Minutes Ofsouthwestregional Forum

MINUTES OFSOUTHWESTREGIONAL FORUM

Wednesday18th November 2015, 10.00am

CanolfanMaerdy, Tairgwaith, Rhydaman, SA18 1UP

Item
No. / Agenda Item / Action
Present:
Staff:Elaine Topping, Dafydd Rhys,Martyn Reed, Eleanor Jones.
Regional Forum Rep on Council:Derek Edwards
Branch Rep:Phil Elias, Derek Edwards.
Branch members: Wendy Budd.
Affiliated Organisation member:
Individual Members:Steve David (Acting Chair),Stephen Hayes, Lynne Hayes, Dai Griffiths, Fran Griffiths, Jeremy Gass.
Translator: SiônAled
Apologies:
Maggi Dawson, Sonia Reynolds, Sharon Reader, Mark Isherwood, Peter Rhys.
Agenda
1. Welcome
2. Have your say! (An opportunity for all to prepare a brief statement that raises an issue or shares information about your branch, class or learner forum).
3. The Welsh Electoral System and Devolved Powers (Jeremy Gass)
4. The Campaigning Toolkit for the National Assembly for wales Election 2016 (see Toolkit) and developing the campaign for Lifelong Education (Please refer to Policy Statement).
5. Consultation on the name and governance of the recently merged organisation (please refer to papers)
6. Standing Orders for the Regional Forums
7. Report from the regional representative and issues arising from the work and minutes of the Council (available on the WEA Cymru Website).
8. Learning Manager’s Report and regional issues and plans.
9. Report from Working Group
10. Minutes and matters arising.
11. Date of next meeting.
12.AOB
1 / Welcome
Following nomination and seconding, Steve David acted as Chair in Sonia's absence.
2 / Have your say!(An opportunity for all to have their say)
LH reported that the meeting in July had highlighted that there was a reduction of Liberal Arts courses by local colleges and ACL providers. In light of is, MD pulled together a subgroup who met on 14th October 2015. The group looked at how to create full-cost recovery courses to deliver some of this provision. Venues being considered include Tairgwaith and the Dylan Thomas Centre. In addition the group identified the potential to organise social educational trips from March 2016.
DE reported how Unit 10 could contribute to this liberal provision by delivering carving and carpentry as part of the programme.
ET stated that the CraftyCreubranch hold a saint Dwynwen's day twmpath which could link with the idea of a love spoons carving course.
ET stated that it was not possible for the regional office to release learner details to a branch as it is confidential.
LH proposed that if the region could provide address labels then it may be possible to get some volunteers to mail out information to learners. In addition LH stated that they had a connection with White rock and they can access the Copper works walk and talk.
Coleg Harlech Association of Old Students (CHAOS)
Dai Griffithsprovided a description of his experience of being a student at Coleg Harlech. He stated that it was a unique place to go. A reunion was held in the 1990s and has met annually since.
This group has diminished over time, but has played a significant contribution in producing students who have gone on to contribute to Further and Higher education.
DGstated that the last five years have seen the demise of the Coleg. The developer has failed to develop the neighbouring site and the accommodation block has been sold. The one asset that remains is the Andrew Carnegie foundation library. There is an intention for ex-ColegHarlech students to continue to meet.
DR stated that there is a group looking at the potential for development of Coleg Harlech.
SD proposed that an invitation should be included for a representative of CHAOS to attend Regional Forums.
DR stated that CHAOS could register as a forum in order to secure two votes at forums. DG agreed that this could be taken to their next AGM for consideration.
JG provided a short reflection on why he thought the decline occurred.
Llanelli branch
PE reported that the Llanelli branch has approximately 100 members and runs four courses, however less than10% of members attend the courses. Members join and attend free lectures which are well attended.
PE has met with ET and EJ to discuss the question "who are our learner"? PE would like any good ideas on ways forward for the branch.
3 / The Welsh Electoral System and Devolved Powers (Jeremy Gass)
JG provided a presentation on the Welsh Electoral System and Devolved Powers.
The talk stimulated discussion on the first past the post system and the issue of tactical voting. Further discussion looked at the effectiveness of the National Assembly for Wales.
ST put forward the idea of having a meeting with a local AM and a possible a visit to the Senedd. This could be discussed at the next meeting.
JG stated that there is a role for WEA YMCA CC Cymru to play in delivering Citizenship Education in the run up to the elections in May.
