Agenda and minutes

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Venue: Committee Room 'D' - The Henry Bolingbroke Room, County Hall, Preston. View directions

Contact: Wendy Broadley  Tel: 07825 584684, Email  wendy.broadley@lancashire.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

*County Councillor W Cropper replaced County Councillor S Fishwick for this meeting

**County Councillor P Hayhurst replaced County Councillor S Riches for this meeting

 

1.

Apologies

Minutes:

Apologies were received from County Councillors S Derwent, C Grunshaw and A Kay, and Mr K Wales

 

2.

Disclosure of Pecuniary and Non Pecuniary Interests

Members are asked to consider any Pecuniary and Non Pecuniary Interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the Agenda.

Minutes:

Mr Kershaw declared a non-pecuniary interest in Item 3 – Out Rawcliffe Church of England Primary School, as an employee of the Diocese of Blackburn

 

It was clarified that the land for the school was originally given to the Church for the purposes of education, and that if the school closed, the property would revert back to the original owner or descendants.

 

3.

Out Rawcliffe Church of England Primary School pdf icon PDF 67 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed County Councillor Susie Charles, Cabinet Member for Children and Schools; Bob Stott, Director for Universal and Early Support Services, Directorate for Children and Young People; Lynne Mappin, Head of Capital and Provision Planning, Directorate for Children and Young People; County Councillor Vivian Taylor; Councillor Alison Metcalfe, Out Rawcliffe Parish Councillor; and Peter Jones, head of Governors, Out Rawcliffe Church of England School.

 

The Committee was reminded of the purpose of the meeting, being to consider whether the Cabinet member for Children and Schools should be invited to reconsider her decision made on 11 January 2013 to discontinue Out Rawcliffe Church of England Primary School on 31 August (to "call in" the decision). The meeting had been called following a request signed by five County Councillors, named in the report.

 

Councillor Taylor was invited to put the case for the call in. Supported by Councillor Metcalfe and Mr Jones, the following points were made in support of the view that the decision should be reconsidered:

 

  • The closure of the school would have a significant impact on the community, and the decision had not taken account of the important links between the school and the community
  • There was concern that the Cabinet Member had not seen all of the evidence in coming to her decision, most notably the 396 responses to the initial consultation and the petition. In addition, it was suggested that the council had not made clear how the consultation process would work and that the large number of responses made to the initial consultation had not be carried forward and taken into account in the second formal consultation stage.
  • It was felt that the proposals for the "Forest School" had not been given due consideration. It was also felt that there had been a lack of clarity from the county council on the issue of the school establishing a federation, in that the council had not responded to the proposals made to form a "soft" federation, and had not made it clear that only a "hard" federation would be considered sufficient in the circumstances.
  • The issue of the creation of a nursery was also raised, and it was suggested that the council's assertion that there were "no plans" were incorrect, and that plans, although temporarily on hold due to the uncertainty surrounding the future of the school, had got to an advanced stage.
  • Attention was drawn to plans for at least 14 new homes in the village and 18 in the wider area.
  • The most convenient alternative school, Hambleton, was oversubscribed, and other schools in the area may not be appropriate for denominational or geographical reasons.
  • There was confidence among the Governors that the soft federation proposals would be sustainable and benefit the children at the schools.
  • It was argued that the current position of the school could be traced back to 2009, when around 20 pupils were withdrawn from the school by parents following events at the school which have not been properly explained to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

Urgent Business

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the Minutes, the Chair of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.  Wherever possible, the Chief Executive should be given advance warning of any Member’s intention to raise a matter under this heading.

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business for discussion at the meeting.

5.

Date of the Next Meeting

The next scheduled meeting of the Committee is due to be held at 2.00pm on Tuesday 12 March 2013 in Cabinet Room 'D' at County Hall, Preston.

 

Minutes:

It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee will be held on Tuesday 12 March 2013 at 2pm at County Hall, Preston.