17 March 2016 weekly update

Shaping the Future of Education Services in Kent

Dear Colleagues

At the recent Headteacher Briefings I outlined the proposals for developing a new education company, or alternative service delivery vehicle (ASDV), for all education and young people’s services (EYPS) in Kent, with some options for its scope.

At a national level it is clear that the education landscape is changing rapidly, with the likelihood that every school in England may become an academy by the end of this Parliament. The possible greater fragmentation of the education system that may result, would weaken the partnership relationships with the Kent family of schools.

The legislative and financial changes and constraints facing schools and Local Authorities (LAs), and the proposals in the recent DfE consultation on school funding, mean that LAs are having to reassess their delivery of education and young people's services.

KCC therefore needs to consider how it will be able to deliver sustainable, high quality education and young people's services in the future and ensure compliance with all our statutory obligations.

Developing the existing LA provision into a commissioned service is a way forward as a response to these challenges. We propose to move services to a new, independent company or ASDV, jointly owned and governed with schools.

The service scope options

As part of the proposal we are considering five options for the scope of services that could be transferred to the company. These are:

• Option 1 - School Improvement only
• Option 2 - All EYPS except Early Help and Preventative Services (EHPS)
• Option 3 - As Option 2 plus the education elements of Early Help
• Option 4 - All of EYPS including EHPS
• Option 5 - All of EYPS, including EHPS plus elements of Specialist Children's Services

The options range from £7.8m of gross spend for Option 1 up to £229m for Option 5. As additional services are added to scope, the sustainability and coherence of the new company increases. This is coupled with the increased opportunity for integration and further collaboration with schools.

In the presentation at the Headteacher Briefings, Options 1 and 2 were discounted on the grounds that they contain too few services to provide coherence and to present a realistic opportunity for significant savings and income generation if delivered through the new vehicle. The current alignment of services in KCC leads to discounting Option 5. Therefore, Options 3 and 4 are considered to give the best chance of addressing the challenges and will be further considered as part of the full business case.

Legal entity options

There are three options for the company:

1. A company limited by shares
2. A company limited by guarantee
3. A company limited by guarantee with charitable status and a wholly owned trading subsidiary

At this stage, the third option appears to be the most appealing, but any final decision on which is the most suitable option will depend on the eventual scope and further consideration of the legal and taxation implications.

Commissioning and Governance Arrangements

The new company would be commissioned by KCC using a contractual approach, similar to that which would be applied were the service delivered from a third party provider. The client side functions will identify clearly the service specification and desired outcomes for education, children and young people, which will include all relevant statutory responsibilities. In addition, the client side will need to develop the performance framework by which the effectiveness of the newly formed company is contract managed and evaluated.

The company would be jointly governed by KCC and schools, who would have representatives on the Board. Whilst KCC would provide advice and guidance, we propose that a wider Headteacher Stakeholder Group would influence the future direction of the company. This approach will provide continuity of the delivery of current services and enable an increased range of services to be developed which directly respond to the needs of schools, pupils and families.

Timescales, Engagement and Consultation

The aim will be to develop the full business case by the end of this summer. A Member decision on the establishment of the company is expected in the autumn. Should Members decide to move forward with the proposal, the company could be operational on a shadow basis by this autumn. The company could then become fully operational by September 2017.

Feedback at the Headteacher Briefings was positive. 85% of the 185 Heads who attended supported the proposal and 75% favoured Options 3 and 4. We will now be developing a more detailed business case, once Cabinet Members agree to move the proposal forward, and I will keep you informed about the progress we are making. In the interim, if you have any questions or comments, I would encourage you to email EYPSfeedback@kent.gov.uk.

I attach the presentation from the Headteacher Briefings.

Patrick Leeson
Corporate Director for Education and Young People's Services