Issue - meetings
The Tower Hamlets Education Partnership (THEP)
Meeting: 10/05/2016 - Cabinet (Item 5)
5 The Tower Hamlets Education Partnership (THEP) PDF 143 KB
Additional documents:
- 5.7a Appendix ii THE Partneship Propectus, item 5 PDF 2 MB
- Webcast for The Tower Hamlets Education Partnership (THEP)
Decision:
DECISION
1. To welcome the establishment of the Tower Hamlets Education (THE) Partnership and the potential of its role in establishing a school-led system of improvement which adds value to the whole Tower Hamlets’ education system;
2. To ask the Corporate Director for Children’s Services in consultation with the Director of Law, Probity and Governance to consider which of the Council’s current school improvement services might be delivered from THE Partnership in 2017 and identify appropriate mechanisms accordingly;
3. To endorse the role of the Council in education, as set out in paragraphs 3.24 - 3.38, of this report and to ask officers to explore how the Council’s partnership and scrutiny function might develop in support of this role;
4. To ask THE Partnership to report on progress towards these outcomes in a comprehensive annual review of the quality of education in schools in Tower Hamlets, with the first report to be produced in November 2016;
5. To agree that the Council establishes an earmarked reserve from general fund balances of up to £300,000 per annum to THE Partnership for a period of three years to enable it to become self-sustaining and to maintain a tight focus on improvement, as evidenced by progress in the outcomes described in paragraph 3.32 of the report; and
6. To agree that THE Partnership is able to receive services in kind from the Council in support of its progress towards sustainability.
Action by:
CORPORATE DIRECTOR, CHILDREN’S SERVICES (D. JONES)
(Service Manager Policy, Programmes and Community Insight (L. Richards)
(Finance Business Manager (S. Patni)
Minutes:
Note – this item was taken alongside Agenda Item 5.8 (Maintaining Educational Excellence in Tower Hamlets) and the combined minute is presented here.
Councillor Rachael Saunders, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services, introduced the reports. She explained that report 5.8 set out the overarching legislative context and in particular it therefore highlighted the need to lobby the government over future schools funding, whilst report 5.7 detailed proposals to set up a partnership organisation led by schools and how the Council could support this development. It was noted that funding was being requested to support the setting up of the partnership and that the Commissioners would need to be involved in grants decision making.
A key reason behind the partnership plan was the desire to ensure that Tower Hamlets schools continued to work together and with the Council for the benefit of all students even if they ended up being part of separate academy chains.
The Mayor welcomed the report and stated it was important to ensure the community felt a strong sense of ownership and to that end he agreed with comments made by Councillor Joshua Peck, Cabinet Member for Work and Economic Development, which noted the concerns raised about the need to ensure the partnership Board reflected the community it would serve. The need to ensure the Council had a strong relationship with the partnership was also noted. The Mayor agreed the recommendations as set out in both the reports.
RESOLVED
1. To welcome the establishment of the Tower Hamlets Education (THE) Partnership and the potential of its role in establishing a school-led system of improvement which adds value to the whole Tower Hamlets’ education system;
2. To ask the Corporate Director for Children’s Services in consultation with the Director of Law, Probity and Governance to consider which of the Council’s current school improvement services might be delivered from THE Partnership in 2017 and identify appropriate mechanisms accordingly;
3. To endorse the role of the Council in education, as set out in paragraphs 3.24 - 3.38, of this report and to ask officers to explore how the Council’s partnership and scrutiny function might develop in support of this role;
4. To ask THE Partnership to report on progress towards these outcomes in a comprehensive annual review of the quality of education in schools in Tower Hamlets, with the first report to be produced in November 2016;
5. To agree that the Council establishes an earmarked reserve from general fund balances of up to £300,000 per annum to THE Partnership for a period of three years to enable it to become self-sustaining and to maintain a tight focus on improvement, as evidenced by progress in the outcomes described in paragraph 3.32 of the report; and
6. To agree that THE Partnership is able to receive services in kind from the Council in support of its progress towards sustainability.