Councillor Jeff Hanna suggested that the section of the report dealing with secondary school places was considered along with Item 6, and that Item 5 dealt with Primary and Special Educational Needs (SEN) school places.

Paul Ballatt explained that Merton’s first focus for school places was on the primary sector, and that the challenge has been a significant one. More than 20 new forms of entry have been established permanently and additional special school places have also been provided. The focus of officers has more recently been on developing a secondary places strategy and the report outlines a direction of travel which had been developed through consultation with schools, education professionals in CSF and with elected members and which had been agreed by LSG.  The report also notes that further expansion in the special school sector will also be needed. He added that Councillor Martin Whelton had agreed that a version of the report would go to Cabinet for consideration and that comments of the panel can be incorporated into that report.

Paul Ballatt stated that the primary school place issue was a complex challenge for Merton with a large amount of attendant risk, requiring detailed planning based on projection models and local intelligence. He added that schools, parents and pupils had so far been satisfied with Merton’s provision of extra places and that LBM had achieved sufficient and affordable primary school place capacity.

Paul Ballatt told the panel that the strategy to date had proved a major financial challenge for the council as central government’s ‘basic need’ allocation had been insufficient for the scale of expansion required. He added that Tom Procter, who was responsible for managing the capital team and contracts, had recently obtained significant additional (targeted) basic need grant money which would be very helpful for the council’s overall financial position.

Councillor Jeff Hanna noted the volume of work that officers had done and asked the panel to give thanks to Paul Ballatt and Tom Procter, which was agreed.

Councillor Jeff Hanna distributed and noted the paper tabled for the meeting by the Protect Dundonald Rec (PDR) Campaign Group and invited comments from the panel.

Councillor Oonagh Moulton mentioned the proposed development of the YMCA building in Wimbledon and the housing development scheme mentioned in section 2.14. She stressed that the potential demand on school places needed to be considered alongside all residential developments.

Paul Ballatt responded that working relationships with E&R and CSF had improved over recent years, and that there was now a joint CSF/ E&R board overseeing the strategy chaired by the E+R Director. He said that demand for places was changeable and so the strategy was to remain flexible to adapt to need as appropriate.

Councillor Peter Walker stated that the Council needed to look at standards of education as well as number of places. He said that since we already have a good cohort of head teachers and school staff, it made more sense to expand their schools than to build a new school and take a risk on a new Headteacher.

Councillor Peter Walker added that primary schools in Merton do have extra land for potential development, and that those objecting to expansion were often louder than the people who were in favour. He pointed out that previous plans for a new school on Gap Road had not worked out. He disagreed with the PDR paper’s claim that there was no demand for extra places at Dundonald school and in the local Wimbledon area.

Councillor Oonagh Moulton agreed that there was a demand for school places, but said that there were limits on what could be expanded. She added that she believed Merton could attract good new head teachers as seen in Bishop Gilpin. She said that wards such as Wimbledon Park and Colliers Wood had a real need for a new school, especially with their high birth rates. She suggested that a free school may be suitable.

Councillor Agatha Akyigyina pointed out that a new school was unfeasible due to lack of finances, not lack of land. She said that Merton’s schools were doing a good job and should be encouraged to expand and continue that work.

Councillor Karin Forbes asked for the abbreviations of SEN categories to be added to the forthcoming CSF glossary.

Yvette Stanley informed the panel that Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) was becoming more prevalent in Merton and nationally, though it was not clear if this was an increase in cases or in better diagnoses. She added that ASD was a continuum, and that different pupils with ASD could have different needs from their schools.

Yvette Stanley added that Merton was already exporting fewer children out of borough than in previous years, which meant less residential education and more children with SEN who could live with their families.

Peter Connellan asked where the cut-off age was for provision of SEN places. Yvette Stanley answered that it was currently 21 for Looked After Children and that the government was suggesting it be raised to 25 by 2014-15.

Councillor Peter Walker mentioned his frustration at the low level of public awareness for the work of the Perseid school.

RESOLVED: Panel noted the report and expressed thanks and appreciation to officers for the detailed work that had been done.