Issue - meetings

Background:

Councils had a statutory duty to ensure a sufficient supply of school places. This, coupled with the local and national policy of successful schools expanding, meant that when deciding which schools to expand consideration had to be given to the OFSTED rating of the school, its current known performance, as well as its popularity with parents.

Proposals such as this would usually be presented as part of the annual review of the School Organisation Plan, which would be brought to the Cabinet in the autumn 2016.  This proposal was being brought to Cabinet in advance of the annual review due to the emerging need and demand in the area and the need to act speedily to ensure the places were available in good time.

Demand for school places in the peninsula area continued to rise, due in the main to a continued rise in birth rates as well as to the inward movement of families into the area.  A number of recently completed, under development and proposed housing schemes would add to the ongoing demand for school places.

For the peninsula area, there were a number of good and outstanding primary

schools; therefore, when deciding which sites to expand, the schools’ popularity with parents becomes an important factor.  It was anticipated that the additional capacity would need to be available from September 2018. This report outlined the options available in the area to increase primary capacity and made recommendations for the Cabinet’s approval.

A Diversity Impact Assessment had been carried out on the proposals, as set out in Appendix A to the report.

Reasons:

By approving the recommendations in section 9 of the report, the Cabinet was ensuring that the Council met its statutory duty to ensure sufficient good quality school places.