Agenda and minutes

Mr Whiting declared an interest on Item B4 as his employer was a sponsor of the Spires Academy, Sturry, Canterbury.  Mr Christie also made a declaration on Item B4 as his daughter was a teacher at one of the schools being discussed.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 April 2010 are correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.

(Including an update from Grahame Ward following the government’s announcements regarding the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) Programme)

(Verbal Report by Mr G Cooke, Deputy Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education, Mr K Abbott, Director of Resources and Planning and Mr G Ward, Director of Capital Programme and Infrastructure)

(Mr L Christie, Leader of the Labour Group was present for this Item and was given permission to speak by the Chairman)

(1)   The Chairman asked Mr Cooke to give his verbal update.  Mr Cooke spoke on the pace of the changes coming from Central government that affected the services of the CFE Directorate.  He advised Members of meetings that had taken place with headteachers and Members of the County Council keeping them informed of the changes, in particular those affecting mainstream schools, special schools and academies and the halting of the Building Schools for the Future programme (BSF).

(2)    Mr Cooke advised Members that although there were more financial savings that had to be made, the front line services would be protected, although this may be more difficult to achieve in the future.  He advised that on 26 July there would be an announcement by the Secretary of State and preparations needed to be in hand of where the capital programme would be targeted.

(3)   Mr Cooke was pleased to announce two Kent School Honours and congratulated Ms Helen Tait, Headteacher at Sandgate Primary School and Folkestone Academy who received a CBE for services to education in Kent and Mr Michael Stevens, Chair of Governors, Oakwood Park School, Maidstone, who received an MBE for voluntary services to education.  The Chairman asked for a letter to be sent to each of them passing on the Committee’s congratulations.

(4)   Members were given the opportunity to ask questions and make comments, which included the following:

(5)   In response to a question by Mr Pugh, Mr Ward advised that consultants had been appointed through the procurement process, for their experience on elements of strategic finance and for technical advice when the first BSF contact was being drawn up.   Mr Ward said that he would, if required to, submit a report giving more detail to a future meeting.

(6)    In reply to a question by Mr Brazier, Mr Ward advised that large amounts of money had been spent on the BSF programme, which included transport surveys etc but felt this would not be wasted.  He was positive about education capital investment, following the announcement by Ht Hon Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education that the education capital was reducing by 50%.  He considered that whilst a significant reduction, 50% of what was being spent was a significant amount at £10-£12m for secondary schools.  This was, however, clearly dependent upon the priorities set by Government.

(7)   In response to a question by Mr Christie, Mrs Hohler advised that stopping the BSF in wave 4 in Thanet and Gravesham meant that only half of the proposed schools had been rebuilt.  The Cabinet had and continued to put out press releases on its disappointment for those 2 areas.  The Cabinet had also  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

(Report by Mr K Abbott, Director of Resources and Planning, Ms R Turner, Managing Director, Children, Families & Education Directorate and Mrs S Hohler, Cabinet Member for Children, Families & Education)

(Mr L Christie, Leader of the Labour Group was present for this Item and was given permission to speak by the Chairman)

(1)   Members considered a report that gave an overview of the CFE restructure, consultation feedback, details of the recruitment process, service planning and model of delivery, savings made and planning for pressures ahead.

(2)   Mrs Turner introduced the report advising that the restructuring of the Children Families and Education Directorate and the review of the Local Children Services Partnerships had helped to reduce the Directorate’s budget by 10%.  After completing phases 1 and 2 the review was now in phase 3 which would be completed by the end of July. 

(3)   Members were given the opportunity to make comments and ask questions which included the following:

(4)   In response to questions that referred to page 37 regarding the Select Committee on Extended Services and page 45 on Early Years by Mr Vye, Mrs Turner explained that she wanted to assure Members that Extended Schools was still a focus that learning continued before school, after school and during the school holiday periods with a connection to family life too. There was a need to build a sustainable model with schools themselves generating that work to be kept going even in light of what may happen with the grants. The School Improvement Officers would have this in their sights.  She mentioned that support would also be given by the Family Liaison Officers and the Preventative Services Managers who would have this within their role.  Raising standards and settings within Early Years this was still a priority.

