Agenda item

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which presented a summary of performance data to November 2010 for the Education, Culture and Sport Service.  The report now included Service performance against the key priorities set out in the Education, Culture and Sport Interim Service Plan 2010-2013.

Appended to the report were HMIe follow through reports from December 2010 on both the Education Service and the Educational Psychology Service; the Education, Culture and Sport Service Plan balanced scorecard; Neighbourhood Community Action Plan achievements from March to September 2010; leaver destinations for 2009/10; Adult Learning achievements from January to June 2010; and an update on Closing the Gap.

The report recommended:-

(a)       that Committee approve the Service performance report for November 2010;

(b)       that Committee approve the progress against impact measures, outcomes and actions as set out in the Education, Culture and Sport Service plan; and

(c)        that Committee note plans to develop reports further, to include the risk register for the Education, Culture and Sport Service within the next performance report and to invite comments and feedback from elected members.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to note that several of the actions in the performance report which had been taken from the service improvement plan would not commence until 2011/12 and therefore to note that officers would incorporate start and end dates for these targets in future reports;

(ii)        in relation to the indicator for the collective monthly number of attendances at pools, and particularly those for Tullos and Walker Road Schools, to request that officers establish if lessons for children were captured in the data as a group booking and pass the information to Councillor Allan;

(iii)       in relation to indicator ECS-SP07.02b (improve the engagement, involvement and achievement of the City’s looked after children as part of our corporate parenting role), to request that officers prioritise putting a measure against this indicator due to its importance, and to note that officers would report to a future Committee on this issue;

(iv)       in relation to indicator ECS-SP07.02c (Identification and Support of Young Carers), to note that this would be a priority area to be included in the next performance report;

(v)        in relation to appendix 3 (Neighbourhood Community Action Plan Achievements), to note that officers would investigate whether it would be possible to report back directly through the Community Planning process to elected members on their particular ward areas;

(vi)       in relation to appendix 4 (Leaver Destinations for 2009/10),  (a)  to note with concern that the proportion of young people classified as unemployed and seeking employment was slightly higher than the national average;  (b)  to request a report back with an analysis of the cause and what action could be taken to address the issue; and  (c)  to request that the report include information on those unemployed and not seeking employment;

(vii)      in relation to appendix 4, to note that information had been omitted from the paragraph relating to unemployment values in secondary schools, and would therefore be included in the performance report to the next meeting of the Committee;

(viii)     to note that officers would ensure that the Committee had access to the figures published by Aberdeen College in relation to completion and staying on rates, and to request that officers investigate how to provide a link between secondary schools and colleges prior to any college open days;

(ix)       in relation to appendix 6 (Closing the Gap),  (a)  to request a further report on the gap between the lowest attaining 20% and the highest attaining 20% of pupils, to include any lessons learned from how other local authorities had tackled the problem; and  (b)  to request that officers provide information outwith the meeting to all members on any changes in the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation and demographic changes in those local authorities; and

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

At this juncture, the Convener advised that he proposed to take item 6.3 (Operation of the Community Learning Hub at Kaimhill Primary School) as the next item on the agenda.  The Committee agreed to the proposal.