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THE HIGHLAND COUNCIL
EDUCATION, CULTURE AND SPORT COMMITTEE
Minutes of Meeting of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee held in the Council
Chamber, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness on Thursday 25th September, 2003 at 10.30 a.m.
PRESENT
Mr R Saxon
Mr T Jackson
Ms K MacNab
Mr W Mowat
Mr D Allan
Mrs J Urquhart
Mr A Anderson
Mr R W Durham
Mr D Chisholm
Ms A MacLean
Mrs I McCallum
Mr H Fraser
Mrs I Campbell |
Mr P Corbett
Mr R Balfour
Mr W J Smith
Mrs M A MacLennan
Mrs J N Home
Mr L Fraser
Mrs S Slimon
Mr G Rimell
Mr T MacLennan
Dr M E M Foxley
Mr N M Clark
Rev A J MacDonald |
| NON-MEMBERS ALSO PRESENT: |
Mr A I MacDonald
Mr J H Green
Mr A Rhind
Mr E C MacKinnon
Mrs V MacIver
Mr D W Briggs |
Mr J Laing
Mr W Fulton
Mr G Coutts
Mrs G McCreath
Mr C King
Mr A R McFarlane Slack |
Officials in attendance:
Mr B Robertson, Director of Education, Culture and Sport
Mr R MacKenzie, Education, Culture and Sport Finance Manager
Mr B Hemming, Resources Manager, Education, Culture and Sport
Mr G Watson, Culture and Sport Manager, Education, Culture and Sport
Mr W F MacPherson, Community Learning Manager, Education, Culture and Sport
Ms M McCarrell, McCrone Development Officer, Education, Culture and Sport
Mrs E Kirkham, Principal Staffing Resource 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 |
Mr A Anderson in the Chair
BUSINESS
An asterisk in the margin denotes a recommendation to the Council. All decisions with
no marking in the margin are delegated to the Committee |
PRELIMINARIES
| 1. |
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Mr A M Millar, Mrs A L Magee, Mrs M E
Paterson, Mrs M C Davidson, Mr A Milne, Mr A J Dick, Mr J N Matheson, Mr J McDonald and
Rev A Glass. |
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2.
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SUCCESSES
The Committee NOTED the following successes which had occurred within the
Education, Culture and Sport Service and AGREED that congratulations be conveyed to
those concerned:-
Science laboratory upgrades had been completed at Kingussie and Invergordon High
Schools funded through the Capital Programme.
Tain Royal Academy all weather pitch had been in use since the start of session 2003/04.
Lochaber Social Inclusion video project "A Park in Need" was going to be shown
at the Roshd International Film Festival in Tehran in November.
Highland Council was now top of the league in the national Loo of the Year Awards.
September had been designated Archives Awareness Month, a national campaign to promote the
relevance of archives for today’s society. The Council had contributed towards this
campaign with newspaper articles, interviews, an open day at the North Highland Archive
and exhibitions.
A team from Alness Academy had won the top prize in an innovation competition, PICT Youth
Challenge 2003, by devising a high-tech card which gave mobile phone users the ability to
top-up their credit using bank cash machines.
Tomnacross Primary School had renewed their longstanding cultural and sporting exchange
with St Mary’s in Dublin at the beginning of August. 17 shinty players, plus a piper,
had taken part in the exchange. Highlight of the trip was an invitation to play at Croak
Park in a demonstration shinty game in front of a 36,000 crowd.
The class of 2003 had been selected for the latest Grampian Houston junior golf trip,
taking place in October. Every two years the programme’s committee chose 12
youngsters to go to the Houston area in Texas and this year’s selection had included
the following Highland pupils:
Christopher Drain - Lochaber High School
John Forbes - Charleston Academy
Euan Polson - Golspie High School
Corin Stewart - Fortrose Academy
Glen Urquhart High School pupils Andrew Young, Lewis MacLennan, Ruaridh Cameron and
Alastair McAdams had been selected for the North of Scotland U14 shinty team.
Glen Urquhart High School S1 Girls Football team had won the first Small Schools’
(South) Football festival at Lochaber High School - undefeated without conceding a goal.
Glen Urquhart High School was, on 25 September, hosting the prestigious SETT (Scottish
Educational Technology Show) in the Highlands day as a satellite of the major conference
based in the SECC Glasgow
Recent Quality Award winners had included:
Lifelong Learning Category: Dingwall Academy for their literacy project.
Innovative Technology Category: Highland Virtual Library Website.
