Agenda and minutes

The Chair asked Members if they had any interests to declare, in terms of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.

Councillor Gifford confirmed that he had a connection to item 12 by virtue of being a member of the Regional Board of the North East Scotland College. Having applied the objective test he had concluded that he had no interest to declare.

Consider, and if so desired, adopt the following resolution:-

(1)       to have due regard to the need to:-

(a)               eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation;

(b)              advance equality of opportunity between those who share a protected characteristic and persons who do not share it; and

(c)               foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.

(2)       where an Integrated Impact Assessment is provided, to consider its contents and take those into account when reaching a decision.

In making decisions on the following items of business, the Committee agreed, in terms of Section 148 of the Equality Act 2010:-

(1)      to have due regard to the need to:-

(a)      eliminate discrimination, harassment, and victimisation;

(b)      advance equality of opportunity between those who share a protected characteristic and persons who do not share it; and

(c)      foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and persons who do not share it; and

(2)           to consider, where an Integrated Impact Assessment has been provided, its contents and to take those into consideration when reaching a decision.

Consider, and if so decided, adopt the following resolution:- “That under Section 50A (4) and (5) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, as amended, the public and media representatives be excluded from the meeting for Item 14 of business below, on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information of the class described in the relevant paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 7A of the Act.”

The Committee agreed, in terms of Section 50A (4) and (5) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the items specified below so as to avoid disclosure of exempt information of the classes described in the undernoted paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 7A of the Act.

Item No                                 Paragraph No of Schedule 7

                          14                                                         8

On consideration of the circulated Minute of Meeting of the Committee of 7 December 2023, Members agreed to approve it as a correct record subject to one amendment to Item 8 namely:

During the discussion, Members made comments on the staffing model, public consultation process, and communication with parents, teachers and carers and the importance of an ongoing Committee monitoring process. It was also discussed that a further review would occur on the advent of sustained funding.

The Director of Education and Children’s Services introduced the report and provided the Committee with an update on each of the 11 outstanding actions and confirmed that (1) Items 4, 7c and 7d and 11were complete and, if agreed, could be removed from the list, and (2) the rest of the items were still on target and would remain on the list.

Thereafter, the Committee agreed:-

(1)              to note the current position in respect of actions arising from previous

meetings; and

(2)              that those actions which had been completed should be removed from the outstanding actions list.

Consideration was given to a report dated 18 January 2024 by the Director of Education and Children’s Services, which provided an update on the forecast financial performance pertaining to the services which fell under the remit of the Committee for the financial year 2023/24 as at 30 November 2023.

Members heard from the Director of Education and Children’s Services and the Business Partner (Finance) who responded to questions and comments in relation to the revised staffing model within the Council Early Years establishments; the promotion of school meals within the secondary schools; the Early Years settings’ operational hours and the teacher funding released to Council by the Scottish Government.

Thereafter, the Committee agreed to:-

(1)           note the Revenue and Capital Budgets pertaining to the Committee for 2023/24 and the actions being taken to address that, as set out in Appendix A to the report;

(2)           note the progress of Budget Savings associated with these budgets;

(3)           note the Earmarked Reserves associated with the Committee and their

          use;

(4)           approve the proposed Revenue Budget virements, as detailed in

          Appendix B to the report;

(5)      note the drawdown of reserves agreed by Full Council, as detailed in Appendix B to the report; and

(6)      instruct officers to provide a briefing update on the Early Years settings’ operational hours and that any proposed changes be consulted with parents and carers.

There was circulated a report dated 16 January 2024, by the Director of Education and Children’s Services which set out a proposal to move towards a sustainable learning estate for Aberdeenshire Council.

Members were informed that a sustainable learning estate would improve the effectiveness of the education system supported by an efficient workforce with high utilisation and minimised carbon footprint. This would lead to a best value estate with financially sustainable provision, ensuring a more viable estate, particularly in rural areas. It was highlighted that despite continued house building in some parts of Aberdeenshire, overall pupil numbers continued to decline. The change in population resulted in a growing number of primary schools with declining rolls in rural and less rural areas. Therefore a focus must be on schools with a roll of less than 75 pupils as well as schools operating at less than 50% capacity.

It was noted that any changes to the learning estate must be made to achieve educational and social benefits for all learners and the review would be launched to help the Council better plan for the future of educational provision.

Members made comments with regard to the importance of small rural schools; the need for an open consultation process with local communities and the best use of the existing resources.

The Committee agreed:-

(1)      to the changes to the Learning Estate Strategy, Movement Towards a Sustainable Estate as presented in Appendix A to the report; and

(2)      the proposal as detailed within paragraphs 3.24 to 3.32 to launch the Aberdeenshire wide review, commencing engagement with the Banff, Turriff and Westhill Clusters as detailed in paragraph 3.25. 

