Agenda item

Report of the Director of Education and Skills

The Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Education and Skills, which set out the Coventry One Strategic Plan and Education Capital Programme.

Under Section 14 of the Education Act 1996, the 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 was first presented to Council on 2^nd October 2018 and set out pupils forecasts for special, primary and secondary education across 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 Education Partnership to meet the additional places required in secondary provision from 2019 to 2024.  Work has also been undertaken to look at the Special School provision and the primary estate in line with falling birth rates and new housing, outlining how the Local Authority will mitigate against these factors.

It is proposed that the strategy will be a flexible plan, able to adapt to shifting mechanisms of parental preferences, 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 with presentation to the Cabinet Member with the Education Portfolio and Cabinet, alongside a wider process of constant review of School Place Planning.  In addition, the procuring of places will take place annually so as not to create an unstable number of school places.

The Cabinet noted that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been established to ensure partnership commitment between the Council and secondary schools.  Subject to approval, this will be rolled out to primary and special schools.  The 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 the City, ensure the sustainability of Coventry schools and to enable the Council to meet its statutory obligations.

As part of this process, numerous options have been discussed at both Coventry Education Partnership meetings and the Secondary Headteacher Executive.  The preferred option  has been approved by the Coventry Education Partnership as being the best valid option keeping in line with the Local Authority’s statutory requirement as outlined by the DfE to:

·  Spend capital funding efficiently;

·  Safeguard the quality of places in the system;

·  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 upon the data provided in the annual School Capacity return.  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.  The next tranche of funding will be announced in March 2022.

RESOLVED that, the Cabinet:

1.  Authorise the programme of work outlined in the Coventry One Strategic Plan for Primary, Secondary Education and Special Education Needs (SEN).

2.  Delegate authority to the Director of Education and Skills to agree the most appropriate route for the works to be delivered and awarded.