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ITEM EX14

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE – 30 APRIL 2002

NEW MODELS FOR LOCAL EDUCATION AUTHORITIES PILOT

Report by the Acting Chief Education Officer

1. The Oxfordshire, West Berkshire and Wokingham New Models Project began in February 2001 with £350,000 funded by the DfES. The project was a feasibility study looking at options for the future delivery of LEA services that would have potential gains and benefits for school improvement. A Project Strategic Board with representative members, headteachers, officers, Capita and the DfES has overseen the progress of the project and the Office for Public Management have evaluated the outcomes of the project at key stages. The officer project Steering Group met regularly and the project coordinator was based in Oxfordshire County Council, the host LEA for the project. The project funds were allocated across the partner organisations for staff time to work on the project as well as for workshops, conferences and evaluation. Staff from the three LEAs, headteachers, governors, professional associations and elected members have been involved in a wide range of project activities, supported by staff from the private sector partner, Capita.
2. This project is one of 11 initial pilots funded across the country by the DfES and learning from the various projects is shared via the DfES website.

The Progress of the Project

3. During the course of the project, 10 service areas were reviewed:-

Advisory Service Admissions Governor Services Finance & Payroll Personnel

Pupil Performance Data Student Support ICT within the LEA ICT Support for Schools Property

4. The project was ambitious in terms of the scope and range of services that were explored as well as the logistical challenges presented by working across 3 local authorities and a high level of sustained effort has been required. At times, other events and pressures presented some difficulties in sustaining the momentum and participation in the project. For example, two of the partner LEAs, West Berkshire and Wokingham, underwent Ofsted inspections during the summer of 2001; also during 2001 West Berkshire Council embarked on a wide scale partnering development at the same time as restructuring Education and Social Services to form a Directorate for Children and Young People.
5. In February 2002, Wokingham LEA decided to withdraw from the project due to other pressures and priorities, also centred on the partnering agenda, but remains involved in two aspects of the next stage pilot work.
6. Despite the range of pressures and some logistical difficulties, the project has remained fairly well on track to achieve the intended outcomes. An interim project progress report and a first evaluation report (September 2001) are available in the Members’ Resource Centre and these describe progress in more detail. The final evaluation report, prepared by OPM, will be available at the end of April and will also be placed in the Members’ Resource Centre.

The Outcomes of the Project

7. The project plan described a range of expected deliverables from each of the main stages of the project as well as possible impact measures, transferability and learning and organisational benefits from the project.

1. Impact measures:-

Scrutiny on 10 service areas with other LEAs has led to a greater understanding of current services and has been informed by the consultation and input from the key stakeholders and service users. The use of the EFQM Excellence Model, which focuses on business results, has provided service managers with an ongoing framework for continuous improvement in service delivery. The creative use of ICT has been highlighted in developing solutions for improved services.

2. Learning and Organisational Developments:-

Each LEA has developed in-house expertise in the use of the quality framework offered by the Excellence Model and staff have benefited from the interaction and networking across service areas.

3. Transferability Outcomes:-
   
   

The process of fostering and establishing regional collaboration and partnership arrangements with other LEAs as well as with the private sector is transferable to other LEAs. The pilot models that have been developed will be able to be extended to other LEA partners who may wish to join.

Next Stage : 3 Pilot Projects

8. Options Generation Workshops held in July 2001 produced two key outcomes which have informed the final stages of the project:- 1) criteria against which a new model should be evaluated, and 2) ideas about new ways of working which were later classified into three main types and levels of service improvement.
9. Officers from the 3 LEAs, with specialist expertise from Capita, have subsequently developed business plans around 4 service areas :- Specialist Advisory Services, Recruitment and Retention of Staff, Pupil Performance Data and Governor Services.
10. From these, preferred options for 3 pilot projects for implementation during 2002 were presented to the Project board at its final meeting in February 2002. These will be taken forward with West Berkshire and Oxfordshire with some continued involvement of Wokingham in one of the pilots. Lead officers have been nominated to take the work forward and the remaining funding from the project has been allocated to support the development work. The 3 pilot projects proposed are as follows:-

1. Specialist Advisory Services:-
   
   
11. Secondary education is a key area for change and there is a need to support schools in strategic whole-school development. The new model will offer a Secondary Headteacher’s Networking and Benchmarking Club providing peer support and challenge. There will be significant benefits of being able to benchmark across a wider geographical area. A Headteacher will be recruited/seconded to develop the mechanism for buying into the service and to test the market with headteachers in the 3 partner LEAs.
12. There is further scope to extend the model to other LEAs and thereby increase the benchmarking potential. A conference will be planned to launch the service. £8000 has been allocated to this development. In addition, a further small pilot will be developed around areas of subject specialist advice for secondary schools. Oxfordshire County Council’s Advisory Service specialists will work with a small number of West Berkshire schools to offer specialist advice to departments, e.g. Science, Humanities, Arts. The costs will be met from West Berkshire schools.

b. Recruitment and Retention - A Value Added Supply Agency

13. There is demand from schools for a Value Added Supply Agency that would address the recruitment of supply teachers as well as issues of quality assurance. This would ease the administrative burden on schools considerably and would not only ensure minimum agreed professional standards and consistency of pay and conditions, but may also lead to permanent employment.
14. It is proposed that the 2 partner LEAs, Oxfordshire and West Berkshire, will look for a partner public or private organisation to deliver the service. There is scope for this new service to be achieved on a wide geographical basis but with the CPD (continuous professional development) delivered locally. £5000 of project funds has been allocated to this area of further investigation and service design.

c. Pupil Performance Data

15. The development of a shared webspace that will support the other New Model developments in Recruitment and Retention and also for Governor Services where shared materials and information can be made more widely available is proposed.
16. This would be of particular benefit to support the Networking and Benchmarking Club through efficient ways of storing data in common format, e.g. test and exam results, resources, socio economic data etc. which would allow groupings of similar schools across more than one LEA to benchmark and share information.
17. Links between the shared webspace and emerging broadband networks between schools and LEAs would be particularly valuable.
18. £10,000 has been allocated for this development to be coordinated.
19. Lead officers across the partner LEAs are taking these 3 developments forward and it is anticipated that the development work to launch the pilots will be complete during the course of this current financial year, subject to other pressures and priorities.

RECOMMENDATIONS

20. The Executive is RECOMMENDED to note the report and authorise officers to take forward the necessary development work to explore the feasibility of operational pilots during 2002/2003.
    
    
    ROY SMITH
    Acting Chief Education Office

April 2002

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