Agenda item

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

To be read in conjunction with Item 31 on the agenda.

Members considered a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services regarding the City Premium Grant allocations for 2021/22.

Members noted that an additional paper may be submitted to the September Board meeting due to one academy requiring extra time to submit their bid. Evaluations of the awarded grants and their impact would be received by the Board in December 2022.

A Member enquired about whether funding was ever granted to multi-year projects to which it was confirmed that academies often submitted bids for the same project each year. The Member also highlighted that outcomes of the grants for repeat projects were not included in the report and Members were reassured that detailed scrutiny took place by officers in the Corporation and CoLAT when considering the allocations.

A point was raised about potentially gaining funding for some items, such as coaching for exams, in a regular format rather than on an annual basis due to the ongoing need. The Chair informed the Board that this was being considered as part of the Tomlinson review but that these changes would not be fully implemented until the following academic year.

A Member enquired as to the process for estimating the monetary value of each application. It was noted that an itemised breakdown of estimated spend was required for each application, recognising that on occasion spend was dependent on the need of the incoming students which was difficult to estimate. Actual spend was monitored through mid-year scrutiny meetings with the academies.

Members discussed the potential of using external programmes which offered assistance in facilitating student travel to other countries, in which it was highlighted that while the rewards were lucrative these schemes often remained at a high cost. It was confirmed that the Education Unit continued to monitor these opportunities and highlighted these to all schools. Members noted that the Department for Education were in the process of developing a scheme to replace the Erasmus programme, which the UK no longer qualified for.

RESOLVED, that the Board:-

• Approve the release of City Premium Grant funding to City sponsored academies for the academic year 2021/22 (as per Schedule 1 in the report);
• Note that there has been a delay on some applications, and these will be submitted to the Education Board meeting in September 2021, within the allocation envelope for each academy;
• Note that the balance of the core City Premium Grant funding will be rolled into a second, smaller funding round in January 2022 following the school performance scrutiny meetings and based on greatest areas of need;
• Note that the Education Board will receive evaluations of the impact of City Premium Grant funded projects delivered over the 2021/22 academic year at the December 2022 Education Board meeting.