Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Seacole Room - Tickfield. View directions

Contact: Robert Harris 

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from J Russell (Governor – Chase High School), J Jones (Barons Court), J Mullan (St Christophers SEN Trust Southend), L Yelland (Essex Pre-School Learning Alliance) and M Jordan (Victory Park Academy).

2.

Minutes of the meeting held on 4th June 2019 pdf icon PDF 88 KB

Minutes attached

Minutes:

Resolved:

 

The minutes of the meeting held on 4th June 2019, as amended, were agreed as a correct record.

3.

Matters arising (not covered elsewhere on the agenda)

Data-sharing update (item 3 refers) (no papers)

Minutes:

Data-sharing (item 3 refers)

 

The Board was informed that there were only two outstanding Trusts currently in the process of signing-up to the data-sharing protocol/agreement.  They have raised some queries regarding the reasons for the additional data (i.e on safeguarding grounds).  The Director was confident that they will comply and would send confirmation that all schools have signed-up to the protocol/agreement to members by December 2019.

ACTION: Tom Dowler

 

CEO MATs Group Representation (item 5 refers)

 

The Board was informed that the CEO MATs Group have now provided their terms of reference and have nominated Bev Williams as the representative to attend the Board.

 

The Board noted that the CEO MAT Group representative would be able to vote on matters solely in respect of Education Board matters and will not have voting rights in respect to Schools Forum matters. 

 

The Board referred to the recent changes to its membership and make-up and suggested that the voting rights should be clarified at the next meeting.

 

Resolved:

 

1. That the CEO MATs Group Terms of Reference be circulated to the Board members for information and Bev Williams be invited to the next Board meeting on 17th December 2019.

(ACTION: Robert Harris/Brin Martin)

 

2. That clarification on the voting rights of the Board members be provided to the next meeting on 17th December 2019.

(ACTION: Robert Harris)

4.

Education Board Constitution, Membership and Vacancies

Report to follow

Minutes:

The Board considered a report from the Clerk covering the current membership and vacancies and the further revised and updated Constitution for the Board’s consideration.

 

The Board noted that the Constitution needed some refinement and further additions and the final version would be presented to the Board on 17th December 2019 for final approval.  The additions included but were not limited to:

 

·         Election of Chair’s and Vice-Chair’s of Sub Groups – at the start of each academic year;

·         Clarification regarding trade union representation;

·         Inclusion of the Sub Groups membership, terms of reference, etc;

 

The Clerk advised that several vacancies and been filled since the last meeting but there were currently three vacancies to be filled (two in the maintained primary sector and one in the Academy Primary sector). 

 

Resolved:

 

1. That the progress in filling the current vacancies on the Board and the membership attached at Appendix 1 to the report, be noted and that the vacancies in the relevant sectors be readvertised/promoted within all schools and school governing bodies in the relevant sectors.

(ACTION: Robert Harris)

 

2. That the Constitution, as set out in Appendix 2, be revised and updated further and be submitted to the Board on 17th December 2019 for endorsement/agreement.

(ACTION: Robert Harris)

 

3. That the SOSHA be invited to nominate a representative to the Resources Sub Group.

(ACTION: Dr Paul Hayman)

 

4. That Stuart Reynolds be appointed to the Resources Sub Group.

(ACTION: Paul Grout/Robin Bevan).

5.

Dedicated School Grant 2019/20 Budget Update and Planning for 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 114 KB

Report attached

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board considered a report from the Senior Finance Officer providing an update on the latest Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) budget 2019/20 following the applied annual July 2019 funding update changes made by the Department for Education (DfE).

 

The Board discussed the report and commented that the total amounts continue to remain below inflation when combined with the pupil premium nationally and the significant cost pressures on all schools in the borough (e.g. increases in the national pay for teachers).  The Board also reiterated its concerns regarding the funding formula and that in real terms there has only been a 1% increase in funding over the last seven years.

