601 CAPITAL PROGRAMME 1998/99 - TECHNICAL PROGRESS 601

SUBMITTED: Report dated 12 May 1998 by the Director of Property and Technical Services on the technical progress of the Capital Programme 1998/99.

DECIDED:

(a) That the technical progress of the Capital Programme 1998/99 be noted; and

(b) That the Committee approve the following expenditure reduction in terms of the relevant Financial Regulations:-

Project Effect on Expenditure

Port Glasgow High School - Phase 4B -

Internal Alterations

Delete provisional sum and provide electrical works to

the new library £12,900 reduction

602 CAPITAL PROGRAMME 1998/99 - FINANCIAL POSITION 602

SUBMITTED: Report dated 18 May 1998 by the Director of Finance on the financial position of the Capital Programme 1998/99.

DECIDED:

(a) That the financial position of the Capital Programme 1998/99 be noted; and

(b) That any decision on whether to refer any projected overspend in the Capital Programme to the Policy and Strategy Committee be delayed until later in the financial year.

603 THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEARNING AND TEACHING IN 603

EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS IN INVERCLYDE

SUBMITTED: Report dated 22 May 1998 by the Director of Education Services emphasising the central importance of learning and teaching to the work of the Department of Education Services and appending a paper "Learning and Teaching in Inverclyde Schools" which sets out the Department's approach both to promoting sound learning and to achieving excellent teaching standards.

DECIDED: That the paper entitled "Learning and Teaching in Inverclyde Schools" appended to the report be approved as the policy document setting out the Department's approach both to promoting sound learning and to achieving excellent teaching standards.

604 STAFF DEVELOPMENT AND REVIEW 604

SUBMITTED: Report by the Director of Education Services appending a policy paper on staff development and review which identifies a number of general principles and key features which would be applicable to staff within the Education Service and which complies with the revised guidelines on staff development and review recently issued by the Scottish Office.

DECIDED:

(a) That the paper appended to the report on staff development and review together with the associated notes of guidance and other documentation be approved as the policy and practice of the Department of Education Services in this area; and

(b) That these be implemented within Inverclyde schools from August 1998.

605 NATIONAL YEAR OF READING 605

SUBMITTED: Report dated 13 May 1998 by the Director of Education Services advising of the aims of the National Year of Reading to be held over the period September 1998 to July 1999 and seeking the Committee's approval for the implementation of the campaign within Inverclyde.

DECIDED: That approval be given to Inverclyde Council's participation in the National Year of Reading and that the Committee endorse the decision to develop a programme of local initiatives and local events to complement the national campaign.

606 SECTION 19 OF THE CHILDREN ACT 1989 - DRAFT REVIEW OF CHILDMINDING, 606

DAY-CARE AND EDUCATION SERVICES FOR CHILDREN UNDER 8

SUBMITTED: Report by the Director of Education Services advising that following the decision of the Committee at its meeting on 21 October 1997 (Para 1149) to establish a triennial review group to review the level, pattern and range of day-care and related services for young children in Inverclyde under Section 19 of the Children Act 1989, a draft report had been prepared (copies of which had previously been circulated to Members) which it was
proposed to issue for consultation to all interested parties prior to publication of the final report in October 1998.

DECIDED:

(a) That the draft report be approved for issue to all relevant parties and that responses be received by no later than Friday 18 September 1998; and

(b) That the final report be submitted to the Committee for approval.

607 SCHOOL SECURITY 1998/99 607

SUBMITTED: Report dated 22 May 1998 by the Director of Education Services setting out a prioritised list of proposed school security projects to be carried out during 1998/99. It was noted that the school security revenue allocation provided by the Scottish Office for the current year was £217,000.

DECIDED:

(a) That the prioritised list of school security projects as set out in the report be approved;

(b) That the projects be developed to tender stage as appropriate and that the works be programmed and tendered for completion throughout the financial year 1998/99;

(c) That it be remitted to the Director of Central Services to arrange for the invitation of competitive tenders for the works and that authority be granted to the Director of Central Services in consultation with the appropriate Officers and after consultation with the Convener, Vice-Convener and a Member of the Minority Groups to accept the lowest tender received in each case provided that this is no more than 10% greater than the estimate given;

(d) That the number of projects to be subject to competitive tender and subsequently accepted in the manner detailed above, be subject to the Scottish Office cost limit of £217,000; and

(e) That delegated authority be granted to the Director of Education Services to adjust the priorities listed and the extent of the works where considered appropriate by maintaining a continuous assessment thereof in pursuance of the requirements of the Council and the best value regime.

