Minutes:
1. The Chairman said that, although Mr Leeson (Corporate Director for Children, Young People and Education) was unable to attend the meeting, Keith Abbott (Director of Education Planning and Access) would provide a verbal update on his behalf.
2. Mr Gough (Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education) commented on the good results from schools over the summer and said that KS2 in particular had made significant progress.
3. Mr Gough said that the Secretary of State had made an announcement in July 2017 regarding the National Funding Formula which had many positive features but also elements that could be improved upon. Mr Gough said that part of the formula would be funded by cutting back the Free School programme. He said that constructive feedback had been received regarding the Free School programme in terms of meeting basic needs, although it was unclear how the funding would work for local authorities to ensure that there were adequate school places, particularly through the delivery of new schools. With regards to High Needs Funding (HNF), schools would be expected the meet the £6,000 per pupil arrangement after which the Local Authorities HNF, if agreed, would commence. The expenditure in the HNF area had risen dramatically over the years and the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) reserve had been drawn down. The first payments would be made this academic year in December 2017.
4. Mr Gough said that the Cabinet Committee was changing significantly, particularly in the services provided and officer support.
5. Mr Gough registered thanks to Philip Segurola and Andrew Ireland for all of the hard work that they had done for the Committee over the years.
6. Keith Abbott discussed the school results information and the progress that had been made for the Early Years foundation stage. For KS1 schools across the county, outcomes had improved across all of the indicators and were above the emerging national figures. For KS2, attainment had improved across all of the indicators compared to last year and Kent had performed in line with the national position for all subjects apart from grammar, punctuation and spelling where Kent were just below the national average. With regards to GCSE results, performance in Kent was above last year’s figure in terms of the number of pupils attaining good GCSE outcomes. The final figures would not be finalised until after Christmas.
7. Keith Abbott said that the latest figures from Ofsted showed continuous improvements in the quality of education provided to children in schools in Kent. 91% of schools in Kent were rated as good or outstanding compared to 89% nationally. Pupils attaining five or more GCSE’s including English and Maths was 62.1% in Kent.
8. Andrew Ireland (Corporate Director of Social Care, Health and Wellbeing) said that the post-inspection framework was moving towards the conclusion stage and said that pilot testing would be taking place for the new inspection framework. He suggested that the item come back to the Committee in the future to give Members a chance to see what the framework inspection would look like.
9. Andrew Ireland suggested a Members’ briefing on the Children’s Social Work Bill. He suggested that this be added to a future agenda.
10. Andrew Ireland said that the Virtual School’s event for Children in Care would take place on Sunday 17th September in Canterbury. The event celebrated the children’s achievements in and outside of school. He said that there would be a similar event for the Post 16 cohort but the date was yet to be confirmed.
11. The Chairman said that the post-inspection framework would be added to the Work Programme 2017-18 and a Member’s Briefing would be arranged for the Children’s Social Work Bill.
12. In response to Members’ comments and questions, the Chairman agreed to bring the High Needs Funding item back to the next meeting of the Committee for further discussion. Keith Abbott said that there was ongoing work with schools that needed additional support and support packages were in place for schools that required improvement. Schools with deficits had recovery plans in place and the team were working through that process with them.
13.RESOLVED that the verbal updates be noted.