 

Resolved:

 

1. With regard to individual school’s budget (ISB) planning for 2020/21, to continue on the trajectory of adopting the principles of the National Funding Formulae (NFF), as referenced in 5.2 to 5.6 of the report, the following be agreed:

 

1.1 The minimum per pupil 2020/21 funding levels be set at £3,750 for primary schools and £5,000 for secondary schools (which is based on the nationally defined pupil led funding factors including lump sum);

 

1.2 Any school that attracts their core NFF funding factors (i.e. with no MFG or funding floor protections applied), to benefit from the NFF applied 4% increase to those core factors; and

 

1.3 Ensure all schools (except those who will receive a greater percentage funding increase per pupil from either recommendation 1.1 or 1.2 above) are modelled to receive the same and remaining maximum available percentage pupil led funding increase, which is up to 1.84% from the individual schools NFF 2019 to 2020 baseline (but also has to be a minimum of 0.5%).  The ability to award the maximum 1.84% remains caveated, with any Education Board consideration and therefore decision applicable or available in relation to recommendation 2.4 below.

 

2. That the update to the DSG 2019/20 budget allocations for both early years and high needs funding following the DfE’s July 2019 funding updates (as referenced in sections 7.2 and 8.1 of the report), be noted.

 

3. That, as per the annual local DSG funding cycle, the actual 2020/21 funded amounts per pupil for each school, based on the principles agreed in 1.1 and 1.3 above, will therefore be presented:

 

3.1 To the Education Board in December 2019, illustrated using the 2019/20 school block data set but with proposed funding increases shown per pupil and any resulting or possible considerations relating to 4 below, although caveated that those schools that will benefit from the 4% NFF core funding factor increase (as per recommendation 1.2 above), in terms of their overall per pupil amount, cannot actually be confirmed until January 2020.

3.2 For Education Board in January 2020 the final ISB funding allocations (also illustrated per pupil) will be presented based on the updated School 2020/21 block data set.

 

4. That, as referenced in sections 5.6 and 9.5 of the report, any recommendations for Education Board considerations, on the historic commitment element of the 2020/21 Central  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Public Duties Update

Verbal update (no papers)

Minutes:

The Board received a verbal update concerning the process for administering and managing the Public Duties fund in respect of the academy trusts.  In order to administer the fund a 10% administration fee would be applied and it was clarified that the fee was £1.00 per pupil.

 

Resolved:

 

1. That a letter be distributed to all academy trusts to encourage them to subscribe to the Public Duties fund and feedback be provided to the Board on 17th December 2019 on those that have opted in and opted out of the fund.

ACTION: Brin Martin

 

2. That the Public Duties fund be raised at the next meeting of the CEO MATs Group.

ACTION: Dr Paul Hayman

7.

Commissioning and Procurement of Service Level Agreements

Verbal update (no papers)

Minutes:

The Board considered a short briefing paper providing an overview of the Service Level Agreements/Contracts/Arrangements held by the Council with various agencies, schools and providers and outlined the scope to review each and every contractual arrangement in line with best practice. 

 

The Board discussed the paper and made the following comments:

 

Ø  Need to ensure value for money;

Ø  SLA’s and contracts need be outcome focussed and based on tangible data/information;

Ø  Understood that the contracts/SLA’s are  commercial sensitivity and that outcomes would be provided to the Board once a contract/SLA was awarded and in the public domain;

Ø  Need clarification on where and who monitors and quality assures the SLAs/contracts; (i.e.

Ø  Key to understand and evidence impact – is it making a real difference?

Ø  All SLA’s / contracts must be brought up to the same high standard;

Ø  Capacity of the sub groups for operational oversight of the SLA’s / contract.

 

Resolved:

 

1. That the approach set out in the briefing paper be noted and approved.

 

2. That the potential sensitivities regarding strengthening and normalising (standardising) the commissioning arrangements be noted.

 

3. That the operational financial implications, where appropriate, be reported through the Resources Sub Group.  The monitoring relating to performance indicators would continue to be discussed through the Vulnerable Learners Sub Group, and reported through to the Resources Sub Group, where necessary alongside any Dedicated Schools Grant financial considerations.

