Archived decisions

Hampshire County Council

Education Policy Review Committee

9 October 2001

DfES Consultation: White Paper "Schools: achieving success"

Report of the County Education Officer

Item 4

Chapter/key proposal

Initial LGA Comment

Chapter 1 - Introduction

This identifies the Government's objectives for public services:

· A framework of national priorities, a system of accountability and intervention to maintain basic standards;

· devolution to frontline professionals freeing them to innovate;

· greater choice for the consumer;

· reform for public service professionals.

The education service has been at the forefront of theses changes with increased delegation, inspection and, for LEAs, intervention. The LGA believes that improvement requires an education system that is responsive to local priorities with the council's role to ensure all schools learn from the best. Greater choice for the consumer - the parent and child - does not necessarily come from greater diversity. Greater school diversity could mean that admissions policies exclude children because of a particular school ethos.

Chapter 2 - Reform in progress

All children to have more opportunities to learn music, PE, sports and a foreign language.

No new programmes are proposed, and these developments will be resourced by existing sports colleges and sports co-ordinators, language colleges and after school activities.

The LGA's own pathfinder programme, as part of our work on our six commitments, will contribute to this aim by providing wider language classes opportunities through IT.

Schools will be encouraged to develop partnerships with other public services including health and social services to make those services available on school sites.

This goes some way towards the LGA's proposal for Full Service Schools which we believe could turn schools into a real resource for both pupils and the wider community.

To build on the early success of Excellence in Cities to improve all secondary schools.

The White Paper gives little reference to the extra resources Excellence in Cities Schools receive which have, inevitably, contributed to their success.

Chapter 3 - Achieving high standards for all - supporting teaching and learning

Introduce a strategy for improving standards in the first years of secondary school, based on agreed standards and a programme of professional development for teachers.

The Key Stage 3 strategy was introduced by the Government in September 2001.

Publish school results for 14-year-olds to reinforce the strategy; and improve information to parents by publishing information about the value each school adds to its pupils' results.

We welcome the proposals to measure `value added' rather than just considering raw score data. However, there is some evidence that pupils pushed to achieving high levels at key stage 2 have not embedded the skills sufficiently to progress well at key stage 3.

Help schools to meet the talents and aspirations of all their pupils by developing an Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth, a new strategy for supporting children with special educational needs, continuing investment in ICT, and raising standards for children from ethnic minorities.

The government is focusing on an accelerated curriculum for the gifted and talented rather than a widening of opportunity through a differentiated curriculum, despite evidence to suggest that accelerating learning does not ultimately benefit pupils.

The Academy for Gifted and Talented pupils will provide, initially, summer schools and thus not benefit these pupils in school. Further, funding for the Academy will be from the overall education envelope.

The strategy to establish regional partnerships of education, health, social services and the voluntary sector to support SEN pupils may undermine the already existing partnerships.

Support teachers' efforts to address poor behaviour by expanding the number of Learning Support Units, providing training for teacher, extending the use of Parenting Orders and making sure that heads can exclude violent or persistently disruptive pupils. The government will seek to ensure that all LEAs provide full-time education for all pupils by 2002.

The requirement on LEAs to provide full time education within a pupil referral unit for all excluded pupils will put a strain on LEAs, particularly if the funding for PRUs is to be determined by the new Schools Forum.

The commitment to increase behaviour management skills in initial teacher training is to be welcomed. However, increasing the scope of parenting orders, and encouraging schools to use legal remedies where pupils are abusive will not help the management of disruptive pupils.

Encourage schools to develop rounded individuals by supporting young people's participation in decisions affecting them, introducing citizenship into the curriculum and extending opportunities to participate in out-of-school activities.

The LGA supports the proposals to encourage school councils, and the requirement on OFSTED inspectors to seek the views of pupils.

The introduction of citizenship as a curriculum area was previously announced. Learning about the democratic process will not inculcate and understanding of what citizenship is and greater active involvement of young people in their communities should be encouraged.

The LGA would wish to see a greater emphasis on sport and the arts within the curriculum to develop young people's creative, team working and problem solving skills.