With reference to the Minute of the Meeting of 25 May 2023 (Item 11), when it had been agreed to (1) approve the officer’s recommendation for Aberdeenshire Council to withdraw from the direct delivery of school-aged care and to initiate engagement with private, independent and third sector providers to explore alternative delivery models and (2) instruct the Education and Children’s Services to present to the Committee the progress report at the end of the year, there was circulated a report dated 19 December 2023, by the Director of Education and Children’s Services, which provided further information on other actions approved by the Committee, including an update on ongoing engagement with private, voluntary and independent (PVI) out of school care (OOSC) providers and progress on the development and delivery of a strategic framework for school-aged childcare in Aberdeenshire.

Members heard that there were eight Council-run OOSC settings which served 15 of the 146 operational primary schools in Aberdeenshire and provided a service to 349 children, around 2% of a total of 20,000 primary-aged pupils. There were also 23 private, voluntary and independent (PVI) OOSC services operating and approximately 280 childminders offering a range of OOSC provisions across Aberdeenshire. Sessions provided by the Council were utilised around 64% of the time impacting on the viability of the clubs.

The Committee heard that uptake for out of school care, which was not a statutory service, the Council was required to provide, had decreased. Additionally, Aberdeenshire Council were experiencing the same staffing recruitment and retention challenges as experienced across many local authorities and the wider OOSC sector. Supporting the development of further provision across Aberdeenshire would help address the shortage of out of school care, for example, where there were currently no out of school care providers operating, such as in Peterhead, Fraserburgh and Turriff.

Out of school care was streamlined in 2019 in the hope that it could be cost-neutral to the Council. This proved impossible to achieve with out of school care forecast to overspend its budget by more than £740,000 by the end of the financial year. On average, each of the 349 children accessing OOSC provision through Aberdeenshire Council was ‘subsidised’ by £1,427.

Members made comments on the details of the engagement process with providers and affected families; the number of people who raised with Members their concerns; the alternative provisions available to parents across Aberdeenshire; staffing recruitment and retention challenges; how to ensure that appropriate alternative provisions would be in place; and the  details of research commissioned by the Council with the aim to provide  an evidence base and recommendations to develop a strategic framework for childcare in Aberdeenshire and recognised the impact the decision would have on the families of the 349 children accessing Council-run OOSC services.

Following discussion Councillor Simpson moved, seconded by Councillor Gifford, to support the officers’ recommendation and to approve the date of 6 July 2024 for Aberdeenshire Council to withdraw from direct out of school care service provision.

As an amendment, Councillor Nicol  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

There was circulated a report dated 27 December 2023 by the Director of Education and Children’s Services, which (1) shared the progress and impact report from the Northern Alliance Regional Improvement Collaborative (RIC), (2) provided an update on the potential future direction of RICs further to a ministerial announcement on education reform made in November 2023 and (3) presented the Northern Alliance Progress & Impact Report 2022-23 which set out the work achieved during the first year of the Phase 4 Regional Improvement Plan.

Members heard that Aberdeenshire continued to be an active participant in the work of the North Alliance with teachers and other practitioners, alongside their colleagues from Community Learning and Development (CLD) taking part in a range of professional groups and networks and attending professional learning activities organised through the Alliance.

The Committee agreed to:-

(1)              note the progress and impact of the Northern Alliance as outlined in the Progress & Impact Report 2022-23;

(2)              note the potential future direction of RICs; and

(3)              instruct officers to provide a report on the potential future direction of the Regional Improvement Collaborative (RIC).

With reference to the Minute of Meeting of the Committee of 9 June 2022 (Item 8), when it had been agreed to instruct officers to conduct a full Options Appraisal regarding the future of Easterfield School, there was circulated a report dated 12 December 2023, by the Director of Education and Children’s Services, which advised that (1) following completion of the options appraisal, the majority of potential users would have required the building to be discontinued as a primary school for the Fortrie community, (2) the officer’s recommendation was to launch a formal statutory consultation to permanently close Easterfield School and (3) had appended a copy of the consultation report relating to the closure of the school.

Members were informed that a formal consultation on the closure of the school would run between 5 February and 29 March 2024.

The Committee agreed to: -

(1)      authorise a statutory consultation with local stakeholders (Parent Councils, Parents, Pupils, Staff and the Local Community) on the proposal to close Easterfield School attached as Appendix A to the report; and

(2)      receive a further report on the outcome of the consultation in Autumn 2024.

With reference to the Minute of Meeting of the Committee of 9 June 2022 (Item 8 ), when it had been agreed to instruct officers to conduct a full Options Appraisal regarding the future of Fisherford School, there was circulated a report dated 14 December 2023, by the Director of Education and Children’s Services, which advised that (1) following completion of the options appraisal, the majority of potential users would have required the building to be discontinued as a primary school for the Fisherford community, (2) the officer’s recommendation was to launch a formal statutory consultation to permanently close Fisherford School and (3) had appended a copy of the consultation report relating to the closure of the school.

Members were informed that a formal consultation on the closure of the school would run between 3 February and 29 March 2024.

The Committee agreed to: -

(1)              authorise a statutory consultation with local stakeholders (Parent Councils, Parents, Pupils, Staff and the Local Community) on the proposal to close Fisherford School attached as Appendix A to the report; and

(2)              receive a further report on the outcome of the consultation in Autumn 2024.