4 / The Campaigning Toolkit for the National Assembly for wales Election 2016
DR introduced two documents; the policy document and the campaigning toolkit.
The purpose of these documents are to help the organisation, branches and individual members to lobby political parties in the run up to the election.
Joint Meetings have already taken place with party representatives.
The meeting endorsed that the documents were appropriate to take forward.
LH stated that the new working group could help support the Regional Office in the task of lobbying as the office is understaffed.
SD proposed that the working group meets in December to commence work in February. This was seconded by WB.
LH stated that it would be helpful to have regional case studies to use as part of the lobbying process.
MR stated that a case study template and poster template was available for use. Each case study should have a good quality photo for use with marketing.
5 / Consultation on the name and governance of the recently merged organisation
SD provided a background to the consultation on governance in light of current and former mergers.
There was a proposal that as WEA Cymru was the larger organisation that there should be a wider proportion of governors from WEA Cymru.
SD - The forum was asked if it was happy with the current interim governance structure, but no
The group were reminded that there needs to be a 2/3 majority to change the constitution at AGM.
LH asked who the eightmembers of the shadow board were. JG clarified that the four WEA Cymru representatives were Rob Humphreys, Viv Davies, Chris Franks and Jerry Jenson. Of the six nominated governors Toni Schiavone, David Elis-Williams, Alison Hill represent former WEA Cymru.
SD noted that since the formation of the forumsno council members have attended, nor have they made themselves available for questioning.SD felt that we have moved away from being an association where the membership has a voice.Of all the regional forums mentioned, the SWRF is the only one that has not had attendance from a Council Member.
ACTION: SD would like an answer as to why this is the case.
DR introduced the discussion on what should the structure of the new governance be.
Motion: Having had upheaval over the last years, we wish to return to a structure where the council comprises of a predominance of elected and affiliated members.
Regional forums are crucial in relaying information to the council and influencing the operational governance of the council.
Naming the new organisation:
The point was raised that taking into consideration the large number of ethnic minority groups that we serve, should we have Christian in the name, especially if we are non denominational.
LH suggested that a collage could be used as a logo.
The point was made that the name needs to make sense to the outside world in order to attract new people.
Unions have taken on new names such as UNITE but GMB have taken the approach of adding a strap line.
The point was raised that the word College should not be included as it would put off the learners that we are trying to engage with.
It was proposed that the name WEA Cymru remains and instead adopt the strap line Changing lives, building communities.
It was felt that further spending on rebranding should not proceed. / DR
6 / Standing Orders for the Regional Forums
Item adjourned
7 / Report from the regional representative on the WEA Cymru Council and issues arising from the work and minutes of the Council
Representative no longer on Council
8 / Learning Manager’s Report and regional issues and plans
Term one review shows the region is half way to meeting targets.
In Swansea most of the provision is ESOL with the addition of Skills for Life and Essential Skills. ET is working closely with Regional Learning Partnership to put together a funding bid for WPL.
The region is involved in a new project in Swansea following on from a project that looked at the environment and sculpture.
The regional team is currently one member down.
The office has now moved to the Dylan Thomas Centre.
9 / Report from Working Group
This was covered by LH under ‘have your say’.
10 / Minutes and matters arising.
Under point 2 of ‘Have your say’, PE wanted it noted that Ken Owen had not had a response to the question regarding the retention of funds if a branch separates from the organisation.
ACTION: PE will seek clarification.
The minutes were accepted as a true record. / PE/DR
11 / Date next meeting
Wednesday 24 February at the Dylan Thomas Centre.
12 / AOB
DNA Consulting:
EJ stated that she had not been consulted as part of the process for generating the fit for purpose review.
The forum questioned why there had not been wider consultation including with tutors.
It was noted that tutors have been excluded for the staff day.
ACTION: This forum requests to see the proposed structure report as soon as possible. / DR