Issue - meetings

Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Director of Education and Service Manager – Education Transformation and Business Change which was presented to provide Education and Learning Scrutiny Committee with the opportunity to scrutinise progress in relation to Blaenau Gwent Education/Schools ICT Strategy, along with associated projects.

The Service Manager Education Transformation & Business Change spoke to the report and highlighted the main points contained therein.

In response to a Member’s question regarding the Authority’s responsible officer for ICT, the Service Manager advised that the Chief Officer Commercial & Customer had overall responsibility for the Transformation team who dealt with corporate ICT.  Education colleagues worked closely with SRS around education ICT ensuring alignment between corporate and education aspects.

A Member commented that this was a digital age and ICT was at the centre of learning and enquired regarding Welsh Government initiatives to ensure that every child was equipped for the future.  The Service Manager said that the Hwb Ed Tech programme focused on provision of devices for schools during the pandemic and extensive funding had been available to support digitally disadvantage learners to ensure that if there was a move to blended learning, no learners would be disadvantaged.   Welsh Government were keen for local authorities and schools to take over that project moving forward.  They were currently building in the monitoring and management of digitally disadvantaged learners, in line with the Welsh Government digital learner journey into the ICT Strategy. 

The Service Manager Young People & Partnerships joined the meeting at this juncture.

A Member enquired if the IT equipment that had been distributed during the pandemic for blended learning was going to be recalled.  The Service Manager said that they were working with schools to revisit devices to look at whether or not they were suitable for continued use and look to undertake any necessary adaptations.  Devices would only be brought back in to school for technical monitoring or in order to replenish licenses.  If it was identified that a family still needed their device, then the school and the Local Authority would continue to support that.

The Committee AGREED to recommend that the report be accepted and endorse Option 1; namely that the report be accepted.