The Education, Young People and the Welsh Language Scrutiny Committee of Carmarthenshire Council is scheduled to convene on Wednesday, 16 September 2026. The meeting's agenda includes discussions on elective home education, the revenue budget outturn for the 2025/26 financial year, and an explanation for the non-submission of a scrutiny report.

Elective Home Education

A significant portion of the meeting is scheduled to focus on elective home education (EHE) within Carmarthenshire. The report pack indicates that the committee will receive an update on the current position of EHE, including emerging trends, statutory duties, and safeguarding arrangements. It will also cover learner support and measures being implemented to ensure that children receiving EHE have access to suitable educational opportunities.

The report highlights that as of August 2026, there were 713 EHE learners recorded, with 381 new registrations during the 2025-2026 academic year. The report notes that Anxiety, neurodiversity and unmet ALN are emerging as important factors influencing parents' decisions to home educate. The council has a statutory duty to identify and support children of compulsory school age who are not registered at a school, ensuring they receive a suitable education. This involves annual educational reviews conducted by dedicated officers within the Education Welfare Service (EWS).

The report also addresses the financial implications, stating that the £119,000 grant must support a growing cohort of learners. It is noted that parents who choose EHE assume responsibility for securing and funding their child's education. Whilst the Local Authority seeks to provide advice, guidance and enrichment opportunities where resources permit, there is no statutory requirement to fund educational provision for EHE learners. The report details that in June 2026, arrangements were made for 30 EHE learners to sit GCSE examinations, with examination costs funded through the EHE Grant.

The agenda also includes three public questions from Sally-Jo Williams concerning elective home education. These questions focus on the factors leading to the reduction of funding for lessons for home-educated children, the existence and review of EHE policies, and how the council ensures consistency in support for home-educating families.

Revenue Budget Outturn Report 2025/26

The committee is also scheduled to review the Revenue Budget Outturn Report for the 2025/26 financial year for Education services, including schools. The report indicates that the services within the Education, Young People and the Welsh Language Scrutiny remit are reporting a £7,441,000 overspend at the year-end. A significant portion of this overspend is attributed to schools setting in-year budgets above funding levels, leading to an overspend of £7,700,000. The report states that this position remains unsustainable and continues to require urgent action at an individual school level to reduce resourcing levels to bring expenditure in line with available budgets.

The report details savings monitoring, noting that £322,000 of operational savings were delivered against a target of £322,000 for 2025/26, and £200,000 of policy savings were delivered against a target of £450,000. The detailed breakdown of variances shows that the Schools Delegated Budgets division had an expenditure of £192,625,000 and income of -£31,866,000, resulting in a net figure of £160,759,000, with an end-of-year variance of £7,723,000.

Explanation for Non-Submission of Scrutiny Report

The committee will receive an explanation for the non-submission of a scrutiny report. According to the Council's Constitution, if a report is not presented as scheduled, officers are expected to provide a report explaining the reasons. The agenda indicates that the Council Annual Report 25-26 by Mr Paul Thomas was not submitted as planned and will be presented at the next meeting on 13 October 2026.

Forthcoming Items

The committee will also be presented with a list of forthcoming items scheduled for consideration at its next meeting on 13 October 2026. These include an update report on the outcomes from Estyn School Inspection recommendations, school survey questionnaire results, and a progress report on the Modernising Education Programme. The Council Annual Report 2025/26 has been moved from this meeting's agenda to the next. The Forward Work Plan for the Education, Young People and the Welsh Language Scrutiny Committee for 2026/27 will also be reviewed.

The meeting will also address the signing of the minutes from the committee meeting held on 23 June 2026.