Purpose

The county council, as admission authority, determines the admission criteria that is used to prioritise pupils for places at community primary and secondary schools. There have been no significant changes made to the admission criteria for these schools in the last 10 years.

The Department for Education's School Admissions Code 2021, contained provisions allowing admission authorities to give priority within their admission arrangements to children based on eligibility for one or more of the pupil, early years or service premiums. Additionally, admission authorities were allowed to give priority in their admission criteria to the children of school staff.

In addition, in November 2022, the Ministry of Defence issued Statutory Guidance on the Armed Forces Covenant Duty, with an expectation that county council's take all possible steps to support Armed Forces families in the delivery of their services.

To reflect both pieces of statutory guidance, it is proposed to change Lancashire County Council's admission criteria, applied when considering applications for community and voluntary controlled schools, to include children eligible for Services Premium, in order to provide support to Armed Forces families, and children of staff, to assist community and voluntary controlled schools with the recruitment and retention of staff.

Decision

The Cabinet approved the recommendation(s) as set out in the report.