Purpose

Report on the sufficiency of school places and
plan for new places where needed to meet the statutory duty to
offer a school places to every child in the LA a school
place.

Content

The Cabinet considered
a report of the Director of Children’s Services which sought
to inform of an annual review of primary school places across the
borough, evaluating the sufficiency of available places and
providing forecasts for the next three years.
The report also sought
approval of the necessary expenditures for managing the school
estate to ensure the Council fulfilled its statutory obligation to
provide a school place for every child residing in the borough.
 
The Transformation
Project manager Sufficiency was in
attendance to present the information and to address the
questions and the comments of the Cabinet Members.
 
Resolved:
1.   
That the allocation of Basic Need and developer contributions for
expansion projects in Middleton for the purpose of increasing
in-year places in Year 2 and Year 5 for September 2025 with the
financial allocation detailed in Appendix 1 to the report be
approved;
2.   
That the allocation of Basic Need and developer contributions for
expansion projects in Middleton for the purpose of increasing
in-year places in Year 1, Year 3 and Year 4 for September 2026 with
the financial allocation detailed in Appendix 1 to the report be
approved;
3.   
That the allocation of Basic Need and developer contributions for
expansion of two schools for September 2026 Reception intakes in
Middleton with the financial allocation detailed in Appendix 1 to
the report be approved;
4.   
That the consultation with headteachers
and Governing Boards in the Pennines to reduce Pupil Admission
Numbers (PAN) from September 2027 to address the ongoing surplus of
places across the Township be
approved.
 
Reason for
decision:
The Council had a
statutory duty to provide education and school places for all
school-aged children residing in the borough and was consequently
responsible for ensuring effective planning to accommodate
projected pupil numbers.
In accordance with
Section 14(1) of the Education Act 1996, the Local Authority had a
duty to ensure sufficient school places are available and acted as
the strategic commissioner for the provision of new school places
within its area.
A local authority
would exercise its functions under this legislation to contribute
to the spiritual, moral, mental, and physical development of the
community by ensuring that efficient primary and secondary
education, and in the case of a local authority in England, further
education, were available to meet the needs of the population
within its area.
 
Alternatives
considered and rejected:
Local authorities must
balance their statutory duty to provide sufficient places with the
need to ensure schools were not adversely
impacted by carrying excess spare spaces.
The alternative to
(2.1), (2.2) and (2.3) in the report would maintain Middleton
Township school places at the current capacity and would possibly
result in insufficient school places within statutory travel
distances and an inability of the Admissions Team to manage in-year
and offer day primary school applications.
The alternative to
(2.4) in the report would be to remain at the current level of
spare capacity in the Pennines with the knowledge that more schools
would struggle financially to meet the requirement of balanced
forecast budgets.