To receive a report by the Chief Executive Education Leeds which provides an overview of the New Admissions Code
(Report to follow)
Minutes:
The Chief Executive Education Leeds submitted a report which provided an overview of the New Admission Code.
In providing background to the report Mrs Buckland, Head of Service – Admissions and Transport, Education Leeds said that following DCSF consultation exercise a new School Admissions Code will come into force on 10th February 2009. The DCSF received 635 responses to the consultation: 200 responses from parents or parent governors, 153 from Local Authorities and 130 from schools or Headteachers.
Responses
Improving the application and allocation process – The consultation was looking at local authorities becoming the sole contact point for parents seeking a school place both in the normal admission round and throughout the year. Many authorities expressed concern about the resource implications of implementing this, however, there was widespread support for the proposal, including Leeds. This will now form part of the new Code.
Local consultation process – The consultation was seeking to allow consultation to take place only every three years, but that consultation must take place for a minimum of eight weeks and must include parents and local community groups. Many respondents felt that local groups should be determined locally and the new Code will allow the local authority to do so with the agreement of the Admission Forum.
Admission Forums – The consultation was seeking views on making Admission Forums voluntary. Leeds strongly disagreed with the Forum being a voluntary body and described the merits of an effective Forum. The majority of respondents felt the same way and the new Code will continue to require the Admission Forum to be mandatory. The membership is being reduced in number and is seeking to be more widely representative. The focus of the Forum will be on the fairness of admission arrangements rather than the legality.
School admission appeals – The consultation sought views on an independent reviewer for infant class size appeals, encouraging schools to use a centrally provided appeals system and appeals panellists considering lawfulness of admission arrangements. The idea of school appeals being collectively administered was supported by a large majority although the new Code will stop short of introducing the other changes. We are advised that we can expect further legislation at a later date relating to appeals.
Information for parents – This referred to a deadline by which the composite prospectus must be published and the need to make this available on the website. As we already publish the information on our website a month prior to the deadline this will require no changes in Leeds.
Ensuring fair and lawful admission arrangements – This was to require local authorities to report annually to the Schools Adjudicator on the fairness and legality of admission arrangements. This will now appear in the new Code and extends the duty imposed last year to report on legality of admission policies, to include a similar detailed report that was previously the responsibility of the Admission Forum.
Fair Access Protocols – Views were sought on including the children of Service families in the protocol, to include deadlines and more description of how decisions are made under the protocol. These amendments were widely accepted as appropriate and the new Code would require greater detail for parents in the Fair Access Protocol. The young people to be included as a minimum in the protocol have been defined and there is a requirement to define deadlines and some decision making rationale. The Admission Forum continue to have a duty to monitor the operation of the Fair Access Protocol and the local authority have a duty to report on the operation of the protocol in their report to the Schools Adjudicator.
Ethos – The consultation proposed that schools be allowed to include an ethos statement and that may form part of their oversubscription criteria. In Leeds we objected that this would introduce the potential for manipulation and that more articulate parents would confirm their belief in the ethos realising this would increase their chance of gaining a place. This would place less well informed parents at a disadvantage without good reason. The consultation response by the DCSF quotes, almost verbatim, the arguments presented in our submission, and consequently schools can include an ethos statement but cannot use it as part of their oversubscription criteria.
Conclusion
Whilst much of the consultation has been followed through into the new Code, there have been some amendments. Notably this includes the requirement for an Admission Forum, rather than the proposal that Admission Forums become voluntary. The new consultation process is already underway as the DCSF have required local authorities to consult with parents on admission arrangements for 2010, ahead of the new Code. Full coordination of school places will have a significant impact on the workload of local authorities from 2010. The local authority now has responsibility for an annual report to the Schools Adjudicator replacing the previous duty on the Admission Forum to report to the Schools Commissioner.
RESOLVED – That the outcome of the consultation be note