Lead Member – Councillor Nicholas Bardsley – Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People

Report of the Director of Children’s Services  TO FOLLOW

Contact: Karen Bradshaw  Tel: 01743 254201

RESOLVED:

i)     That sustaining the Education Improvement Service solely through grant funding from central government and de-delegated funds from Shropshire Council maintained schools be approved. 

ii)    That, as a result of the above, a traded Education Improvement Service professional training development programme be maintained through to April 2019, at which point the Council will cease to deliver this traded service to Shropshire schools.

The Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People presented a report from the Director of Children’s Services on the proposals for the future of the Education Improvement Support for schools.  The Chair of the People Overview Committee was present and reported that the Scrutiny Committee had been in support of the recommended approach once the detail had been fully explained and examined.

The Portfolio Holder stated that the proposal would allow statutory obligations to be fulfilled and the retention of the current service level would require over £250k that was not in the core budget.  He paid tribute to the helpful approach that had been taken by the Shropshire Schools Forum that would allow a degree of service to be retained as detailed in paragraph 5.15 of the report.

A Member commented that consideration of such a proposal was deplorable given the detrimental impact and associated risks.  The Portfolio Holder commented that neighbouring authorities in the West Midlands region were largely following the same route.  The Leader added that this reflected the changing world of local government and particularly the impact of the academisation of schools.

RESOLVED:

i)     That sustaining the Education Improvement Service solely through grant funding from central government and de-delegated funds from Shropshire Council maintained schools be approved. 

ii)    That, as a result of the above, a traded Education Improvement Service professional training development programme be maintained through to April 2019, at which point the Council will cease to deliver this traded service to Shropshire schools.