Cabinet - Minutes and Dec ision Record – 3 September 2007 CABINET MINUTES AND DECISION RECORD 3 S eptem be r 2 00 7 The meeting commenc ed at 9.00 am at the Av ondale Centr e, Hartlepool Present: The Mayor (Stuart Drummond) - In the Chair Councillors : Pa m Har greaves (Deputy Mayor) Gerard Hall (Adult and Public Health Services Portfolio Holder) Cath Hill (Childr en’s Serv ices Por tfolio Holder) Victor Tumilty (Culture, Leisur e and Touris m Portfolio Holder) Officers : Paul Walker, Chief Executive Adrienne Simcock, Director of Childr en’s Serv ices Peter Scott, Dir ector of Regeneration and Planning Serv ices Paul Briggs, Ass istant Dir ector, Children’s Serv ices Peter McIntosh, Project Manager, Childr en’s Serv ices Gr aham Fr ankland, Head of Property and Procurement Services Tony Brown, Chief Solicitor Alastair Rae, Public Relations Officer Angela Hunter, Principal Democratic Servic es Officer Also pres ent: Councillor Stephen Akers- Belcher 75. Building Schools for the Future: Stage Three Consultation (Director of Childr en’s Servic es) Type of decision Key Decis ion (Tests (i) and (ii) apply) Purpose of report To request Cabinet to note the outc omes of the third stage of cons ultation in preparation for Building Schools for the Futur e. Issue(s) for consideration by Cabinet The Portfolio Holder for Childr en’s Services introduced the report and its recommendations. The Assistant Dir ector of Childr en’s Services reminded Me mbers that Hartlepool w as to be admitted to the BSF programme in 20 0 7 as a Wav e 5 A ut hor ity , s ubj ec t t o adh er i n g to t h e ti me s c al e i n dic ate d in its submission in October 2006. The total amount of BSF funding 07. 09.03 - Ca bin et Minu tes D ecision Record min ute 75 1 Hartlepo ol Boroug h Co uncil Cabinet - Minutes and Dec ision Record – 3 September 2007 available to spend on Hartlepool schools was likely to be between £80 million and £90 million including Information and Communications Tec hnology ( ICT) . Consultation had been undertaken across three stages from September 2006 until July 2007 and a summary of responses w ere included w ithin the report w ith a detailed summary attached by w ay of appendix. Follow ing the consultation, the key issues rais ed and a range of poss ible options w ere presented to the Project Boar d on 16 August 2007 for consideration. The Project Boar d agreed the follow ing recommendations in relation to these key iss ues: The Proposed Closure of Brierton Com munity School – The Project Board rec ommended that Cabinet authorise the publication of a statutory public notice in the form of a propos al to discontinue Brierton Community School w ith effect from 31st August 2009. Projected pupil numbers for St Hild’s Church of England Secondary School – The Project Board recommended that Throston Primary School be named as a partner primary school to both St Hild’s and High Tunstall, pending a r eview of primary sc hool prov is ion that w ill begin in autumn 2007. Jesmond Road Primary School – The Pr oject Boar d recommended that the str eets within the Jes mond Road Primary School admission zone which w ere identified at Appendix 2 should be partnered w ith High Tunstall College of Science, pending a review of primary school provis ion that w ill begin in autumn 2007. The r emaining str eets w ithin the Jesmond Road Primary School admission zone should be partnered w ith Dy ke House School. Lyn nfield Pr im ar y Scho ol – The Pr oject Board recommended that Lynnfield Primary School be named as a par tner primary school to both Dy ke House School and High Tunstall College of Scienc e, pending a review of primary school provision that w ill begin in autumn 2007. St Aidan’s Church of England Primary School – The Project Board recommended that St Aidan’s Churc h of England Pr imary School be named as a partner primary school to both Dyke House Secondary School and Manor College of Technology, but further to discuss ions w ith the Churc h of England Dioces an, the Dir ector of Children’s Serv ices recommended that St A idan’s Churc h of England Pr imary School is confir med as a partner primary school to Dyke House School, pending a review of primary school provision that w ill begin in autumn 2007. Holy Trinity Church of England Prim ary School – The Pr oj ec t Bo ar d recommended that Holy Tr inity Church of England Pr imary School continues to be identified as a partner primary school to Dy ke House School, pending a review of primary school provis ion that w ill begin in autumn 2007. Rift House Prim ary School – A consensus c ould not be reached by the Project Board, therefore Cabinet w as asked to determine the mos t 07. 