Agenda and minutes

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to this Committee must be received in writing 4 working days before the date of the meeting.  Therefore please ensure questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Wednesday 2^nd April 2014.

Report FSD14031

On 12^th February 2014, the Executive received the 3^rd quarterly capital monitoring report for 2013/14 which also presented for approval the new capital schemes supported by Council Directors in the annual capital review process, and agreed a revised Capital Programme for the five year period 2013/14 to 2017/18.  The Sub-Committee considered a report outlining the changes agreed by the Executive in respect of the Capital Programme for the Education Portfolio.

In response to a question from the Vice-Chairman, the Interim Assistant Director: Education confirmed that the Local Authority would receive a Government grant of £387k for the upgrade of school kitchens at Local Authority Maintained schools to facilitate the provision of free school meals for all pupils in Key Stage 1.  The revenue cost of providing the free school meals would be met by the Government. 

RESOLVED that the revised Capital Programme agreed by the Executive on 12^th February 2014 be recommended to the Portfolio Holder for Education for approval.

Report ED14045

The Sub-Committee considered a report setting out the budget monitoring position for the Education Portfolio based on expenditure to the end of January 2014.  The Schools’ Budget, funded from the Dedicated Schools’ Grant and specific grants was forecast to be in an underspend position of £3,774,000, which would be carried forward into the next financial year.  The controllable part of the Non-Schools’ budget, funded from Council Tax, Revenue Support and specific grants, was forecast to be in an underspend position of £184,000.

In considering the budget monitoring position for the Education Portfolio, the Chairman highlighted the projected shortfall of income of £126k for Behaviour Services.  This was due to lower than anticipated uptake of respite placements by schools following delegation of the budget for Behaviour Services to schools from 2013/14, a fall in income generated from packages due to long term sickness, and higher than budgeted resources required to generate income.  The Interim Assistant Director: Education advised Members of the Sub-Committee that a consultation was currently being undertaken on the potential to assimilate the Respite and Behaviour Services into the proposed Bromley Alternative Provision Academy, which aimed to become a hub for behaviour support services in Bromley to better support the full continuum of behaviour needs at an earlier stage and support more young people to remain in a mainstream setting.  The consultation would close on 11^th April 2014.

In response to a question from a Member regarding the overspend of £221k currently projected for the Bromley Adult Education College, the Head of Service: Bromley Adult Education College confirmed that the Skills Funding Agency grant covered the direct costs of delivering courses to support jobseekers back into employment, but did not contribute to the College’s overhead costs in the case of all the qualifications delivered.  Students in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance could not be charged to attend courses which supported them back into employment. 

A Member queried the overspend of £175k in the Schools’ Budget.  The Senior Accountant confirmed that the demand for school places had exceeded projections made at the start of the academic year, and that there continued to be a high demand for pupil places across the Borough which had required the provision of additional classes at some schools.  Another Member noted that free early education for 2 year olds, which had been funded by Dedicated Schools Grant since 2013/14, was expected to underspend by £870k.  The Head of Schools, Early Years Commissioning and Quality confirmed that this funding had been introduced in April 2013 to support the creation of nursery places which did not become statutory until September 2014, which had resulted in a cost saving.  The underspend had been used to offset a projected overspend of £570k on providing free early education for 3 and 4 year olds.  An additional £1.3m of free early education funding for 3 and 4 year olds had been built into the 2014/15 budget to offset an expected increase in take  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

Report ED14046

On 18^th March 2014, the Education PDS Committee considered a report outlining developments within the Behaviour Service and Bromley Pupil Referral Unit and the potential for reorganisation of these services as part of the proposed Bromley Alternative Provision Academy.  Following consideration of this report, the Chairman of Education PDS Committee requested that a report detailing the cost implications of any reorganisation of these services be provided to the next meeting of the Education Budget Sub-Committee.

The Sub-Committee considered a report setting out potential cost implications should the functions of the Behaviour Service and Respite Service be integrated into the proposed Bromley Alternative Provision Academy.  All services provided by the Local Authority had elements of costs attributed to them as recharges to fund back-office functions not directly linked to service delivery.  Recharges were allocated against individual service areas according to various drivers which included the number of full-time equivalent staff and office space.  There was currently £133k of recharges attributed to the Behaviour Service and Respite Service, which was funded by the Dedicated Schools Grant.  If these services were to be delivered by another supplier, the Dedicated Schools Grant could no longer be used to contribute to the overheads and support costs of delivering these services in-house, and the recharge would become a new cost pressure on the Council. 

