Archived decisions

Item 2

AT A MEETING of the EDUCATION POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE of the HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester on 12 October 2004.

PRESENT:

M.J. Kendal (Chairman); Mrs A.E. Bailey; I.F.E. Beagley; T. Blackshaw; F.J. Bright; Mrs. E.M. Byrom; M.F. Cartwright; K.G. Chapman; Ms R. Clarke; T. Coupland; B.D. Dash; J.J. Dawson; Mrs P.M. Devereux; L.T. Dunsdon; R.J. Ellis; Mrs. J.K. Frankum;

J. Gawthorpe; Mrs. K. Heron; Mrs M. Humber; Mrs R. Jenkins; Jo Kelly; R. Kimber; Mrs C.A. Leversha; D. Mayer; G.W. Porter; Revd. D.M. Turner; J.G.L. Wall; D.I. White; D.F. Wright.

Also present:

Councillor D.G. Allen, Executive Member for Education.

Councillors A.G. Dowden and M.J. Woodhall, Local County Councillors.

225 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 such interests were declared by any Members.

226 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 13 July 2004 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

227 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman and the Minority Group Spokespersons paid warm tributes to Councillor Bill Wheeler who had sadly died on 6 October 2004. The Chairman went on to welcome Tony Blackshaw as the new Winchester Diocesan Director of Education in place of Canon Richard Lindley. Finally, he congratulated Hampshire Music Service who, after having received an Achievement Diploma from the National Music Council for the last three years, had now been awarded by the National Music Council the Major Trophy, as the best music service in the Country in 2004.

228 CAPITAL PROGRAMME ACHIEVEMENTS

The Committee considered the report of the County Education Officer, County Treasurer and Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services (Item 4 in the Minute Book) on major achievements through the Education capital programme in recent years and their contribution to raising standards in schools and on future capital funding. Steve Clow, Head of Architecture, gave a powerpoint presentation on a variety of such projects. A note of the schools shown, together with the different themes illustrated appears as Item 4(i) in the Minute Book. The Committee congratulated those officers involved for their excellent work. Members were mindful of the present uncertainties in particular Central Government funding areas and noted that in the short term this would reduce the existing County Council's capital allocations, with no firm assurance of future large scale investment.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee advises the County Council:

(i) to continue to support capital investment in educational facilities by all means possible.

(ii) to maintain dialogue with central government on support for capital investment, with particular regard to the Building Schools for the Future programme.

229 NEW RELATIONSHIPS WITH SCHOOLS AND NEW OFSTED INSPECTIONS FOR SCHOOLS

The Committee considered the report of the County Education Officer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) about Hampshire's involvement in a national trial exploring new relationships with schools and new style Ofsted inspections. Member comments on particular aspects of the new arrangements were noted by the County Education Officer.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee note developments to date, in the new Ofsted inspections and the trials for the New Relationships with schools and that Members be invited to convey any further observations to the County Education Officer.

230 OUTCOMES OF THE LIFELONG LEARNING BEST VALUE REVIEW

The Committee considered the report of the County Education Officer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) on the outcome report of the Best Value Review of Lifelong Learning which unusually had resulted in two Improvement Plans. It was the intention to present the same report to the Recreation and Heritage Policy Review Committee on 18 November 2004, prior to going onto the Cabinet for approval. Those Members present who had participated in the review team's work wished to congratulate John Wilkinson, the lead officer involved, on his expertise in keeping the review within managerial boundaries. Members welcomed the report and its findings and recognised it would be a working document to be developed and updated over time. They felt it was important to have a Member of both the Education and the Recreation and Heritage Policy Review Committees to oversee the implementation of the Improvement Plans.

RESOLVED:

(i) That the outcome report of the Best Value Review of Lifelong Learning be noted.

(ii) That the County Education Officer forward to Cabinet the Committee's view that "champions" for Lifelong Learning needed to be identified and appointed by Cabinet from both Education and Recreation and Heritage Policy Review Committees to serve upon the proposed County Steering Group for Lifelong Learning and to periodically report to Cabinet upon progress.

231 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND SKILLS - FIVE YEAR STRATEGY FOR CHILDREN AND LEARNERS

The Committee considered the report of the County Education Officer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on this Department of Education and Skills document and on an analysis in the form of a commentary on the proposals in relation to the County Council's policies. Members paid particular attention to the more controversial provisions referred to which included promoting provision for secondary schools to own their buildings and various other assets. The Committee were concerned about the implications of this and highlighted as an example the importance of proper building maintenance and questioned the possibility of disposing of such assets which belonged to the community. Also, there had been no recognition in the document of falling pupil numbers, a trend due to continue over the next decade.

RESOLVED:

That the commentary on "Department for Education and Skills: Five Year Strategy for Children and Learners" as set out in the report be accepted as a reflection of the County Council's policies.

232 BUDGET MONITORING 2004/05

The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer and County Education Officer (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on budget monitoring and an early identification of cost pressures. Members' attention was drawn to those areas where budget pressures had altered since being agreed in February 2004 or where 2003/04 pressures looked likely to continue into 2004/05.