(5)   In reply to a question by Mr Smith, Mrs Hohler advised that there was agreement to reform the Members Monitoring Group on Attainment, which would allow a small cross party group of Members the opportunity to meet in private to discuss the outcomes of the OFSTED inspection reports in depth.

(6)   In reply to a question by Mr Desmoyers-Davies, Mrs Turner considered that with any process where staff were experiencing change there could be a dip in moral, which needed to be picked back up again to move things forward with following the restructure.  In managing that change there was a need to work in partnership with the Trade Unions. There was now an organisational model that was fit for purpose and more sustainable than previously with a streamlined commissioning centre and twelve local districts.  She concluded that the Directorate would be judged by the results of its services for children and young people in Kent.  Ms Turner noted Mr Desmoyers–Davies view that the process for his trade union members had been unsatisfactory.

(7)   In response to questions by Mrs Allen, Mrs Turner advised that the there would be twelve Preventative Services Managers, one per district, and their role would be the bridge  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

(Report by Mrs S Hohler – Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education and Mrs R Turner – Managing Director, Children, Families and Education)           

(Mr K Abbott, Director of Resources and Planning and Mr G Ward, Director of Capital Programme and Infrastructure were present for this item)

(1)   The Committed debated a report that summarised the 2009/10 financial outturn, together with annual operating plan outturn information, for each of the Service Units within the Children, Families and Education Directorate together with the financial and key activity and performance outcome.

(2)   Chairman asked Mr Abbott then Mr Ward to introduce the report.  Mr Abbott highlighted the key points which included the following:

(3)   The CFE Directorates overall outturn position was a net underspend of £2.238m as set out in appendix 1 of the report.  

(4)   Mr Ward then spoke on the capital programme advising that there was an underspend of £1. 4m, highlighting that the County Council met in February when it had improved its budget and reflected the variations from the position of the budget in January.

(5)   Members of the Committee were given the opportunity to make comments and ask questions which included the following:

(6)   Mr Smith reminded Members that the CFE Budget Informal Member Group (IMG) had been set up with 2 Members from each of the 3 CFE POSCs. The inaugural meeting of the CFE Budget IMG would be held on 30 July 2010 at 10.00 am.  This meeting would cover the rudiments of the CFE budget.  Additional meetings would be set up to discuss the budget to report back to this Committee and the Joint POSC.

(7)   The Chairman advised that the Teacher, Church and Parent Governor Representatives on the Committees were welcome to attend the IMG.

(8)   Mr Vye referred to a drift of expenditure on the Advisory Service, which had been demand lead in the past and how this would be met in the future, Mr Abbott advised that he would report the detail to Mr Vye outside the meeting and added that in primary schools there was a pressure brought to bear in terms of the previous governments timetable on the National Challenge and the local authorities need to respond to it, which may not necessarily exist in the future in the same way.  There were pressures which were addressed in building the budget but had been tied up in where the budget had been directed in reducing the resource through the restructuring.

(9)   In response to a question by Mr Desmoyers-Davies, Mr Ward explained that the ‘poor monitoring information’ referred to on page 73 paragraph 4.3.4 was a refection of judgement on the information provided by the school, it was reflecting information given by the school on where they were on a project in terms of the outturn and their information proved incorrect.

(10)    In a follow up question, Mr Desmoyers-Davies asked what scrutiny had been undertaken on the accuracy of the information provided by schools.  Mr Ward advised that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

(Report by- Mr K Abbott, Director, Resources and Planning, Mr G Ward, Director, Capital and Infrastructure,  Ms  R Turner, Managing Director, Children, Families & Education Directorate and Mrs S Hohler, Cabinet Member for Children, Families & Education)

(Mr L Christie, Leader of the Labour Group was present for this Item and was given permission to speak by the Chairman)

(1)   The Committee discussed a report that gave an update on the coalition Government’s new academies and free schools proposals together with information on the emerging broader Government agenda for Schools Reform and summarised the proposals in the Academies Bill and highlighted the key implications and concerns for local authorities and schools. It also provided a preliminary outline of key elements expected to feature in the coalition Government’s second Education Bill expected around mid-October.

