Lead Member – Councillor David Minnery – Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People.

Report of the Director of Children’s Services

Contact: Karen Bradshaw  Tel: 01743 254201

RESOLVED:

i)             That Cabinet approve to move to formal consultation with schools on the proposal to recoup a capped contribution of £5,000 for each converting school;

ii)            That Cabinet approves in principle, subject to the consultation process, the recoupment of the Council’s costs in relation to the academy conversion process, setting a contribution capped at £5,000 for each converting school, and that this is effective for any Academy Orders received from 1 January 2017 onwards, and delegates the final decision on this to the Director of Children’s Services in consultation with the Portfolio Holder.

Responding to the Head of Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer the following Members indicated that they were currently serving as School Governors, namely, Councillors S Jones, D Minnery, S West, A Mosley, R Evans and M Shineton.

The Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People presented the report from the Director of Children’s Services proposing the introduction of a charge to converting schools to cover Council costs, to be charged against the Government grant they receive for costs relating to the conversion process.  He added that this would be a capped charge at £5,000 for each converting school to be effective for any Academy Orders received from 1 January 2017 onwards.

A member voiced his surprise at the proposed charge and added that the costs of conversion were not covered by the Government grant received by converting schools and therefore, in effect, the Council was taking money away from education.  Other Members commented that the proposed contribution would safeguard the interests of the authority in this process.  It was noted that the Young People’s Scrutiny Committee had considered this matter and had been supportive.

Another Member suggested that the Council should lobby Government against the conversion of schools to academies particularly given the growing concerns regarding the benefits of academies.  She added that the funding from the Government for academy conversion costs would do nothing for the education of Shropshire children.

RESOLVED:

i)             That Cabinet approve to move to formal consultation with schools on the proposal to recoup a capped contribution of £5,000 for each converting school;

ii)            That Cabinet approves in principle, subject to the consultation process, the recoupment of the Council’s costs in relation to the academy conversion process, setting a contribution capped at £5,000 for each converting school, and that this is effective for any Academy Orders received from 1 January 2017 onwards, and delegates the final decision on this to the Director of Children’s Services in consultation with the Portfolio Holder.