Chapter 4 - Meeting individual talents and aspirations at 14-19

The government wants to develop a more coherent phase of 14-19 education, which responds effectively to students and provides real choice. The White Paper sets out the key components of this new phase.

This aim is laudable but will be difficult to achieve whilst a purely academic route remains.

Recognition of achievement in both academic and vocational subjects, perhaps through an overarching award.

There have been previous attempts to achieve this.

Creating space in the 14-16 curriculum to allow students to pursue their talents and aspirations, while maintaining a strong focus on the basics.

The LGA supports this proposal for all pupils, including the academic.

Making high quality vocational options available to all students, which are widely recognised and offer the opportunity of entry to Higher Education.

This aim is laudable but will be difficult to achieve whilst a purely academic option remains. It will be interesting to see which areas are identified for the new vocational GCSEs.

The government will also examine whether there are structural barriers to a coherent phase of learning, and will publish a consultation paper in the coming months to set out more detailed proposals.

Many of the developments described in this chapter have already been introduced by the Learning and Skills Councils and the Connexions service.

The Government want 50% of under 30 year olds to progress to Higher Education by 2010.

Local government has a role to play in promoting the benefits of HE to children and families of lower socio-economic communities, in partnership with other organisations.

Chapter 5 - Excellence, innovation and diversity

All schools that are ready will be able to become specialist schools. 1,500 are planned by 2005.

This is a change from the preceding Green Paper where the target was 1,500 by 2006. It does not take account of the LGA's wish to see schools develop a range of specialisms or to develop a category of specialist community schools, both of which would support families in rural areas.

Increase the number of Beacon and faith schools, and City Academies

The LGA has argued for more multi faith schools. We welcome the support Beacon Schools give other schools although to date this has focused on support from secondary schools to primary schools, rather than between secondary schools.

Introduce a category of "working towards" specialist school status

The DfES will publish a prospectus of opportunities for specialism. No additional finance will be available to schools with "working towards" status although the DfES will establish an advice unit to help schools. This is an example of further central influence on schools.

Introduce a category of advanced Beacon, specialist and training schools.

These were announced in the preceding Green Paper which identified additional capital funding but not revenue funding. The LGA has argued that revenue funding is necessary to support teachers in other schools, and where schools offer initial teacher training.

To give best schools greater autonomy to innovate, for example in the 14-16 curriculum.

Performance targets, the OFSTED framework and the requirement to offer a broad and balanced curriculum will remain; as will performance management systems. Schools will be allowed to opt out of elements of the National Curriculum and to have flexibility over teachers' pay and conditions (for recruitment and retention purposes or to have a more flexible working day/year). The proposals regarding teachers are fundamental in that the schools able to offer recruitment incentives will be drawing staff from the under resourced and often under performing schools to the further detriment of those schools.

To introduce new ways for external partners to work with schools.

The White Paper states that new providers working with schools can raise standards and be a stimulus for new thinking. There is, as yet, no actual evidence of this.

Where a new school is needed, LEAs will be required to advertise this fact so that any interested party can make proposals to establish the school. The LEA will, however, be required to identify a site and secure planning permission.

The LGA strongly opposes this move, as decisions affecting local people should be taken locally. School Organisation Committees, which represent local interests, will be invited to comment on the proposals but the decision on which bid to accept will be with the Secretary of State.

Successful and popular schools will be able to expand more easily. Statutory guidance will be given to School Organisation Committees and Adjudicators to favour the expansion of schools which provide excellent education.

This proposal undermines democratic accountability. It could lead other schools to become unviable, and will inevitably mean a change in ethos for schools, given the inextricable links between size and ethos. Further, the LEA retains responsibility to supply school places and is expected to ensure decisions are taken in the best interests of all children in an area.

The DfES will establish a school innovation unit for secondary schools.

This will be a new central government unit. The cost of which has to be met from the overall education budget envelope.

There will be an expansion of the City Academy model with the aim of 20 by 2005. There will be legislative change to allow for All Age Academies and provision for rural as well as urban areas.

If the only school in a rural area is a City Academy, parents will not have the choice of a local authority maintained school.

There are no City Academies at present.

To encourage schools to establish new partnerships.

