This meeting will include discussion about whether to bring school improvement services back under the control of Wrexham Council, and will provide an update about the possible effects of planned budget cuts for schools in Wrexham.

Regional School Improvement Service

The committee will consider proposals relating to the future delivery of school improvement services in Wrexham. It will consider whether to bring the service back under the control of Wrexham Council, following a recent workshop on 23 September 2024 where this topic was discussed in detail. The Regional School Improvement Service is currently delivered by GwE¹.

Impact of budget cuts to schools.

This item will provide an update about the predicted effect of budget cuts to schools in Wrexham. The committee has previously heard that schools in Wrexham will need to make significant savings in the 2024/25 financial year, and that this is likely to lead to some schools entering into licensed deficit² agreements with the council, as well as possible redundancies and restructuring.
The report will list the number of redundancies at schools in Wrexham, and will compare them to figures from previous years. The report will also describe how much the redundancies cost, and how the council paid for them. The report will also consider a number of other possible effects of the budget cuts, including an update about whether any schools have had to reduce the number of subjects offered at GCSE as a result of the cuts, whether any schools have reduced their Published Admissions Numbers, the effect of the cuts on class sizes, and the council's plans for managing the effect of the cuts on the provision of services for pupils with Additional Learning Needs³. The committee will also hear about any proposals for changing the way that services for pupils with ALN are delivered. This item follows on from discussions at previous meetings of the committee, including meetings on 11 July 2024 and 23 October 2024. The committee will hear from school representatives during the discussion of this item.

Work Programme

The committee will discuss and agree its work programme for the coming year. Included for discussion are:

• A report on the well-being of school staff. This item was added to the work programme following a request from Councillor Carrie Harper. In a Scrutiny Topic Selection form submitted to the council, the Chair of the committee said that During 2023/24 the Lifelong Learning Scrutiny Committee has started monitoring the impact of the budget cuts to schools and has raised concerns regarding the impact of the cuts on staff well-being ... The Chair, Councillor Carrie Harper, has submitted a Scrutiny Topic Selection Form ... for the Committee to consider a review of the current arrangements in place across schools to monitor staff well-being. The report notes that A Council Workforce survey is undertaken roughly once every two years, but does not include school based staff.
• An update about the use of agency staff in schools. This follows an earlier decision by the committee on 23 October 2024 to add the item to the work programme. The report will explore the possibility of Wrexham Council re-establishing a central supply register for agency staff, and will be scheduled once the outcome of a national project that aims to re-establish a central supply list is completed.