Agenda item

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People)

The Cabinet considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People), which presented the Coventry One Strategic Plan and Education Capital Programme.

Under Section 14 of the Education Act 1996, Coventry City Council has a statutory duty to ensure sufficient school places and fair, appropriate access to education.  It is the Council’s role to plan, commission and organise school places in a way that raises standards, manages supply and demand and creates a diverse infrastructure.

The Coventry One Strategic Plan, attached as Appendix 1 to the report, sets out pupil forecasts for primary and secondary education planning areas in response to rising or falling pupil cohorts across the city.  It outlines the strategy proposed by the Local Authority and the Coventry Secondary Headteacher Partnership to meet the additional places required in secondary provision from 2019 – 2021.

It is proposed that the strategy will be a flexible document, able to adapt to shifting mechanisms of parental preference, unforeseen changes in supply and demand of school places, and future birth rates. To do this, the One Strategic Plan will be monitored and updated annually, alongside a wider process of constant review of School Place Planning. In addition, the procuring of places will take place annually so as to not create an unstable amount of school places.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been established to ensure partnership commitment between the Council and secondary schools (and will be rolled out to primary and special, subject to approval).  These partnerships signify a commitment and cooperation between the Council, governing bodies and school leadership teams to meet the educational needs of children and young people in Coventry, ensure the sustainability of Coventry schools, and to enable the City Council to meet its statutory obligations.

This partnership commitment signifies a statement of intent to collaborate and work in partnership to achieve the best possible outcomes for children and young people in Coventry, ensure the sustainability of Coventry schools, and to enable the City Council to meet its statutory obligations. As part of this process, numerous options have been discussed at both full partnership meetings, and the Secondary Headteacher Executive. The preferred option presented below has been approved by the partnership as being the best valid option keeping in line with our statutory requirement as outlined by the DfE to:

i.  Spend capital funding efficiently

ii.  Safeguard the quality of places in the system

iii.  Manage down spare capacity in the estate where it exists.

Capital allocations to meet projected shortfalls in provision are provided by the Education Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) to all Local Authorities based on the data provided in the annual School Capacity return (SCAP).  Demand for places minus the supply of places is multiplied by a cost per pupil place to inform the final allocation.  This return informs the ESFA of the expected change in pupil numbers over the next few years, the current capacity of schools to meet those numbers and the planned changes to that capacity.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet, in principal:

1.  Approve the draft of the Coventry One Strategic Plan.

2.  Agree proposals for officers to carry out the necessary consultations as required:

a.  Consultation on Coventry One Strategic Plan

b.  Consultation on Special Provision Fund (Already Commenced)

c.  Individual School Consultation related to Permanent Expansion

d.  Enhanced Resource Provision Consultation on creation of Resource Units within Mainstream Schools

e.  Individual Consultations relating to the reduction of Primary Published Admissions Numbers

3.  Note the funding requirement of the plans proposed set out in the report.  These have and will be approved through normal budget setting process.