This already happens to some extent. For example, there are already partnerships between schools and catering companies to establish breakfast clubs. It is not clear how the White Paper proposals differ from current opportunities for schools under Fair Funding.

There is a proposal to amend legislation to allow heads to bring in additional teachers employed by others. It is not clear how this will differ from current powers to "engage" staff which is the basis on which supply agency staff are employed in schools.

To encourage schools to develop innovative approaches including distance learning backed by IT.

It is not clear how these approaches might be used. Where it links providers to enhance curriculum opportunities it is to be welcomed. If it is to be used to keep disruptive pupils out of school and learning at home then issues of care and socialisation are raised.

Chapter 6 - Decisive intervention to ensure high standards

By 2004 all secondary schools to have at least 20% of students achieving at least 5 or more A* - C grade GCSEs, and by 2006 this figure to be at least 25%.

The DfES aims to achieve these targets by continuing existing support:

_ additional funding for schools not hitting the target

_ learning mentors for pupils

_ learning support units

In addition, however, trainee heads will work alongside heads in good schools to gain the experience necessary to work in schools in challenging circumstances. This is a welcome development and will improve the skill base of senior managers in schools.

The Teacher Training Agency will appoint three Specialist Recruitment Managers to support heads of schools facing challenging circumstances, to recruit staff.

During a period of recruitment difficulty and given the cyclical nature of teacher recruitment, three specialists within the TTA might not be sufficient.

Where a school is consistently falling below acceptable levels, the DfES will be able to close it, or replace it with a City Academy.

Potentially, this power undermines local democratic accountability.

Pupil learning credits are being introduced in September 2001 to allow schools to develop opportunities for pupils, for example by providing theatre trips, books to take home or outdoor learning opportunities.

The pupil learning credits will compensate for some of the problems for pupils in deprived circumstances.

The White Paper proposes a power to replace a governing body with an Interim Executive Board where the governing body is part of the problem in a failing school.

LEAs currently have the powers to remove governing delegations and to co-opt additional governors to a school, where the school is failing. The LEA should be given powers to appoint an interim executive board. This power to central government further undermines local democratic accountability.

Where a failing school needs to be turned round the LEA, as now, will draw up an action plan. In addition, and in parallel, the LEA will invite proposals from external partners, to turn round the school. The Secretary of State will have a reserve power to require the involvement of an external partner to turn round a failing school.

LEAs are successful at turning round failing schools and using support from other schools where appropriate. Seeking partners is likely to delay the implementation of the Action Plan and is a further example of the Secretary of State imposing a national solution on local problems.

Chapter 7 - Valuing and supporting teachers in schools

More work needs to be done on bringing more teachers into the profession, reducing workloads and helping teachers manage poor pupil behaviour.

The government is committed to "take seriously the findings" of the PricewaterhouseCoopers review of teachers workload, which will be published later in the autumn.

The LGA generally supports the government's approach. The LGA looks forward to the final report form PwC. Many local authorities are concerned about the recruitment and retention of teachers and the LGA supports initiatives that will improve supply. Changes which cost money will need to be backed by Revenue Support Grant.

The law will be changed to make it explicit that schools do not have to employ directly teachers to provide education, ie a teacher could be employed by another school, an FE college or an HE institution. Schools would be empowered to provide, as well as receive, education through this route. Better school administration is promised through trained bursars who will leave school leaders to concentrate on quality of school learning and teaching.

Schools can and do appoint bursars now.

A stronger role is proposed for the General Teaching Council, including a role in contributing to awards for raising teaching morale and identifying what works well for managing teachers. GTC will take over responsibility for checking new entrants' employment records, character and criminal records before they are registered.

DfEE is discussing the development of a Quality Mark for employers of supply teachers.

The GTC role in reviewing sensitive information at the end of teacher training needs to be considered further.

Various proposals are made for streamlining the mechanism for determining teachers' pay and making recommendations by the School Teachers' Review Body. In particular, it is proposed that minor changes to the Schoolteachers' Pay and Conditions Document should not need to be referred to the STRB.

The management of performance pay awards remains problematic through the bureaucratic funding mechanisms. There is also a need to ensure that this money comes through Revenue Support Grant.

