Decision details

Proposed decision:

To create a company, in line with the business case, and to enter into such contractual arrangements as are necessary to facilitate that creation.

To agree the legal structure of the proposed company and to delegate authority to the Monitoring Officer to agree the final details in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education and Health Reform, the Cabinet Member for Commercial and Traded Services, the Corporate Director foe Education and Young People’s Services and the Corporate Director of Finance and Procurement. 

To agree that a shadow governance structure is implemented from April 2017.

Financial Implications: To be outlined in the Full Business Case

Legal Implications: To be outlined in the Full Business Case

Equality Implications: An EQIA has been drafted and will be live throughout the process. The draft will be appended to the draft business case.

The proposals seek to ensure that KCC is able to deliver, within a sustainable budget, against its strategic priority (Outcome 1) to ensure that children and young people in Kent get the best start in life.

By proposing the setup of an Education Services Company, Kent can further develop its partnership with schools and settings, jointly support the Young People of Kent by providing services in a way that ensures not only sustainability, but offers opportunity to expand services in the longer term.

Education Traded Services Company – Public minute for Items 7 & 9

(Items 7 & 9 Report of Mr Roger Gough, Cabinet Member for Education and Health Reform, Mr Mike Hill, Cabinet Member for Community Services, Mr Peter Oakford, Cabinet Member for Specialist Children’s Services and Patrick Leeson, Corporate Director for Education and Young People’s Services)

Mr Roger Gough, Cabinet Member for Education and Health Reform introduced the item for members, he explained that there were two key drivers to the proposed establishment of an Education Traded Services Company.  Firstly, the increase in academisation, the establishment of Free Schools and the way in which those schools were commissioned had caused concern that the education environment would become fragmented and secondly that, as budgets were reduced services would not be sustainable.  These two drivers lead to the principle aims of the proposed decision; maintaining and strengthening partnerships with schools and ensuring that services were sustainable.  

It was, he continued, important that these services continued to be provided as they were valued highly by schools and had been key to improved performance and the resulting ‘Good’ and ‘Outstanding’ ratings by Ofsted.

Patrick Leeson, Corporate Director for Education and Young People’s Services spoke to the item; he added that schools supported the proposals and recognised the advantages that procurement of services in this way would bring for them and reported that the Kent Association of Head Teachers had indicated that it would be happy to be represented on a Company and/or Stakeholder Board in the new company structures.

Cabinet discussed the information contained within the exempt papers and the Corporate Director for Education Young People’s Services and the Cabinet Member for Education and Health Reform answered questions for members.

Members were advised that there would be no change to any policy or entitlement as a result of the implementation of proposed decision to establish a traded companythe new company.

It was RESOLVED that: