Agenda item

The CMR Education introduced the education sufficiency annual report and explained that the report brought the forward view of what mainstream and SEND school places would be needed across Worcestershire for the next five years, to ensure that the Council met its statutory duty to provide enough good quality school places. The statutory duty applied to mainstream places up to the age of 18 and for SEND up to the age of 25. Census and NHS information was used to review the sufficiency plan each year and was in turn used for negotiating with the DfE over school funding and with planning authorities around infrastructure such as new schools.

There were a number of challenges in Worcestershire resulting from a growing population, school organisation challenges, and evolving requirements to meet the needs of all children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), meaning that a continual programme of works was required to ensure the education estate evolves to meet the needs of Worcestershire families.

Additional funding, in excess of the current and forecast grant funding, to deliver the sufficiency of education provision would be required over the next 2 – 3 years.

The Council was able to meet its statutory duties relating to the provision of mainstream education places in 2022/23. For some children and young people with SEND there continued to be a lack of suitable education provision to meet their needs.

The report also provided an update on the progress of the new Worcester City Secondary school which was being built to address the shortfall in Worcester City and was scheduled to open in September 2028.

During the ensuing discussion, the following main points were noted:

·       The plans for the new Worcester City Secondary School were welcomed.

·       It was highlighted that there were also capacity issues in Bromsgrove which were creating major challenges. It was important to forward plan for future demand both in mainstream and SEND provision.

·       There were concerns that the planning process for new houses didn’t always deliver the funding that was required for education due to the many competing demands.

·       With regard to the challenge to ensure small rural village schools remained sustainable, a Member suggested that decisions should be made on a rural basis.

Members from outside of the Cabinet made the following points:

·       It was important to have more long term sustainable solutions for education sufficiency in Worcestershire.

·       It was requested that the local member should always be advised of any changes happening to schools within their divisions.

·       A briefing note was requested on the long term strategy for the 90 young people with EHCP’s and no suitable placement – the CMR Education agreed to provide this.

·       A Member referred to paragraph 63 of the agenda report and requested further detail about the complexity of the ecology, the linked biodiversity net gain requirements and highways capacity. It was agreed that a meeting would be arranged with the CMR Corporate Services and Communication.

·       It was important to continue to lobby the Planning Authorities to ensure that education sufficiency was considered as part of the planning process.

Cabinet:

a)     Noted the updated annual sufficiency information for Mainstream school age and Specialist SEND education provision in line with the Cabinet decision in December 2018;

b)    Noted the pressure on Mainstream and Specialist SEND educational provision and places, the Sufficiency duties highlighted in the reports and the indicative actions plans to address these pressures;

c)     Noted the current and forecast education capital allocations and the financial pressure on the education capital programme to fund all the demands for additional provision and places, ahead of any further income from the Department for Education grants or Section 106 housing developer contributions;

d)    Noted the work being undertaken to assess Early Years and Childcare sufficiency in light of the national expansion programme of childcare entitlements starting in April 2024 and noted a further report to Cabinet in Summer 2024 to detail sufficiency assessment and the actions being taken to respond to areas of sufficiency need;

e)     Noted the progress to date on the Pershore Review, the next steps and noted a further report to Cabinet in 2024;

f)      Approved the publication of the 2023/24 Mainstream and Specialist SEND Sufficiency reports as updates to the School Organisation Plan 2019 - 2024;

g)    Approved the publication of the 2024/25 Education Capital Investment Plan, that details how capital investment will be prioritised to meet education sufficiency needs;

h)    Approved (as detailed in paragraphs 51 – 72 of the report) to proceed with the delivery of the new Worcester City Secondary School including the revised timescales and that the Capital programme be amended for the increased costs to be funded by basic need grant with a recommendation to full Council. Other mitigations continue to be found within the Education Capital programme with further updates on progress included in future Resources Reports to Cabinet;

i)      Noted the development of a new Education Provision Strategy (formally School Organisation Plan) for 2025 – 2029 (date TBC); and

j)      Noted a further Cabinet report in 2024 to update the Education Provision Planning Obligations Policy to ensure it reflects the Worcestershire position with regards recent pupil yields from new housing developments, the latest forecasting methodology adopted in Worcestershire and updated DfE guidance.