Agenda item

Matt Biggs, Head of Access to Education introduced the report which focuses significant improvement work which was undertaken following a robust review.  The focus was on stabilising the service following the well documented issues of the last 12 months. 

Louise Church Delivery Lead - Admissions highlighted the fundamental and statutory requirements to the Committee.  Confirmation was given in relation to “in year” admissions which relates to children moving into or around Warwickshire during the school year.

The Committee notes that the report includes a lot of information about the role of the school admissions team including helping families applying for free school meals and school transport. 

In relation to the overall improvement plan and the themes identified in order to improve the service, it was noted that this will be an ongoing project until March 2024.  The Committee noted that 77% of actions have been completed. 

Louise Church confirmed that ‘in-year’ allocations is now within target and that there has been a big reduction in waiting times for families.  The statutory requirement is 15 working days.  There will always be a small number that don’t meet the target – and this can include children who have been previously excluded.

The Offer days, which were held in March and April 2023 were very successful.  All information was sent out in a timely fashion and in two ways to ensure that no one was missed out.  Confirmation was given that officer felt the needs and expectations of Warwickshire families were met. 

The Committee was pleased to learn that there has been a 72% reduction in complaints.  Officers will continue to work so that there is a further reduction in complaints. 

The Committee learnt that the service has received approximately 40,000. emails since January 2023.  Officers are focused on maintaining a service that can offer the best to the families.

The discussion moved to the current concerns which include the significant rise in families moving to the area including Ukrainian families.  Council officers are working with internal and external teams to support these families.  This has led to an increase in school appeals but with an increase in staff these are being worked through.  The Committee was invited to go and meet the team and see the work that they are doing.

Councillor Bill Gifford congratulated the team on the reduction in complaints stating that it shows that there has been a real change for the better. 

Councillor Tim Sinclair agreed that there has been a significant improvement in performance in a short space of time and that officers aren’t reasting on their laurels – well done! 

Councillor Sinclair continued and asked where improvements could be made in the number of appeals in view of the fact that the number of successful appeals is rising.  Louise Church confirmed that there is a lot of work underway with the schools on the best way to avoid appeals as they shouldn’t be happening, officers should be getting admissions right the first time.  Louise Church added that not all of the information relating to successful appeals was included in the report, but that she would come to a future meeting with additional information.

Matt Biggs confirmed that there are some considerable place pressures which need urgently addressing, for the majority, these are for in year moves as families move into Warwickshire.  The pressure is likely to continue so the council is working with the schools to manage them.  It is likely that the number of appeals will continue to increase as parents/children don’t get the place they want. 

It was noted that work is already underway to secure the 3000 places that will be needed in the next 12 months, but that this figure does not give any allowance to the ‘in-year’ moves.  It was confirmed that the Fair Access Protocol is currently under review and that as soon as it has been finalised, it will be presented to this committee.

Mr Phil Johnson, Chair of Stockingford local governing body, stated that in his experience with ‘in-year’ a lot of districts make allowances for potential over subscriptions.  In addition, as part of the appeals panel Mr Johnson has found there have been issues with the quality of information and the accuracy of the reports presented.  Louise Church thanked Mr Johnson for the feedback, confirming that they were aware of the issues and have been working on them.

Councillor Clare Golby raised concerns that the housing growth within the county often involves a delay getting schools built and that this impacts on not just home to school transport but the transport infrastructure in general.  Councillor Golby asked if there is a joined-up approach to making sure that there are places ready for when and where they are needed.  Matt Biggs confirmed that there has been improvement in this area but that there is a lot more work being done with property services.  The council is managing a lot of significant growth within the authority.  There is a lot more visibility to all the projects in the pipeline and there are regular meetings to ensure milestones are being met and highways, planning and land officers are keeping us updated with issues that crop up once a project has started – e.g. badger relocation.  All these factors will impact on the timely delivery of school places.

Resolved

The Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee considers and comments on the content of the report