(2)   The Chairman asked Mr Abbott to introduce the report.  Mr Abbott advised that 16 Kent schools had formally voted to convert to academy status and on Friday, 16 July the Secretary of State agreed in principle to five of those schools converting to academy status from 1 September 2010, which were; the Hayesbrook School, Tonbridge, Fulston Manor School, Sittingbourne, Dartford Grammar School for Boys and Canterbury High School with its federated Primary School.  Other schools may be agreed this week.

Mr Abbott felt that the decision on those five schools one week before the end of term, with no legislation in place at this stage, meant that it would not be possible for the processes of Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE), land, property and financial transfer issues to be completed by 1 September in line with the Department for Education (DFE) expectation.  Mr Abbott advised that he had already written to the 16 schools that wished to convert to academy status to initiate work in terms of the transition planning with them.  The schools all recognised the issue of the timing and were happy to work with the local authority in planning what would happen and when.  The position would vary school by school depending on the school’s status and the property and land issues that arose.  He explained that concerns had been raised with the Local Government Association (LGA) and the Association of Directors of Children's Services Ltd(ADCS) for many weeks but to date little had been received by way of answers from the DFE.

(3)   In response to a question by Mr Tolputt, Mr Abbott explained that there was a need to distinguish between the new academies and the free schools.  The new academies in terms of the land transfer would receive a 125 year lease and in terms of the site they would get what they were entitled to in line with statute and current regulations.  For free schools it was different, there was a process that was set out on page 102, paragraph (3), where free schools were located would be determined by the group establishing the free school, which was different to academies, and for existing maintained schools  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

(Report by Mr G Ward, Director, Capital Programme & Infrastructure)

(1)   The Committee considered a report on the progress on work undertaken by the SEN Transport Informal Member Group (IMG), which included interviewing Mr Harlock, Head of Commercial Services and Mr Myers, Parent Governor of a SEN school and considering papers prepared on Manchester City Council’s concept of ‘Independence Training’ and the devolution of transport budgets to schools.

(2)   RESOLVED that:

(a) agreement be given to the concept of ‘independence training’ and how     it could be applied to benefit some of the pupils within our special schools, it is suggested that an independence scheme could be developed and piloted in Kent, with tailoring to meet the requirements of locality and pupil need;

(b) the devolution of transport budgets to schools be investigated as a viable means of both reducing the future costs of SEN student home?to?school transport and improving the quality of the service to the young people;

(c) the reduction of statements and the subsequent transport requirements be investigated: and

(e) the SEN Transport IMG Members be thanked for the work they had undertaken, which had now concluded.

(Following the meeting Mr Horne, Chairman of the SEN Transport IMG advised the Democratic Services Officer that he had attended the Bower Grove School, Maidstone, to speak with the Headteacher, Mr Phipps and to observe the children accessing and leaving the school by various modes of transport.  He wished the Members to know that the children accessing the transport were severely handicapped and the transport was used effectively.  Mr Phipps had advised him that he would be considering self management of the transport provision for Bower Grove school primarily because of the problems with the transition arrangements with new contractors)

(Report by- Mr G Ward, Director, Capital Programme & Infrastructure)

(1)   The Chairman asked Mr Ward to introduce the report.  Mr Ward highlighted that there had been a major change with casual school admissions. Currently up until this September primarily the local authority (LA) were responsible for admissions from reception year onwards but if a parent moved into an area they would approach the local school, for what ever age their child was, if the school had a place the school would let your child into the school, which was a simple local process. From 1 September the process would change, the parent would have to apply to the local authority that would look at the places available in the area and then contact the school to arrange the placement and then formally write to the parent.  Mr Ward felt that the Admissions Team were prepared but were unaware of how much more addition work this would entail.