Special Award to Portree Primary School for their enterprise Seoid "Hero" in
winning the National Skene Award and the School and Community Prize of the 2003 National
Education Awards.
A letter had been received from Francis Mohapanele Primary School in South Africa
expressing thanks and appreciation for the visit by Jan Baxter, Newmore Primary School
during the summer.
In partnership with the Scottish Prison Service, and with funding from the Adult
Literacies Partnership, Adult Basic Education was about to appoint a Prison Literacy's
Liaison Officer who would be dedicated to working with prisoners with low literacy levels
and their families. The officer would also organise the continuation of learning after
exit and establish a network of support which it was hoped would help prevent
re-offending. |
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RESOURCES |
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3.
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REVENUE EXPENDITURE - EDUCATION, CULTURE AND SPORT SERVICE
- MONITORING 2003/04
There was circulated Report No ECS46/03 dated 15th September, 2003 by the
Director of Education, Culture and Sport on Revenue Expenditure on the Education, Culture
and Sport Service for the period 1st April to 31st August 2003. The report showed a
projected overspend at the year end of £1.1m. The Director commented on the main budget
pressures and actions taken or proposed to address them.
At the meeting the Director reported that, at the annual school census date of 8th
September 2003, secondary school rolls had increased by 118 and primary school rolls had
decreased by 57. A report on the implications of these changes for devolved school
staffing budgets would be submitted to the November meeting.
The Director outlined the position with regard to out of authority care and education
placements and confirmed that a report on proposed action to address the projected
overspend in this budget would be submitted to the Joint Committee on Children and Young
People on 26 September 2003.
After discussion, the Committee NOTED the position and APPROVED the actions
outlined in the report to off-set the significant projected budget pressures which
currently existed within the Education, Culture and Sport Revenue Budget. |
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| 4. |
CAPITAL EXPENDITURE
There were circulated the following reports on Capital Expenditure:-
(a) Capital Programme 2003/04 - Monitoring
Report No ECS47/03 dated 15 September, 2003 by the Director of Education, Culture and
Sport on expenditure on the Education, Culture and Sport Service for the period 1st April
to 31 August, 2003. The report gave overall figures for the service pending the approval
of a review of the current Education, Culture and Sport Capital Programme for financial
years 2003/04 and beyond.
The Committee NOTED the report.
(b) Review of Capital Programme for 2003/04
Report No ECS48/03 dated 15 September, 2003 by the Director of Education, Culture and
Sport which reviewed the Education, Culture and Sport Capital Plan. The Director pointed
out that, due to Budget Working Group discussions regarding prudential controls and
capital allocations to services, the extent of the review had been limited to dealing with
the approvals required for capital projects commencing in financial years 2003/04 and
extending into 2004/05 and providing an indicative level of spending for the financial
years thereafter. The current allocation for 2003/04 was £5.2M which was split into two
elements namely £4.7M for education projects and £500,000 for Community Learning and
Leisure projects. It was recommended that this balance continue in future years.
The Director then set out issues to be addressed through the Capital Programme and current
known specific pressures. Taking into account current initiatives, such as the 21st
Century Schools Improvement Programme, the Schools Estate Management Plan and the second
Public Private Partnership, it was proposed that the Capital Plan in future provide for a
shift of emphasis from project specific to a thematic process. It should also continue
Area-based decision-making supported by increased devolved funding (10% increase), the
allocation of funding for high value works that could not wholly be met through devolved
funds and the introduction of New Opportunities Facilities Upgrade funding. Details were
given of the gross funds available to support programme expenditure and key revision
points within the capital programme. Finally, the Director referred to a proposal by the
Social Work Service to develop a small residential support base in Staffin and recommended
that Staffin Primary Schoolhouse be made available for this project.
The Director also made a presentation on this item. Within this he advised the Committee
that all future projects would now comply with the policy adopted by the Council's
Sustainable Development Select Committee on environmental and sustainability standards in
Council properties.
In discussion points raised included the following:-
- the local Member, Mr C King, confirmed his agreement to the removal of Mallaig Hostel
from the PPP Initiative subject to it being provided within the same timescale. He sought
further information, however, on the progress of the project and suggested that there be
further consultations with the parents of children from the Small Isles.
- Mr King also sought information on the likely timescale for provision of the Mallaig All
Weather Pitch. It was reported that funding for this project was now in place and the
target date for the start on site was January 2004. This would be confirmed in writing to
Mr King.
