Proposed by: Councillor Rhys Taylor
Seconded by: Councillor Joe Carter
A fair education system ensures that economic disadvantage is not a barrier to accessing appropriate education.
This Council:
· endorses the corporate aim to narrow educational outcomes and opportunities;
· notes the increase in the number of pupils from 27,789 in 2010 to 33,469 in January 2017;
· notes that demand for English medium places at entry to secondary education will be exceeded by September 2019; and demand for Welsh medium places at entry to secondary education will be exceeded by September 2021;
· notes the current pressures on the school estate and that nearly 20% of pupils did not secure any of their first three choices for secondary school places in 2016/17;
· notes that the attainment gap at Key Stage 4 for those children in receipt of Free School Meals was 33.7 in 2017;
· acknowledges that families with the economic means to do so are able to move within catchment areas so as to secure places at over-subscribed schools, leading to a loss of community cohesion and potentially widening educational outcomes and opportunities.
This Council calls on the administration to:
1. Carry out a financial exercise as part of the budget consultation process and in order to inform the budget debate, calculating:
a. the impact of providing free secondary school transport to anyone living over 2.5 miles from their high school;
b. the projected cost of reintroducing discretionary travel provision for young adults with learning or physical disabilities in 16 – 19 education, as allowed for in Section 6 of the Learner Travel (Wales) Measure 2008.
2. Bring to November’s council meeting a detailed outline of how it will deal with the imminent lack of sufficient places in the city’s existing secondary schools.