(2)   With regard to page 124 paragraph 3(1) of the report, Mr Vye requested a fully researched, detailed report disaggregated by area to include; the published admission number of schools; grammar schools and others, the passes at the Kent Test, the number of passes at headteacher appeals, the number of independent appeals and the number of successful appeals and the final percentage of the cohort going to grammar school for 2010, to be submitted to the next meeting of this POSC.

(3)   In response to a question by Mr Pugh, Mr Ward advised that the LA coordinated the admissions process to all schools in Kent but each school had its own admission arrangements. With regard to academies and foundation schools they could set their own admission arrangements but the LA administered it all through the process.  There were approximately 100 different admission authorities in Kent.  In a follow up comment Mr Pugh expressed his frustrations in trying to assist a pupil entering a school on the Isle of Sheppey.   Mr Ward read out the admissions criteria for the school and advised that the LA had to abide by the criteria.  Mr Cooke concurred advising that there were regulations that needed to be followed and that any variations made to the admissions criteria had to be carried out through consultation.

(4)   RESOLVED that:

(a) agreement be given to the request for a fully researched, detailed report disaggregated by area to include; the published admission number of schools; grammar schools and others, the passes at the Kent Test, the number of passes at headteacher appeals, the number of independent appeals and the number of successful appeals and the final percentage of the cohort going to grammar school for 2010, to be submitted to the next meeting of this POSC; and

(b)  the responses to Members questions and the report be noted.

(Report by- Ms R Turner, Managing Director Children Families and Education Directorate and Mrs C McKenzie, Sustainability and Climate Change, Environment, Highways and Waste Directorate)

(1)   The Committee considered a report that summarised the progress made against the work carried out on Climate Change and the implementation of the Environment commitments and the ISO14001.

(2)   The Chairman asked Mrs McKenzie to give a brief introduction.  Mrs McKenzie highlighted some of the progress that the CFE Directorate had made and the future challenges that the directorate faced for the coming years that included; over the last year the Kent Environment Strategy had been reviewed and updated.  The original Strategy governed what the directorate and the local authority did within Kent as a whole.  A lot of the activity underneath the Strategy had a lot of good activity and projects but the outcomes did not change.  She felt that it was important that what was carried out in the future with the policy within CFE directorate and within KCC as a whole was taken in context with the Kent Environment Strategy.

(3)   All CFE buildings had been assessed to display an energy certificate which was an energy performance requirement, 350 schools, that were applicable for an energy certificate had been assessed with an average rating of ‘D’, which was better than average.  Half of the schools were better than that cohort of schools.  In terms of demonstrative savings within CFE; business miles had been reduced by less than 1% with a saving of £49k and in the last 6 months CFE had participated in ‘BT MeetMe’ telephone calls but there was still a lot of potential in those areas. Schools waste contracts included more recycling offers and a food trial had been undertaken, extending to the Family Centres and the Children’s Centres. 

(4)   For CFE there would be a continued focus on energy and carbon reduction, which she felt was a big challenge for CFE because of the size of its estate.  The carbon omissions did go up last year primarily because of the schools estate due to extended opening hours, older buildings ‘school that never sleeps’ and more ICTs.  There had been progress in reducing business mileage but there was still a lot of potential to reduce business mileage and cost savings that could be delivered.  There was also a need to improve on the activity around water and energy investment if significant savings were to be made. Mrs McKenzie advised that different funding streams were being looked at with an awareness of the uncertainty of budgets and the issue of the new academies and free schools policy being introduced at this time but reminded Members that KCC was still responsible for the academies and free schools etc carbon omissions which was a complicated situation as KCC would not have any control over those schools.  Mrs McKenzie concluded by highlighting the need to look at climate change risk and the potential for green jobs.

(5)   Members were given the opportunity to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

(Report by Mr P Wickenden, Overview, Scrutiny and Localism Manager)

(1)   The Members considered a report that highlighted the progress of the Select Committee on Extended Services and invited suggestions for the Select Committee Topic Review Programme.

(2)   RESOLVED that:

(a)   the progress of the Select Committee on Extended Services be noted; and

(b)   Members agreed to forward their suggestions of any items for inclusion in the Select Committee topic review programme to the Democratic Services Officer and the report be noted.