Agenda and minutes

There were none at this meeting.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the Prosperous Staffordshire Select Committee held on 15 December be confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Learning and Skills

The Select Committee scrutinised the progress of educational achievement in Staffordshire for the period September 2015 to August 2016. 

Members were informed that there was a positive direction of travel in terms of the percentage of schools judged as good or outstanding (and the percentage of all pupils that attend these schools).  As at September 2016, 86% of Staffordshire schools were judged as good or outstanding, which was below their aspirational target of 90%.  This was hindered by the reduction in the number of school inspections during the academic year.  Staffordshire had improved at the same rate as seen nationally.  The number of pupils receiving a good education had also increased, with 82% of pupils attending a good or outstanding school, an increase of six percentage points since 2015. 

The new primary, secondary and post-16 accountability measures introduced in 2016 by the Department for Education (DfE) had resulted in limited trend comparisons being made over time.

Levels of attainment and progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and Key Stage One (KS1) remained strong and continued to outperform national levels of performance.  However, the focus in 2016/17 would continue to be on Key Stage Two (KS2), Key Stage Four (KS4) and Key Stage 5 (KS5) where schools needed to accelerate improvements to gain ground in the rates of attainment and progress achieved by our statistical neighbours and nationally.  Staffordshire schools also needed to do more to tackle variations in attainment and progress between localities, phases and for different pupil groups, such as those eligible for Free School Meals or Disadvantaged pupils. 

Members were informed that over the past few years education in Staffordshire (and across the country) had changed.  Schools were becoming more independent from local authorities and as a result there were new roles and responsibilities around school improvement.

Members received a more detailed explanation of the changes to performance measures in 2016 which had made it difficult to scrutinise trends.  Nevertheless, concern was expressed that the Free School Meals and Special Educational Needs gap in Staffordshire had narrowed in some measures in 2016 and widened in others.  The Cabinet Member for Learning and Skills acknowledged that the Council fell short of its aspirations in this regard and agreed to provide Members with further information on this issue. 

In relation to the English Baccalaureate, the Committee were informed that a greater proportion of secondary schools were not offering this qualification.  It was queried whether this was due to the fact that a foreign language was a compulsory component.  The Cabinet Member suggested that there would need to be a culture change in attitudes towards learning a language, post-Brexit.  Moving forward there should be more partnership working to share expertise, with specialist teachers being available to clusters of schools.  The School Improvement Team was currently undertaking work to encourage take-up of the Baccalaureate.

Members queried how the direction of travel of pupil attainment could be influenced.  The Cabinet Member responded that one measure would be to attract more and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Economic Growth

Members considered a report on the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Growth Hub and its programme in supporting Staffordshire businesses to start up, thrive and grow.  It also unlocked investment and job creation among local businesses and improved cross-referral between business support initiatives, innovation and international trade.  The Hub had supported 3,852 businesses since it was launched in May 2014, 10% of which related to key growth sectors in manufacturing and 15% in Professional, Scientific and Technical services.  Of the calls to the helpline, 26% of calls related to access to finance and were referred to other business support schemes such as the Staffordshire County Council loan fund which administered 68 loans supporting the creation of 165 jobs and safeguarding 133 jobs.  The helpline identified needs and then passed the enquiry to the appropriate advisor.  Enquiries covered areas such as growth start-up, premises and apprenticeships, and the Hub held a database of a wide range of suppliers.  Members were asked to help to promote the Growth Hub services to local businesses of all sectors and sizes by raising awareness of the Staffordshire Business Helpline and the Growth Hub Advisors.  Members recognised the contribution that the key partners, Stoke-on-Trent City Council and the Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce, made in the Growth Hub.

The creation of Growth Hubs was a government initiative introduced across the Country in 2013.  They were a local public/private sector partnership led by the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and they joined up national and local business support so that it was easy for businesses to find the help that they needed.  As of May 2016 the national network of Growth Hubs was complete for the first time, as all 39 LEP areas had an operational Hub.  Members asked about the relationship with other Hubs in other LEP areas, and were assured that information was shared and businesses were cross-referred between them. 

The Select Committee discussed the potential impact of Brexit on Staffordshire’s economy and on future funding for the Growth Hub, post March 2019.  Members were informed that a new small business grant fund was offering businesses a grant of between £1,500 and £10,000 to spend on capital items which would provide benefit and growth to their organisation.  A Panel evaluates each company’s application to ensure they met the criteria and all businesses awarded a grant of over £5,000 were expected to create a new job within their organisation.  Members requested further clarification on the small business grant fund and it was agreed that this would be provided to them in writing.

RESOLVED – That:

a)    the success of the Growth Hub programme in supporting Staffordshire businesses to start up, thrive and grow be  recognised;

b)    the success of the Growth Hub programme in unlocking investment and job creation among local businesses and improving cross-referral  between business support initiatives, innovation and international trade support be noted;

c)     committee members help to promote the Growth Hub services to local businesses of all sectors and sizes by raising awareness of the Staffordshire  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

The Select Committee received a copy of their 2016-17 Work Programme.  Member noted the following amendment:

·       that a report on Adult and Community Learning was to be brought to the March meeting in place of Post-16 Education Provision.

The Rev Preb Michael Metcalf thanked members for their comments on the new Staffordshire Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education and warmly invited them to attend its official launch at Entrust Headquarters in Stafford on 31 January 2017 at 2.00 pm.