Agenda and minutes

CO-OPTED MEMBER (VOTING)

Mr E A Britten – Church Representative (Catholic)

CO-OPTED MEMBERS (NON-VOTING)

Ms C Foote – School Staff Representative

Ms H Bellamy – School Staff Representative

To consider any appeals in accordance with Procedure Rule 25* of the Access to Information Procedure Rules (in the event of an Appeal the press and public will be excluded).

(* In accordance with Procedure Rule 25, notice of an appeal must be received in writing by the Head of Governance Services at least 24 hours before the meeting).

There were no appeals.

1.  To highlight reports or appendices which officers have identified as containing exempt information, and where officers consider that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons outlined in the report.

2.  To consider whether or not to accept the officers recommendation in respect of the above information.

3.  If so, to formally pass the following resolution:-

RESOLVED – That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following parts of the agenda designated as containing exempt information on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information, as follows:

No exempt items have been identified.

There were no exempt items.

To identify items which have been admitted to the agenda by the Chair for consideration.

(The special circumstances shall be specified in the minutes.)

There were no late items.

To disclose or draw attention to any interests in accordance with Leeds City Council’s ‘Councillor Code of Conduct’.

There were no declarations of interests.

To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutes.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bithell, Senior and Gruen. Councillors Lennox and Shahzad were in attendance as substitutes.

Apologies were also received from co-opted members Kate Blacker, Andrew Graham and Jackie Ward.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 3^rd March 2021.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held 3^rd March 2021 be approved as an accurate record.

To receive a report from the Head of Democratic Services on the appointment of non-voting co-opted members to the Scrutiny Board.

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report which sought the Board’s formal consideration for the appointment of co-opted Members.

The Board noted that the following nominations for statutory voting co-opted members had been received:

· One Church of England diocese representative – Mr A Graham

· One Roman Catholic diocese representative – Mr E A Britten

Parent governor representatives were noted as follows:

· Parent Governor (Primary) representative – Kate Blacker

· Parent Governor (Secondary) representative – Jacqueline Ward

In addition to the statutory voting co-opted members, the Board also acknowledged the nominations for non-voting co-opted members.

RESOLVED – That in addition to the above statutory voting co-opted members, the following be appointed as non-voting co-opted members to the Scrutiny Board for 2021/22:

· School Staff Representative – Helen Bellamy

· School Staff Representative – Celia Foote

· Young Lives Leeds – Laura Whitaker

To receive a report from the Head of Democratic Services which presents information from the Director of Children and Families on the outcome of the statutory notice on a proposal to permanently increase learning places at St Edward’s Catholic Primary School from September 2022.

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report that presented information from the Director of Children and Families on the outcome of the statutory notice on a proposal to permanently increase learning places at St Edward’s Catholic Primary School from September 2022.

The following were in attendance:

-  Councillor Jonathan Pryor, Executive Member for Economy, Culture and Education

-  Sal Tariq, Director of Children and Families

-  Shaheen Myers, Deputy Director for Learning

-  Tim Pouncey, Chief Officer, Resources and Strategy

-  Viv Buckland, Head of Learning Systems

-  Darren Crawley, Lead for Sufficiency and Participation

-  Anne Gilpin, Head Teacher at St Edward’s Catholic Primary School

The Chair briefly highlighted the purpose of the agenda item and then invited the Director to provide a further explanation surrounding the statutory process for increasing learning places and the specific proposal relating to St Edward’s Catholic Primary School.

It was highlighted that 26 representations, including 17 formal objections, had been received during the Statutory Notice period for the proposal to expand St Edward’s Catholic Primary School to permanently increase the number of places offered at the school in Reception from 20 to 30 places from September 2022.  Further details surrounding the representations received during the statutory notice period had been provided to the Scrutiny Board as part of the Director’s report.

It was acknowledged that the areas of concern raised during the statutory notice phase were largely the same as those raised during the initial consultation phase in respect of traffic issues, faith-based admissions, impact on climate and carbon emissions and whether there is genuinely a need for additional places in the Boston Spa area.  However, it was highlighted that additional concerns had also been raised in relation to how the representations made during the initial consultation phase had been reported to the Executive Board during its meeting on 23^rd June 2021.

In consideration of the proposal, the Scrutiny Board addressed the main issues/areas of concern in more detail as follows:

·  A need for additional primary school places in the Boston Spa area.  The Director of Children and Families advised the Board thatthere is an identified need for additional primary school provision in the Boston Spa area due to changes in the birth rate, increases in the numbers of children of primary school age and several new housing developments. 

·  Other options considered. In response to a query, Members were advised that there are five schools in the Boston Spa planning area, however only two of these schools, St Edward’s Catholic Primary School and St Mary’s Church of England Primary School, were viable options for expansions. While it was reported that, at present, an additional 10 places would be sufficient to meet anticipated demand, the Board was advised that it is possible that both schools would need to be expanded to 30 in future years dependent upon general growth and further housing coming forward in the area. The Board then sought further clarity as to why preference had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To receive a report from the Head of Democratic Services which presents the Board’s draft report following its inquiry into tackling the long-term impacts of Covid-19 on children and families.

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report that presented the Board’s draft report following its inquiry into tackling the long-term impacts of Covid-19 on children and families.

RESOLVED – That the inquiry report ‘Tackling the long-term impacts of Covid-19 on children and families’ be agreed.

The Children and Families Scrutiny Board is holding a remote consultative meeting on Wednesday 15^th September 2021 at 10 am (pre-meeting for all Board Members at 9.45 am)

The Children and Families Scrutiny Board is holding a remote consultative meeting on Wednesday 15th September 2021 at 10 am (pre-meeting for all Board Members at 9.45 am)