Mr D Mackay
Mr J H Green
Mr G M Smith
Mr A Rhind
Mr J Connel
Mrs V MacIver
Mr D W Briggs

Officials in attendance:

Mr B Robertson, Director of Education, Culture and Sport
Mr H Fraser, Head of Support Services, Education, Culture and Sport
Mr I Murray, Head of Community Learning and Leisure, Education, Culture and Sport
Mr R MacKenzie, Education, Culture and Sport Finance Manager
Mr G Watson, Community Development Manager, Education, Culture and Sport
Mrs J Graham, External Funding Manager, Education, Culture and Sport
Mr R Ritchie, Area Education Manager, Ross and Cromarty
Mr T McCulloch, Quality Development Team Manager, Education, Culture and Sport
Miss M McCarrell, McCrone Development Officer, Education, Culture and Sport
Mrs E Kirkham, Principal Staffing Resources Officer, Education, Culture and Sport
Mr R Campbell, Project Manager, Property and Architectural Services
Mr J Allison Principal Administrator, Corporate Services
Mrs M Moffatt, Committee Administrator, Corporate Services

BUSINESS 

APOLOgies for absence 

Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of  Ms K MacNab, Mr R W Durham, Mr D Chisholm, Mr H Fraser and Mrs J N Home.

2.       

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REVENUE BUDGET 

There were circulated the following reports on Revenue Expenditure:- 

(i)         Education, Culture and Sport Revenue Expenditure 2004/05 - Monitoring 

            Report No ECS54/04 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport on Revenue Expenditure on the Education, Culture and Sport Service for the period 1 April to 31 August 2004.  At this time the report showed a projected overspend at the year end of £0.604m. 

            On the matter being raised, the Director reported on various options available to schools to provide music, P.E. and art in primary schools, through specialist visiting teachers or by other means.  He undertook to provide Councillor A Rhind with specific details on the position in schools in his ward.  The Chairman also confirmed that representations continued to be made in relation to the funding available for school transport. 

            The Committee NOTED:- 

            (i)         the improvement in the projected year-end budgetary position; 

(ii)        that, following an analysis of expenditure on school transport over the last four years, discussions would be held with Area Education Managers and reports submitted to the Area Committees in Lochaber, Skye and Lochalsh and Ross and Cromarty where costs had increased by more than 20%; and          

(iii)       a report would be submitted to the November meeting of the Committee on the use of the £329,000 received to implement the requirements of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) Act 2004. 

            The Committee also APPROVED the continuing policy of delaying unnecessary expenditure in order to compensate for demand-led budgetary pressures.

(ii)        Mountain Bike World Cup 

            Report No ECS55/04 dated 10 September, 2004 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which referred to the Mountain Bike World Cup event which had been held in Fort William in 2004.  The success of the 2004 and previous events had allowed a bid to be made to stage the 2007 World Mountain Bike Championships in Lochaber, which would benefit both Highland 2007 and the plans to develop Lochaber as the Outdoor Capital of the UK.  The event was supported financially by a variety of organisations and the Committee was asked to approve the allocation of an additional £5,000 from the Education, Culture and Sport budget to complete a Council funding package. 

            After hearing Local Members, Mr N M Clark and Mr T MacLennan speak on the importance of this event, the world recognition of the quality of the venue and the value to the local economy, the Committee:- 

            (i)         APPROVED the allocation of an additional £5,000 from the core             grants budget to complete a £20,000 Council funding package; and 

            (ii)        NOTED that it was likely that a similar level of financial             commitment might be requested from the Council in 2005 and   2006 and, if the bid for the World Championships was successful,      some additional support might be requested in 2007.

There were circulated the following reports on Capital Expenditure:- 

(i)         Capital Expenditure 2004/05 - Monitoring

            Report No ECS56/04 dated 8 September, 2004 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport on expenditure on the Education, Culture and Sport Service for the period 1st April to 31  July, 2004.   The report also referred to the development of Nairn Community Centre and the special circumstances which had led to consideration being given to Highland Council taking over the project from the Nairn Community Centre Development Company and progressing the designs to tender through the continuation of the appointment of LDN Architects of Forres. 

            After some discussion, during which the Director outlined the position with regard to expenditure on ICT infrastructure and school security and advised Members to raise local issues relative to school security with the Head of Support Services, the Committee AGREED to:- 

i)                    note the content of the report.; and 

ii)                   approve the continued employment of LDN Architects as lead consultant for the development of Nairn Community Centre, being satisfied that an exemption to Contract Standing Orders was justified by the need to provide continuity in the design process and maintain a specific time schedule. 

(ii)        Highland Football Academy - Capital Loan

            Mrs M E Paterson and Mr A J Dick declared a non-financial interest in this item as members of the Board of the Highland Football Academy Trust but, having applied the test outlined in Paragraph 5.18 of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, concluded that the interest did not preclude their involvement in the discussion.

            Report No ECS57/04 dated 8 September, 2004 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which proposed an extension to the £150,000 capital loan made to the Highland Football Academy following delays in the setting up of the Scottish Football Partnership (SFP).  While the Football Academy had repaid £50,000 of the original loan, legal difficulties still prevented the release of the SFP award and an extension of the loan was required in order for the Football Academy to be able to complete its capital phase, the artificial pitch at Charleston Academy. 

