Agenda item

The report provides an update on the latest projections for primary school places. These will be published in the new School Place Planning strategy 2019-2023, which is being considered by Cabinet in November 2018.

Brian Grady introduced the report which provided an update on the latest projections for primary school places. He said that the Council’s Cabinet would consider the new School Place Planning Strategy 2019-2023 in November 2018. It would outline the projected need for school places in Brent and how this need would be met and it would also set out the objectives and operating principles underpinning the Council’s approach to school organisation. Mr Grady reminded members that a new School Place Planning Strategy was published every four years, following which it was refreshed on an annual basis. He added that the headlines of the new School Place Planning Strategy 2019-2023 had been circulated to Head Teachers and Governors via the Headteachers’ and the Governors’ bulletins respectively.

Developing the 2019-2023 strategy had been based on an update of the assessment of need for places across the Borough, which had pointed to reducing Reception intakes and a temporary increase in spare places across Brent (section 4.2 of the report on pages 34 and 35 of the Agenda pack). Mr Grady said that although additional Primary provision had not been forecast, growth would come through Secondary provision which meant that the Borough would need 13 forms of entry for the duration of the 2019-2023 strategy. Furthermore, the opening of a new primary free school, Ark Somerville Free School, would be reviewed as long-term forecasts indicated that there would not be sufficient basic need demand until 2021/22.^[1]

Members of the Schools Forum noted that they were aware that pupil numbers in primary schools were decreasing. Therefore, it would be sensible for the schools to lower their nominal rolls because if classes were not completely filled, this could cause a budget-related problems. Mr Grady acknowledged this suggestion and said that a couple of schools would be reducing their publicised admission numbers. He added that Shirley Parks and her team would discuss it with primary schools in order to consider ways of implementing it.

In response to a question whether the Department for Education (DfE) could override the Council’s decision not to open the Ark Somerville Free School until 2022, Mr Grady noted that the Local Authority did not power to decide on the opening year. However, it could provide communication in line with the 2019-2023 strategy – for instance, Mr Grady would be meeting representatives of the DfE in February 2019 and March 2019 to reconfirm Brent’s position that there would not be a need for additional primary provision until the end of the strategy. A Secondary Academy Head Teacher asked if a location had been chosen and members heard that a planning permission had been given for a site on Wembley Hill Road in Wembley Park. Furthermore, it was noted that the site could be used for a special school, which would allow the Local Authority to provide additional capacity in this sector. 

RESOLVED that the contents of the Primary School Place Demand Update report, be noted