Agenda item

Report by the Chairman of the Review Board.

21.1     The Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee agreed on 27 November 2017 to appoint a ‘Schools Coping with Change – the Way Forward’ Scrutiny Review Board.  Subsequent to this and following the Council’s review of its scrutiny arrangements, the People Scrutiny Committee reaffirmed its commitment to the review at its meeting on 25 June 2018.   The Board consisted of Councillors Roy Galley, Kathryn Field, Laurie Loe, Francis Whetstone and Matthew Jones, Parent Governor Representative.  Councillor Galley was elected as the Chair of the Review Board.   Following earlier changes to the membership of the Committee, Councillors Stephen Shing and Alan Shuttleworth and Nicola Boulter also contributed to the work of the Review.

21.2     Councillor Galley introduced the report by discussing the context of the review and highlighting some of the Board’s key findings.  This included reference to the Board’s finding that in a school-led system, it will be increasingly difficult for schools to ‘stand-alone’.  As a result, the Board concluded it was now a matter of urgency that relevant schools start taking forward plans to form partnerships that will help ensure their sustainability.  The report also put forward suggestions as to how the Local Authority could develop its pre-existing policies regarding formal partnership arrangements.  On behalf of his fellow board members, Councillor Galley also thanked the range of professionals who assisted the Board with the review process.  This included senior members of staff and governors from local schools and academies, representatives of the Diocese of Chichester and the Regional Schools Commissioner.  The Board also thanked relevant officers from the Children’s Services Department for their support and advice throughout the review process.     

21.3     Matthew Jones, Parent Governor Representative, also commented that having an undertaken a cross-referencing process, he was satisfied that all of the recommendations were fully supported by the detailed evidence considered by the Board.  Mr Jones also commented that the Board had a very clear understanding the level of change within the system. The Board’s recommendations were therefore aimed at helping schools adapt to an evolving educational environment where there will much less support available from the Local Authority.   

21.4     The Director of Children’s Services welcomed the report’s reflection of the complex and challenging environment which all schools and the Children’s Services Department have been responding to in recent years.   Whilst welcoming this aspect of the report, the Director also discussed the challenges the Department would face implementing some of the recommendations.  This includes the Department’s view that recent evidence indicates that formal federation partnerships may not deliver savings on a scale that would help protect schools at risk. The Director also asked the Committee for its views regarding the effective size for a federation.  The Lead Member for Education and Inclusion, Special Educational Needs and Disability, also questioned aspects of the recommendations in that they appeared to him to revert to a now outdated view of the role of the local authority.  The Lead Member also commented that a number of the recommendations appeared to be proposing similar actions.

21.5     In response, Councillor Galley informed the Committee that the Board were keen to ensure that its recommendations were grounded in the reality of the current difficult financial environment.  The Board believe the evidence presented to them indicated that some schools had not fully appreciated the scale of the challenges before them.  As a result, the Board agreed there was scope to further develop the work already being undertaken by the Department to encourage a more proactive, realistic response from schools.  The Board also heard evidence from a number of sources which supported its recommendations regarding the promotion of formal partnerships as a possible solution to the challenges facing schools.

21.6     The Committee then discussed the Board’s report and recommendations.    A summary of the discussion points is set out below:

• Letter to the Secretary of State.   Some Members of the Committee questioned the effectiveness of making representations to the Secretary of State and asked that if a letter was despatched, it should ensure the wording accurately reflects the current legal responsibilities of the Local Authority.   Other comments included support for a letter to be produced and despatched given the consensus view regarding the ongoing uncertainty within the school system.  
• Core Offer.   A number of members expressed support for the Department’s views regarding the feasibility of implementing some of the recommendations (given the impact of the proposed savings set out in the Core Offer).  In particular some Member questioned whether Cabinet would support a number of the recommendations given the proposed savings plans and their potential impact on support for school improvement and the development of formal school partnerships.  In response, Councillor Galley commented that it is his view that the recommendations were developed with the Core Offer in mind and the potential future severe reduction of school improvement support services; that the recommendations propose relatively small adjustments to the Department’s current policies and that such adjustments were based on evidence from school leaders themselves.  

21.7     Given the differing views expressed by Members of the Committee, the Chair proposed Members vote on whether the report should be referred to Cabinet for its consideration in the format before the Committee or whether the report should instead be referred back to the Board so that the issues outlined above could be clarified in a revised report.    The Committee voted by a majority of 7 votes to 3 for the report to referred to Cabinet and Full Council in its current format.  However, given the views of both the Department and some Members, Councillor Galley undertook to provide further clarity about the context of the recommendations and the Board’s views on the limited nature of the activities it is suggesting the Department take forward. 

21.8     RESOLVED:

1) to agree the report of the Review Board and to submit the report to Cabinet on 22 January 2018 for comment and to Full Council for approval on 5 February 2018.

2) that further clarification regarding the scope of the Board’s recommendations is provided.