Issue - meetings

The Council’s statutory duty to ensure it can offer a school place to every child that applies for one.  A draft revised School Expansion Strategy for 2014-2018 has been prepared for consultation.  The Strategy identifies the projected shortfall of primary, secondary and SEN places over the coming years and outlines key principles that could be used to address the shortfall as part of a coherent education strategy for Brent.

(i) that approval be given to the draft School Expansion Strategy 2014-2018 for consultation purposes in line with the consultation plan set out in paragraph 3.6 of the report from the Director of Regeneration and Growth;

(ii)        that authority be delegated to the Strategic Director of Regeneration and Growth in consultation with the Director of Legal and Procurement and the Lead Member for Regeneration and Growth to approve the pre-tender considerations for the Temporary School Expansion Programme 2014-15.

The report from the Acting Director of Children and Families and Strategic Director of Regeneration and Growth reminded the Executive of the council’s statutory duty to ensure it could offer a school place to every child that applied for one.  The draft revised School Expansion Strategy for 2014-2018 that had been prepared for consultation identified the projected shortfall of primary, secondary and SEN places over the coming years and outlined key principles that could be used to address the shortfall as part of a coherent education strategy for Brent. Councillor Pavey (Lead Member, Children and Families) stated that the policy was designed to encourage schools to work with the council and to compromise over expansions. He hoped they would contribute to the report and encouraged the community to engage. Councillor Pavey pointed to proposals for a local authority schools board, a commitment to have more schools open for public use and to work with the community. However, he also acknowledged that the fundamental position remained unchanged – the borough faced a shortage of available land and was underfunded.

Councillor Crane (Lead Member, Regeneration and Major Projects) welcomed the report and set out the context including a rising population, shortage of land, small school sites and traffic congestion. Councillor Crane outlined the council’s responsibilities to provide school places but acknowledged that schools were autonomous. He referred to the principles in the strategy which included the promotion of federations between primary schools and not seeking to develop more all-through schools. He also stated that the decision making on expansions needed to be more robust.

Councillor J Moher (Lead Member, Highways and Transportation) referred to the need for officers to have a close working relationship with schools and to be aware of local developments. The strategy needed to be active and not passive. Councillor Choudry (Lead Member, Crime Prevention and Public Safety) referred to the need to engage with the Black Minority Ethnic community, and together with Councillor Pavey, felt that school governors needed to be more representative of the community.

RESOLVED:

(i)         that approval be given to the draft School Expansion Strategy 2014-2018 for consultation purposes in line with the consultation plan set out in paragraph 3.6 of the report from the Director of Regeneration and Growth;

(ii)        that authority be delegated to the Strategic Director of Regeneration and Growth in consultation with the Director of Legal and Procurement and the Lead Member for Regeneration and Growth to approve the pre-tender considerations for the Temporary School Expansion Programme 2014-15.