Agenda item

Members will receive an update on the current situation regarding schools places in the borough.

An update on  school places within Brent was provided to the committee by Sara Williams (Director of Children and Families). The committee was advised that for secondary provision there were currently plenty of places for Years 7, 8 and 9 but that places for Years 10 and 11 were becoming very restricted, with approximately 50 to 70 new pupils arriving in the borough per week. Placing children in Years 10 and 11 required assessments to be undertaken and was becoming increasingly difficult to achieve.

Sara Williams subsequently outlined the position for Primary School places. Members heard that there had been sufficient Reception year places for all on-time applications; however, there had been over 600 late applications received, approximately 200 more than the previous year. The unexpected increase in applications had resulted in considerable challenges for the council, despite there having been a significant number of additional school places created for September 2013. Further provision was currently being created and extra places would be available in January 2014, with offers being made as of the forthcoming half term. At the present time there were 41 Reception year vacancies in Brent Schools and 161 reception year pupils without offers of school places. The council was currently exceeding schools’ admission numbers by placing children using the Fair Access Protocol. There were very few vacancies available in Years 1 and 2 and a new Year 1 class would be opening in January 2014. Brent’s schools were facing significant challenges with a disproportionate number of high-need pupils arriving in-year and a large turn over in school population. Sara Williams emphasised that it becoming increasingly difficult to continue to expand schools in Brent and a lot of work was taking place with Schools’ governing bodies.

During Members’ discussion, the committee requested information on the geographical areas for which there was greatest demand for school places and asked that the next update include details of the number of children attending school out of borough. With reference to the challenge of creating sufficient provision to meet demand, it was queried what measures the council was able to use to persuade and require schools to expand. It was noted that there was a proposal to create a primary free school in Dollis Hill, with an intended opening date of September 2015, and a question was raised on whether this would lead to surplus capacity at that time. Further details were sought regarding how the council was supporting schools in meeting the current challenges. A Member advised that he had received several complaints from residents regarding school admissions which had been quickly resolved following his intervention. It was commented that it should not take the intervention of a councillor to resolve issues.

Sara Williams advised that demand was particularly  concentrated in the north of the borough including in Wembley  and Willesden, near to Cricklewood. However, there were hotspots of demand all throughout the borough except in Brondesbury, Kilburn and along the Ealing border of Stonebridge. It was acknowledged that the borough would have to develop a specialism in assisting schools to meet the challenges faced. There had been a mixture of schools who had been reluctant to consider expansion. In response, the council had improved the information being provided to schools and was being as direct and forthright as possible with governors. The council was spending more in the process of creating additional places than other areas however, and was currently under pressure from the Department for Education to reduce these costs. The council did have powers to force community schools to expand but had not made use of these, preferring instead to work in partnership with Brent’s schools. Councillor Pavey (Lead Member for Children and Families) explained that every other opportunity would be exhausted before compulsory action was considered. Sara Williams informed the committee that she was unaware of the free school proposal referred to but acknowledged that it was a difficulty that free schools could not be planned for in the same way as had been possible previously. Further information would be provided at the next meeting of the committee on updated projections of demand for school places.

Addressing the difficulties experienced in relation to school admissions, Sara Williams explained that the service was under considerable pressure in processing the level of applications received in the current circumstances. Additional staff had been employed, a dedicated phone line for schools had been established to ensure up to date information on vacancies was obtained, and the team was prioritising dealing with the applications received. This was a complex administrative task. Sara Williams added that unfortunately applicants were having to wait for school places and noted that councillors had been doing a good job explaining the situation to their constituents, ensuring that applicants had realistic expectations.

Jenny Cooper (Teachers’ Panel observer) noted that whilst expansion was necessary, there were negative consequences associated including pressure on shared facilities and loss of community cohesion.

RESOLVED:

That the update be noted.