Agenda item

Report ED15108

The Sub-Committee considered a report setting out the current and potential income generated by services across the Education Portfolio and recommending that a new charge be introduced for moderation services provided to academies.

With the exception of Bromley Adult Education College tuition fees and nursery fees, and nursery fees for the Community Vision and Blenheim nurseries, the majority of income in the Education Portfolio was from trading accounts established to sell services to schools.  Key Stage 2 Writing Moderation was currently provided free of charge to all Bromley schools by the School Standards Team and funded by a grant from the Department for Education.  Recent guidance had clarified that the intention of this grant was to fund moderation services in Local Authority Maintained schools, and it was therefore proposed that a £400 charge per visit be introduced for academies who commissioned this service, which was estimated to generate approximately £20k per annum.

Officers were also exploring the feasibility of introducing parking charges for Adult Education sites which, excluding the one-off cost of approximately £20k for the parking meters, could raise up to £15-20k per annum, net of the estimated parking management fee.  There was also potential to further promote room bookings at Adult Education sites, which, in the case of bookings made by internal customers, would only benefit the Local Authority as a whole if these were made instead of external bookings.

In considering the income generated by services across the Education Portfolio, the Chairman noted that 80% of Bromley Adult Education College users were resident in the Borough and queried if it would be possible to give Bromley residents preferential rates in accessing the College provision.

In response to a question from the Portfolio Holder for Education around the funding of the Education Psychology service, the Senior Accountant confirmed that that the regulations precluded the funding of qualified Education Psychologists through Dedicated Schools Grant, although some local authorities were reportedly using Dedicated Schools Grant to fund other elements of their Education Psychology service.

RESOLVED that:

1)  Members’ comments on the current charging policy for the Education Portfolio be noted;

2)  The proposal to introduce charges for moderation services provide to academies be noted;

3)  That further work be carried out to determine the feasibility of introducing charges for parking at Adult Education sites, with the outcomes to be reported to a future meeting of the Education Budget Sub-Committee; and,

4)  The Portfolio Holder for Education be recommended to request that the Council’s Executive agree the introduction of charges for moderation services provided to academies as part of the budget setting process for 2015/16.