Agenda item

In the absence of Councillor Meg Davis, Cabinet Member for Children and Learning, the report was introduced by the Group Director Children, Adults and Housing and the Head of Learning and Achievement

Cabinet was informed that In Havering, there had been an increase of over 33% in the number of births between the calendar years 2002 and 2013.  The ONS live birth data for 2013 showed that all London boroughs had experienced a drop in their birth rate from 2012 to 2013 apart from Havering which saw a 4% increase.  While many London boroughs had already experienced the increase in birth rate which was now starting to plateau, for Havering it was still at the early stages of the increase in the birth rate and there was a need to implement the necessary capacity to accommodate the children of Havering requiring a school place for years to come. 

In 2013-14 10 permanent forms of entry (FE) in Primary schools were created together with 525 temporary places to cover short-term pressures for Primary age pupils.

·                    The number of Primary age pupils was expected to continue rising significantly from 19,834 in 2013-14, to 23,333 in 2018-19, which would be more than 3,000 extra pupils over the next five years and the number of pupils was projected to continue to rise further.  There would be a need to continue to make new provision available in some planning areas on both a permanent and temporary basis.

·                    The number of Secondary age pupils (Years 7-11) in Havering schools was expected to rise significantly from 15,038 in 2014-15 to 18,051 in 2023-24.  Beyond this point the longer term strategic forecasts indicate a further increase in pupil numbers, although this estimate is heavily influenced by projections of new housing development beyond 2026.

This plan set out the Council’s strategy to address this expected growth in pupil numbers.  In addition, while the Council retained statutory responsibility for ensuring there were sufficient school places to meet the needs of the population in the area, there was now an expectation that local authorities would introduce Free Schools and Academies as new providers in areas of demographic growth, and that the Council would therefore become a commissioner of additional places.

Members were reminded that the plan was intended to update Cabinet on the latest school places data and set out the proposed approach to meet that growing demand for the next five years in the context of new national expectations about this changing role.  The plan was also intended to:

·                    help the school community understand the longer term population trends and the implications for their schools;

·                    let parents and the wider community of Havering know what changes were planned and how their views and preferences had contributed to key planning decisions;

·                    provide an outline to potential sponsors of new schools, such as Academies and Free schools, contextual information about Havering’s changing school population.

Members were also informed that there was, at present, no funding for either Special Schools or SEN provision.  This was not peculiar to havering but appeared to be a national issue, but the Council was actively pursuing this.

Reasons for the Decision

This decision was necessary to progress the strategy for ensuring there were sufficient school places in Havering to meet the rising pupil population.

Alternative options considered:

It was considered that the Council could proceed with the expansion programme without an agreed CPEP in place.  However as the Council was in the leadership role for this major and long-term expansion programme it should be consulting with stake-holders on its proposed strategy for meeting the challenge of the rising school population and in so doing reduce the risk of these plans being unsuccessful.

Cabinet:

1.           Approved the draft Commissioning Plan for Education Provision (CPEP) in Havering 2015/16-2019/20;

2.           Approved the circulation of the draft CPEP for consultation to all stake holders in school place planning;

3.           Delegated the determination of the final CPEP, to the Cabinet Member for Children & Learning and the Group Director Children, Adults & Housing;

4.           Noted that a further report would be provided to Cabinet in September 2015 which would set out the details of each expansion scheme, the consultation process and indicative costs and funding for each scheme.