Agenda item

Notices of Motion

To consider the following motions submitted by members in accordance with Standing Order 5:

 

(1)      Conservative Motion

 

           In line with Government’s White Paper on Levelling Up, this Council is committed to levelling-up and ensuring that everyone in Warwickshire gets the best start in life, no matter what their background or where they live. The Council’s approach to Levelling Up approved by Cabinet this month includes a priority around educational attainment reflecting the recent State of Warwickshire report, approved by this Council in February of this year, which highlighted the inequality within attainment in education in the county.

 

In order to further explore the reasons for this, and to establish how we as a Council can help effect positive change and reduce the present inequalities in relation to educational attainment, this Council will establish a time limited cross party Member Group.  The Group should comprise members from all five areas of the county and should report back to Cabinet on its progress by end February 2023.

 

           Proposer: Councillor Brett Beetham

 

           Seconder: Councillor Yousef Dahmash

 

(2)      Labour Motion

 

           Council notes that Joint Strategic Needs Area Assessments were carried out in 2019.  The information within those assessments was provided to the Place Based Partnerships, which provide activity updates to the Warwickshire Health and Wellbeing Board, including on prioritised activities to improve health and wellbeing and reduce inequalities.

 

The Council requests an update from the Warwickshire Health and Wellbeing Board on Place Based Partnership priorities and progress on reducing inequalities.

 

           Proposer: Councillor John Holland

 

           Seconder: Councillor Sarah Feeney

 

Minutes:

(1)      Educational Attainment

 

The following motion as set out on the agenda was proposed by Councillor Brett Beetham:

 

In line with Government’s White Paper on Levelling Up, this Council is committed to levelling-up and ensuring that everyone in Warwickshire gets the best start in life, no matter what their background or where they live. The Council’s approach to Levelling Up approved by Cabinet this month includes a priority around educational attainment reflecting the recent State of Warwickshire report, approved by this Council in February of this year, which highlighted the inequality within attainment in education in the county.

 

In order to further explore the reasons for this, and to establish how we as a Council can help effect positive change and reduce the present inequalities in relation to educational attainment, this Council will establish a time limited cross party Member Group.  The Group should comprise members from all five areas of the county and should report back to Cabinet on its progress by end February 2023.

 

In proposing the motion, Councillor Beetham illustrated the notion that children and young people in Nuneaton and Bedworth, and in North Warwickshire, were academically disadvantaged with statistics that established that over 40% of children in these areas were not meeting the required basic standards for reading, writing and maths and that these were the only areas in Warwickshire which were consistently below the national average for English.  He noted that whilst not everyone was academically minded, and whilst there were high levels of trade apprenticeships in Nuneaton and Bedworth, there were also high levels of people without qualifications despite vocational qualifications being increasingly important within trades.  He pointed to the differences in disposable income between people living in Nuneaton and Bedworth and those living in Warwick to demonstrate the result of educational inequality.  He noted that residents were not lacking in drive or ambition and urged Council to support the motion and agree to set up a working group to investigate the reasons for the disparity and what could be done to level up education in the county.

 

Councillor Yousef Dahmash seconded the motion expressing the view that education was a driver of opportunity and as the Council held influence over the bodies involved in education, it had a responsibility to set the right tone.  Whilst the Council was working to improve educational opportunities, the proposed Member Group could explore what more could be done.  As Chair of the Children & Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee, he considered that challenging school performance had been problematic as only limited success had been achieved in bringing together key stakeholders for discussions.  He considered that there was more that could be done to address longstanding disparities and welcomed the proposals to involve all areas of the County in this work.

 

Debate

 

Councillor Isobel Seccombe expressed her support for the motion, which was timely as it dovetailed with the levelling up paper which had recently been considered by Cabinet.  Education was a key aspect of the levelling up approach and it was an important service to get right due to the lifetime impact it would have.  Councillor Seccombe lamented that the Council was not a Local Education Authority and was not able to hold more educationists to account but it was right for the Council do what it could to maintain pressure on those who had the power to influence educational attainment.