            The Committee AGREED to the six month extension (to March, 2005) of the capital loan to the Highland Football Academy, increased to its original level of £150,000 should an application for European match funding be successful, and that, subject to review by the Director of Finance, the same loan conditions should continue.

EDUCATION, CULTURE AND SPORT E-LEARNING STRATEGY 

There was circulated Report No ECS58/04 dated 6 September, 2004 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which outlined the Service’s proposed approach to e-learning through an E-Learning Strategy for Education, Culture and Sport.  The strategy had been developed through a cross-service working group and set the agenda for e-learning across formal and informal learning environments.  A combination of on-going investment in infrastructure, product development and training would be required to deliver the strategy.  Currently the Service invested in excess of £3m per annum on ICT developments. 

THE BIG LOTTERY FUND CONSULTATION 

There was circulated Report No ECS59/04 dated 10 September, 2004 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which presented a draft response to the current Big Lottery Fund consultation.  The Big Lottery had been formed by the merger of two lottery distributors: the New Opportunities Fund and the Community Fund.  The report gave details of the focus of and funding to be distributed by the new Fund and the draft response commented on the proposals as they compared with the previous arrangements.   

Mrs J Graham, External Funding Manager, spoke to the report, confirming that the Council’s response would suggest that the Big Lottery Fund work from the bottom up, that there be better and earlier communication, that links be developed with community planning partnerships and potential award partners, that the Fund move towards outcome funding, there be less bureaucracy, more time to develop proposals, less funding strands and that the Lottery distributors work more effectively together with the Scottish Executive and local partners. 

After some discussion, during which points raised included the need to reduce bureaucracy, and possibly lobby for funding to assist communities making applications, the Committee AGREED that the draft response contained in Appendix 1 to the report should form the basis of Highland Council’s response to the current Big Lottery Fund consultation.

THE RACE EQUALITY POLICY FOR EDUCATION 

There was circulated Report No ECS60/04 dated 6 September, 2004 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which referred to the requirement under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act for the Education Authority to produce a Race Equality Policy.  The report outlined the duties under the Act, the contents of the Race Equality Policy and the proposed action to ensure its implementation.  This included the secondment of a head teacher who was recognised nationally for his work on race equality on a part-time basis to support schools in producing their own race equality policies and in auditing and developing the curriculum to meet the demands of the Act.  The cost of this secondment could be met from the Education, Culture and Sport Service budget. 

EDUCATION, CULTURE AND SPORT SERVICE PLAN 2002-2005 

There was circulated Report No ECS61/04 dated 8 September, 2004 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which detailed the key outcomes of the stocktaking exercise which had been carried out on Service wide progress in year 2 (2003/04) of the Education, Culture and Sport Service Plan towards achieving the identified improvement objectives.  The review demonstrated a wide range of activity and considerable success in delivering the improvement targets set, and the report gave details of progress on the five Improvement Themes identified and the 47 key measured outcomes in the form of performance indicators and local outcome agreements. 

MILLENNIUM COMMISSION: URBAN CULTURAL PROGRAMME AWARD 

There was circulated Report No ECS62/04 dated 9 September, 2004 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport on the Millennium Commission’s recent offer of award of £500,000 to Highland 2007 under the Urban Cultural Programme.  The report gave details of the criteria for the Programme, the application made and the aims of the programme submitted.  All events had to be delivered before February, 2006.  In order to meet application criteria, Highland 2007 had been the consortium applicant and existing mainstream arts funding had been put up as match funding, details of which were given.  The programme submitted had four broad strands and the proposed allocation of funding to these strands was as follows:- 

REVIEW OF SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS PROVISION IN THE TAIN AREA 

There was circulated Report No ECS63/04 dated 25 August, 2004 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which advised Members that at present provision for pupils with high levels of special educational needs in North East Ross and South East Sutherland was made in St Duthus Special School in Tain.  The accommodation was, however, in relatively poor condition and in need of replacement in the medium to longer term.  The layout of the building also presented difficulty in providing for the wide range of needs of pupils given the range of facilities which they required to access.  It was, therefore, proposed that a review take place of the provision made for special educational needs in this area of the Council. 

COMMUNITY LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY 

There was circulated Report No ECS64/04 dated 22 August, 2004 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which invited Members to comment on, and approve, a strategy for Community Learning and Development that offered achievement through learning for adults and young people, and sought to build the capacity of individuals and communities to play a part in community planning.  The strategy had been drawn up, following guidance from the Scottish Executive, by the existing Community Learning Partnership in Highland.  In the short term the strategy could be delivered within existing resources.  However, if Community Learning and Development was to play a major role in raising community capacity and enabling communities and individuals to participate in community planning, it was likely that additional resources would be required in future.  This would be the subject of discussion at a future seminar and of future reports.  

