Contact: John Coughlan, ext no 6400, e-mail: [email protected]

John Clarke, ext no 6459, e-mail: [email protected]

1 Summary

1.1 The Education and Inspections Act 2006 ("the Act") received the Royal Assent on 8 November 2006. At his decision day on 18 January 2007, the Executive Member for Education considered the attached paper outlining the key implications of the Act for the County Council. The paper is complemented by a brief summary of the Act prepared by the Department of Education and Skills (DfES) and an implementation time-line.

1.2 The Executive Member determined that the report should be presented to Cabinet because of the key issues raised, such as Trust schools, Academies and the major changes to admission arrangements, and the resource and service implications of many of the new provisions.

1.3 The Act helps to deliver four of the five Children Act outcomes - Being healthy; Staying safe; Enjoying and achieving and Making a positive contribution - by enhancing pupil access to schools, offering wider curriculum choices at Key Stage 4 and improving the quality of school food.

1.4 The Act supports the County Council's corporate strategy (maximising well-being) by requiring local authorities and governing bodies to promote high standards in the fulfilment of every child's potential and, in particular, by ensuring that pupils from disadvantaged families are given greater educational opportunities.

2 Main Provisions of the Act

2.1 Many of the provisions in the 2006 Act amend or add to previous legislation, particularly the 1996 and 1998 Acts. The attached report considered by the Executive Member for Education highlights in Part A those areas which seem likely to have a significant immediate impact and these are summarised in the following paragraphs. References are to specific paragraphs in the attached paper unless otherwise stated.

Establishment, discontinuance or alteration of schools (2.4 - 2.6)

2.2 This section of the Act extends to primary schools the existing "competition" requirements for building secondary schools. The County Council builds many more primary than secondary schools so that this provision is likely to have an immediate effect. Initial work on existing proposals which will now be affected by the competition legislation suggests a significant increase in the time which will in future be required to achieve project completion.

Trust Schools and Academies (2.7 - 2.20)

2.3 The Act provides for new schools to be established as Trust schools (although this term is not used in the text) and for existing schools to seek to become a Trust school. Trust schools will have very similar responsibilities to those currently exercised by foundation schools, including owning their own assets, employing their own staff and setting their own admission arrangements. Paragraphs 2.7 - 2.11 of the attached appendix give further details and highlight the importance of the County Council's establishing a clear framework for considering any Trust proposals.

2.4 Similarly, although any decision to establish an Academy ultimately rests with the Secretary of State, it is important for the County Council to have a view about whether, depending upon individual circumstances, it would wish in principle to propose or support the establishment of an Academy. Paragraphs 2.12 - 2.20 of the appendix contain more information about Academies.

Other linked provisions (2.21 - 2.28)

2.5 The Act consolidates in primary legislation the criteria to be considered when local authorities are considering the future of a rural primary school (2.21), gives increased power to parents to make representations in relation to the provision of schools in their area (2.22- 2.25) and announces the end of the School Organisation Committee (SOC) which for the past eight years has acted as the final local arbiter on school planning issues (2.26).

School admissions (3.4 - 3.15)

2.6 The status of the new Code for School Admissions issued by the DfES has been enhanced so that local authorities and governing bodies must now "act in accordance with" the provisions of the Code whereas, previously, they were required to "have regard to" the Code. This is a significant change, nowhere more so than in the requirement for all admission authorities to allocate school places on the basis of an "equal preference" system rather than the "first preference first" system which has been used in the vast majority of Hampshire schools over recent years. Paragraphs 3.7 - 3.9 of the attached report explain the essential differences between these two allocation systems.

2.7 In partnership with the admission forum, officers were already consulting on a possible move to equal preferences with effect from September 2009 admissions. However, the DfES has made it abundantly clear that this change must take place from September 2008. In practice, this means that new procedures must be agreed and tested well before September 2007 when parents will begin to complete application forms for 2008 admissions. At present, the initial focus is on first preference applications (13,500 secondary; 19,500 primary and infant/junior). In future, all preferences must be considered at the same time, effectively trebling the number to be processed at secondary and doubling it at primary.

2.8 The county admissions team has been partly restructured to prepare for this change but, bearing in mind that the new system will require further centralisation of Hampshire admission procedures, the full resource implications of requiring new procedures to be in place by 2008 rather than 2009 have yet to be quantified.

2.9 Not only has the status of the admission forum been enhanced, but its remit has been extended (3.12). In future it will have the power to prepare and publish its own reports on matters connected with admissions to mainstream schools in Hampshire, supported by the facility to require local authorities and governing bodies to provide relevant information.

School Travel and School Meals (4.1 - 4.8)

2.10 The Act sets out four additional duties for local authorities including duties to promote high standards in the fulfilment of every child's potential and to promote diversity and choice. The new provisions on school travel reflect this by extending entitlement to free transport both at primary and secondary level for children from disadvantaged families (4.2- 4.4).

2.11 Work has already started on identifying likely additional costs but, as paragraph 4.4 of the attached report explains, because costs will be directly related to the extent to which families wish to take advantage of these flexibilities and, equally important, the extent to which they are successful in obtaining a place for their child in a non-catchment area school, it is difficult to determine in advance what costs might be involved.

2.12 The Act also sets nutritional standards for all food and drink provided on schools premises, not simply school lunches as at present.

Discipline, Behaviour and Exclusion

2.13 This section of the Act clarifies schools' powers in relation to certain disciplinary issues, such as the disciplining of pupils when they are not on the school premises, detention and the confiscation of property. These provisions are welcome since they clarify areas which can sometimes lead to disputes between parents and schools.

2.14 The Act gives additional power to local authorities with regard to finding a school place for looked after pupils who have been excluded. This will support the County Council in its role as corporate parent.

2.15 Draft regulations have now been received which require authorities and schools to provide full-time education for excluded pupils from day six of an exclusion rather than from day 15. Paragraph 5.7 of the report draws attention to the potential additional tuition and transport costs, particularly in rural areas.

Other provisions (6.1 - 10.1)

2.16 Part B of the appendix lists a range of other provisions in the Act. Particular attention is drawn to Section 7, which accords additional powers to local authorities in relation to schools causing concern, and to Section 8 which, in response to criticisms of current provision for science exams at GCSE, sets out new entitlements for pupils in Years 10 and 11 with the aim of better preparing them for more advanced science studies.

3 Consultation, Legal, Financial and Personnel Implications, Impact Assessment and Crime Prevention

3.1 These are addressed in paragraphs 11 - 16 of the attached report.

4 Views of local the County Councillor.

N/A

Recommendation:

1 That Cabinet recognises the additional statutory duties imposed on the County Council by the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and acknowledges the likely future resource and service implications for the Children's Services Department highlighted in the report.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB: the list excludes

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

List documents here or type `none'.

None