DECISION

1.            To agree that the Council takes up the power to make discretionary awards in respect of specified groups of students over compulsory school age in 2014/2015.

2.            To approve the policy in Appendix 1 for the provision by the Council of school clothing grants in 2014/2015 within the budget specified in paragraph 5.2 of the report.

3.            To approve the policy in Appendix 2 for the provision of the Budget Holding Lead Professional Scheme for Attendance Support in 2014/2015 within the budget specified in paragraph 5.2 of this report.

4.            To approve the policy in Appendix 3 for the provision by the Council of discretionary awards in support of education travel in 2014/2015 within the budget specified in paragraph 5.2 of the report.

5.            To approve the policy in Appendix 4 for the provision by the Council of the Mayor’s Education Award (MEA) in 2014/2015 if Cabinet wishes the scheme to continue having determined that funding is available to support applicants for the academic year 2014-15.

6.            To approve the policy in Appendix 5 for the provision of the Mayor’s Higher Education Award Scheme in 2014/2015 if Cabinet wishes the scheme to continue and has funds to support it.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, EDUCATION, SOCIAL CARE AND WELLBEING (R. McCULLOCH-GRAHAM)

(Service Head, Learning and Achievement Early Years (A. Canning)

(Head of Secondary Learning and Achievement (D. Warne)

Councillor Gulam Robbani, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, introduced the report. He highlighted that Tower Hamlets was in the top ten boroughs in terms of people moving on to Higher Education with 68% going to university and he congratulated all the students and those who supported them.

In response to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Pre-Scrutiny Questions, officers reported that they had good cost control measures in place to prevent overspending including data on the number of young people who could apply for the grants. It was confirmed that awards could be refused if the budget had been spent.

During discussion Members welcomed the report. The Mayor welcomed the report as a demonstration of how young people could be supported and that deprivation should not be a barrier to achievement. He highlighted the important efforts of successive administrations over the last twenty years on tackling educational attainment. The Mayor agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1.            To agree that the Council takes up the power to make discretionary awards in respect of specified groups of students over compulsory school age in 2014/2015.

2.            To approve the policy in Appendix 1 for the provision by the Council of school clothing grants in 2014/2015 within the budget specified in paragraph 5.2 of the report.

3.            To approve the policy in Appendix 2 for the provision of the Budget Holding Lead Professional Scheme for Attendance Support in 2014/2015 within the budget specified in paragraph 5.2 of this report.

4.            To approve the policy in Appendix 3 for the provision by the Council of discretionary awards in support of education travel in 2014/2015 within the budget specified in paragraph 5.2 of the report.

5.            To approve the policy in Appendix 4 for the provision by the Council of the Mayor’s Education Award (MEA) in 2014/2015 if Cabinet wishes the scheme to continue having determined that funding is available to support applicants for the academic year 2014-15.

6.            To approve the policy in Appendix 5 for the provision of the Mayor’s Higher Education Award Scheme in 2014/2015 if Cabinet wishes the scheme to continue and has funds to support it.