09.03 - Ca bin et Minu tes D ecision Record min ute 75 2 Hartlepo ol Boroug h Co uncil Cabinet - Minutes and Dec ision Record – 3 September 2007 appropriate transfer arr angements for pupils leaving Rift House School at age 11 and the follow ing options w ere suggested: (a) proceed w ith partner primary proposals in respect of Rift House School w ithout modification (b) amend the partner pr imary pr oposals w hereby Rift House School becomes a partner primary school for Manor College Other iss ues examined w ithin the report inc luded the timing of the clos ure, support for Brier ton pupils and their families, provision for pupils w ith Autistic Spectrum Disorder and support for Brierton staff. Subject to Cabinet approval, the next steps in the process w ere listed along with the costs ass ociated w ith the potential closur e of Brierton Community School. In addition to the above, the Project Board requested that consideration be giv en to inviting Councillor Pa mela Hargreaves to join the Board in light of the relevance of her pr ofessional role w ith children and young people of the area to the Boar d’s w ork. How ever, it w as suggested that there w as no need to modify the Project Board at this current time. The Project Board w as thanked for their input and for summarising the v ast infor mation available for c onsideration by Cabinet. Me mbers w ere aw are that a sc hool closure w as a crucial decis ion that would hav e a huge impac t on pupils in the tow n but that this w as an exciting opportunity for the education provision for future generations of the tow n. It w as noted that w ithin the summary of respons es to the consultation, there w ere some exc ellent suggestions from young people and it w as hoped that these w ould be c onsidered as part of the transitional arrangements. It w as recognised that the consultation process had demonstrated that the Authority was taking a pragmatic approach to the whole process and that view s had been listened to and taken on board with some amendments being suggested in relation to the proposed par tner pr imary arr angements. In order to secure the viability of all schools, Members w ere keen that the resources available through the BSF programme be fully utilised to ens ure that all schools w ere operated at the same lev el and that none w ere perceived as inferior to others . In res ponse to a Member’s s uggestion that the Brierton land be reserved for future education and community us e, it was noted that subject to Cabinet’s decis ion, it w ould be difficult at the present time to agree a future use of land at Brier ton and that all options would need full c onsideration w hen this w as more appropr iate. With Cabinet’s permiss ion, Councillor Stephen A kers-Belcher addressed Me mbers. Councillor A kers- Belc her r equested reass urances from Cabinet that transport arrangements for children in the Brierton area and a review of catc hment areas be examined and that the commitment to the children in the area be continued. In response The Mayor indic ated that any dec ision w ould take into account the needs and priorities of c hildren acr oss the w hole tow n to ens ure that the bes t opportunities as possible w ere made available to all children. In relation to Rift House Primary School and the options proposed above, it was noted that there w ere concerns about childr en from the Rift House 07. 09.03 - Ca bin et Minu tes D ecision Record min ute 75 3 Hartlepo ol Boroug h Co uncil Cabinet - Minutes and Dec ision Record – 3 September 2007 area w alking to High Tunstall School bec aus e of the congestion w hich alr eady existed on Catc ote Road. Further detailed information w as sought on the next steps of the pr ocess , in par ticular how the remaining sc hools w ould be developed and how resources were to be allocated. The Assistant Dir ector infor med Members that subject to the dec ision at this meeting, technic al advisers w ould be engaged to identify how resourc es w ould be allocated and a programme for the implementation of this.