Agenda and draft minutes

32.1     The Lead Member approved as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 3 December 2025.

Disclosure by all Members present of personal interests in matters on the Agenda, the nature of any interest and whether the Member regards the interest as prejudicial under the terms of the Code of Conduct

33.1     There were none.

Notification of items which the Lead Member considers to be urgent and propose to take at the end of the appropriate part of the Agenda

34.1     There were none.

35.1     Reports referred to in the minutes below are contained in the minute book.

Report by Director of Children’s Services

36.1     The Lead Member considered a report by the Director of Children’s Services

DECISIONS

36.2     The Lead Member RESOLVED to:

1)         Approve the proposed plan for the use of funding from the Crisis and Resilience Fund to provide food vouchers to eligible Free School Meal pupils for the Easter and May 2026 school holidays; and

2)         Note that a further report on the use of Crisis and Resilience Fund will be brought to the March meeting.

REASONS

36.3     The announcement of the Crisis Resilience Fund provides an opportunity to support residents, including families, cope with the impact of financial shocks whilst investing in the infrastructure and resilience-building interventions that can reduce the impact of financial insecurity in the longer term. Continuing the provision of Huggg food vouchers for free school meal eligible children in the Easter and May 2026 school holidays will provide continuity of support to these families.

Report by Director of Children’s Services

37.1     The Lead Member considered a report by the Director of Children’s Services

DECISIONS

37.2     The Lead Member RESOLVED to:

1)         approve the proposed admission arrangements for Community and Voluntary Controlled (VC) schools for the 2027-28 academic year as set out in Appendix 1 of the report;

2)         approve the proposed published admission numbers (PANs) for Community and VC schools for 2027-28 as set out in Appendix 2 of the report, specifically the proposed PAN reductions at Hankham Primary School and Southover CE Primary School;

3)         approve the proposed co-ordinated schemes of admissions as set out in Appendices 3-6 of the report; and

4)         note the altered arrangements for waiting lists following a recent decision by the Office of the Schools Adjudicator.

REASONS

37.3     The School Admissions Code 2021 (‘the Code’) states that admission authorities must determine (set) their admission arrangements annually.

37.4     The determined admission arrangements for Community and VC schools in 2027-28 will be published on the East Sussex County Council website by 15 March 2026 as required under current legislation. Any objection to these arrangements can then be made to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator until 15 May 2026. The final arrangements will be published in the composite prospectus online (and available in hard copy on demand) by 12 September 2026 as required by the School Admissions Code 2021.

37.5     Forecasts show that reduced PANs at Hankham Primary School and Southover CE Primary School will be sufficient to meet in area demand for the foreseeable future.