Purpose

This is the
council’s annual report on its review of pupil place planning
in Tower Hamlets. It explains:
? the current position on the provision of school places in
the borough;
? the projected demand for school places in future
years;
? the steps being taken to manage the sufficiency and
sustainability of school places in accordance with the
council’s school organisation strategy.
The report also serves to inform:
? decisions on education capital investment planning and
future bids to the DfE’s new school programmes;
? the medium to longer term commissioning or decommissioning
of places for children and young people with SEND;
? discussions with school and trust leaders around required
changes to current SEND provision to meet emerging
needs.

 

Content

1.    
Notes the factors influencing pupil population change in
Tower Hamlets;

2.    
Notes the current position on the provision of school places
in the borough;

3.    
Notes the projected demand for school places in future
years;

4.    
Notes the steps being taken to manage the sufficiency and
sustainability of school places in accordance with the
council’s school organisation strategy.

5.    
Notes the latest position on SEND, current provision and
sufficiency planning;

6.    
Notes the current early education and childcare sufficiency
planning;

7.    
Notes the Equalities Impact Screening and specific equalities
considerations as set out in Paragraph Five and Appendix 7 of the
report submitted.

Reasons for the decision

The council is
legally responsible for the planning and provision of school places
across its local area. This responsibility includes: - Ensuring
there are sufficient school places (Education Act 1996). - As far
as possible, complying with the preferences expressed by parents
(School Standards and Framework Act 1998). - Increasing
opportunities for parental choice (Education and Inspections Act
2006). - Provide fair access to educational opportunity (Education
and Inspections Act 2006). - Keep SEND provision under review and
consider if it is sufficient to meet the needs of children and
young people in its area (Children and Families Act 2014). -
Securing sufficient childcare for families, including funded early
education places (Childcare Act 2006).
 
In meeting its
responsibility to ensure sufficiency the council is required to
address both deficit and surplus school places across the education
estate. The council will therefore consider how best to organise
schools for the efficient and effective delivery of
education.
 
Proposals to
provide additional school places will often require long-term
planning to implement e.g. opening a new school, expanding an
existing one or increasing provision for children and young people
with special educational needs. Evidence about the projected need
for places must therefore be robust and reviewed regularly, in
order to identify emerging need and new projects to inform the
council’s sufficiency strategy.
 
The content of
this report aligns with the functions of the council as a Local
Planning Authority, and the approach taken to make best use of the
future school development sites identified in the Tower Hamlets
Local Plan. 

Alternative options considered

An alternative
would be to do nothing to manage the supply of school places. This
would likely result in the council having to take a number of
short-term measures. Dealing with over-provision would require
action to financially support schools who are unable to balance
their budgets to maintain quality education. Dealing with
under-provision would require action to quickly provide additional
places in the form of bulge classes at existing schools or
expansions into temporary buildings.
 
These measures can
address issues in the short-term, but they do not provide best
value and should not be viewed as a sustainable approach to
managing demand for school places.