Issue - meetings

This report advises the Council of current issues relating to the seats on the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee for voting and non-voting co-opted members and seeks agreement to some changes recommended by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 8 December 2015.

Discussion:

This report provided details of the current issues relating to the seats on the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee for voting and non-voting co-opted members and sought agreement to some changes to current arrangements recommended to the Council by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 8 December 2015.

The Chairman of the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Royle, supported by Councillor Wicks, proposed the recommendations set out in the report.

Decision:

a)    The Council agreed the following revised arrangements for the appointment of a headteacher and teacher to the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee, to take effect from Annual Council on 18 May 2016:

i)      Continue with places on the Committee for one headteacher and one teacher but, where possible, depending on expressions of interest received, require one to be employed in a primary school and one in a secondary school.

ii)    Where possible, depending on expressions of interest received, one Headteacher/teacher place is designated for a person working in a local authority- maintained primary school in Medway and the other to a person working in a non-maintained school, for example, an academy.

iii)   That the selection criteria, attached at Appendix C to the report, be used to assess the expressions of interest received for selection to the two positions.

iv)   Expressions of interest to the two positions be invited via the School Information Bulletin and that the Director of Children and Adults Services consider each against the selection criteria (Appendix C). The Director should then, in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Opposition Spokespersons of the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee, forward recommendations for appointment to the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee for onward referral to Council for approval.

v)    Appointments be made for a two year term and the types of schools represented by the headteacher and teacher be rotated and re-appointed to after each two year term.

b)    The Council agreed that the Medway Youth Parliament (MYP) representative positions on the Committee are designated to specific roles on the MYP, as follows:

·         The existing Chair of the Medway Youth Parliament

·         An existing member of the Medway Youth Parliament Cabinet

·         Substitute – An existing member of the Medway Youth Parliament Cabinet.

This report advises the Committee of current issues relating to the seats on the Committee for voting and non-voting co-opted members and seeks agreement to some changes to current arrangements.

The Democratic Services Officer introduced the report which updated the committee on current issues relating to seats on the Committee for voting and non-voting co-opted members and suggested some changes to current arrangements.  She reiterated the difficulty that had been experienced in recent years with regard to filling the two vacancies on the Committee for Parent Governor representatives and outlined the suggested changes to arrangements relating to the Teacher, Headteacher and Medway Youth Parliament positions, as outlined in the report.

The Chairman expressed his thanks to the current Teacher and Headteacher representatives for their valued input to previous Committee discussions.

Members then raised comments and questions, which included:

·           Voting entitlements for co-optees – in response to a question around voting entitlements for co-optees the Democratic Services Officer confirmed that the Committee’s membership had originally been set in 2001 when executive arrangements were introduced.  The Parent Governor representatives and the two diocese representatives were entitled to vote on educational matters, which was a legal requirement and Members had wanted to include additional non-voting co-optees on the committee in order to benefit from their experience and expertise.

·           Criteria for selection of Headteacher and Teacher – a request for clarification of the criteria, attached at Appendix C to the report, and how this had been formulated was made, as it was suggested that a teacher/headteacher from a lower performing school may be equally as valuable in terms of bringing their own experience.  The Director of Children and Adults Services explained that one of the key projects under the Council Plan was accelerated school improvement and it was therefore considered perverse to ask a member of staff from a poor performing school, focusing on rapid improvement, to commit additional time to the Committee.  She added that a minimum of two years teaching experience had been included as it was considered that a newly qualified teacher should concentrate their first two years on building their experience and knowledge of the core job.

Decision:

The Committee recommended:

a)    The Director of Children and Adult Services to make representations to the Department for Education and Department for Communities and Local Government in relation to reviewing and updating the legislation regarding parent governor representatives, as detailed in section 3 of the report.

b)    The Council to agree revised arrangements for the appointment of a headteacher and teacher to the Committee as detailed in paragraphs 4.8 to 4.10 of the report, along with the selection criteria, as attached at Appendix C to the report.

c)    The Council to agree that the Medway Youth Parliament representative positions on the Committee are designated to specific roles on the MYP, as follows:

·         The existing Chair of the Medway Youth Parliament

·         An existing member of the Medway Youth Parliament Cabinet

·         Substitute – an existing member of the Medway Youth Parliament Cabinet.