Agenda item

Councillor Sam Webster, Portfolio Holder for Business, Education and Skills introduced the report on school place planning, and Nick Lee, Head of Access and Learning gave a presentation highlighting the following information:

(a)  Over 4,000 new primary school places have been added across the city to accommodate the growing population. This has led to 94% of parents getting their 1^st or 2^nd choice primary schools;

(b)  the challenge now is to provide an additional 15-17 forms of entry for secondary school pupils, with peak demand expected to be in 2022;

(c)  historically around 20% of City pupils attended a County secondary school, this has dipped to 15% currently and as pressure for secondary school places increases in the County it is likely to dip further. This will further increase demand for secondary school places within the City;

(d)  the Council is responsible for ensuring there are sufficient school places for young people in the City, however due to legislation they are not able to open new schools to meet this need. The options available are for existing schools to increase capacity, or to encourage free schools to open in places of greatest need;

(e)  discussions have been taking place with schools that have historically reduced intake to consolidate results and focus resources on a smaller number of pupils. They are now starting to take more pupils and are getting closer to their full capacity. All schools have been advised to be mindful of the City’s requirements;

(f)  there is only one maintained secondary school remaining in the City and so discussion and negotiation around increasing school capacity is reliant on the engagement of multi-academy trusts and single academy trusts. The Council has a good relationship with many of the academies, but some schools and trusts have different priorities, such as those that have schools in both City and County;

(g)  another challenge is limited financial resources. In terms of primary education the Council had a settlement from the Government that was just enough to cover the costs it needed to. However, with the secondary expansion the reduced basic needs settlement is not considered sufficient. The Council has made representations to the government and has expressed concerns that without having this direct capital they will be too reliant on other factors out of their control to deliver the increased capacity required;

(h)  there are plans in place that will give an extra 8 forms of entry, Fernwood have applied for funding that the Council is willing to match fund up to £1million should they be successful. From September 2018 Nottingham University Academy of Science and Technology are extending their intake from 14-19 year olds to 11-19 year olds and Trinity School are adding an additional form of entry during their rebuild;

Following questions and comments from the Committee the further following information was highlighted:

(i)  There are further discussions taking place with other schools and trusts to secure the other 7-9 forms of entry required to meet peak demand. These are not yet confirmed and discussions are in a variety of different stages;

(j)  provision of extra reception primary places is now stable with a surplus of around 5%. Pressure on primary places is now in later year groups as there is still a high level of mobility within the population;

(k)  it is a difficult balance to get school places in areas that are seeing the most development and in schools where there is capacity or demand;

(l)  transport to and from school is not routinely funded by Nottingham City Council. Each application for help with school transport costs is assessed on an individual basis. Advice to families would be to ensure a school place is secured before moving house where possible.

RESOLVED to thank Councillor Sam Webster and Nick Lee for their attendance at the Committee and to note the content of their report.