The Council considered a report which provided members with an update on the work of the Joint Steering Group in developing proposals for regional improvement collaborations for the Education Governance Review.
Decision
1. Noted the work of the joint steering group in developing proposals for regional improvement collaboratives as set out in the appendices to the submitted report.
2. Noted the agreement of COSLA Leaders at their meeting of 29 September 2017 to the report of the joint steering group and that this positions Argyll and Bute Council within the Northern Alliance area.
3. Noted the requirement of the Depute First Minister that the Regional Improvement Collaboratives and Regional Improvement Leads are in place for the end of October 2017 and that a Regional Improvement Plan is required to be agreed by end January 2018.
4. Noted the establishment of the Northern Alliance Collaborative’s Convenor’s Convention across the Northern Alliance area.
5. Noted that expressions of interest have been sought from existing Directors of Education across the Northern Alliance authorities for a secondment opportunity to the Regional Improvement Lead role and that interviews are scheduled to take place in the last week in October 2017.
6. Endorsed the actions taken by officers to give effect to the agreement made by COSLA Leaders with the Scottish Government.
7. Agreed that further reports on the progress of the Regional Improvement Collaborative or on the details of any other significant element of the Next Steps proposals be reported to the Community Services Committee.
(Ref: Report by the Chief Executive dated 9 October 2017, submitted)