Archived decisions
ITEM 2
AT A MEETING of the EDUCATION POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE of the HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester on 14 October 2003.
PRESENT:
M.J. Kendal (Chairman); Mrs V. Assinder; Mrs A.E. Bailey; I.F.E. Beagley; P.R. Brown; Mrs E.M. Byrom; M.F. Cartwright; K.G. Chapman; Ms P. Clarke; Ms R. Clarke; C. Connor; T. Coupland; B.D. Dash; J.J. Dawson; Mrs P.M. Devereux; Mrs J.K. Frankum; Mrs R. Jenkins; Jo Kelly; R. Kimber; Mrs C.A. Leversha; D. Mayer; D. Mewes; Mrs P.G. Peskett; G.W. Porter; Mrs E.M.F. Randall; J.W. Stocks; Revd. D.M. Turner; J.G.L. Wall; Mrs P.A. West; D. White; D.F. Wright.
Also present: Councillor D.G. Allen, Executive Member for Education.
133 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should, normally at the time of the debate, declare their interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed. No declarations of interest were made by any members on this occasion.
134 MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 15 July 2003 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
135 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS
The Chairman reminded all members of the need to ensure that, when attending
consultation meetings or visits to schools, they should avoid making up their minds prematurely as to what the outcome should be, and should avoid making any statements which might imply that they had done so. Any such statements could vitiate the position of the Member making them when the time came for final conclusions to be reached. He went on to refer to a recent serious fire at the newly constructed John Hanson School in Andover, where there had been major damage to the IT suite. Damage had been mitigated by the sprinkler system which had been installed at the school, and by the very prompt and effective action taken by the headteacher and the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service. Appreciation had been expressed by the school to LEA officers for the practical help they had given to enable the school to continue functioning, and also to the support offered by neighbouring schools. There was as yet no clear indication as to the cause of the fire, but the Executive Member for Education indicated that in any case where arson was proved to be the cause, the County Council would not hesitate to take civil or criminal action against those responsible.
136 DEPUTATIONS
There were no deputations notified on this occasion.
137 THE EQUALITY STANDARD FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT
The Committee considered a report and presentation by the County Personnel and Training Officer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) on the action required to achieve levels of equality and diversity. Members endorsed the importance of effective training on equalities issues both for members and for staff, in order that they could avoid discrimination. The key was awareness and understanding of the different needs of different groups from a wide range of backgrounds, all of whom needed equal opportunity for access to the County Council's services.
RESOLVED:
(i) That Members accept the need to ensure that policy/decisions clearly show how equality impact assessment has been undertaken.
(ii) That Members attend the training courses available in early 2004.
138 COMBATING RACIAL HARASSMENT
The Committee considered the report of the County Education Officer (Item 9 in the Minute Book) on the action taken to secure returns on racial incidents from all schools in the County, following concerns expressed by the Committee at their meeting in May. They dealt with this item next, out of sequence, in view of the clear links with the item on equality at Minute 137 above. Members noted the fact that schools had a duty to collect information on racial incidents, and that the County Council had a duty to secure that facilities for education provided by it, and any ancillary benefits or services, were provided without racial discrimination. However Members expressed concern that there was in fact no formal legal duty for schools to forward their statistics on racial incidents to the County Council. The position was further complicated by the fact that one of the OFSTED performance indicators related to the collection by the Local Education Authority of data on racial incidents. Therefore, if schools failed to provide the data requested, the County Council might be perceived as performing poorly, which would compromise the positive outcomes of the LEA Ofsted inspection and of Hampshire's excellent status under the comprehensive performance assessment. In the circumstances, the Committee felt that a further effort should be made to persuade those few schools which had not yet submitted returns to co-operate by drawing their attention to the potential adverse impact on the County Council as a whole, including the schools, if they were able to present only a partial picture. It was therefore
RESOLVED:
That the Chairman of the Committee write to the Chair of Governors of the small minority of schools who have not responded to the annual collation exercise on racial incidents, asking them to assist with the LEA's scrutiny function and to provide the data requested, and that a copy of the letter should be forwarded to the local County Councillor.
139 DEVELOPMENT OF THE SCHOOL WORKFORCE
The Committee considered a report of the County Education Officer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) on teacher recruitment and retention; progress towards remodelling the school workforce; the likely impact of the Pay and Benefits project; and procedure for recruitment of new headteachers where school reorganisations are under way. Members noted that the position on teacher recruitment was improving this year, but that heavy workloads and excessive paperwork were two of the negative factors which led to teachers, especially newly qualified teachers, leaving the profession. They therefore endorsed the approach of support staff undertaking more of the routine administrative duties which currently fall on teachers, in order to enable them to concentrate on teaching, planning, preparation and assessment. It was pointed out that the effectiveness of this approach would depend on the availability of resources to fund sufficient staff.
RESOLVED:
That the Executive Member for Education be advised as follows:
(i) That measures to support recruitment and retention of staff should continue to receive high priority.
(ii) Support for schools and the approach being adopted to implement school workforce remodelling be endorsed.
(iii) The early appointment of headteachers of newly reorganised schools be considered in the light of the Schools Forum's views, when budget plans are made for 2004/05.
140 REVENUE BUDGET MONITORING 2003/04
The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer and County Education Officer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on their revenue budget for the current year and on the action being taken to correct variations. Although Members were concerned at the fact that the Education Service was heading for a likely £2.4 million deficit, they welcomed the fact that a report to them at an earlier stage enabled any corrective action to be taken sooner. They noted that this was the first time in 4 years that the Education Service had been heading for an overspend, and noted the fact that the main constituents were demand led and derived from statements of Special Educational Needs which necessitated increasingly expensive provision, both in Hampshire schools and out-County. Increased numbers of pupils excluded by schools also had an impact on the budget. Other local education authorities in the south east faced similar or greater pressures on their budgets. Members did express misgivings at the extent of the £500,000 overspend on IT, and expressed the hope that management action would identify alternative, less costly solutions, which would still enable IT connections to be made in remote locations. Commitments and recruitment would be rigorously scrutinised by the Education Management Team in a further effort to contain the overspend, particularly given the ongoing impact of any such overspend into 2004/05. In addition it was reported that during the current financial year numbers of schools in deficit had risen from 54 to 59, compared with 32 last year, but that all such schools had made plans to rectify the situation
RESOLVED:
That the Executive Member for Education be advised
That the forecast overspend and the management action being taken, as summarised in paragraph 6 of the report, be endorsed; that the budget position be shared with members of the Schools Forum; and that a further report be considered in December.
141 MONITORING COMPLAINTS AND COMPLIMENTS 2002/03
The Committee considered the report of the County Education Officer (Item 8 in the Minute Book) reviewing the number of complaints and compliments arising from Education Services during the last year. There was general agreement that there was scope for more systematic recording of compliments received.
RESOLVED:
That the report be noted and that the Education Policy Review Committee continues to receive an annual report on compliments and complaints within the Education Department.
142 EDUCATION OTHER THAN AT SCHOOL (EOTAS) BEST VALUE REVIEW
The Committee considered a report of the County Education Officer (Item 10 in the Minute Book) on the proposed timescale for production of the Options Report for this Best Value Review, in order to take into account the implications of the Green Paper "Every Child Matters". A report on the latter document would be submitted to the Committee in December.
RESOLVED:
That approval be given for the Options Report for the Best Value Review of EOTAS services to be delayed until the March 2004 meeting of the Committee.
143 QUESTIONS TO THE EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR EDUCATION
There were no questions submitted on this occasion. However concerns were expressed at the level of police response to calls from schools, and it was noted that the County Education Officer had written to the Chief Constable on this subject.
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