Agenda and minutes

Education and Local Economy Scrutiny Commission - Tuesday 6 December 2022 7.00 pm

Venue: Ground Floor Meeting Room G02A - 160 Tooley Street, London SE1 2QH. View directions

Contact: Amit Alva  Email: Amit.Alva@southwark.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

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    To receive any apologies for absence.

    Minutes:

    Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Joseph Vambe who was substituted by Councillor Irina Von Wiese.

     

    Apologies for lateness was received from Councillor Chloe Tomlinson.

     

2.

Notification of any items of business which the chair deems urgent

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    In special circumstances, an item of business may be added to an agenda within five clear working days of the meeting.

    Minutes:

    There were no items of business which the Chair deemed urgent.

3.

Disclosure of interests and dispensations.

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    Members to declare any interests and dispensations in respect of any item of business to be considered at this meeting.

    Minutes:

    There were no disclosures of interests and dispensations.

4.

Minutes

5.

Closure of St. Johns Walworth School

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    To hear from Roz Cordenar, Church Of England (COE) Diocese, explaining the circumstances leading to the closure of St. Johns Walworth School and the learnings for Southwark Council.

    Minutes:

    The commission first heard from Roz Cordner, Director of Education, Church Of England (COE) Diocese on the following points:

     

    ·  St Johns Walworth school closure at end of August 2021

    ·  Fall in pupil numbers has impacted schools differently across the diocese of Southwark also covering 12 Local Authorities with surplus places in Southwark, Lambeth and Croydon and at maximum capacity in Richmond and Kingston areas for all schools not just church of England schools

    ·  Governing body for St Johns Walworth in consultation with diocese and Southwark Council assessed the financial viability of the school. The decision was taken to close the school in August 2021. Series of processes including consultation with parents and stakeholders was followed in January 2021 which culminated in the closure of the school in the summer.

    ·  A strategic group was setup with a dedicated project leader, supported by the diocese and Southwark Council to identify the needs of pupils and their families with regards to pupil destinations and admissions in church or non-church schools.

    ·  Need for strong governing bodies that have the ability to manage advanced budgets especially now with regards to inflation, fuel costs and low pupil numbers.

    ·  Support and training for volunteers in all aspects of committees involved in school closures is essential.

    ·  A key lesson learnt is that the communication of information to parents, staff and wider community prior to the decision of school closure is important in generating public awareness of the issues faced by the school.

    ·  Other factors which could have a detrimental long term impact on school pupil numbers are Brexit, Coronavirus, Housing costs in London, regeneration and relocation of families within and outside of London.

    ·  Tracking Published Admission Numbers (PAN) prior to decision making on shrinking schools is critical, reducing the size of the school to one half of entry form could be a way to preserve the foot print of the school for future growth.

    ·  Other aspects of school closures include staying engaged with community through named point of contacts for each family, managing HR for staff and caretakers, protection and future use of the school building, managing grief within the community and celebration, pride in what the school has achieved.

     

    The commission then asked questions on the following themes:

    • Cohort pupils for admission in other church schools who preferred staying in the church school setting
    • Risk in the perception of Southwark having fewer families, schools and provisions thus influencing decision of families to move to other boroughs
    • Exodus of pupils from certain years’ creating a snowball effect as seen in Francesca Cabrini School

    Roz explained to the commission that it was important to manage expectations for parents, and pupil admissions to other church schools were primarily based on vacancies in the schools and parent preferences with a priority for cared for and children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Although there have been media reports of Central London being on the path to being child free due to cost of living, birth rate etc., 90% of schools  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Greater London Authority (GLA) - School Rolls Projections Service

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    To hear from Ben Corr, Demography and City Modelling Manager (GLA) explaining population projections and the School Rolls Projections Service.

    Minutes:

    The commission then heard from Ben Corr, Demography and City Modelling Manager at GLA on the following themes:

     

    • Background on pupil place planning and methodology behind school rolls projections
    • Majority of Local Authorities (28-29 in a year) in London opt in to the schools rolls projections service, projections are derived by using mainstream data sets of age, sex and planning alongside consistent population projections  which incorporate housing trajectory data from local authorities.
    • Unbiased and independent projections based on in-depth analysis of demographics which complement the reports submitted to Department for Education (DfE) by the Local Authority with very few changes, some authorities use the projections as a check against their own numbers.
    • GLA projections are challenging to produce and are based on complex models, these models are highly transparent to help the Local Authority’s understanding on the various factors that have or have not been used in the projections.
    • Projections are based on ‘Trend based population projections’ which is an internationally recognised method also used by Office for National Statistics (ONS), specifically GLA use a multi-regional model based on past trends of birth and death rates and then factor in housing data from Local Authorities. This model then assigns children to actual schools based on patterns.
    • Issues with inflation in population projections in the middle of the decade caused by high international migration especially in London having higher migration. Therefore affecting school rolls projection that produced higher numbers in addition to other challenges of predicting fertility rates, family planning decisions, housing completion and delivery. A short period of time exists between birth and the point where reception is required for children in primary schools, official data could take up to two years to be processed and published making it difficult to produce accurate projections
    • Other challenges that affect school projections

    •  Size, makeup and tenure of housing stock

    •  Housing development and delivery with delays that could last years

    •  Shock events such as financial recession in 2008 and post 2004 boom in birth rate in London

    •  Covid short term impact still unknown

    •  Brexit, eastern European migration trends in some parts of London.

