Agenda, decisions and minutes

The agenda and reports associated with this minute can be found here

Please note that if any changes are made to this minute at the point of approval, these will outlined in the subsequent minute and this document will not be retrospectively altered.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 14 March 2019 for approval.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the minute as a correct record.

The Committee had before it the committee business planner as prepared by the Chief Officer – Governance.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the planner.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which presented the annual committee effectiveness report of the Education Operational Delivery Committee for 2018/19.

The report recommended:-

that Committee note the report.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        in response to the query in respect of section 6.7 of the annual report (Reports and Committee Decisions) and the recording of decisions taken by the Education Operational Delivery Committee which were then referred to other Committees, to note that this was the initial annual report for Committee and therefore any feedback in respect of the format and content would be considered when presenting the reports in future years; and

(ii)       to otherwise note the annual report.

With reference to article 9 of the minute of its meeting of 6 November 2018, the Committee had before it a report which presented an update on education service progress against agreed key performance indicators, which sought to address the request at the previous meeting that more detailed analysis of the data be provided for future reports.

The report highlighted a number of key areas of work, namely leadership of change; improving attainment; health and wellbeing; closing the gap; and employability and positive and sustained destinations.  Further to Member feedback at the previous meeting, the appendix to the report contained a more visual representation of the data, which was designed to highlight where change, whether positive or negative, could be classed as statistically significant.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      note the progress made in delivering on the improvements outlined in the Aberdeen City National Improvement Framework Plan 2018/2019;

(b)      note the analysis of attainment data contained within Appendix A; and

(c)       instruct the Chief Operating Officer to continue to track progress in order to fully evaluate the impact of the National Improvement Framework Plan to the Committee in September 2019.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        to thank officers for the work put into the report;

(ii)       in respect of 3.2.13 in the report (recruitment challenges), to note that it was hoped that the situation would have improved by August 2019, and to note that officers would circulate a service update to Members after August to provide an update on the situation;

(iii)      in respect of 3.4.7 in the report (period poverty) to note that there was to be an evaluation of the project and that officers would circulate a service update to Members thereafter; and

(iv)      to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which provided feedback from the recent consultation in respect of possible changes to the school holiday pattern and sought a decision on the preferred option for school sessions 2020/2021 to 2024/2025.

The report proposed that Option 4 in Appendix A to the report be approved, namely the retention of the general pattern of holidays of previous years with the exception of bringing the summer holidays forward by one week.

The report recommended:-

that Committee note and consider the summary of feedback on the consultation on the school holiday pattern and approve the preferred option (Option 4 in Appendix A) for school sessions 2020/2021 to 2024/2025.

The Committee resolved:-

to agree that the existing holiday pattern continue for the session 2020/2021 and that a further consultation exercise be undertaken to determine if the summer holiday should be brought forward by a week, reporting back to the Education Operational Delivery Committee in November 2019.

With reference to article 5 of the minute of its meeting of 17 January 2019, the Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which provided an update on the performance of the transport services and arrangements for pupils accessing Lochside Academy, and the success of provisions in relation to the safe walking routes to Lochside Academy.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee note the outcome of the 2019 annual review for transport and safe routes to school for Lochside Academy.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to approve the recommendation contained in the report;

(ii)        to note that significant numbers of children attending Lochside Academy continue to cross Wellington Road outwith the safe crossing points by climbing over the vehicle guard rail separating the north and southbound carriageways between the Souterhead Roundabout and the junction with Charleston Road North; and

(iii)       to refer the matter at (ii) to the Operational Delivery Committee, with the recommendation they give effect to implementing protective measures to prevent pedestrians crossing Wellington Road between these junctions by instructing the Chief Officer Operations and Protective Services to design and install protective measures to prevent pedestrians crossing Wellington Road between these junctions, to be paid for by reprioritising funds from the Cycling, Walking and Safer Streets Budget.

With reference to article 5 of the minute of its meeting of 19 April 2018, the Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer in response to the instruction at that Committee for a report prior to the close of each school year which detailed the numbers registered for and taking free school meals by school; assessed the progress made by implementing the new workstreams; and detailed any required adjustments for the following school year.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      note the increase in the number of children and young people registered for free school meals;

(b)      instruct the Chief Operating Officer to monitor the impact of the future work of each workstream outlined in the report;

(c)       note the evaluation of the programme to deliver free school meals during school holidays;

(d)      note the evaluation of the Food and Fun Programme for 2018/2019; and

(e)      instruct the Chief Officer – Early Intervention and Community Empowerment to continue with the Food and Fun concept, but examine alternative models of delivery which are less staff resource intensive.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        to thank officers for the work undertaken;

(ii)       to note the increase in the number of children and young people registered for free school meals;

(iii)      to note that the Scottish Government had qualifying criteria for free school meals which could be varied by Councils using the Education (Scotland) Act 2016;

(iv)      to note the workstreams being progressed by officers to increase the uptake of free school meals across both the Primary and Secondary school estate; and further note the potential for Universal Credit or other benefits to have an adverse impact on eligibility criteria for free school meals, and instruct the Chief Operating Officer to investigate whether the Council should develop a free school meals policy to address anomalies in legislation as part of the wider Universal Credit impact report due to come to the Operational Delivery Committee and also now the Education Operational Delivery Committee in November 2019, and to report back to the Education Operational Delivery Committee with details of any proposed policy and detail of the indicative costs involved;

(v)       to note that following the transition between Primary School and Secondary School the numbers of children and young people in receipt of free school meals declines, and to instruct the Chief Operating Officer to devise and implement a system to ensure that children and young people transitioning from Primary School to Secondary School continue to benefit from the entitlement to free school meals where the entitlement exists and Aberdeen City Council is unaware of any change in family financial circumstances and to report back to Committee with the outcome;

(vi)      to note the evaluation of the programme to deliver free school meals during school holidays;

(vii)    to note the evaluation of the Food and Fun Programme for 2018/19; and

(viii)   to instruct the Chief Officer – Early Intervention and Community Empowerment to continue with the Food and Fun programme examining  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.