of the report to address the demand led budget pressures and the commitment to identify further management actions to assist in the objective of bringing the budget in on target by the end of the financial year.

(b)        Education Maintenance Allowances

            Report No ECS2/04 dated 12 January, 2004 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport on the introduction of Education Maintenance Allowances (EMAs) which would replace higher school bursaries on a phased basis from August 2004 and would provide financial support for 16-19 year olds from low income households who were attending non advanced full-time education at school or college.  The report outlined the key features of the EMAs, the timetable for implementation, the actions required to ensure successful implementation within Highland and the funding to be made available by the Scottish Executive.  

            The Committee NOTED the progress being made with the implementation of Education Maintenance Allowances and AGREED that a further report be submitted to the March meeting of the Committee with detailed recommendations for the implementation and on-going operational and administrative arrangements for the Allowances.

(c)        Provision of Library Materials

            Report No ECS3/04 dated 12 January, 2004 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport on contracts for the  provision of library materials to the Council which had been let for a period of two years from April 2002 with the option to extend for one further period of twelve months.  Having considered both the current market and the performance of the suppliers thus far in the contract, it had been concluded that it would be in the best interests of the Council to seek to exercise the option to extend the contract.  In accordance with Contract Standing Orders the extension had been approved by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport in consultation with the Chairman.  It was confirmed that the costs of the current level of provision of library materials were entirely provided for within the Revenue Budget.

The Head of Eduation Services made a presentation at the meeting highlighting the main issues and outcomes of the review.

In discussion, it was suggested that an analysis should be carried out on a national basis of the differences in the cost of provision between authorities.  It was also suggested that there was room for further improvement in leadership across the Education, Social Work and Health Services; that partnerships with parents could be further developed; that there was a need to focus more on outcomes and establish indicators to measure performance; and that the Joint Committee on Children and Young People should look at therapy services and the performance of voluntary organisations and other forums. 

The Committee NOTED the Best Value Review of Support for Learning and AGREED  the recommendations in relation to:-

The Director pointed out that recent legislation had significantly modified and extended the Council’s duties but some aspects of the legislation did not articulate satisfactorily with the Special Education Needs legislation.  The Bill now introduced proposed a complete revision and modernisation of the legal framework for all additional support needs in Education, including Special Educational Needs.   The Director summarised the main provisions of the new Bill, outlined the general implications and commented on the resource implications, indicating that the minimum costs to the Council were presently estimated to be £300,000 in year 1, £330,000 in year 2 and £179,000 in year 3.

The Principal Educational Psychologist spoke to the report highlighting the main changes and the implications for the Council.   He suggested that the Committee should, in broad terms, welcome the proposed legislation but indicated that it did not address the issue of therapy services, nor was it currently clear how many children would be covered by the new legislation. 

In discussion, officials answered points raised by Members in relation to the proposed independent Appeals Panel, the definition of additional support needs, the question of funding for rural areas, and the position of children with acute needs or “gifted” children.

There was circulated Report No ECS9/04 dated 13 January, 2004 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which outlined the statutory Performance Indicators for the Service and the key issues arising from the outcomes reported for 2002/03.  The Director commented on key outcomes in relation to pre-school education, class sizes in primary schools, special educational needs, the Library Service, and sport and leisure management.  He indicated that a corporate review was currently underway on Public Performance Reporting following the issue of draft statutory guidelines by the Scottish Executive.  The Education, Culture and Sport Service Plan would be reviewed during 2004 and local performance indicators would be developed alongside this process to provide a greater depth of information on the Service’s performance for public performance reporting purposes.

Prior to the commencement of the afternoon session representatives from Lyreco, Brother and Acco Rexel presented the prizes to the winners of the Lyreco Catalogue Cover Competition.

In discussion, the suggestion was made that the People’s Network be extended to other outlets such as Post Offices and Service Points.  Details were given of the market testing which had been carried out in relation to the contract for the supply of the web design and hosting services and it was confirmed that the Council was unable to charge for the use of the IT equipment installed through the People’s Network programme in terms of the current contract.  A report would be submitted to the Committee if any opportunity arose to introduce charges.  

The Committee NOTED:-

(i)         the excellent progress in both the People’s Network and Am Baile Services;

(ii)        the continued funding requirements and the steps being considered as part of the current budget process; 

(iii)       the extension of the contract with Interactive Bureau for the provision of web-hosting and design services;  and

agreed

(i)         the planned next steps in People’s Network and Am Baile Services; and

In discussion it was suggested that the response from Highland Council include reference to possible problems in relation to security of copyright.  

The Committee AGREED:-

(i)         to note their broad support for the National Library of Scotland’s draft strategy;

(ii)        to welcome the opportunities offered by the strategy for increased partnership and collaborative working between the National Library and the Council; and

In discussion it was suggested that it would be interesting to establish whether giving children feedback on the results would encourage them to increase their fitness levels and that consideration should be given to the effect on fitness levels of the physical environment, both inside and outside schools.