 

Councillor Tracey Drew also welcomed the motion.  She noted that society had made some strides in reducing inequality but sought reassurance that the proposed member group would be productive in its investigations and ensure that even larger strides could be taken locally in a meaningful and tangible way.

 

Councillor Rob Tromans also commented on the timeliness of the motion and welcomed the focus on giving people at least a basic standard of literacy which would increase employability and provide greater opportunities.  He stated that it was important to hold those with a responsibility for education to account.

 

Councillor Barbara Brown was supportive of the motion.  She noted the importance of recognising the complexity of issues that contributed to the way children achieved or did not achieve and that there was not a simple solution.  She considered that the Member Group’s work should provide some focus on readiness for learning, concentrating on the first 1000 days, and not just on reaching the basic standards around literacy and numeracy.  She echoed the comments of Councillor Seccombe but considered that there was more the Council could do to influence the quality of education in schools and, more widely, to influence the other factors that impinged on a child’s ability to learn. She considered that there was a difference between attainment and achievement and achieving to one’s optimum needed to be equally valued.

 

Councillor Pete Gilbert also welcomed the motion.  He noted the importance of education as being the key to an individual’s future.  He supported the comments of Councillor Dahmash that Overview and Scrutiny had received little response on the topic and the level of debate now needed to be raised and difficult questions asked.  He wanted to see the level of education improved to make the lives of children better in the future.

 

Councillor Sarah Boad commented on the fragmentation of the education system and the lack of funding that she considered was a key part of the issue.  She noted that there were deprived areas throughout the County and a lack of aspiration could be an issue in all those areas. 

 

Councillor Margaret Bell welcomed the motion and thanked Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the work it had done to date on this issue.  She considered that the motion was a logical next step to progress that work and bring focus to the area and what could be done to reduce the gap.   She noted within her own division, primary school attainment was good, but children did not then reach their potential at secondary school and she trusted the proposed Member Group could consider the transition from primary to secondary school in their scope.

 

Councillor Kam Kaur also noted that this motion progressed work commenced in Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee and acknowledged the connection to the recent paper on levelling up.  She welcomed the proposals and looked forward to the outcomes which would support her work with the Education portfolio and strengthen her engagement with schools and headteachers to hold them to account for how they would fulfil the conclusions of the group.

 

Councillor Jerry Roodhouse noted that the motion posed a very wide ranging question and the key to the success of the member group would be its scope.  To this end, he suggested that consideration be given to leadership in schools and how the relationships between academies and the wider education sector could be developed.  The member group would also need to consider what inequalities were to be investigated.

 

Councillor Jeff Morgan highlighted achievements that had taken place to date and noted that in order to make further progress, the Member Group would need to focus on outcomes including aspiration and resources.

 

Councillor Jeff Clarke noted that there were some good schools in Nuneaton and Bedworth but there were also areas that needed further attention.  He considered that the work of the Member Group would provide an understanding of what needed to be done in Nuneaton and Bedworth to bring attainment in the area up to level of the rest of the county.  He emphasised the need for students to have opportunity and aspiration and considered that the work of the Member Group should be expedited.

 

Councillor Clare Golby noted that the poor performance of the Multi Academy Trust in Nuneaton and Bedworth had led to educational failures for 11 years with the associated knock on effects.  She considered that the first question the member group should seek to answer was what was meant by levelling up in terms of education and she also emphasised the need for any recommendations made by the Member Group to be followed through.

 

Councillor Andy Crump also supported the motion, emphasising the need for an equitable educational opportunity across the county.  He sought to establish milestones and benchmarks to achieve this and considered that there was good leadership at the Council to achieve the outcomes for the children of the county.

