Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Judi Ellis.

Apologies for lateness were received from Adil Ghani.

The Chairman noted that Tony Wright-Jones had had to step down as Parent Governor Representative and led the Members of the Education PDS Committee in thanking him for the excellent contribution he had made to the Education PDS Committee during his time as a Co-opted Member.

The Chairman reminded the Committee that the Declarations of Interest made at the meeting on 8^th July 2015 were taken as read.

The minutes were agreed subject to an additional sentence being added to Item 22: Apologies for Absence and Notification of Substitute Members which stated:

“In the absence of the Chairman, Councillor Neil Reddin, Vice-Chairman took the Chair.”

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 29^th September 2015 be agreed and that matters outstanding be noted.

To hear questions to the Committee received in writing by the Democratic Services Team by 5.00pm on Wednesday 18^th November 2015 and to respond.  Questions must relate to the work of the scrutiny committee.

No questions had been received.

To hear questions to the Portfolio Holder received in writing by the Democratic Services Team by 5.00pm on Wednesday 18^th November 2015 and to respond.  Questions must relate to the work of the Portfolio.

No questions had been received.

The Portfolio Holder for Education gave an update to Members on work being undertaken across the Education Portfolio.

The Portfolio Holder had recently visited a number of schools across the Borough and had seen how they were developing and the issues they faced.  The Portfolio Holder had also attended the Bromley College of Further and Higher Education annual awards ceremony on 5^th November 2015 which had showcased the achievements of both students and staff.

The annual Bromley Governors’ Conference had been held on 14^th November 2015.  The Portfolio Holder for Education and the Regional Schools Commissioner for South East London and England had been among the speakers at the Conference, which had been very well attended by Governors of both Local Authority Maintained and academy schools.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder update be noted.

Report ED15133

The Committee considered a report providing an update on progress in delivering the Youth Offending Service Improvement Plan.

The Local Authority was notified in early January 2015 that an inspection of the Youth Offending Service would take place from 19^th January 2015 as a result of a number of concerns being identified around the Local Authority’s performance in certain key areas.  Four HM Inspectorate of Probation Inspectors worked with Youth Offending Service Officers during the first week of the inspection to review a short list of 34 cases out of a cohort of approximately 60 young people.  The Inspectors then returned to the Local Authority for a further week from 2^nd February 2015 to review the partnership arrangements in place to support young offenders, after which the Local Authority had been advised that the outcome of the inspection was poor and that there were a number of areas for improvement, including a more robust Quality Assessment Framework and improved performance management and data reporting processes. 

Following publication of the final report of the inspection, a number of actions had been taken by the Local Authority to deliver the required service improvement.  This included the creation of a single, strengthened Youth Offending Service Management Board and the development of an Improvement Plan which incorporated the outcomes of ‘Leadership and Partnership’, ‘Quality’, ‘Looked After Children’ and ‘The Voice of the Young Person’.  The Local Authority was working closely with the Youth Justice Board to implement the Improvement Plan, which had been approved by the Lead Inspector, and an Improvement Board had been established to monitor progress.  A staffing review of the Youth Offending Service had also been carried out following the inspection, and a number of new permanent staff were now in post.  An interim Head of the Youth Offending Service had been appointed to support the delivery of the Improvement Plan and a further staff member had been recruited on a six month secondment from the Youth Justice Board.  

Work was also underway to improve quality assurance and data processes and Members were advised that the Youth Justice Board monitored a rolling cohort of young people accessing the Youth Offending Service to track the level of reoffending on an ongoing basis.  The Youth Justice Board had recently provided training to Youth Offending Service staff on using a comprehensive audit tool to ensure that casework would meet all national standards, and a development programme was being delivered to all Officers.  A mock inspection would be undertaken by the Youth Justice Board in January 2016 to assess the impact of these changes in preparation for a re-inspection by HM Inspectorate of Probation, which would take place a maximum of one year from the publication of the final report of the inspection.

In considering the report, the Chairman queried the casework load of Officers across the Youth Offending Service.  The Interim Head of the Youth Offending Service advised Members that there were currently 109 active cases.  Bromley’s casework load  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41a

Report ED15126

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report providing an update on progress in delivering the Basic Need Programme, which supported the provision of sufficient school places through improvements to and the expansion of Bromley schools, and to set out the forward programme for the period of 2015-2018.

The updated list of schemes within the Basic Need programme had been developed to meet the estimated increase in the number of reception age pupils in the Borough.  ‘Bulge years’ and permanent expansions were planned at a number of existing local schools to provide the required pupil places, which would be delivered through a combination of modular build and internal refurbishment.

