Issue - meetings

This report provides the current context for the delivery of the Warwickshire County Council Education Sufficiency Strategy and the Warwickshire SEND and Inclusion Strategy and outlines pupil number forecasts from September 2023.

Cabinet Portfolio Holder – Councillor Kam Kaur

This report was presented by Councillor Kam Kaur, Portfolio Holder for Education, who stated that the Council had a statutory duty to ensure that sufficient early years, childcare, primary, secondary and post-16 education places were available for their area, including places appropriate for pupils with Special Educational Needs/Disabilities (SEND).  She advised that the Annual Education Sufficiency Update (Ages 0-25) 2023 was supplementary to the County Council’s Education Sufficiency Strategy and outlined the Council’s approach to this duty, including pupil number forecasts from September 2023, compared against school capacities. Details of any pressures expected during that period were included, along with proposed solutions such as school expansions. Sufficiency of early years, childcare, post-16 and SEND places were also assessed.  Council Kaur noted that across the county as a whole, there was sufficient capacity to provide early years and childcare places to all that required it. There was also a sufficient number of places for Post-16 students. Demand for early years places was expected to increase in some areas of high housing development.

She noted that the trend in Warwickshire was for increased demand for specialist education provision. Provision in Specialist Resourced Provision and special schools was being expanded and a ‘deep dive’ review was taking place, as part of the Delivering Better Value Programme, which would lead to recommendations on whether any further special school provision should also be commissioned.

Eleven new schools had opened in Warwickshire since 2010, as well as several permanent school expansions contributing to an overall increase of over 10,000 new permanent school places in the last 10 years.   During the next fifteen-year period it was expected to deliver at least another seven new schools, alongside several expansion projects for both mainstream and specialist settings. In the longer term, if all proposed housing development across the county was built as suggested, this figure could rise to as many as 24 new schools being required to meet the need for school places. Early years places and Specialist Resourced Provision would be provided in all new schools where appropriate. 

Councillor Kaur highlighted the forecast mainstream pupil numbers as set out in the report and noted that the forecasting methodology used was based on DfE guidance.  Councillor Kaur went on to state that demand for primary places in all year groups could be accommodated in existing schools in most planning areas. Areas of high housing development including Nuneaton, Rugby, Kineton, Kenilworth and South of Leamington were forecasting a need for additional primary school places and this was addressed in the Update.

Councillor Kaur noted that all areas of the county were experiencing pressure on Secondary school places in some year groups, as a combined result of larger resident cohorts moving through these year groups and new housing development in the county bringing new families during the school year. In addition to new schools opening and permanent expansion of existing schools as detailed in the Update, to meet the increasing need for places during the school year, Secondary schools would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5