THE PEMBROKESHIRE HERALD can reveal that the County Council’s Education Service has been removed from special measures imposed in October 2012 and that issues raised then no longer require further follow-up. 

The Leader of Pembrokeshire County Council has welcomed the announcement that the Authority is no longer in special measures. Councillor Jamie Adams said the news was a significant milestone for the Authority. The Council was placed in special measures following an inspection in October 2012 by the education watchdog Estyn into education services for children and young people. A monitoring plan was subsequently agreed with Estyn and since then inspectors have visited the Council on two occasions to monitor progress. After the latest visit earlier this month, the inspection team judged that the Authority had made “sufficient progress” to be taken out of special measures. In June 2014, Mererid Stone HMI led a team of four inspectors to review the progress made by the authority against the remaining four of the seven recommendations arising from the October 2012 inspection. The team also considered the overall performance of the authority against its post-inspection action plan. The team held discussions with the leader of the council, elected members, the chief executive, senior officers and head teachers. Inspectors scrutinised documentation, including evidence on the progress made on each of Estyn’s recommendations. Pembrokeshire County Council is judged to have made sufficient progress in relation to the recommendations following the inspection of October 2012. As a result, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales considers that the local authority is no longer in need of special measures and is removing it from further follow-up activity. The Inspectorate has determined that the Council has largely addressed the failings which led to it being placed in special measures, including publishing findings that: • Elected members and the director of children and schools have worked well together to resolve difficulties in recruitment and retention of staff in social services. • The safeguarding overview and scrutiny committee provides good support and challenge to the cabinet member for safeguarding and to officers. • The authority has implemented comprehensive strategies for improvement in both key stages 2 and 4. In 2013 performance in these key stages declined in Pembrokeshire. Provisional figures for 2014 indicate that performance has improved in the Foundation Phase by over two percentage points and in key stage 2 by more than three percentage points. • The authority has substantially strengthened the team of system leaders. These officers now understand their role well and have clear guidelines to support their work. • Schools identified as causing concern have detailed action plans outlining clearly the actions to be taken • Through the revision of its Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP), the authority’s strategy to secure sufficient provision for Welshmedium education in the long term is more robust • The safeguarding scrutiny committee has made a strong contribution to the improvement in safeguarding practice in the children and schools service. It is now beginning to hold other services and partners to account for their safeguarding policies and procedures. • Partnership work concentrates appropriately on four areas where organisations can have the greatest impact by working together, for example reducing the proportion of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). • The authority has significantly improved its approach to selfevaluation, developing a culture of openness and honesty about performance. The director for children and schools, along with his senior leadership team, leads by example in being robustly selfcritical about performance within the directorate and by inviting constructive challenge about performance. The Estyn report continues: ‘The Chief Executive, Leader and senior officers took difficult and sensitive decisions to remove barriers to progress in order to bring about the necessary improvement. ‘These decisions were implemented carefully and have resulted in a complete restructure within the Pembrokeshire Children and Schools Service. A new management team is working closely together as a cohesive group to embed change. ‘The Authority now engages well with the regional consortium. Joint working arrangements with regional partners have strengthened the Authority’s capacity to challenge and support its schools. ‘There is a significant change in culture within the Authority demonstrated through greater openness and transparency. The Authority’s vision and expectation for its education services are communicated clearly to schools and other partners. ‘Officers and elected members have shown a willingness to work constructively with inspection, audit and regulatory bodies to identify and address shortcomings. They demonstrate a firm commitment to implement change and have an appetite for further improvement.’ Councillor Adams said he was delighted with the outcome of the latest visit. “This is a very important day in the life of Pembrokeshire County Council and a significant moment in a long and sometimes painful journey, but one which we had to undertake. “Along the way weaknesses have been identified and addressed and substantial changes made to working practices. “The result is a more dynamic, transparent and outward-looking local Authority. This is just not my opinion but is also the view shared by the inspectors. “We remain committed to doing everything that can reasonably be expected to keep children in our County safe. Today’s decision by the inspectors formally acknowledges that they have confidence in our services. “I want to pay tribute to the senior officers and employees who have worked together with the Elected Members in bringing about this change which provides firm foundations for our education services.” Councillor Sue Perkins, the County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Safeguarding said the Council would continue to be firmly focused on improving outcomes for children. “We recognise that there is always need for further improvement and we will focus on what still needs to be done” she added. “However, this is a significant result for the children of Pembrokeshire, all of whom should have the opportunity of receiving the best education we can offer.”