 

Councillor Caroline Phillips explained that as a governor of Stockingford Maintained Nursery School she had noted the impact to budgets when the maximum early years child care allowance was claimed (15 hours plus 15 hours for eligible children of working parents) and suggested that the Member Group consider this as part of its scope.  She also reflected on the loss of children’s centres, which had been set up to address inequalities and the cycle of deprivation.

 

Councillor Tim Sinclair emphasised the need for the proposed Member Group to have a clear terms of reference and scope and encouraged all those taking part to ensure they had a clear understanding of how they could make a difference.  Councillor Sinclair suggested a focus on best practice and learning from the most highly regarded teachers and also supported engagement with parents and young people.

 

Councillor Adrian Warwick reflected on his experience working in a school with pupils with SEND, some of whom were there from a lack of opportunity and suggested that the member group should consider how best to offer that opportunity.  He suggested that it would be important to focus on the opportunities that could be provided to children and young people in Warwickshire that were not currently on offer.

 

Councillor Jackie D’Arcy reflected on her experience teaching in tertiary education and suggested that the Member Group could consider how to attract new teachers to the profession whilst also retaining aspirational teachers.

 

In response, Councillor Beetham requested that any suggestions for the scope of the Member Group should be shared with the Group who would agree its scope and definition of levelling up at the initial meeting.  He hoped that the whole Council would support the motion to ensure that it had a mandate to undertake the work which essential sought to improve lives in the County.

 

Vote

 

A vote was held. The motion was carried unanimously.

 

Resolved

 

In line with Government’s White Paper on Levelling Up, this Council is committed to levelling-up and ensuring that everyone in Warwickshire gets the best start in life, no matter what their background or where they live. The Council’s approach to Levelling Up approved by Cabinet this month includes a priority around educational attainment reflecting the recent State of Warwickshire report, approved by this Council in February of this year, which highlighted the inequality within attainment in education in the county.

 

In order to further explore the reasons for this, and to establish how we as a Council can help effect positive change and reduce the present inequalities in relation to educational attainment, this Council will establish a time limited cross party Member Group.  The Group should comprise members from all five areas of the county and should report back to Cabinet on its progress by end February 2023.

 

(2)      Place Based Partnership Priorities and Progress on Reducing Inequalities

 

Councillor John Holland moved the following motion:

 

Council notes that Joint Strategic Needs Area Assessments were carried out in 2019.  The information within those assessments was provided to the Place Based Partnerships, which provide activity updates to the Warwickshire Health and Wellbeing Board, including on prioritised activities to improve health and wellbeing and reduce inequalities.

 

The Council requests an update from the Warwickshire Health and Wellbeing Board on Place Based Partnership priorities and progress on reducing inequalities.

 

In moving the motion, Councillor Holland considered that the subject fitted well with the levelling up agenda.  He noted that work on health inequalities had taken place but not all councillors had been briefed. 

 

Councillor Sarah Feeney seconded the motion and reserved her right to speak.

 

Councillor Margaret Bell welcomed the timeliness of the motion and advised that Levelling Up and inequalities was at the top of the agenda for the ICS.

 

Councillor Feeney noted the importance of the motion in the context of the JSNAs identifying key issues and it would be helpful to understand the work that was taking place to address inequalities, for instance what was being done to address childhood obesity.

 

Councillor Holland acknowledged that the staff who would have been the driving force behind this work had been involved in the response to the Covid-19 pandemic and he paid tribute to that important work but recognised that it was now time to drive forward and take action on the issues identified in the JSNA.

 

Vote

 

A vote was held. The motion was carried unanimously.

 

Resolved

 

Council notes that Joint Strategic Needs Area Assessments were carried out in 2019.  The information within those assessments was provided to the Place Based Partnerships, which provide activity updates to the Warwickshire Health and Wellbeing Board, including on prioritised activities to improve health and wellbeing and reduce inequalities.

 

The Council requests an update from the Warwickshire Health and Wellbeing Board on Place Based Partnership priorities and progress on reducing inequalities.