Why we consulted

Carmarthenshire’s Modernising Education Programme was approved by the County Council in November 2004 as a strategic investment and rationalisation plan to transform school provision across Carmarthenshire. The aim is to transform the network of nursery, primary and secondary schools serving the county into a strategically and operationally effective resource that meets current and future need for a school based and community focused education. Since its inception, the Modernising Education Programme has drawn widespread recognition for its strategic vision, transformational planning and impressive record of delivery.

In 2010, the County Council resolved that the MEP be reviewed every two years or otherwise as required to ensure consistency with the timeframe of the national 21st Century Schools Programme (Renamed Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme (SCfLP)).

This has been a central feature of the MEP since its inception that it needs to retain flexibility at its core to ensure that the programme remains current and responsive to changes in the education policy framework and the needs of constantly developing society and communities. This is truer than ever in the current climate/post pandemic.

As such, the Local Authority are currently undertaking its review of the MEP, in line with the requirement to submit a strategic outline programme for the new rolling programme to Welsh Government. Consequently, a new MEP Strategy has been developed to direct the future delivery of the new Modernising Education Programme. It is guided by a set of strategic objectives and underpinned by the department’s purpose pieces and educational principles to ensure cohesion with the 8 Education Priorities for 2022-2025 and the Education Sir Gar 2022-2032 strategy. The MEP strategy includes a set of viability and investment criteria to ensure an appropriate and transparent method of developing school organisation and investment proposals.

How we consulted

Via online survey

A Consultation Report summarising the observations submitted by consultees will be prepared and published on Carmarthenshire County Council’s website. The Consultation Report will be presented to Cabinet members for consideration on whether or not to approve the strategy.

Consultation Outcome

A public consultation was held between 12th February 2024 and 13th March 2024 to gather the views of all stakeholders on the draft MEP Strategy. A full report on the consultation responses received is provided in the attached MEP Strategy Consultation Report.

In light of the consultation feedback the following changes have been made to the MEP Strategy for consideration:

Amendment to the wording pertaining to Carmarthenshire’s Primary Educational
Principles (See MEP Strategy)

A suggestion was put forth, by the Education, Young People & the Welsh Language Scrutiny Committee, for the Cabinet to consider the removal of the education principle pertaining to no more than 2 year groups being allocated per teaching class on the basis that this would place additional pressure on staff and uncertainty for parents.

In light of the above suggestion and consultation responses, the wording pertaining to the Educational  Principles has been revised to reflect that the Education Principles are aspirational and illustrate our aims for what we want our schools in Carmarthenshire to pursue, reflecting our commitment to achieving excellence in education.

Amending the wording of the primary education principles from mandatory to aspirational increases flexibility, allowing schools who are unable to comply fully with the principles to adapt the principles to their unique circumstances and resources. It fosters innovation and creativity in implementation, ensuring that diverse school environments can strive towards these shared ideals.

Addition of Appendix 2 – Presumption against the closure of rural schools (See MEP
Strategy)

This outlines Carmarthenshire County Council’s Cabinet’s commitment to supporting and building the future resilience and sustainability of its rural schools and ensuring that all reasonable steps are taken to ensure compliance with Welsh Government’s set of procedures and requirements within the School Organisation Code (2018) which works on a presumption against closure of rural schools.

This also continues a commitment to incorporate Stage 0 in the flow charts, so that Stage 0 is considered for every school subject to the MEP strategy. This means that all schools will be subject to a detailed set of considerations before formulating a proposal.

Suggested omission/amendment to wording in various sections of the MEP Strategy to make more concise, remove repetition and ensure relevance to the Strategy Revised Illustrative Flow Charts for Strategic Review and Statutory Proposals

In addition, the internal illustrative flow chart for strategic review and statutory proposals has been reviewed to ensure full compliance with the School Organisation Code (2018) and thereby limit opportunity for challenge (see attached revised Process Maps).

The internal illustrative flow chart for strategic review and statutory proposals has been amended to separate the procedures for conducting a rural school strategic review from other statutory proposals. This adjustment ensures full compliance with the School Organisation Code (2018), specifically addressing the unique procedural requirements for rural school closures, which differ from those applicable to other statutory proposals. By distinguishing these processes, the authority enhances clarity and aligns more precisely with statutory obligations.

This will also mean that the amendments referred to in the previous EBM decision on 17th September 2018 will no longer be part of the MEP Strategy. These amendments were made anticipating the changes envisaged by the 2018 Code but these were not reflected in the final version of the Code.

It should also be noted that a proposal to shorten the Internal School Organisation Decision Making and Determination Process was approved, and the Education and Children Scrutiny Committee was removed from Stages 2 and 3 of the consultation process by Council at their meeting on 13th January 2021.