ACTION: Brin Martin

 

8.

Initial Scrutiny of Outcomes 2019 pdf icon PDF 73 KB

Report attached

Minutes:

The Board received a report considered by the Council’s Cabinet on 17th September 2019, presenting the early high level performance data from Southend schools following the summer 2019 examinations and tests.

 

The Board discussed the report and commented on the KS4 and KS5 results and stressed that a greater focus should be the journey of the child and how they can aspire to get the best educational outcomes they can achieve.  It was also noted that recent inspections have had a focus on children’s experiences at school.

 

The Board also discussed the deprivation gap and the significant challenges in breaking the cycle and narrow the gap.

 

Resolved:


1. That the Cabinet report setting out the overall performance of Southend schools at each key stage, in particular relative to the emerging national benchmarks, be noted.

 

2. That the School Performance Sub Group be asked to consider alternative ways to measure the journey of the child and outcomes.

ACTION: Darren Woollard

9.

Initial consideration of Inclusion project pdf icon PDF 218 KB

Slides attached

Minutes:

The Board received a paper providing an update on the ISOS partnership research project ‘strengthening a culture of inclusion in Southend schools’ commissioned by Southend Borough Council.  The paper outlined the context and scope, next steps and the timeline for the project.

 

The Board discussed the paper and commented on the equitable distribution of vulnerable children across all schools in the borough and the provision of education for all pupils irrespective of the school.

 

Resolved:

 

That the progress on the ‘strengthening a culture of inclusion in Southend schools’ ISOS partnership research project, be noted and the report findings be presented to the Board on 17th December 2019.

ACTION: Brin Martin

 

10.

Children's Services Inspection pdf icon PDF 540 KB

Slides attached

Minutes:

The Board received power point presentation slides providing feedback from the Ofsted inspection of children’s services.

 

Resolved:


That the feedback from the Ofsted inspection be noted.

11.

Update on Place Planning

Verbal update (no papers)

Minutes:

The Board considered the year seven forecasts against available secondary school places.

 

The Board discussed and noted that there were sufficient secondary school places to meet current demand as the projections indicated that the need for school places was going down.  Therefore it was highly unlikely that an additional secondary school would be required within the next 10 year period.  However, the oversubscription and availability of school places in the special school sector was a concern.

 

Resolved:

 

That the year seven forecasts for secondary school places, be noted and that the forecasts against available primary school places be presented to the Board on 17th December 2019 for consideration.

ACTION: Cathy Braun

12.

Southend 2050 Roadmap pdf icon PDF 51 KB

Report / paper attached

Minutes:

The Board received a short paper setting out the short to medium term Southend 2050 outcomes for the period 2019-2021.

 

Resolved:

 

That the update be noted.

 

13.

Executive Director (Children and Public Health) pdf icon PDF 46 KB

Slide attached

Minutes:

The Board received the updated senior management team structure for children’s services/education.

 

Resolved:


That the senior management structure chart, be noted.

14.

Report back from Sub Groups pdf icon PDF 164 KB

(a) SPSG – Draft minutes attached.

 

(b) RDF – Draft Minutes attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board received the minutes of the Resources Sub Group (held 8th October), School Performance Sub Group (held 11th September) and the Vulnerable Learners Sub Group (held 17th October).

 

Resolved:

 

That the minutes of the Sub Groups, be noted.

15.

Any other business

Minutes:

No other business was conducted at this meeting.

16.

Date and time of future meetings

17th December 2019 at 08.15am

21st January 2020 at 08.15am

17th March 2020 at 08.15am

Minutes:

Tuesday 17th December 2019 at 08.15am

Tuesday 21st January 2020 at 08.15am

Tuesday 17th March 2020 at 08.15am

 

Get the best from this site

We use simple text files called 'cookies'. Some of these cookies are essential to make our site work and others help us to improve by giving us some insight into how the site is being used. For more information, including how to turn cookies off, see more about cookies - or simply click the Continue button to use this site as normal.