- Some concern was expressed about the suggestion that the hostel at Mallaig would be used
outwith term time to generate income. It was felt that such use of public funding might be
considered to be unfair competition by commercial providers of accommodation. It was
pointed out, however, that the proposal envisaged the use of the hostel by groups rather
that individuals and Council policy was that all educational establishments be used as
widely as possible.
- The Local Member, Mr D Allan requested that consideration be given to the provision of a
Sports Barn at Dornoch which was currently not included in the Capital Programme. He was
advised that consideration could be given to this project once the Committee’s
capital allocation had been confirmed by the Budget Working Group, provided the Area
Committee had decided it was a priority which would be too large for the Area Committee to
fund.
- Reference was made to the large number of projects which would not be addressed through
the PPP Initiative and the need to make the case for funding to be allocated to the
Education, Culture and Sport Service.
- It was confirmed that the allocation to Community Learning and Leisure recognised the
fact that an increasing amount of funding was received from outside organisations such as
Sportscotland, Scottish Arts Council etc.
Reference was also made in the discussion to the future programme for nursery facilities,
to progress on specific projects, to the possible use of Spend to Save funding in relation
to the integration of office accommodation and the effects of increases in construction
costs on the Capital Programme. Further clarification was given of the proposed shift in
emphasis to a thematic approach and the link with the Schools Estate Management Plan. The
Director also detailed the current position in relation to the PPP process.
The Committee NOTED the report and APPROVED the Capital Programme identified
in Appendix 1 of the report.
The Committee also AGREED that:-
(i) the balance of funding between Education projects and Community Learning and Leisure
remain as detailed in the report;
(ii) the refurbishment of the science laboratories at Lochaber High School be undertaken
in the summer of 2004;
(iii) Staffin Primary Schoolhouse be declared surplus to requirements and available for
transfer to the Social Work Service on the condition that it was used specifically for
respite care provision for children with disabilities;
(iv) discussions be held with the local Member, Mr C King, and with Small Isles parents
about the programming for the Mallaig Hostel project and other issues arising;
(v) a report be submitted to the Committee on the programming of future nursery projects
in the context of the 21st Century School Improvement Programme (including provision in
the Drakies area of Inverness and at Gergask);
(vi) information on the scale of works required to Education, Culture & Sport
properties outwith the PPP Initiative be passed to Dr M E M Foxley as Chairman of the
Budget Working Group; and
(vii) information on the current position with regard to the following projects be passed
to the local Members: Wick All Weather Pitch, Deshar Primary School - site acquisition,
Plockton All Weather Pitch and Plockton Dining Facilities. |
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POLICY |
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| 5. |
REVIEWING EDUCATIONAL PROVISION
There was circulated Report No ECS49/03 dated 15th September, 2003 by the Director of
Education, Culture and Sport referring to the likelihood that Members would require to
review educational provision in parts of the Highlands during the lifetime of the current
Council. The Director referred to the main factors which might lead to a review and the
changes in circumstances which would require formal consultation. He set out proposed
criteria to be used to evaluate whether or not there was a need for the Council to
formally review provision, outlined how the criteria would be used and put forward
proposals for consultation with the community and procedures for taking decisions on a
review of provision within the Council. He suggested that, if the Council following the
review process was minded to alter provision, there must be clear benefits and
improvements and he outlined possible improved outcomes.
The Committee AGREED to adopt the Principles, Practices and Criteria outlined in
the paper when reviewing educational provision in Highland. |
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| 6. |
EDUCATION, CULTURE AND SPORT SERVICE PLAN 2002-2005
There was circulated Report No ECS50/03 dated 12th September, 2003 by the Director of
Education, Culture and Sport which referred to the Service Plan for the new Education,
Culture and Sport Service for the period 2002 – 2005 which had been approved by the
Committee on 8 May 2002. The Service’s Management Team had just completed a
stocktaking exercise on service wide progress towards achieving the improvement objectives
set out in the Service Plan and the report detailed the key outcomes of the stocktaking
exercise. The Plan contained 47 key measured outcomes in the form of performance
indicators and local outcome agreements.
In reply to a question the Director indicated that it was hoped to report to the
November meeting on the outcome of the consultant’s report on the Council’s
proposed bid for a Highland Archive Centre as part of their overall Archive Strategy.