In response to a question from the Vice-Chairman, the Head of Strategic Pupil Place Planning confirmed that internal and external works were underway to establish permanent facilities for the 2012/13 bulge glass at Keston C.E. Primary School, but that any permanent expansion at the school might be subject to planning constraints.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder be recommended to:

1)  Approve the updated list of schemes within the Basic Need Capital Programme;

2)  Agree the procurement and award of contract of schemes within the Basic Need Programme through traditional procurement, the Lewisham Modular Buildings Framework or through devolution of the Basic Need Capital Grant to schools and to delegate authority to the Director: Education in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Education for the award of contracts up to a value of £500,000 for individual schemes procured through these routes; and,

3)  Authorise the Director: Education to submit planning applications at the appropriate time in respect of the list of schemes.

The items comprise:

• Building Early Years Capacity
• Minutes of the Education Budget Sub-Committee on 20th October 2015
• Update from Executive Working Party for SEN
• Contract Activity Update

Members and Co-opted Members have been provided with advance copies of the briefing via e-mail.  The briefing is also available on the Council's Website at the following link: http://cds.bromley.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CId=559&Year=0

The Education Briefing comprised four reports:

• Building Early Years Capacity
• Minutes of the Education Budget Sub-Committee on 20th October 2015
• Update from Executive Working Party for SEN
• Contract Activity Update

RESOLVED that the Information Briefing be noted.

Report ED15132

The Committee considered a report providing an update on the performance of schools across the Borough and the academisation of schools.

There were 95 Local Authority Maintained and academy primary, secondary and special schools in the Borough (excluding free schools and Pupil Referral Units) of which 81% were rated as ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’.  73% of Bromley schools were now academies, which included 94% of secondary schools and 72% of primary schools.  A further 9% of Bromley schools were in progress to converting to academy status and 4% were exploring conversion.  Nine primary schools and three special schools were not actively exploring conversion.

A number of Ofsted inspections had taken place during 2015.  Langley Park Boys School continued to be rated ‘Outstanding’.  Bromley Road Primary School, St George’s CE Primary School, Harris Primary Academy Crystal Palace, and Ravenswood School had seen an increase in their rating to ‘Good’, the Highway Primary School continued to be rated ‘Good’, and Biggin Hill Primary School had seen an increase in its rating to ‘Requires Improvement’.  Red Hill Primary School, Green Street Green Primary School and Raglan Primary School had seen a decrease in their rating to ‘Requires Improvement’, Burwood Special School continued to be rated as ‘Requires Improvement, and Gray’s Farm Primary Academy had seen a decrease in its rating to ‘Inadequate’. 

Indicative results for Key Stages 4 and 5 for the 2014/15 academic year had been released. 

At Key Stage 4, any comparison of results would need to be treated with caution following two major reforms which had impacted the 2013/14 results, however the provisional results for 2014/15 showed a rise in the percentage of pupils achieving 5 or more A*-C grades from 66% in 2013/14 to 68% in 2014/15.  Bromley remained well above the national average of 56% for 2014/15 and was placed 7^th nationally for this measure.  The provisional percentage of pupils achieving the English Baccalaureate had reduced slightly from 35% in 2013/14 to 34% in 2014/15, which was above the national average of 24% for 2014/15.  At the end of Key Stage 4, there was a requirement for schools to show how much progress had made from the end of Key Stage 2 for English and Mathematics with expected progress for pupils achieving a Level 4 at the end of Key Stage 2 being a C grade at the end of Key Stage 4.  In Bromley, 78% of pupils had made expected progress in English and 77% in mathematics against national comparators of, respectively, 70% and 67%, and Bromley was placed 9^th nationally for English and 8^th nationally for Mathematics for this measure.  The gap in performance between pupils eligible for free school meals against other pupils was 27 percentage points, which was a reduction from 29 percentage points for 2013/14, with 46% of pupils eligible for free school meals achieving 5 or more A*-C grades against 73% of other pupils.

The provisional Key Stage 5 results for the 2014/15 academic year showed a drop  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

Report ED15130

The Committee considered the forward rolling work programme for the year ahead based on items scheduled for decision by the Portfolio Holder for Education and items for consideration by the Education PDS Committee.

The Chairman advised Members that Dominic Herrington, Ofsted Regional Commissioner for South East London and England would be speaking about his role at the next meeting of Education PDS Committee on 19^th January 2016 and all Members of the Council had been invited. 

The Chairman encouraged all Members and Co-opted Members to attend Council Member visits to schools and colleges where possible and requested that the Spring programme of visits be provided to Members as soon as it was available.

RESOLVED that the Education Programme 2015/16 be noted.

RESOLVED that the press and public be excluded during consideration of the items of business listed below as it was likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information.

RESOLVED that the exempt minutes of the Education PDS Committee meeting held on 29^th September 2015 be agreed.

The Committee considered the report and supported the recommendations.