Agenda item

1.          Mr Gough (Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education) gave a verbal update on the following issues:

a)    National Offer Day 2019

National Offer Day for all Local Authorities for children moving up to secondary school in September 2019 took place on 1 March 2019. The number of children moving into secondary education continued to increase in Kent, with the number of applicants increasing by 517 in 2019 when compared to the previous year. Kent had continued to maintain a high level of delivery in relation to parental preference, with over 95% of children having received an offer from one of their four preferences, and almost 80% of children having received their first preference. Whilst the number of children in Kent that were not offered one of their four preferences had increased slightly, Kent County Council were working with schools to support families whose children were not offered one of their four preferences and to remind families that a second round of offers would be put forward on 24 April 2019, and that the Kent appeals process was also an option.

b)   Brexit Preparedness

Kent County Council had been undertaking an extensive amount of work to prepare in the event of a no-deal Brexit, which included providing guidance to Kent schools publishing further guidance and information on the KELSI website, and generally seeking to manage the potential issues that could arise under conditions of a disorderly Brexit.

c)    Isle of Sheppey New Special Free School

A new special free school for pupils of secondary school age was in the pipeline for the former Danley Middle School Site. The new school would allow children with SEN to access suitable provision within their local community, enhancing their opportunities to develop social links and become more independent.

d)   High Needs Funding update

Mr Gough and Mr Dunkley met with Nadhim Zahawi, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families, on 25 March 2019 to discuss specific issues affecting councils and areas across England relating to High Needs Funding and to seek ways in which government could assist local authorities to tackle High Needs Funding issues.

2.          In response to a question, Mr Gough explained the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficit recovery plan process and said that local authorities with a DSG deficit of 1% or more needed to submit a recovery plan to the Education and Skills Funding Agency which would show how they proposed to bring the deficit into balance within a three-year time frame. He talked about the DSG deficit recovery plan that was in place for Kent County Council and the plans that were in place to reduce the outstanding deficit.

3.          In response to a question, Mr Gough talked about the Free School Transport scheme and the eligibility criteria which needed to be met in order to qualify for the scheme.

4.          Matt Dunkley (Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education) gave a verbal update on the following issues:

a)    Brexit Preparedness – Guidance available for Kent Schools

The National Association of Head Teachers had recognised that the Brexit advice and guidance that had been provided by Kent County Council to Kent schools was exceptionally comprehensive and informative. Mr Dunkley thanked Mr Abbott (Director of Education Planning and Access) and his team for providing such valuable information and advice in relation to Brexit preparedness and said that the information had been well received by schools in Kent.

b)   Change for Kent Children programme

Mr Dunkley reported the progress that had been made in relation to the Change for Kent Children programme and said that a number of interviews had taken place within Kent’s Integrated Children’s Services team. He confirmed that a number of appointments had been made within the team and said that the new team structure would be made available on KNET in April.

5.          In response to a question Mr Dunkley talked about Member and officer engagement in relation to the Change for Kent Children programme restructure.

6.          Miss Rankin (Chairman of the Contract Monitoring Review Group) provided a brief update in relation to the outcomes of the Contract Management Review Group meeting on 12 March 2019. She referred to the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Service and the internal and external issues which needed to be address in relation to the service. She confirmed that North East London Foundation Trust (NELFT) did not attend the meeting on 12 March 2019 as it was an internal review group.

7.          RESOLVED that the verbal updates be noted.