The Committee NOTED progress to date on the delivery of the Service Plan objectives
for 2002-05. |
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| 7. |
EDUCATION, CULTURE AND SPORT STATUTORY PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS
There was circulated Report No ECS51/03 dated 10th September, 2003 by the Director of
Education, Culture and Sport which provided an update on performance issues arising from
the outcomes reported to Committee on 14th November, 2002 on Statutory Performance
Indicators (SPIs) for 2001/02 and subsequent benchmarking of performance at a national
level. The report dealt with Performance Indicators for the four areas within the
Education, Culture and Sport Service which were either in the bottom quartile for
performance in Scotland or had shown a greater than 10% decline in performance between
1999/2000 and 2001/02. The report also proposed an approach to the development of medium
to long term local performance indicators for the Service.
In discussion the following points were raised:-
- The Director of Education Culture and Sport undertook to confirm whether the
change of loan period for library books had begun to have an effect on the indicator for
satisfying books requests.
- The Director outlined steps being taken to address the problem of the lengthening
of the time taken to complete assessment and draw up a Record of Needs for Special
Educational Needs children which was largely due to staff shortages.
- The Community Learning Manager undertook to confirm the timescale for completing
the review Highland-wide of service level agreements.
The Committee:-
(i) NOTED progress on the Service’s benchmark position for Statutory
Performance Indicators;
(ii) APPROVED the approach to the development of Local Performance Indicators
outlined in the report; and
(iii) AGREED that a report be submitted to a future meeting on how the increase in
income received as a result of the introduction of the High Life Card was being used, in
light of concerns expressed about the maintenance of leisure facilities. |
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| 8. |
CULTURAL STRATEGY
There was circulated Report No ECS52/03 dated 12th September, 2003 by the Director of
Education, Culture and Sport which referred to guidance issued by the Scottish Executive
and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities in March recommending that each local
authority should have an authority-wide cultural strategy for the local implementation of
the National Cultural Strategy. The Council’s proposals for 2007, a year when
Scotland would be celebrating Highland Culture, set out the aspiration of the Highlands as
Cultural Region. 2007 was a partnership of 33 supporting agencies and, bearing in mind the
legal obligation on the Council through community planning to work with other agencies, it
was proposed that the Council work in partnership through the Highland Wellbeing Alliance
to produce a multi-agency cultural strategy for the Highlands.
In discussion it was confirmed that the Highlands was already a cultural region in
many ways but, because of the resources required to develop infrastructure needs, a
long-term strategy would be required. It was also suggested that more emphasis be placed
on Gaelic and reference was made to the importance of ensuring that children had equal
access to music tuition. Rev A J Macdonald expressed some concern about where the emphasis
lay within the strategy. He pointed out that the report contained a moral and ethical
thrust and suggested that one of the great aspects of Highland Culture from which the
current generation still benefited was old fashioned biblical morality. He, therefore,
asked that the Cultural Strategy be revised to include the Cultural Heritage of the Word
of God. The Chairman pointed out that the Strategy reflected the diversity of society and
acknowledged and supported diversity in religion, including religious education and
tolerance. In further discussion it was suggested that the possibility of a 1% levy on
developments to be directed to public art be discussed with the Planning and Development
Service and further clarification was sought of what was included in the Cultural Pledge.
The Committee AGREED:-
(i) the guidance from the Scottish Executive and COSLA to produce a cultural strategy be
accepted;
(ii) the cultural strategy be taken forward under community planning, seeking partners to
produce a multi-agency strategy with a single set of outcomes; and
(iii) in addition to the core activities and cross cutting issues outlined in Appendix B
to the guidance, Gaelic and play be added.
(iv) a report be submitted to a future meeting on Music Tuition in Primary Schools; and
(v) a report be submitted to the November meeting on the Year of Highland Culture 2007
which should include an indication of what it was hoped to do through the Cultural Pledge. |
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COMMUNITY LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT WORKING DRAFT GUIDANCE
There was circulated Report No ECS53/03 dated 11th September, 2003 by the Director of
Education, Culture and Sport which outlined the Scottish Executive’s "Community
Learning and Development Working Draft Guidance" and its effect on working practice
in Highland. Community Learning and Development was defined as "learning and social
development work with individuals and groups in their communities. The aim of this work is
to strengthen communities by improving peoples’ knowledge skills and confidence,
organisational ability and resources. It makes an important contribution towards promoting
life-long learning, social inclusion and active citizenship". The report summarised
the approach recommended in the draft guidance and set out the implications for Highland
at strategic and area level. The staff training and development implications had yet to be
fully assessed but would form part of the Service’s training plan which would be
established to reflect priority areas for the Council.
