Agenda item

Report of the Director of Childrens and Education

The Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Children and Education Services, that set out the Coventry One Strategic Plan and Education Capital Programme 2025-29.

The Cabinet noted that the report had also been considered by the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee at its meeting held on 12^th March 2026 (their Minute 61/25 refers).  A briefing note was circulated confirming that the Committee supported the recommendations within the report had no further comments or recommendations for the Cabinet.

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 and manages supply and demand.

The Coventry One Strategic Plan, which was appended to the report, sets out pupil forecasts for primary and secondary schools and Special Education Needs (SEND), across education planning areas in response to pupil cohorts across the city.  It was proposed that the Strategy would be a flexible plan, which would be 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, officers regularly review school place planning, and the One Strategic Plan would be monitored and updated annually, with a presentation to Cabinet.

There is commitment through 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 Council to meet its statutory obligations.  The options within the Strategic Plan have been discussed at Coventry Education Partnership meetings, which include academy trust CEOs, headteachers and education colleagues from across the city.

The Strategy outlined within the One Strategic Plan was in line with the Department for Education (DfE) statutory requirements to:

·  Spend capital funding efficiently

·  Safeguard the quality of places in the system

·  Utilise spare capacity in the estate where it exists.

Capital allocations to meet projected shortfalls in provision were provided by the DfE to all Local Authorities based on 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 DfE of the expected change in pupil numbers over the medium term, the current capacity of schools to meet those numbers and the planned changes to that capacity.  Funding was also secured via S106 contributions from housing developers in response to new housing estates.  The proposed programme of work was fully funded utilising existing resources as set out within the education capital programme.

From the 2021/22 academic year, there had been a large increase in the number of pupils moving into the city in-year.  The impact of this in-year movement has been that more places were required in schools that originally forecast, using up spare capacity and causing sufficiency pressures in some year groups.  In response, a review and update of pupil forecast methodology has taken place and additional school expansions identified.  Since September 2024, in-year growth has decreased, and a range of growth expectations continue to be factored to inform forecasts and ensure sufficient supply of school places.

Since the 2021/22 academic year, bulge classes have been introduced at nine primary schools across the city in years 1 to 5.  This increase in demand has also required expansions in secondary schools, particularly in years 7 and 8.  These measures have helped address immediate pressures on school capacity, however, further expansion will be necessary to ensure sufficient school places are available to meet future forecast demand.  Ongoing planning and funding would be essential to maintain access to quality education as the pupil population changes.

RESOLVED that, the Cabinet:

1.  Note that there were no additional comments or recommendations from the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee.

2.  Authorise the programme of work outlined within the proposed Coventry One Strategic Plan for Primary, Secondary and Special Educational Needs Education as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.

3.  Delegate authority to the Director of Children and Education Services to agree the most appropriate procurement route for works to be delivered and awarded.