Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence and notification of any substitutes present

Apologies were received from Mrs Cole, Mr Burgess, Mr Manion and Mr Vye.  Mrs Crabtree and Mrs Dean attended as substitutes for Mrs Cole and Mr Vye respectively.

To receive any declarations of interest made by Members in relation to any matter on the agenda.  Members are reminded to specify the agenda item number to which it refers and the nature of the interest being declared

No declarations of interest were received.

There has been considerable work over the last 6 months to develop a Full Business Case to support the decision to implement a new service delivery model for Kent Education Services, via the creation of a new Education Services Company. The decision will encompass both the implementation of a new company, the commissioning of that company to continue to deliver Education Services on behalf of KCC and to recommend the legal entity type.

It is also recommended that a shadow governance structure is implemented from April 2017, to allow the governance arrangements for the implementation phase to begin and to trial these arrangements before the Education Services Company goes live later in 2017.

PUBLIC MINUTE OF AN EXEMPT ITEM

The committee received a report setting out the latest position regarding preparatory work toward establishment of a new Education Services Company and presenting the full business case for consideration.

Mr Gough, Cabinet Member for Education and Health Reform introduced the matter and sought comment or endorsement of the proposed decision of Cabinet to establish the company as set out in the report and appendices.  He emphasised the importance of delivering services that reflected national policy and local objectives, in new and innovative ways, while building on the solid and continually improving work that was already being achieved at KCC

Mr Hill, Cabinet Member for Communities spoke to the item to confirm that he was supporting the proposals, following careful consideration and having received assurances regarding the provision of services within his portfolio.

Mr Oakford, Cabinet Member for Specialist Children’s Services, also confirmed his support for the proposals having also received assurances from the Corporate Director of Education and Young People’s Services about the maintenance of facets of provision within his own portfolio which he valued highly.

Corporate Director for Education and Young People’s Services, Patrick Leeson said that it was important to maintain the existing supportive arrangements with Kent Schools; schools had access to quality, cost-effective services from KCC to support improvement in educational attainment and standards; and that the opportunities to generate income from traded services to reinvest in supporting the delivery of education services were maximised.

The Cabinet Members and Mr Leeson answered Members’ questions relating to the information set out in the exempt appendices. 

(4)       Resolved that:

(a)       The proposal to seek approval to create a company, in line with the business case, and to enter into such contractual arrangements as are necessary to facilitate that creation be endorsed;

(b)       The legal structure of the proposed company and the delegation of 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 for Education and Young People’s Services and the Corporate Director of Finance and Procurement be endorsed;

(c)        The implementation of the shadow governance structure from April 2017 be endorsed.

All three proposals were voted on together and the votes were as follows:

For: 7 Against: 2 Abstentions: 1

Sets out a proposal to amend the Kent funding formula for Early Years providers from 1 April 2017, on which the committee is asked to comment and endorse or make a recommendation to the Cabinet Member. 

The Cabinet Committee received a report setting out proposals of the Cabinet Member to amend the Kent funding formula for Early Years providers from 1 April 2017.  The committee heard that the proposals took into consideration the Government’s response to the National Funding Formula, the responses to a Kent provider consultation and the views of the Kent Schools’ Funding Forum.

The Cabinet Member for Education and Health Reform, Mr Gough, introduced the item for members, he particularly referred to the following:

1.    That the committee had received a report at its meeting of 1 February 2017 describing Governments proposed changes to Early Years funding from 1 April 2017 and providing information on consultation to be undertaken on the matter.

2.    That Kent County Council had now consulted with all of its Early Years providers to seek views on which of the optional supplements providers valued the most.  The consultation also sought views on the preferred operation of the new, required SEN Inclusion Funding (currently known within Kent as SCARF).

3.    That 639 responses were received which represented 51% of all providers. Key messages were included within the report and a summary of responses which was presented to the Schools’ Funding Forum was also made available as part of the report.

Mr Gough referred members to the detailed proposals within the report and described the key changes proposed.

Corporate Director for Education and Young People’s Services spoke to the item to reiterate the comments of the Cabinet Member and he welcomed the positive proposals that would allow KCC to offer an increase in the base rate to providers for 3 and 4 year olds even though funding provided by the Government was reducing.  The proposals would, he said, reflect the importance of maximising the base rate to providers and help to incentivise providers in offering places to meet the Government’s commitment to increase entitlement for working parents to 30 hours.

The Committee were appraised by officers of the governance arrangements for the decision.  In order to meet the required timelines for a timely release of information to providers and implementation by 1 April, the decision would be taken in accordance with procedures for urgency set out in Appendix 4 Part 6 of the Council’s constitution and the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012 11 (1) & (2) and as a result would not be subject to call-in. 

It was RESOLVED that the proposed decision of the Cabinet Member to change the Kent Early Years Funding Formula as set out in the proposed record of decision, attached at Appendix 2, be endorsed.