The Chairman confirmed that, in accordance with the decision of the Portfolio
Holders Group, arrangements would be made for Community Learning and Leisure staff once
appointed to attend meetings of Area Committees where they had not already done so.
The Committee:-
(i) AGREED to implement the new National Community Learning and Development
Guidance;
(ii) NOTED the lead role given to the Council’s Service in developing the
relationship between Community Planning and Community Learning and Leisure; and
(iii) AGREED that a further report be brought to Committee on how these linkages
would be developed. |
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| 10. |
APPEALS COMMITTEES - PLACING REQUESTS/EXCLUSIONS
There was circulated Report No ECS54/03 dated 12th September, 2003 by the Director of
Corporate Services which sought approval to a widening of the membership of the Appeals
Committees which dealt with appeals against the refusal of placing requests or the
exclusion of pupils from school. The report gave details of the constitution of Appeals
Committees and the current method of appointing members in line with the statutory
requirements. It was proposed that the category of member who were not Members of the
Authority or of the Education Committee be widened to include not only current members of
school boards but other persons with experience in education, such as former members of
school boards or former members of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee, who would
be interested in volunteering for this role. By this means it would be hoped to build up a
pool of members who could be approached to sit on Appeals Committees as and when required
and it would also be possible to provide suitable training.
The Committee AGREED that the membership of Appeals Committees be widened to
include other persons with experience in education, as detailed above, and that suitable
training be provided for all members of Appeals Committees. |
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STAFFING |
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| 11. |
MANAGEMENT AND SUPPORT STRUCTURES IN HIGHLAND SCHOOLS
There was circulated Report No ECS55/03 dated 15th August, 2003 by the Director of
Education, Culture and Sport which proposed changes to management structures in secondary
schools arising out of the implementation of "A Teaching Profession for the 21st
Century", the McCrone Report. It also proposed additional support staff for Highland
schools as part of the McCrone agreement. The proposed changes to the management
structures provided for an improved and simplified career structure for all teachers, with
three types of promoted grade only – Principal Teacher, Depute Headteacher and
Headteacher. The introduction of the increased funding for support staff and the clear
statement in the McCrone Report of the duties of all teachers offered an opportunity to
revise management structures so that teachers in promoted posts had a clear remit and
adequate time dedicated to the learning and teaching process in a context of continuous
improvement. Details were given of the consultation carried out, of the detailed promoted
post framework and of the financial implications.
The Director stressed the need for flexibility in the Highland context in view of
the number of small secondary schools. He confirmed that further reports would be
submitted to Committee on additional support staff as funding permitted, and proposals for
management structures in primary schools would also be submitted to a future meeting.
In discussion reference was made to the consultations which had been carried out,
to the position of staff during the transition period, to the need for parents to
understand the new structures and to concerns about the balance between the numbers of
principal teachers of subject areas or of pupil support and about the grouping of subjects
under one principal teacher. The Director confirmed that there would continue to be
subject specialists. He also confirmed that promoted staff would have their salaries
conserved for life provided they had been in the post for 3 years and new posts created
would be job sized. Parents and school boards would be advised of the new structures. He
suggested that the new structures, including the post of chartered teacher which allowed
good teachers to stay in the classroom, would help recruitment and provide an attractive
promoted post structure,
The Committee AGREED:-
(i) the proposed framework and implementation plan, including further consultation, for
revised management structures in secondary schools, as detailed in Appendix A of the
report; and
(ii) the implementation of further support for schools in line with Annex E of the McCrone
Report within available funding and following further consultation as detailed in Appendix
B. |
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| 12. |
EMPLOYEE SURVEY
There was circulated Report No ECS56/03 dated 13th September, 2003 by the Director of
Education, Culture and Sport which considered the implications for the Education, Culture
and Sport Service of the recent Employee Survey and reported on proposed action as a
result of the findings. It was suggested that good progress had been made but there
remained areas where improvement was necessary.
The Committee:-
(i) NOTED the Education, Culture and Sport Service’s improvement proposals
that were being taken to address the development requirements arising out of the Employee
Survey; and
(ii) AGREED that Staff Focus Groups be formed to produce Action Plans covering the
actions needed to tackle possible development issues indicated through the Employee
Survey. |
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MINUTES |
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| 13. |
MINUTES OF MEETINGS
There were circulated and NOTED Minutes of Meeting of the Education
Transport Appeals Committee held on 3 September, 2003.
The meeting ended at 1.00 p.m. |
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