The Committee AGREED that the Education, Culture and Sport Committee be represented on the proposed Strategic Advisory Group, which would replace the Co-ordinating Sub-Committee on Services for People who were Deaf or Hard of Hearing, by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman, with Mrs M A MacLennan acting as substitute should either be unable to attend a meeting.   

It was further NOTED that the Minutes of meetings of the Group would be submitted for approval to the Housing and Social Work Committee and to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee for their interest.

HIGHLAND JUNIOR GOLF STRATEGY 

There was circulated Report No ECS65/04 dated 6 September, 2004 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport on a draft Highland Junior Golf Strategy.   The report referred to the Scottish Junior Golf Strategy, the principal aim of which was to give every nine year old in Scotland an introduction to golf by 2009 and to retain children in the sport by increasing the junior membership of clubs.  In order to deliver these aims clubgolf had been formed as a partnership between various golfing associations and sportscotland.  The Scottish Executive had committed £500,000 annually to clubgolf, with further funding coming from the partners.  Clubgolf had been encouraged to form local steering groups, with each producing a local golf development strategy and the Highland Strategy had been a product of that process.  Details were given of developments since the appointment of a Highland Junior Golf Development Officer in March 2003, of audits and consultation carried out and of the aims of the Highland strategy.  

PRIMARY MANAGEMENT STRUCTURES 

There was circulated Report No ECS66/04 dated 6 September, 2004 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport on revised structures for promoted posts in Highland primary schools proposed in the light of “A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century”, the McCrone Agreement.    The proposals also took into account that there was historically a management deficit in Highland’s primary schools which required to be redressed.  They were designed to allow some flexibility in meeting local circumstances, particularly with regard to single teacher schools and would allow Senior Management Teams, including the new posts of Principal Teacher, to focus on whole school management issues such as quality assurance, raising achievement and personnel management, in addition to the management and delivery of the curriculum.  The proposals had been discussed with head teachers and teacher unions and had been recommended for approval by the Local Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff. 

In discussion, Members’ attention was drawn to a view expressed that head teachers in schools with Gaelic-medium units still had insufficient management time.   In reply to questions, the Director confirmed that the modernising the teaching profession funding received from the Scottish Executive would meet the costs of implementation of the phased programme set out in the report; that the expectation was that the proposals for increased management time would improve recruitment in primary schools; and that new promoted posts established in primary schools would not immediately be removed if rolls decreased. 

The Committee APPROVED the proposed Primary Management Structures, noting that, due to budgetary pressures it would not be possible for all schools to move to the new management structures immediately, but a staged approach would be required.

VOLUNTARY FLU VACCINATIONS FOR TEACHING STAFF 

There was circulated Report No ECS67/04 dated 10 September, 2004 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which referred to current difficulties being faced by many local authorities in recruiting teaching staff in both the primary and secondary sectors.  The resultant high number of vacancies, combined with the effects of initiatives such as reductions in class contact time for primary teachers, had reduced the number of teachers available for supply cover.  Every year a number of teaching staff were affected by flu and, given the current shortage of supply teachers, this could give rise to significant staffing difficulties over the winter months.  A pilot voluntary flu vaccination programme in all Nairn schools had proved effective in reducing staff absence and it was, therefore, proposed that for the current year flu vaccination be offered to teaching staff in all Highland schools.  The estimated cost would be approximately £20,000. 

Following discussion, during which it was suggested that consideration be given to extending the programme to classroom assistants and the Director undertook to report back to Councillor L Fraser on vaccinations offered to school janitors, the Committee AGREED to a programme of voluntary flu vaccination in the current year for teaching staff in all Highland Council schools.

DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD SCHEME - MEMBER REPRESENTATION ON THE HIGHLAND AWARD PARTNERSHIP 

There was circulated Report No ECS68/04 dated 6 September, 2004 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport on a request that the Council nominate two representatives to sit on the Highland Committee of the Highlands Award Partnership (HAP) of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.  This partnership had been established a number of years ago to assist the Council with fundraising for, and development of, the Award Scheme.  Formal representation from the Council had lapsed some time ago but the Chairman of HAP had now written to the Council seeking to re-establish formal links.

The Committee AGREED to nominate Mr A M Millar and Mr A J Dick to represent the Council on the Highland Committee.

LES RENCONTRES  

There was circulated Report No ECS69/04 dated 6 September, 2004 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport on the proposed attendance of the Chairman at meetings of Les Rencontres.  Les Rencontres was a European organisation “created for and by elected officials in charge of Culture and Education in the regions of Europe”.  Its purpose was “to use culture to bring Europe closer to the citizen and his/her needs”.  The Council had been a member since 2002.  The Chairman had been invited to lead a seminar on Highland 2007 at the forthcoming meeting in Ljubljana in February 2005, which was an important opportunity to promote the Year of Highland Culture and develop further ideas.  The structure of the seminar was to be discussed at a meeting in October in Lille, which was currently the European City of Culture. 

The Committee APPROVED the attendance of the  Chairman at meetings of Les Rencontres in October 2004 and February 2005 to promote Highland 2007; and at any further meetings of Les Rencontres as might be appropriate to promote Highland 2007 and culture and education in the Highlands.

The meeting ended at 12.50 p.m.