Margaret Crabtree, Deputy Cabinet Member for Education and Health Reform of Kent County Council to answer questions

The Chairman welcomed County Councillor Crabtree, Kent County Council (KCC) Deputy Cabinet Member for Education, and Ian Watts, KCC Area Education Officer for the Sevenoaks District, to the meeting.

Mrs. Crabtree gave a presentation on apprenticeships and the commissioning of school places. With regard to apprenticeships she emphasised that they were an excellent way for young people to earn while they learnt and would increase their opportunities while improving their pay levels. Qualifications up to the equivalent of a masters degree could be gained without the debt built up at universities. Employers would gain from the increased skills of their workforce, who would be in place while learning and apprentices would usually show increased loyalty. She felt KCC was leading the way on the number of apprenticeships but more bodies were likely to be expected to take on apprentices through the government’s upcoming Enterprise Bill. KCC would pay for the first year in the case of the Assisted Apprenticeship Scheme for disabled people, care leavers, the home educated, young offenders and troubled families.

Mrs. Crabtree advised that school places were given through priority based on those in care, followed by those with siblings in the school, those with special needs and then based on the distance of their home to the school. It was a particularly high year for those with siblings already in schools. Sevenoaks town had been an area of real pressure for places and so some pupils had been placed in Seal Primary instead. It was expected that the development of Fort Halsted would have an effect from 2019 onwards and although there was currently capacity of 100 spaces at Halstead Primary these would be occupied by that point and CIL monies would be required for any expansion. Dunton Green Primary would have 7 classes phased in, funded by Section 106 monies. Final figures for primary school admission appeals would be circulated after the deadline for appeals of 20 July 2015.

Questions were asked to the representatives of KCC.

The Chairman and Vice-Chairman asked whether Halstead Primary would be where children from the Fort Halstead development would be accommodated. The Area Education Officer confirmed there would have to be a consultation before any expansion and although it was an obvious option it would also depend on any outflows of pupils from Sevenoaks and how residents would get access as it would be a significant distance.

The Vice Chairman also asked whether a cost analysis had been done of the 1,100 pupils leaving the district for grammar schools in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells each day. No analysis had been done but it could be calculated.

The Officer was asked what work was being done to avoid the pressures for primary pupils which were felt in Swanley of bussing to Sevenoaks due to recent and upcoming developments. He confirmed there was some spare capacity at Horton Kirby while Hextable had been temporarily expanded. Any extra capacity needed to be based on land available and cost effectiveness. Costs for expansion exceeded the Government’s basic needs funding and so was having to be funded through capital receipts and developer contributions. Future expansions could not be discussed until formal consultations had begun.

A Member urged that the Oasis Academy site be reopened and others enquired about demand in the area and why parents who put it as their first preference were not written to warning of its closure. The Officer advised that it was a large 15ha site, at the top of their thoughts for future school provision. It was needed for the large demand from the north of the District and from Dartford, particularly as the demand for primary school places moved upwards towards secondary schools. The decision to close the Oasis Academy was made by the Secretary of State, against the strongest arguments of KCC, on the day before the Spring Bank Holiday, making notification difficult.

The Officer was asked whether there would be sufficient appropriate buildings and staff for future school provision. He accepted that they had difficulty getting staff and had to recruit from Canada, Australia and Ireland who provided very high quality staff. Schools would not be approached for expansion unless there was capacity on their land. The Member highlighted, from his own experience, that young staff from Ireland would be very well trained but may not stay long at a school.

Responding to questions about apprenticeships, Mrs. Crabtree and the KCC Area Education Officer advised that if apprenticeship became mandatory under the Enterprise Bill then, unless the apprentices were NEETs, these would not be funded except for National Apprenticeship service grants of £1,500. Schools would not get the highest Ofsted results unless their careers advice services covered the option of apprenticeships well enough. Apprentices under these schemes had more employment protection than in the past and, at Level 2 Apprenticeships, employers would not receive payment unless apprentices without the qualifications would be entered to achieve A*-C GCSE Mathematics and English.

The Chairman thanked Mrs. Crabtree and the KCC Area Education Officer for the Sevenoaks District for attending.