Agenda and minutes

The Cabinet Member and Advisors received the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education Annual Report 2006 for information.

The minutes of previous meetings held on 13^th and 20^th March, 2007 were agreed as a correct record.

- to receive the report

Further to Minute No. 49 of a meeting of the Cabinet Member, Lifelong Learning, Culture and Leisure held on 26^th September 2006, consideration was given to a report of the Manager, Libraries, Museums and Arts on the results of the self-assessment judgement by The National Archives (TNA).

The Archives & Local Studies Service completed the self-assessment for local authorities last year and has now received two star (Good) rating. 

In 2006 the self-assessment was a pilot exercise, but in 2007 and onwards it is intended that the judgement will be adopted as a performance indicator for CPA.  Results for all local authorities in England and Wales are also planned to be published in future.

The self-assessment covers 5 broad themes:  governance & management;  documentation of collections;  access;  buildings, security & environment;  preservation and conservation.  The process looks comprehensively at the repository and the services it offers to the public.  Scores were received as follows:

The meeting was informed that the one star rating in 3b. was in the main due to non-compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act.  The result of a bid for funding through the BIPs process for the DDA equipment, and for increasing the availability of online information for financial year 2007/08, is presently awaited.

Comparison with other repositories is not possible for this pilot year of 2006 as the full results were not published; however from 2007 results will be published for benchmarking purposes.

Discussions with Heads of Repositories in the Yorkshire & Humber region have revealed that Rotherham is one of only two two-star services in the region, the other being a major, long-established County Record Office.

It will be possible to maintain current performance by making some small changes, and following the implementation of developments already in hand.  These include the installation of new air-conditioning units in the strongroom to replace the existing broken ones, which means that compliance with BS5454:2000 Recommendations for the storage and exhibition of archival documents will be made and should increase the score in section 4a.  Other issues are the provision of furniture and accessibility equipment to meet RMBC’s obligations under the DDA; the increase in availability of online information about the holdings; and the revision of some policies and procedures.

However until the Service moves in the new Cultural Centre building, a plateau of performance in the self-assessment will be reached within 2-3 years, as there are some areas where the score will be held down by the existing unsatisfactory accommodation.

The meeting was informed that in some areas of the service, The National Archives (TNA) are regarding RMBC as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 146.

- that the current forecast outturn position based on actual costs and income to 28^th February, 2007 and forecast costs and income to the 31^st March 2007 be noted

Consideration was given to a report of the Strategic Director of Finance which gave details of expenditure, income and the net budget position for Culture and Leisure Services compared to the phased budgets for the period ending on 28^th February, 2007 and the projected year end outturn position.

It is anticipated at this point that projected expenditure will show a small overspend of £29,000 against approved budget by the end of the financial year.  This is primarily a consequence of an unfunded increase in energy costs.  It was reported that the pressure on this area of the budget had decreased due to a recommendation made by Cabinet on 28^th March, 2007 to allocate additional savings/income sources from the Corporate Contingency Account.

Details of the revenue budget position for Culture and Leisure Services for the monitoring period ending on 28^th February 2007 are shown at Appendix A attached.

The current projected outturn will depend on interest on the Pit House West account being sufficient to offset the costs incurred as a result of delaying the implementation of funding decisions agreed as part of the 2006/07 budget setting process.

Resolved:-  That the current forecast outturn position based on actual costs and income to 28^th February 2007 and forecast costs and income to 31^st March 2007 be noted.

- to receive the report and note the 2006 end of Key Stage 3 Statutory Test Results

Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Learning Services which gave details of the results of the statutory assessment at the end of Key Stage 3 in 2006.

Appendix A shows the performance of individual schools in English, mathematics and science from 2002-2006.

Appendix B shows the comparison in the trend of performance by LA, the average of RMBC’s group of statistical neighbours and national.

Schools are required to assess the attainment of all pupils in each of the National Curriculum subjects at the end of each key stage at ages 7 (Key Stage 1) 11 (Key Stage 2) and 14 (Key Stage 3).  Statutory assessment includes statutory tests in the core subjects (English, mathematics and science) together with teacher assessment in all subjects.

The expected performance for pupils at the end of Key Stage 3 is level 5/6.  Nationally, comparative figures are given for the percentage of pupils achieving level 5 or above and level 6 or above in the statutory test.  Comparisons with statistical neighbours are also included.  Comparative data is also provided for the average points score and this includes the attainment of all pupils.

The report set out the following conclusion:

·         The LA’s overall trend of improvingperformance in the statutory Key Stage 3 tests has been consistently inline withthe improving national averages.

·         There is a continued need for improvement to close the gap; this is especially true for English.

·         There is evidence of the positive impact of the Secondary National Strategy on teaching and learning in Rotherham schools. This is clearly demonstrated by the improvements to APS and the decreasing gap to FFT D predictions.

·         It is anticipated that the impact of the Secondary National Strategy, whose capacity has been strengthened through school partnerships, will lead, over time, to significantly improved results in Key Stage 3.

·         Boys’ performance in maths and science is not significantly different to girls’; in English the differential between boys’ and girls’ performance is similar to national patterns.

·         The performance of BME is below that of White British and is currently being targeted through the Secondary National Strategy.

A discussion took place on the following issues:-

-                       an understanding of the marking system

-                       technical issues to demonstrate ability

-                       new model of Consultancy

-                       Contextual Value Added – Main Factors

-                       Possible impact/disruption from PFI build

Resolved:-  (1)  That the report be received.

(2)    That the improved performance in Mathematics and Science broadly in line with improvements nationally be noted.

(3)   That Members encourage all schools to continue to improve their results and strive to achieve outcomes at least in line with national average rates of improvement.

(4)   That the disappointing results in English be noted and the work conducted since September 2006 to address the underperformance be endorsed.

(5)   That Members endorse the drive to:

-           reduce the gap between Rotherham’s performance and the national average performance in the core subjects

-           improve boys’ attainment, especially in English

-           improve the performance of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 148.