There was circulated a report dated 8 December 2023 by the Director of Education and Children’s Services, which (1) provided an update on the Instrumental Music Service activity and statistics during the academic session 2022-23 and (2) presented the Service Delivery Plan for 2024/2025.

Members heard that the Instrumental Music Service (IMS) operated in all 17 Community School Networks across Aberdeenshire providing group and individual lessons.?In 2022/23 the number of pupils accessing music tuition in Aberdeenshire was 2,734. The service had continued working on recovery following the pandemic and this resulted in a significant increase in pupils accessing tuition in 2022/23 compared with the previous year. A further increase in pupils accessing tuition was anticipated for the next academic year. Whilst waiting lists have increased by 11,4% since 2020, the number of pupils accessing tuition increased by almost 86% in the same period.

Members made comments on the Scottish Government's target of all pupils having access to one year's free music tuition and managing the waiting lists.

The Committee agreed to:-

(1)              note the achievements of the Service during the academic session 2022-2023 as noted in IMS Annual Report 2022-2023 andIMS AYMS Report 2022-2023 as detailed in Appendices 1 and 2 to the report; and

(2)              approve IMS Service Delivery Plan for 2024/2025 as presented in Appendix 3 to the report.

With reference to the Minute of Meeting of Committee of 26 August 2021 (Item 9), when the Committee had endorsed the three-year Community Learning and Development (CLD) Plan for the period September 2021 – August 2024 covering the partnership delivery of community learning and development activity across Aberdeenshire, there was circulated a report dated 6 November 2023 by the Director of Education and Children’s Services which provided an updateon the progress of the development of the Aberdeenshire Learning Community Partnership (ALCP) and Community Learning and Development (CLD) Plan 2021-2024.

Members heard that ALCP CLD Plan outlined the needs, activity and identified how partners work together to ensure that outcomes through learning were appropriately met. Plan was informed and developed based on engagement, data analysis and planning with stakeholders. The ALCP CLD plan was a live document. Key partners included Lead Scotland, Skills Development Scotland, Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action, Aberdeenshire Community Learning and Development, Aberdeenshire Education Service, North East Scotland College, Fife College Link Centre, and Workers Educational Association. The partnership had made good progress against the priorities and was now focusing on refreshing membership, reviewing the learning needs across Aberdeenshire and working with partners to set targets for the new plan.

The Committee agreed to:

(1)              note and recognise the work undertaken by the Aberdeenshire Learning Community Partnership on the delivery of the second year of the published ALCP CLD Plan (2021-2024);

(2)              instruct officers to provide a briefing to the Area Committees on the partnership activities contributing to Community Learning and Development at the area level; and

(3)              instruct officers to provide an update on how to maintain the positive school leaver destination concerning the loss of college places in Aberdeenshire.

There was circulated report dated 18 January 2024 by the Director of Education and Children’s Services, which presented a draft schedule of term dates, school holidays and in-service closure dates covering the academic sessions 2025/2026 to 2029/2030 and sought approval to progress with a stakeholder consultation on the proposed dates.

Members were informed that specific engagement and consultation of the agreed school holidays and term dates would also be undertaken with ASHTA and the Primary Head Teacher Forum. The consultation would run from Monday 5th February 2024 to Friday 15th March 2024. It was intended that the consultation would include a wide range of stakeholders including parents and carers, pupils, and staff. A further report on the results of the consultation will be brought before the Education and Children’s Services Committee on 30 May 2024 to seek approval on a final set of school holidays and term days from August 2025 to July 2030 inclusive.

It was also noted that the proposed schedule of term dates and school holidays presented in a report in Appendix 1 needed to be revised to align with the latest proposed dates received from Aberdeen City Council earlier that week.

The Committee agreed to:-

(1)              instruct officers to circulate to Members the revised term and school holiday dates; and

(2)              delegate authority to the Director of Education and Children’s Services following consultation with the Chair, Vice-Chair and Opposition Spokesperson to approve the consultation with relevant stakeholders on a pattern of school term dates, holidays, and in-service closures for the five sessions from 2025/26 to 2029/30.

There was circulated a report dated 12 December 2023 by the Director of Education and Children’s Services presenting the Education and Children’s Service’s Directorate Procurement Plan for 2024/25.

The Committee agreed:-

(1)              to approve the Directorate Procurement Plan, as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report;

(2)              to approve the items on the Procurement Plan identified as falling within the remit of the Committee;

(3)              not to reserve the approval of the Procurement Approval Form for any item on the Procurement Plan where the value of the matter was between £50,000 and £1,000,000;

(4)              to note that the Appendices 3-4 included the Procurement Approval Form for approval for any item on the Procurement Plan which was within the Committee’s remit and the value of the matter was over £1,000,000; and

(5)              not to reserve the award of the final contracts for any matters over £1,000,000 and to note that if not reserved the Head of Education and Children’s Services had the delegated powers to award the final contracts.