Additional money will be provided to fund performance pay awards. Heads' pay will be made more flexible.

School governing bodies may need more support over head teacher pay determination.

Chapter 8 - Modernising our structures

Reduction and simplification of regulations that schools (sic) find burdensome. 13 proposals are listed in box 8.1 and a further proposal on the LEA curriculum complaints procedure is in paragraph 8.3.

The LGA welcomes a commitment to reduce bureaucracy and deregulate administrative procedures that assist LEAs and schools to improve the quality of education.

The proposal to remove current restrictions on the use of schools for non-educational purposes is welcome. However, deregulation will have to take account of the local authority role in owning community schools. A mechanism will need to be in place to prevent governing bodies agreeing contracts for the non-educational use of buildings which conflict with the educational work of the school. The consultation document "Best Beginnings - improving quality and increasing provision in early years education and childcare" consults on this change as far as schools providing childcare.

Removing barriers which prevent schools sharing resources (because of the current requirement that schools must use their delegated budgets for the purposes of the school, and not for other schools) and the greater exchange of teaching staff with Further and Higher Education are welcome.

Other proposals will need careful examination. The proposal which encourages successful schools to expand is problematic. The expansion of schools without resources or physical capacity is of concern to the LGA because of the effect on children in the school and in neighbouring schools.

More training and support for school governors is promised, including an expansion of the One-Stop Shop which find governors for schools.

The proposals in the parallel consultation "The Way Forward - a modernised framework for school governance" are commended which includes giving greater flexibility to schools to decide the make-up of their governing bodies and a shift from legislative prescription to statutory guidance about how governing bodies organise themselves.

The LGA supports the thrust of the government's proposals and will comment further on the consultation document.

The advantages of family learning are promoted.

The LGA welcomes the recognition of the innovative work done by local authorities in family learning.

Under the guise of involving parents, the DfES are making major proposals on admissions, including the requirement for LEAs to co-ordinate admission arrangements in their areas and making admissions forums mandatory. There is a separate consultation document on school admissions.

The LGA welcomes the general thrust of the proposals on admissions and will give a further view in due course. Our initial concern is that these proposals are not sufficiently radical to ensure that in the new diverse school system parents' rights over school admissions will be sufficiently enhanced.

The government reiterates its views in the autumn 2000 policy paper "The Role of the Local Education Authority in School Education". Local Public Service Agreements are supported an opportunity for local authorities to engage with central government to negotiate additional resources, freedoms and flexibilities in the delivery of public services, in exchange for setting new higher targets in priority areas.

The LGA welcomes the thrust of these paragraphs in the White Paper.

The government's record in investing in school buildings is reported, and the use of the Private Finance Initiative to build, equip and maintain schools. The changes to the management of school assets are reported as are previous decisions on funding voluntary aided schools, including the reduction of initial capital work from 15 to 10% and removing it altogether for revenue items.

LGA welcomes the continuing investment in school buildings and ICT.

The government reiterates its commitment to using the Standards Fund to support school activities, and reports that 10% of school total revenue is from this source.

The government reiterates its commitment to changing the Education SSA system so that the overall funding for schools can be identified at both national and local level. Information on school expenditure will be required to be given to council taxpayers.

The LGA continues to believe that the amount of money distributed through the Standards Fund and other specific grant regimes is too high and that it needs to be reduced in order to reduce bureaucracy on schools and local government. The proposal to consolidate the specific and special grant-giving powers is, presumably, to widen the remit of the standards fund grant (as it will be under education legislation) and thus give the Secretary of State even greater power over local government and schools.

The government will take a reserve power to force a local authority to set a budget for expenditure at a pre-determined level should the Secretary of State believe an LEA is not passing sufficient funds to schools.

The proposal to enable the Secretary of State for Education and Skills to ring-fence education expenditure is likely to have serious long-term effects on the funding of other local government services and the LGA opposes this move.

A schools forum will be legislated for to represent schools in local discussions alongside statutory consultation with schools on funding and other issues.

The LGA will oppose this development. The establishment of a schools forum legislates for good local government practice but enforcing a single national model is likely to mean that current arrangements will have to be changed and will not be as sensitive, as they are at present, to local needs.

