Agenda item

1:30

Members of Scrutiny Committee received an update on population trends affecting the provision of education services for children and young people in the county at its meeting on 4 September 2019.  The aims and objectives of a strategy to meet changing demand and promote sustainability for schools is set out in the report (ESC7). 

Aims

a)      Ensure sufficient places in mainstream schools for Oxfordshire’s growing population.

b)      Ensure sufficient provision for children with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities, not only to meet population growth, but also related to changing policy, practice and incidence of specific needs.

c)      Ensure sufficient Alternative Provision.

d)      Support Oxfordshire’s schools to respond to changes in demand, both down as well as up. 

Objectives

a)      Monitor demographic changes and housing growth in order to inform annual pupil forecasts.

b)      Plan for new schools and expansions of existing schools.

c)      Identify emerging spare building capacity which could be reallocated to other uses.

d)      Provide guidance to schools on maintaining their affordability/sustainability.

The Education Scrutiny Committee is RECOMMENDED to note the trends in requirements for pupil places and to note the action plan to be monitored by officers. 

Members of Scrutiny Committee received an update on population trends affecting the provision of education services for children and young people in the county at its meeting on 4 September 2019.  The Committee now had before it an action plan which set out aims and objectives of a strategy to meet changing demand and promote sustainability for schools (ESC7). 

In introducing the report, Allyson Milward and Barbara Chillman set out the factors affecting demand for education provision in the medium term, potential effects of those factors and a framework for actions to ensure sustainability of Oxfordshire schools.

The Strategy set out plans to ensure there was sufficient places in mainstream schools for Oxfordshire’s growing population; ensure sufficient provision for children with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities, not only to meet population growth, but also related to changing policy, practice and incidence of specific needs; ensure sufficient Alternative Provision was provided and that there was  support for Oxfordshire’s schools to respond to changes in demand, both down as well as up. 

The Plans objectives were to monitor demographic changes and housing growth in order to inform annual pupil forecasts; plan for new schools and expansions of existing schools; identify emerging spare building capacity which could be reallocated to other uses and to provide guidance to schools on maintaining their affordability/sustainability.

Mrs Milward report that the monitoring would be report back to a Schools Forum Stakeholder Group and that they were entering discussions with MATs to change their PAN in line with their areas.  Officers were also linking closely with SEND and Alterative Provision colleagues to link up areas of work.

They were also running three ‘Affordable Schools’ workshops on how to run affordable schools, including small schools working together to look at structural ways of saving money.

The Committee made the following points during discussion:

The Committee congratulated officers on how well this area of work performed.  The Governor’s Association welcomed the alternative use of accommodation, but they wanted assurances that any alternative use of schools was ok with the school as it may not be reasonable to have Alterative Provision in the main body of the school and that the education side was looked at as well as accommodation.

The Committee questioned whether they had used spaces for SEND children or whether the Primary Schools just had vacant spaces? In response, Barbara Chillman reported that spaces had been used for SEND children, but that the pace needed to be approved in terms of safeguarding.  In reality, there was not huge pockets of space currently, just one or two classrooms.

Diane Wilson on behalf of COTO welcomed any measures that would reduce surplus seats in schools to ensure the correct number of pupils to teachers.

The Chairman thanked the officers for their report and asked that any issues coming out of the Stakeholder Group be passed on to Scrutiny for consideration and that members be sent comparative school data from other authorities with statistical neighbours.

RESOLVED:  to note the trends in requirements for pupil places and to note the action plan to be monitored by officers.