608 POSSIBLE ESTABLISHMENT OF UNIT FOR PRIMARY AGED PUPILS WITH 608

SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL AND/OR BEHAVIOURAL DIFFICULTIES WITHIN

BOGLESTONE PRIMARY SCHOOL, PORT GLASGOW - PROGRESS OF CONSULTATION

SUBMITTED: Report dated 27 May 1998 by the Director of Education Services on the progress of the consultation exercise currently being carried out in respect of the possible establishment of a unit for primary aged pupils with social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties to be located within Boglestone Primary School, Port Glasgow as agreed by the Committee at its meeting on 21 April 1998 (Para 442). The report advised that the view had been expressed by parents of Boglestone Primary School pupils that more time should be given to them to consider the issues for the school and for their children and it was recommended that in the circumstances, the closing date for submissions be extended to Tuesday 30 June 1998 which marks the end of the current school session.

DECIDED: That the closing date for submission of responses be extended to no later than Tuesday 30 June 1998 and that the results of the consultation process and the consequent recommendations be reported to the next scheduled meeting of the Education Services Committee.

609 KING'S GLEN AND ST KENNETH'S PRIMARY SCHOOLS, GREENOCK 609

SUBMITTED: Report dated 27 May 1998 by the Director of Education Services on the results of the consultation on the proposal not to proceed with the decision to relocate King's Glen Primary School within accommodation at the Blairmore Centre and St Kenneth's Primary School, Greenock.

DECIDED:

(a) That it be agreed that the decision to relocate King's Glen Primary School within refurbished and extended accommodation at the Blairmore Centre and St Kenneth's Primary School be not implemented;

(b) That it be agreed in principle to establish a Cross Party Working Group both to address the surplus capacity and accommodation issues at King's Glen and St Kenneth's Primary Schools and to review the usage of educational accommodation across the whole of the Inverclyde Council area; and

(c) That it be remitted to the Director of Education Services to submit a report to the Committee with proposals as to the composition of the Working Group.

610 CAPITAL PROGRAMME ALLOCATION - PROPOSAL FROM COUNCILLOR MITCHELL 610

SUBMITTED: Report dated 14 May 1998 by the Director of Central Services on a proposal received from Councillor Mitchell that the capital sum not be spent on converting St Kenneth's Primary School but be used to upgrade the PE facilities at Greenock Academy.

Councillor Mitchell moved that his proposal as detailed above be approved. As an amendment, Councillor Robertson (Y) moved that no action be taken. On a vote, 3 Members voted for the motion and 6 for the amendment which was declared carried.

Those Members who had voted in favour of the motion then requested in terms of the relevant Standing Order that the matter be referred to The Inverclyde Council for decision in terms of the motion.

C DECIDED: That no action be taken.

611 PORT GLASGOW HIGH SCHOOL, PHASE 4C - DEMOLITIONS AND ASSOCIATED 611

ALTERATIONS - USE OF EMERGENCY POWERS PROCEDURE

SUBMITTED: Report dated 25 May 1998 by the Director of Central Services advising of the use of the emergency powers procedure as set out in Standing Order 66 to authorise the acceptance of the lowest tender received for Phase 4C of the works at Port Glasgow High School, that by MacKenzie Construction Ltd in the corrected sum of £119,371.36.

NOTED

612 ARRANGEMENTS FOR COMMISSIONED AND MIXED ECONOMY 612

PRE-SCHOOL PROVISION

SUBMITTED: Report dated 27 May 1998 by the Director of Education Services on the current position of the arrangements which are being progressed to commission part-time pre-five education places within the voluntary and private sectors for session 1998/99 and proposing a pilot project for providing mixed economy places within Council establishments.

DECIDED: That the arrangements which are being made for commissioning pre-school year education places within voluntary and private sector establishments be endorsed and that the proposed pilot project to provide mixed economy places within Council establishments as set out in the report be approved.