RESOLVED:

That the Executive Member for Education be advised to note the budget monitoring report and the early identification of costs pressures.

233 QUESTIONS TO THE EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR EDUCATION

No questions had been notified on this occasion.

234 DEPUTATIONS

The Committee received five deputations from governors, parents and others on behalf of Romsey Junior School, Romsey Infant School, Together One Primary School (TOPS), Cupernham Infant and Junior Schools and Ampfield C.E. Primary School relating to Item 11 (Minute 235) below.

The deputation from Romsey Junior School made a case for the closure of the Romsey Infant and Junior Schools and to establish a Romsey Primary School on the Romsey Junior School site with opportunities to retain an Early Year's Facility and to strengthen community provision. A copy of the presentation was circulated at the meeting (Item 11(e) in the Minute Book).

The deputation from Romsey Infant School was also in favour of the establishment of a Romsey Primary School but wished careful consideration to be given to locating this on the current Infant School site with the possibility of an open area beyond the nearby railway bridge being incorporated within the school site.

The deputation from TOPS sought to strengthen with its analysis of traffic movements and other information the case made by the Romsey Junior School mentioned above. A copy of the presentation was circulated at the meeting (Item 11(f) in the Minute Book).

The deputation from Cupernham Infant and Junior Schools focused on one of the favoured options presented in the report to the Committee on 25 March 2004, prior to local consultations, for the closure of the Romsey Infant and Junior Schools and transfer of the pupils to the Cupernham Infant and Junior and Halterworth Primary Schools.

The deputation from Ampfield C.E. Primary School made a case for a three years' delay of any closure of the school to give time for numbers there to rise referring to the specific circumstances surrounding the fall in numbers attending the school. If this did not happen, the governors had given an undertaking to raise no objection to closure, although they recognised that the present governors could not bind future governors in this regard.

235 REVIEW OF PRIMARY SCHOOL PROVISION IN THE ROMSEY AREA

The Committee considered the reports of the County Education Officer (Items 11(a), 11(b), 11(c) and 11(d) in the Minute Book) on the outcomes following the review of primary school provision in the Romsey Town and Ampfield areas. The County Education Officer reported on the pattern of falling school rolls in the area, the problem posed by surplus places and ensuring that resources were deployed fairly and effectively. Within the report on this occasion was detailed financial information as it was felt to be an important element of this review. The consultation process was fully explained and the responses which had been received and included as part of the reports. In addition, since the papers had been published further letters about the review had been received (Item 11(g) in the Minute Book) and these were made available to the meeting. Also, reference was made to a letter received from the Local County Councillor, Mrs. E.S.M. Barron, raising concerns over some of the comments in the report and this was circulated to the meeting (Item 11(h) in the Minute Book). It was noted that all the recent letters and the letter from Councillor Mrs Barron would be passed to the Executive Member for Education before his decision day on 14 October 2004.

During a full and detailed discussion Members took into account the responses from the review and other key issues as set out in the report, including the complicating factor of uncertainty about a proposed major housing development at Abbottswood which had been identified in the Local Plan as a Reserve Site. The majority of the Committee concluded in favour of the officers' recommendation for closure of the Romsey Infant and Junior Schools and the establishment of a new Primary School, with a 30 place Early Years Facility on the site of the Junior School. The funding for this was expected to be covered by the sale of land as explained in the report. An alternative proposal considered at the meeting was to establish the new Primary School on the Infant site. However, this was rejected due to the restricted access to the infant site and to the area available being less than required for a one-form entry primary school. The suggestion to make use of an open area beyond the railway bridge was not supported as Members felt supervision of this more remote area would present more difficulties than using the existing playing fields at the Junior School site. They noted that their proposed option whilst removing a significant number of surplus places would still leave a 16.6% surplus. However, closure of the Romsey Infant and Junior Schools and transfer of pupils to the Cupernham and Halterworth schools would reduce the surplus to just 0.7% which, given the uncertainty surrounding the Abbottswood housing development might present too much of a risk at this time. It was felt important to continue to monitor primary school numbers in the area, particularly the demand at the Cupernham site.

A discussion then ensued on the outcome of the review of primary school provision in the Ampfield area. Notwithstanding the reasons, as set out in the report, for the officers' recommendation for closure of Ampfield C.E. Primary School, some Members were sympathetic to the governing body's desire to be given an opportunity to prove that with the threat of closure lifted, the current low numbers there would rise even though primary pupil numbers in the area were falling. An undertaking had been given by the governors that if this did not happen within three years they would raise no objection to closure. Some Members wished to give the school just one year to show that numbers were on the increase. However, the County Education Officer reported that it was not possible to make such an agreement binding on future governors: there had to be a clear proposal or none. Therefore, Members were asked to make a decision on whether to close or to retain the school. The majority voted in favour of the school being retained.

RESOLVED:

(i) That the overview and background information reports be noted.

(ii) To advise the Executive Member for Education on the following proposals to:

(a) close Romsey Infant School and Romsey Junior School and establish a 210 place primary school with 30 maintained nursery places on the Romsey Junior School site from September 2006;

(b) explore opportunities for the development of further community provision in the new primary school;

(d) retain Ampfield C.E. Primary School.

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