Leader's Announcements
To receive such announcements as may be made by the Leader.
Minutes:
The Leader of the Council, in summary:-
1. Echoed the Mayor’s words regarding the recent horrific events nationally, which had reached all corners of the country, including Cheshire East and asked Members to join her in sending condolences to all those impacted or who had sadly lost loved ones.
2. Referred the Council’s Critical Incident Response Team, which offered advice and psychological support to schools, settings and services at the time of an incident, when staff, pupils and parents may have experienced acute, even prolonged distress. The team had been and were key to the cross service response that Cheshire East delivered whenever required. She stated that, following a recent incident at a Sandbach school, she had received formal appreciation and thanks from the Headteacher and governors for the work of officers in providing sensitive help and support to both staff and students. The team had also been involved in the support to schools following the aftermath of the Manchester bombing, and when she and the Mayor and Mayoress had visited Holmes Chapel High School, had been there, working in partnership with the school and the faith sector.
3. Stated that Councillors rightly referenced the importance of their role as corporate parents to cared for children, which currently numbered well over 400 in Cheshire East. She stated that she had been delighted to learn of the success of two care leavers at the recent South and West Cheshire College Awards Evening. Equally, Cheshire East Primary Pupils had achieved an impressive set of Key Stage 2 results across core subjects. She stated that provisional figures showed that 64% of pupils had achieved the expected standard or higher for combined reading, writing and maths. The overall performance across Cheshire East was above the national average for all curriculum test indicators. She noted that these achievements had taken place during a time of major uncertainty as to Cheshire East schools future funding under the Governments fair funding for schools policy. She and Jacky Forster, DoE, had accompanied Headteachers from Cheshire East to a meeting with the Schools Minister, Nick Gibb, in January. The meeting had been convened by Fiona Bruce MP and fellow Cheshire East MP’s had either been in attendance or represented. The outcome had been that Headteachers and Cheshire East officers would provide an evidence base of the annual cost of educating a pupil in Cheshire East. She was, therefore, delighted to report that this piece of partnership working had been recognised with: -
· A minimum of £4800 per pupil provided for every secondary school.
· An increase in the basic amount that every pupil attracted through the formula
· Continued protection for funding for additional needs.
· For the next two years gains of up to 3% a year for underfunded schools and 0.5% a year per pupil cash increase.
She reported that the Council would shortly be publishing the operational guidance for 2018 to 2019 and the baselines for local authorities spending in the current year. She stated that this may have ... view the full minutes text for item 23