Agenda and draft minutes

None.

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting held on 30 January 2025.

RESOLVED – that the minutes of the meeting held on 30 January 2025 be confirmed and signed by the Chair. 

To review the Council’s process for allocating school places across Telford and Wrekin.

The Access and Sufficiency Service Delivery Manager presented an update to the Committee on the admissions processes for Telford and Wrekin schools.

The presentation outlined the statutory framework which the Council was required to follow when allocating school places, the roles and responsibilities of admission authorities in relation to admission arrangements, the Fair Access Protocol and the appeals process.

The School Admissions Code 2021, which was underpinned by the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, provided the legal framework for admissions to all maintained schools in England. The purpose of the code was to ensure that all school places for both maintained schools and Academies had been allocated fairly and transparently. The relevant admission authorities for each school were required to ensure that the admissions policy and practice followed complied with the code.

Members heard that different types of schools had varying admission authorities responsible for compliance with the code and handling of appeals. Community and voluntary controlled schools were Council-owned and operated by the local authority acting as the admission authority, whilst voluntary aided and foundation schools which had replaced grant-maintained schools had their own governing bodies as the relevant admission authority. Academies and free schools also operated independently from the local authority with the academy trust acting as the responsible admission authority.

In Telford and Wrekin, there was a mix of school types including 23 primary schools owned by the local authority, 17 academies for primary and 11 for secondary with two selective grammar schools. Admission authorities were required to set the number of available places and the oversubscription criteria for each school but had a duty to prioritise children with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) and looked-after children and arrangements could be objected to and referred to the Schools Adjudicator.

The code defined the common criteria used by admission authorities, such as siblings, distance, catchment areas, social and medical need, selection by ability or aptitude, banding, testing arrangements, faith-based criteria, children of staff and children eligible for pupil, early years or service premium.

Members heard that oversubscription criteria for community and voluntary controlled schools in the Borough had prioritised children with EHCPs, looked-after children, children attending linked infant schools and children in catchment area. If places were unavailable for these children, places would be given firs to those with exceptional health reasons, those who on the day of admission have a sibling living at the same address and attending the same school, pupils in receipt of early years or pupil premium and other children living in the school’s catchment area.

For children who lived outside the school’s defined catchment area, priority had been given to those with exceptional health reasons, those who on the day of admission have a sibling living at the same address and attending the same school, pupils in receipt of early years or pupil premium, children of staff and other children living outside the catchment area. Primary academies and foundation schools had used similar criteria including the use of catchment area and  ...  view the full minutes text for item CYP44

To review the updated Work Programme for the Children & Young People Scrutiny Committee.

The Senior Democracy Officer (Scrutiny) presented the updated work programme to the Committee. The next formal meeting was scheduled to take place in May 2025 where Members would receive an update on the Council’s SEND offer.

Members were reminded that suggestions could be put forward to formulate the next two year work programme for 2025/26 – 2026/27.

None.