613 SCOTTISH CHILDCARE STRATEGY CONSULTATION 613

SUBMITTED: Report dated 27 May 1998 by the Director of Education Services advising of the publication by the Scottish Office Education and Industry Department of a Green Paper entitled "Meeting the Childcare Challenge", setting out a proposed response to a number of issues raised in the paper together with action proposed to prepare for future implementation of the policies detailed therein.

DECIDED:

(a) That the Committee note the publication of the Green Paper "Meeting the Childcare Challenge" and that the proposed response set out in the report be approved; and

(b) That the action proposed to prepare for future implementation of the relevant policies be endorsed.

614 RESOLUTION: EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC AND PRESS 614

On the motion of the Convener it was agreed unanimously that in terms of Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 as amended, the public and press be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the undernoted items of business on the grounds that consideration of the items involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the respective paragraphs of Part I of Schedule 7(A) of the Act as are set opposite each item.

Item Paragraph(s)

Education (Scotland) Act 1980 - Education Prosecutions 12

School Transport Tenders for Session 1998/99 6 & 8

Transport Facilities for School Session 1998/99 for

Children with Special and/or Medical Needs 6 & 8

St Ninian's Primary School, Gourock - Extension -

Report on Tenders 6 & 8

615 EDUCATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 1980 - EDUCATION PROSECUTIONS 615

SUBMITTED: Report dated 9 March 1998 by the Director of Legal Services recommending that on the basis of advice received, all prosecutions in terms of Section 35 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 should now be instituted in Inverclyde District Court subject to the introduction of procedures to ensure that the Justice of the Peace sitting on the bench when relevant cases are called is not also a member of the Education Authority and that the Clerk of Court has no involvement in initiating the prosecutions.

DECIDED:

(a) That all prosecutions in terms of Section 35 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 be now instituted in Inverclyde District Court; and

(b) That it be remitted to the Clerk of Court to establish appropriate procedures for handling prosecutions so as to avoid any potential conflict of interest.

616 SCHOOL TRANSPORT TENDERS FOR SESSION 1998/99 616

SUBMITTED: Report by the Director of Education Services providing details of tenders received by Strathclyde Passenger Transport for school transport contracts which are due for renewal in session 1998/99 and requesting the Committee's approval to accept the recommendations made by Strathclyde Passenger Transport in this regard.

DECIDED:

(a) That the details of the tenders received for school transport contracts for session 1998/99 as set out in the report be noted; and

(b) That authority be granted to the Director of Education Services to accept the recommendations of Strathclyde Passenger Transport for contracts to be carried out in 1998/99 as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.

617 TRANSPORT FACILITIES FOR SCHOOL SESSION 1998/99 FOR CHILDREN WITH 617

SPECIAL AND/OR MEDICAL NEEDS

SUBMITTED: Report by the Director of Education Services advising that following public advertisement, tenders had been issued for eight contracts to convey children with special and/or medical needs to school during session 1998/99.

DECIDED: That it be remitted to the Director of Education Services to accept the tenders on the basis of the recommendations set out in the report.

618 ST NINIAN'S PRIMARY SCHOOL, GOUROCK - EXTENSION - 618

REPORT ON TENDERS

SUBMITTED: Report dated 28 May 1998 by the Director of Property and Technical Services on five tenders received for extension works at St Ninian's Primary School, Gourock. The report advised that during the design process it was decided that the courtyard be roofed over at the existing roof level to create a two storey infill rather than the single storey as originally proposed which would allow for the provision of a parents room and further storage space for the school. It was noted that these additional works together with the provision of an emergency lighting system as required in terms of the building warrant and an allowance for inflation resulted in the tender cost being in excess of that anticipated and it was therefore recommended that, with a view to reducing costs as much as possible, the work required to create the void space only be retained within the contract and that an addendum bill be prepared on this basis. It was proposed that the school board would raise the funds to create the parents room and the school storage area at a later date.

DECIDED: That delegated authority be granted to the Director of Central Services in consultation with the Convener, Vice-Convener and a Member of the Minority Groups to accept the lowest tender received following agreement of an addendum bill to reduce the scope of the works as detailed.