Agenda item

Report of the Town Clerk (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk concerning the development of a City of London Corporation Education Strategy for 2013-2015.

The Chairman stated that whilst a lot of work had been done this was the beginning of the process and that once Strategy was adopted a lot more work was still to be undertaken. He thanked the Education Strategy Working Party for all its hard work in getting the Strategy to this point. The Chairman stressed that in agreeing the Strategy Members would not be agreeing the reallocation of funding or changes to constitutions, these would be brought forward in the usual way.

The Chairman of the Working Party was heard in support of the Strategy and also thanked the Members and Officers involved for their efforts. She pointed out that the Strategy had been inspired by the City Corporation’s desire to do more for education in London. She stated that it covered 4 to 18 year old pupils only. She also highlighted the vast amount of educational work which was being undertaken across the organisation and the need for more cohesion and collaboration particularly amongst the schools and academies so that good practice could be shared. Reference was also made to the governance arrangements, the creation of an overarching body and to the next steps of the initiative and what this would involve.

Members discussed the Strategy in detail during which the following comments were made:-

·           The Strategy was a statement of principles. It presented the City Corporation with the opportunity to take a more holistic look at its educational activities and was welcomed by all Members;

·           A vast amount of educational work being was being undertaken across the City Corporation and within the City itself via the Livery companies and other institutions. Efforts should therefore be made to communicate the City’s contribution to education more widely;

·           With regard to the provision of funding a Member commented that when exploring future allocations it was important to take any impact on bursaries and scholarships into account;

·           Reference was made to Prior Weston Primary School and the importance of providing it with support given the numbers of City children who attend it.

·           Reference was made to the creation of an overarching committee and the importance of maintaining a relationship with any local institution which contributed to City’s outreach activities;

·           It would be helpful if an explanation could be included on how the schools chosen as part of the “City family” were selected;

·           In response to concerns that the creation of an overarching body might take impetus away from individual institutions, Members were reminded that a lot more work and consultation need to be done before any decision was taken on what the overarching body would look like;

·           It was noted that reference to the City of London School and the Museum of London activities had been omitted from the Paper in error and would be included in the report to the Court of Common Council;

After further discussion it was

RESOLVED – that subject to the concurrence of the Court of Common Council the following be approved:-

1.         the City of London Corporation Education Strategy 2013-2015 as set out in the appendix to the report;

2.         the recommendations and actions contained within the strategy, noting the need to ensure that resources were directed appropriately to implement them;

3.         noting that delivering the strategy needed to be endorsed by the Court of Common Council with firm proposals needing to be considered and agreed by relevant City Corporation committees;

4.         the focus on improving the governance of the City Corporation’s education offering and support action to review the City Corporation’s governor appointment processes;

5.         the creation of an overarching education body with responsibility for providing strategic oversight and monitoring of the education strategy and the City Corporation’s education offering;

6.         authority be given to the Chairman of the Policy & Resources Committee to appoint up to two additional members to the Education Strategy Working Party, in consultation with the Chairman of the Education Strategy Working Party, with the Working Party overseeing the implementation of the strategy for an interim period; and

7.         the strategy be reviewed after 18 months of it being approved.