    •  Changing characteristics of family planning and size that are hard to predict

    •  Regeneration schemes and gentrification

    •  Changing popularity and number of schools

    •  Need for Local Authorities to communicate better with regards to opening of new schools.

    •  Birth rates have fallen by 33% in the past 10 years

     

    The commission then discussed the following topics

    • Young couples who moved to Southwark before the spike in birth rate and are not having babies anymore, this is an increasingly common phenomenon.
    • Increase in birth rate from 2004 onwards that might have had an effect on school projections
    • Methodology behind inaccurate school projections in 2015 to 2016 resulting in change to GLA methodology 2018 onwards
    • Other significant factors such as housing affordability and cost of living crisis
    • Shared housing in multiple occupation have more incomes to afford the rent when compared to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Pupil Place Planning Advisers- Regions Group - Department for Education (DFE)

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    To receive a brief written note from Claire Burton, Regional Director for London on the role of pupil place planning advisers and their working relationship with Local Authorities and Academy Trusts.

     

    Supporting documents:

    Minutes:

    The brief written update was noted by the commission.

     

8.

Interview with Cabinet Member for Jobs, Business and Town Centres

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    Interview with Councillor Martin Seaton including a holistic overview of key strategies and projects under the Cabinet member portfolio for Jobs, Business and Town Centres with a focus on key aspects but not limited to:

     

    •  Opportunities for ex-offenders and the success rate in Southwark Works.

    •  Living wage and conditions of employment such as zero hour contracts.

    •  Number of BAME workers in businesses in Southwark as previous report suggested 85% of client businesses supporting BAME workers

    •  Affordable work spaces

    •  Figures on empty and occupied commercial properties, council and privately owned (landlords)

    •  Businesses performances on the climate change targets including green jobs for youth of the future.

    •  Progress and delivery of the Southwark Pioneers Fund (SPF)

    •  New Economic Strategy Consultation

    Supporting documents:

    Minutes:

    The commission then heard from Councillor Martin Seaton, Cabinet member for Jobs, Business and Town Centres, Danny Edwards Head of Economy and Laura Hills, Manager- Planning Policy and Digital Transformation on the following topics:

     

    • Different strands of work on target for delivery of council plans such as 250 paid internships for people from disadvantaged backgrounds, Southwark Pioneers Fund (SPF), New Green Jobs and a world class health innovation area involving Guys and St Thomas, Kings and South London and Maudsley Trusts
    • High Street Fund to be launched in January 2023 awaiting confirmation from GLA.
    • Completion of the consultation on the New Economic Strategy which is the overarching strategy to deliver economic initiatives from now until 2030
    • Plans to build coherent town centre neighbourhoods with the initial focus on areas such as Camberwell, Peckham, Elephant & Castle and Old Kent road with a proactive approach of developing those town centres with resident and community consultations.
    • Proposal for a register of affordable workspaces benefiting local entrepreneurs and businesses
    • Expansion of street markets to provide means of starting a business in a cost effective way with minimal overheads giving entrepreneurs the stimulus to develop and grow work ethos and their respective businesses
    • Closer working relationship with Department for Work and Pensions on job centres
    • Southwark Works was setup to encourage entrepreneurship especially for people with barriers such as people just out of the justice system, Black and Minority Ethnic people and young people in need of education and training
    • Role of councillors in their respective wards to encourage the town centre initiatives of buying locally

     

    The commission then asked questions around the following themes:

    • Impact of Brexit, Covid and Inflation on entrepreneurship and increase in rents and 5 year leases in commercial council properties in the Bermondsey area
    • Protection of our local high streets where private landlords opting to convert commercial properties to residential as this is more more lucrative and also relaxation of regulations in planning class usages make it easier for conversion into residential properties
    • Licensing of street markets, night markets and Christmas markets

     

    Councillor Seaton explained to the commission that council rents had been frozen for the past two years during Covid and there has been only a reasonable increase rent since then, privately rented commercial properties have increased rents by 20-40% compared to 5-10% increase in council owned commercial properties. The question arises whether it is reasonable for the council to run commercially rented properties at a loss, profit or at least break even, budgetary targets have raised £20m so far with the deficit being at £26m.

     

    Danny explained to the commission that the property team within the council can help and support businesses struggling to pay their rent. Laura explained to the commission that the planning team have placed Article 4 directives on certain shopping parades restricting their permitted development rights, therefore these properties cannot be converted without a full planning permission and the planning team have been monitoring the areas regularly. Councillor Seaton explained to the commission that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

Work Programme 2022-23