In considering the report, a Member underlined the need to ensure the level of recharges attributed to the Education Service was reasonable and reflected the services provided.

RESOLVED that:

1)  Members comments on the financial position of the proposal and the cost implications of recharges be noted; and,

2)  The Executive be requested to consider how the recharge position should be managed

Appendix 1 to this report is a Part 2 (Exempt) matter at Item 14.

Report ED14050

On 18^th March 2014, the Education PDS Committee considered a report outlining the standards achieved in schools across Bromley during the academic year 2012-13, based on an analysis of recently published National Curriculum assessments and GCSE/GCE examination results from Summer 2013.  Following consideration of this report, the Chairman of Education PDS Committee was concerned that although the standards achieved in schools across Bromley were generally higher than the national average, there continued to be a gap in attainment for pupils who were eligible for free school meals, and requested that more detailed information on the use of Pupil Premium by schools be provided to the next meeting of Education Budget Sub-Committee.

The Sub-Committee considered a report setting out the amount of Pupil Premium funding allocated to each school and the way this funding was utilised, and providing a comparison of the performance of children in receipt of Pupil Premium funding at each school.

In considering the report, the Portfolio Holder for Education noted that on the initial analysis of data provided, there appeared to be no direct correlation between the information provided by schools on how Pupil Premium was used and the performance of children in receipt of the Pupil Premium, and that it was not clear that higher levels of Pupil Premium provided to a school delivered better outcomes for pupils in all cases.  A Member also emphasised that the performance of pupils in receipt of the Pupil Premium at small schools could be disproportionately affected by the attainment of one or two pupils as the cohort was often very small.

In discussion, Members generally agreed that it was important to encourage schools to use Pupil Premium funding in an innovative way and to ensure that the progress of all pupils in receipt of the Pupil Premium was supported, including those pupils who were high achieving.  The Interim Assistant Director: Education confirmed that a Head Teachers conference was being planned, and that an expert in Pupil Premium had been invited to the conference to advise schools on how they could demonstrate using Pupil Premium to the best effect.

In response to a question from a Member, the Interim Assistant Director: Education confirmed that Pupil Premium funding was available to pupils in both mainstream and non-mainstream schools, such as special schools and pupil referral units up to the end of Year 11, and was paid to schools according to the number of pupils who had been registered as eligible for free school meals at any point in the previous 6 years or who had been in Care for 6 months or longer.  Following the introduction of free school meals for all pupils in Key Stage 1, it was likely that a new measure would be needed to assess the eligibility of pupils to receive the Pupil Premium, and this was likely to be based on families identified as having low incomes or who were eligible to receive certain benefits, and Looked After Children.

The Head of Schools,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

Briefing ED14049

The Sub-Committee considered an information briefing outlining attainment figures for Local Authorities that were similar to Bromley.

On 18^th March 2014, the Education PDS Committee considered a report outlining the standards achieved in schools across Bromley during the academic year 2012-13, based on an analysis of recently published National Curriculum assessments and GCSE/GCE examination results from Summer 2013.  In considering this report, the Vice-Chairman of Education PDS Committee emphasised the need to focus on continuous improvement for all groups and requested that attainment figures for Local Authorities that were similar to Bromley be provided to the next meeting of Education Budget Sub-Committee for Members’ consideration.

Bromley generally performed well against its statistical neighbours.  Against all reported measures, Bromley was ranked in the top five and, against 16 of the reported measures, Bromley was ranked in the top three.  At Early Years Foundation Stage, Bromley had the highest attainment with 60% of pupils achieving a good level of development, and at Key Stage 4, Bromley also had the highest attainment, with 93% of pupils attaining 5+ A*-C GCSEs.

In discussion, Members were concerned that the high performance of many schools across the Borough, particularly those at secondary level, might make it more difficult to identify areas of low attainment where averages were used to assess pupil performance.  The Vice-Chairman also queried if the increased take up of vocational courses might impact the number of pupils attaining 5+ A*-C GCSEs in future academic years.

The Chairman requested that attainment figures for Local Authorities that were similar to Bromley be provided to Education PDS Committee in future as part of the annual report outlining of standards achieved in schools across Bromley during the previous academic year.

RESOLVED that the information briefing be noted.

7.00pm, Tuesday 24^th June 2014

7.00pm, Tuesday 9^th September 2014

7.00pm, Thursday 16^th October 2014

7.00pm, Tuesday 6^th January 2015

7.00pm, Tuesday 3^rd March 2015