In reply to a question regarding the sustainability of the programme after year 3, it was confirmed that, while no written commitment had been given, sportscotland regarded the Active Schools Programme as core and that no full-time permanent posts would be created until it was clear that the funding would be made permanent.

The Committee NOTED the progress of the existing School Sports Co-ordinator Initiative, and the proposed move to a consolidated “Active Schools Programme” and AGREED:-

(i)         the progressing of a Project Initiation Document with sportscotland and the inclusion of an initial bid for 9 Active School Co-ordinator posts; and

In discussion, points raised included the following:-

·        It was pointed out that, if the funding arrangements associated with any change in legislation were based on the existing GAE formula, this would exacerbate the situation in Highland which was historically underfunded in relation to school transport.

·        While there was support for a 20 mph speed limit at schools it was pointed out that there could be problems in implementing this and it might require a change in legislation.

·        Reference was made to the need to integrate the provision of education and childcare and it was suggested that the proposed legislation should cover childcare as well as pre-school education.

·        It was suggested that the Director of Planning and Development should be asked to consider making compliance with home zone guidance obligatory in respect of all new developments and including in the “Vision for Inverness” that every child should be able to walk or cycle to school.  It was also suggested that the current arrangements for cycle training at schools be reviewed.  

·        One suggestion made was that the Council should seek a change in legislation to make the walking distance for infants 0.5 mile.    

·        It was suggested that consideration be given to road conditions generally in proximity to schools and representations be made to increase the funding available for Safer Routes to School schemes.   The Council could also learn lessons about signing and traffic calming from other authorities. 

·        Reference was made to the role of parents in improving safety for children around schools.

·        It was suggested that consideration be given to specifying in the next round of tenders that all seatbelts on vehicles used for school transport should be 3 point seatbelts.  

There was also considerable discussion in relation to the appeals mechanism, during which some Members suggested that a Member of the Appeals Committee who was also the Local Member should have the right to vote in relation to all appeals submitted to the Appeals Committee, including those in his own ward, while other Members suggested that this could give rise to a conflict of interest and would not be fair to other Local Members.  There was also some discussion of the suggestion that Area Committees might make a recommendation  to the Appeals Committee, on whether parents should be invited to attend meetings of the Appeals Committee and whether site visits should be carried out.

At the conclusion of the discussion, the Committee AGREED that:-

(i)         the Council approach the Scottish Executive to review the current GAE allocations to local authorities for school transport to reflect actual expenditure;

(ii)        the Council ask the Scottish Executive in the strongest terms for a review of the legislation surrounding school transport with a view to decreasing the statutory walking distances to 1 mile and 2 miles respectively in non urban areas;

(iii)       as part of the national review, the Scottish Executive be urged to include Pre School Education, and possibly childcare, as part of the statutory requirements of local authorities, therefore making transport for these services statutory;

(iv)       the Council indicate that as a consequence of this review the Scottish Executive should review its financial arrangements to local authorities in respect of school transport;

(v)        the Council seek COSLA support for these matters; and

(vi)       a phased introduction of 20mph speed limits be planned across Highland, ensuring that schools were fully involved in the process, with representations being made to amend the relevant legislation, if necessary.

In relation to the Appeals mechanism, Mr A M Millar, seconded by Mrs I McCallum, MOVED that, where a Member of the Appeals Committee was also the Local Member for a particular Appeal, he/she should not have a vote.

Mr F R M Keith, seconded by Mr L Fraser, moved as an AMENDMENT that the Local Member, if a Member of the Appeals Committee, should have a vote.

On a vote being taken the outcome was as follows:-

For the Motion

Mr R Saxon                             Mr T C Jackson
Mr D Allan                               Mr A Anderson
Mr R W Durham                      Mrs I McCallum
Mr A M Millar                         Mrs I M Campbell
Mr T J MacLennan                   Mr N M Clark 

For the Amendment

Mr W A Mowat                       Mr F R M Keith
Mr H Fraser                             Mr R Balfour
Mrs M A MacLennan               Mrs J N Home
Mr L Fraser

The Motion was CARRIED by 10 votes to 7 and the Committee, therefore, AGREED that:-

(i)                  Local Members be invited to make written submissions, attend and speak at the Appeals Committee and sit through the meeting while a decision was arrived at;

 (ii)                where a Member of the Appeals Committee was also the Local Member for an appeal he/she would not have a vote. 

 (iii)               all papers relevant to their appeal be, as a matter of course, sent to parents;

 (iv)              parents be not invited to Appeals Committee meetings;

 (v)                site visits be not made as a matter of course but the Appeals Committee might, on a case by case basis decide to make a visit; and

The Committee APPROVED Minutes of a Meeting of the Duncraig Castle Working Group held on 11th November, 2003, copies of which had been circulated.

Arising from the Minutes, the Committee NOTED that a report including a detailed expenditure plan for the use of the free income from the Duncraig Trust Fund would be submitted to a future meeting and AGREED that wide publicity be given to the availability of bursaries etc from the Fund.

The meeting ended at 3.25 p.m.