To consider a statement of principles to guide work, set standards, underpin values and inform the future organisation of schools.

The Committee considered a statement of principles to guide work, set standards, underpin values and inform the future organisation of schools.

A copy of the covering report presented to the Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee on 5th October 2007 was circulated at the meeting.

The Head of Commissioning and Improvement presented the report.  He explained that falling school rolls meant that some change needed to be made to the organisation of schools within the County.  It was intended to report to Cabinet in November with proposals then going to schools in January 2008 followed by further consultation.

In taking the review forward it was important to recognise that the Government’s intention was that all schools would become independent of local education authorities. 

The review was driven by the need for the effective use of resources.  The loss of £3,500 per pupil would have an impact on schools and would involve teacher redundancies.  The Direct Schools Grant provided £300,000 pa for the next three years for central expenditure.  The Authority was the third lowest funded LEA in England and there was no indication that position would change.

Currently 22% of resources was spent on overhead costs and it was expected that this would rise to 30% as a consequence of the fall in school rolls. Consideration needed to be given to whether this was the best use of resources or whether reorganisation could enable more money to be spent in the classroom.

In undertaking rationalisation one intention would be to take account of the condition and running costs of individual properties.

The principles paper had been issued to schools.  In general they had appeared happy with the principles but the key was how these were translated into practice.  For example there were 12 schools in the County who would not meet the proposed criterion that schools should have at least 55-60 pupils on roll.  Headteachers had also emphasised the importance to them of retaining 50% of their time as non-contact time.

The Head of Commissioning and Improvement added that the review would also have to consider the wider role of schools in the community and the Council’s policies on thinking rural and the availability of local services.  He added that it was important, however, that a local service was of good quality.

In the ensuing discussion the following principal points were made:

·         It was reported that the Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee had commented on the need for adequate resources to be allocated to complete the review as promptly as possible to avoid prolonging uncertainty.  It had also commented upon the aim that no pupil would have to travel more than 45 minutes to school mentioning the need to give careful consideration to the distance primary school pupils could be expected to travel to school.   The Committee was scheduled to receive updates as the review progressed.

·         The assumptions about falling rolls underpinning the Review were questioned. It was asked what the source of the data was and whether it could be considered to give the complete picture.  It was noted that the migrant population was not all registered with local GPs.  The increase in the birth rate in the South Wye Area was also noted.

The Head of Commissioning and Improvement replied that the data was obtained from the Primary Care Trust who had addresses of mothers registered with GPs.  He considered the data was as good as could be obtained but acknowledged that it was not perfect.  Some further work was being done with neighbouring PCTs to pick up on any cross-border issues.  However, if anything, in the past the County had been a net exporter.  He was confident that there were falling rolls but the degree of the fall was the issue and the extent of the response required.  He would propose to maintain provision at County level with the number of places 5% above the projected number of pupils.

In terms of the migrant population the annual school census recorded the origin of pupils and their first language.  Whilst this clearly only picked up children of school age it did provide a useful check.  Numbers of children in this category remained low but had grown significantly. The situation was being closely monitored.

In relation to the South Wye this was the only area in the County where rolls were not falling.  This was due to the housing provision, age of the population and demography. A number of residents sought schools outside the South Wye area.

·         It was asked whether account had been taken of the 16,500 new houses that would be required to be built in the County.  The Head of Commissioning and Improvement said that it had been. It was being assumed for the purposes of the Review that development would be in existing main centres with public transport links.  The position of small village schools would therefore be likely to be unaffected by the new development.   The need to maintain links with the developing thinking on housing allocation was acknowledged.

·         The importance of keeping Ward Councillors informed and the knowledge to be gained from Town and Parish Councils was noted. 

·         The Head of Commissioning and Improvement confirmed in response to a question that no schools were earmarked for closure.  He reiterated that options would be reported to Cabinet in January.  Consultation would take place on draft proposals and any proposal to close schools was subject to a statutory process.

·         The Chief Executive noted that there was a professional recognition by headteachers that if the Council did not respond to falling rolls the ability of schools to fulfil their role would be affected.  It would be important that that was not lost sight of when proposals came forward.

The Committee noted the timetable for progressing the review.