Chapter 9 - Legislative proposals

This chapter collects the various legislative proposals that appear elsewhere in the White Paper and introduces a wider reform of education law. It should be noted that this White Paper applies only to England. The National Assembly for Wales published on 5 September 2001 is a separate document "Wales: the learning country".

The government will legislate in the first session of this Parliament to achieve the goals set out in this White Paper. The government proposes that large areas of education law will be rationalised to remove areas of detail and introduce fewer, broader powers. The LGA asked to be involved in the review of education law earlier in the summer but no response was received from the DfES. It is believed to be a major undertaking covering all education legislation with the objective of reducing the chaotic current state of the law. However, it is ironic that after the commitment to simplify education law, many of the new powers referred to in Chapter 9 are detailed ones aimed at achieving comparatively minor administrative changes. While the DfES's aspiration in improving education law is welcome, the LGA will remain sceptical about whether it is serious about it, if many of the proposals in this White Paper are carried through to the Bill.

The bill will include provisions to:

High minimum standards for all

· enable more students to take Key Stage 3, GCSE and advanced qualifications earlier in their school lives

· promote greater rigour in tackling poor behaviour

Deregulation and diversity

· allow schools greater freedom to establish their own governance arrangements

· enable schools to share resources and expertise

· allow for all-age City Academies and for schools on the City Academy model in disadvantaged rural as well as urban areas

· take powers to allow successful schools greater freedoms to innovate, for example greater flexibility within clearly defined limits on pay and conditions and the curriculum

· introduce a right of appeal to the Adjudicator where a successful school's proposals for expansion are rejected by the School Organisation Committee

New partners

· enable excellent schools to support and partner weak or failing schools in new ways

· require LEAs to advertise widely when a new school is required, and for decisions on these competitions to be taken by the Secretary of State

· provide a reserve power for the Secretary of State to require an LEA to involve an external partner in turning round a failing school; and

· allow for a governing body to be replaced by an Interim Executive Board as part of a turn around solution, in cases of school weakness or failure.

· schools and FE Colleges

Meeting individual talents and aspirations at 14-19

· ensure curricular flexibility at Key Stage 4 to implement proposals for 14-19 education

· remove legislative barriers to collaboration between schools and between schools and FE Colleges

Building for excellence

· assist new teachers to pay off their student loans over a set period of time.

· Enable certain groups of teachers to be registered with the General Teaching Council as well as strengthening the GTC's powers more generally

· Require school place allocation to be co-ordinated by LEAs and all areas to have Admissions Forums, as well as clarifying and simplifying key aspects of admissions law and guidance

· Refine powers that tackle failure and under-performance in LEAs

· Define separate budgets for schools and LEA central functions, and for a Schools Forum to exercise functions in relation to the schools budget

· Take a reserve power to allow the Secretary of State to direct a local authority to set a budget for expenditure on schools at a level determined by the Secretary of State

· Simplify and consolidate the Secretary of State's grant-making powers.

Early Years and childcare

· Free school governors to run a wide range of family and community facilities, including childcare

· Amend legislation for Early Years Partnerships to reflect their responsibilities for childcare

Deregulating teaching employment provisions

· Enable co-operative approaches with other schools and institutions in Further and Higher Education by removing the assumption that schools provide education only through employing teachers

· Increase flexibility for permitting innovative approaches by providing for the main staffing provisions to be in secondary legislation and guidance

· Take forward the Way Forward Group proposal that staffing decisions in schools should shift from the governing body to the head.

Teachers' pay

· Set by order any standards to be attained by teachers at certain stages of their careers, subject to consultation but not to the pay machinery

· Clarify the existing `fast-track' procedure of consulting the Chair of the STRB to bring into force minor or consequential pay and conditions provisions, without formal reference to the STRB

· Update the 1986 Act provision empowering the Secretary of State to make teacher appraisal regulations so that there is an explicit power for schools to use appraisal date in pay decisions, as well as technical updating

· Ensure that headteachers can assess teachers' performance for pay purposes within the overall budgetary framework set by the governing body.