Issue - meetings

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, People, on School Admission Arrangements for 2021.

The Board was advised that in October 2019, Halton Local Authority issued a statutorily required consultation on the proposed admission arrangements and co-ordinated admission schemes for the September 2021 intake. It was noted that the consultation ran until 8 November 2019, with no changes proposed to the current oversubscription criteria for admission to Local Authority maintained community and voluntary controlled primary schools. No responses to the consultation were received.

It was further noted that all Halton secondary schools were either academies, free schools or voluntary aided and were therefore their own admission authorities, with responsibility for consulting and determining their own admissions criteria and their own Published Admission Number (PAN).

The Board expressed its concerns that Government Policy in relation to school admission arrangements and Academy Schools, seriously limited the ability of the Council to respond to concerns expressed by parents about where their children went to school.

Reason(s) for Decision

The decision was statutorily required.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Other options considered and rejected included the allocation of places to community and voluntary controlled schools through random allocation (lottery), as this method could be seen as arbitrary and random.

Implementation Date

The Policy and co-ordinated schemes would apply for the September 2021 academic intake.

RESOLVED: That

1)    the Board approves the School Admissions Policy, Admission Arrangements and Co-ordinated Schemes for admission to primary and secondary schools for the 2021/22 academic year;

2)    where appropriate, schools be invited to increase their numbers to help support the Council to help meet the preference of parents about where their children attend school;

3)    schools be invited to take advantage of funding available to them from Government to increase their buildings to accommodate increased pupil numbers where necessary; and

4)    the Leader, on behalf of the Executive Board, write to Mr Twigg M.P. and Mr Amesbury M.P. to seek their support in respect of school admissions arrangements in Halton.