PDF 118 KBVenue: Committee Suite 1 & 2, Westfields, Middlewich Road, Sandbach CW11 1HZ. View directions
Contact: Paul Mountford Democratic Services Officer
| No. | Item |
|---|---|
|
Declarations of Interest To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in any item on the agenda. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest. |
|
|
Public Speaking Time/Open Session In accordance with Procedure Rules Nos.11 and 35 a period of 10 minutes is allocated for members of the public to address the meeting on any matter relevant to the work of the meeting. Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes but the Chairman or person presiding will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned where there are a number of speakers. Members of the public are not required to give notice to use this facility. However, as a matter of courtesy, a period of 24 hours’ notice is encouraged.
Members of the public wishing to ask a question at the meeting should provide at least three clear working days’ notice in writing and should include the question with that notice. This will enable an informed answer to be given.
Minutes: Stephen Price, Vice-Chair of the Governing Body for Offley Primary School, referred to the Governing Body’s decision to object to the proposal to expand Wheelock Primary. He commented that a more complete Equality Impact Assessment would be welcome; that the Portfolio Holder should seek confirmation that the minutes of a meeting with Heads on 9th November constituted an accurate record; that the Wheelock proposals had been worked on for some time but the opportunity had not been taken in shaping them to take account of the views of Heads; that the proposal to create a further 1.5FE school ran contrary to the aspiration of the recently-consulted School Organisational Framework; that Offley questioned the necessity to spend £1.8m on a proposal that failed to address the identified need for Sandbach as a whole; that there was an opportunity to consider afresh how best to retain flexibility of provision and use existing infrastructure to best effect; that this was not a time to embark on a major scheme, given the Council Leader’s warning about the ability to meet all elements of the education budget. The Portfolio Holder was asked to reflect on whether it would be a safe and secure decision to publish statutory notices at this time for the Wheelock proposal.
[A full transcript of Mr Price’s statement was subsequently forwarded to the Council.]
Diane Morrison, Governor at Sandbach Primary School, questioned the accuracy of some figures in the report and suggested that they be examined further.
Edwin Leigh, Chair of Governors, Elworth CE also spoke on the Wheelock proposal.
|
|
|
Proposed Expansion of Pebble Brook Primary, Wheelock Primary and Mobberley CE Primary To consider a report on the outcome of consultation on the proposed expansion of Pebble Brook, Wheelock and Mobberley CE Primary Schools. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Portfolio Holder considered the report of the Strategic Director, Children, Families and Adults.
Following the decision of the Cabinet Member on 15th October 2012 , formal consultation on the proposed expansion of Pebble Brook Primary School, Crewe, Wheelock Primary School, Sandbach and Mobberley CE Primary School, Knutsford was undertaken between 22nd October 2012 and 23rd November 2012.
The report set out the outcomes of the consultation received to date. Responses received since the report was published were reported orally at the meeting. The Equality Impact Assessments for all three schools were being updated to take into account consultation feedback. Updated versions of the report, consultation responses and Equality Impact Assessments would be published on the Council’s website.
It was noted that in the case of Wheelock Primary School, 265 consultation responses had been received, 133 of which were against the expansion proposal.
The Portfolio Holder commented that she had done everything she could to ensure that the process was transparent and open. She had visited Wheelock Primary School the previous week and would be visiting Offley Primary School that evening. She welcomed all the comments that had been received during the consultation period.
In view of additional information and comments received during the consultation period, the Portfolio Holder was minded to defer a decision on Wheelock Primary School to enable her to give further consideration to the matter. A further meeting would be arranged for two weeks’ time and local schools would be notified.
Councillor Peter Nurse attended the meeting and, at the invitation of the Portfolio Holder, spoke on this matter.
RESOLVED
That the Cabinet Member for Children and Family Services
(1) authorises the publication of statutory notices detailing the Local Authority’s proposals for the expansion of:
· Pebble Brook Primary, from the 210 school places (1FE) to 315 school places (1.5 FE) thus providing an additional 105 school places with effect from September 2013.
· Mobberley CE Primary from the current Published Admission Number (20) providing 140 school places to a PAN of 30 (1FE) thus providing an additional 70 school places with effect from September 2013.
(2) defers a decision on Wheelock Primary School for up to two weeks to enable further consideration to be given to additional information and comments received during the consultation period.
|