Agenda item

As detailed in the recommendations.

Councillor Aaron Shotton introduced the report for reconsideration following the call-in by the Education and Youth Overview & Scrutiny Committee of Cabinet’s previous decision on John Summers High School. 

The Chief Officer (Education and Youth) detailed the background to the report and spoke of the challenges due to low pupil numbers and budget reductions.  He spoke of the increasing costs for schools for 2015/16 and 2016/17 and said that John Summers High School received funding per pupil of £5,180 which was £1,285 more than the £3,895 per pupil at Castell Alun High School.  As funding reduced, the Council would not be able to sustain this level of funding for John Summers High School without lowering the funding for other schools.  Using the existing funding formula the school could face a 16% reduction in funding over the next four years which would equate to the need to reduce teaching posts by at least 6.5 or 20% which was unsustainable.  By 2019/20 this would result in a reduction of 8.7 full time equivalent posts, or 26% of staff, if a further loss of 10% of pupil numbers based on current allocation was applied, which again was unsustainable.  The Chief Officer said that this would lead to higher pupil teacher ratios and teachers providing lessons in multiple subjects. 

On 6 August 2015, Cabinet agreed to proceed to the next stage to close John Summers High School and refer the decision to the Welsh Government (WG) Minister.  The call-in had been initiated over concerns about transition plans for pupils, transport to and from alternative schools and its cost, and the need for assurance about the future use of the site.  The issues relating to transition and transport arrangements would be resolved through a detailed planning process.  However, he added that many of the pupils from John Summers High School would be eligible for free transport under the Council’s policy and a report on this would be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee, possibly in November 2015.  The Chief Officer explained that work was being undertaken on the transition plans to develop a future model for the high schools at John Summers, Saltney, Hawarden and Connah’s Quay.  Discussions had also been undertaken with GwE, the Regional School Improvement Service, and they were in agreement with the proposal to build on collaborative working and the provision of enhanced option choices.  Transition plans had also been positively viewed by Estyn in their response to the consultation. 

The Chief Officer drew Members’ attention to paragraphs 1.17 to 1.22 which set out the key principles in relation to the Council’s responsibility to support individual vulnerable learners through a period of change and transition.  The principle of support needed to be extended to all learners at John Summers High School through the period of change and a commitment had been given to undertake this. 

The Chief Executive commented that two of the three issues that had been raised at the call-in had been addressed (transition plans and transport) by the Chief Officer (Education and Youth).  On the third issue of the site, he gave assurance that the Council had no alternative plans for the future use of the John Summers site.  The Capital programme for Queensferry Primary School was to continue and this would be developed further as part of the Council’s 21^st Century schools programme and the existing services on the site (the Youth Centre, Pupil Referral Unit and Community First office base) would be retained.  Any future plans for the site would be brought back to Cabinet and public consultation would be guaranteed.  The Chief Executive explained that at the call-in meeting, Councillor Shotton had commented that should the Minister take the decision to close the school, he would be in favour of the land being protected as ‘open space’ for community use in perpetuity, due to the density of development in the locality and open and playing space being at a premium. 

On the transport issue, Councillor Bernie Attridge said that a detailed report would be submitted to a future meeting of Cabinet for consideration and he provided a personal assurance that this would take place before the end of the year. 

Councillor Derek Butler felt that the three issues that had been raised at the call-in meeting had been addressed.  Councillor Helen Brown spoke on the future of the site and said that she had voted against closure of the school.  It had been suggested that the site could be retained as a ‘field in trust’ to prevent it being built on but Councillor Brown urged caution on this as she felt that this could rule out the site being used if a new school needed to be built when the Northern Gateway site progressed.  Councillor Attridge acknowledged the comment.  He clarified that there were no current plans for the future use of the site and expressed significant concern at the comments and personal attacks that had been made to him and his family over the issue.  Councillor Shotton confirmed that he was in favour of the land being protected as ‘open space’ for community use in perpetuity and that protecting it as a ‘field in trust’ was an option. 

Councillor Shotton said that the three issues raised at the call-in meeting had been addressed as follows:

·         transport costs and the discretionary elements of the Council’s school transport policy were being considered;

·         transition planning was being undertaken and developed;

·         the issue of the future use of the site had been discussed.

He spoke of the comments made by the Local Assembly Member and the ex-Head teacher of Connah’s Quay High School and said that he hoped that they recognised that the reducing funding, which was out of the Council’s control, had been a significant element in the Authority’s decision.  Councillor Shotton referred to the challenges faced by the Council and of the funding gap that could put services under threat.  He spoke of the budget for schools which he said would have to increase by 4% for next year to maintain the current service and added that more funding cuts could be announced by the Government in the autumn.  He indicated that urgent discussions were required with Welsh Government to request help with the remaining financial gap that the Council faced for 2016-17, and that if this was not forthcoming, further difficult decisions would need to be made. 

            The Chief Officer (Education and Youth) said that if the student figures for John Summers High School remained static, it was expected that a reduction by 2019/20 of 8.7 full time equivalent teaching posts would be lost, which was not sustainable for the school to deliver a curriculum to the pupils.  He reiterated his earlier comments that reduced teacher numbers would have a direct impact on the standards at the school and would make the school a less vibrant place to study which would lead to further reductions in pupil numbers. 

            The Chief Executive explained that policy indicated that for a school for 11-16 year olds to be sustainable, it required 600 pupils to attend.  The current figure was 305 and based on the formula used, it was forecast that the Northern Gateway site, which could take a number of years to complete, would only generate 199 secondary school pupils which gave a total of 504 which was below the trigger point of 600.  Local residents had suggested that an exception could be made to retain the school with lower pupil numbers but WG did not have the facility to make an exception and would not provide the additional funding required to retain the school with a low rate of pupils.  He referred to the Medium Term Financial Strategy and said that it reflected that the Council did not have the financial capability to continue the current funding required for John Summers High School.  The Chief Executive spoke of the meetings that had taken place with the Head Teachers and Governors of the school where he had raised concern that the budget for the school was not sustainable.  The Council was not in a position to continue the current level of funding without having an impact on the funding provided to other schools.  Some schools received additional specific grants but these were also reducing.   

            Councillor Shotton spoke of the importance of WG recognising the Council’s need for help and support in closing the budget gap.                                                                                  

RESOLVED:

(a)       That Cabinet is reassured by the plans for transition and the openness to consider home to school transport options explored by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee;

(b)       That Cabinet reaffirm their commitment to reviewing in detail options for home to school transport;

(c)        That Cabinet direct the officer and head teacher planning group to plan in detail for transition taking into account the feedback of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee;

(d)       That a commitment is made to a full public consultation exercise on the future use of the site, should the school be closed, including the options for open space and fields in trust protection; and

(e)       That Cabinet reaffirms the previous decision to refer the proposal of closure of the Sixth Form at John Summers High School from 31^st August 2016 and closure of the School from 31^st August 2017 to the Welsh Government. 

            Following a short adjournment, the meeting resumed at 10.30am.