Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no Reserve Members in attendance.

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Committee, Sub Committee, Panel or Forum;

(b)               all other Members present in any part of the room or chamber.

RESOLVED:  To note that the following interests were declared:

Agenda Item 8 – Admission to County Schools

CouncillorHusain Akhtar declared a prejudicial interest on the above item in that his grandchildren attended Norbury School and that he was a governor at Grange Primary School.  He would leave the room whilst related cases were considered and voted upon.  However, officers subsequently advised that three of the cases that the Councillor had an interest in, namely P176, P177 and P178, had been withdrawn.  He would leave the room whilst related case P179 was considered.

CouncillorAsad Omar declared a prejudicial interest in that he was a governor at Nower Hill School.  He would leave the room whilst related cases, namely H138 and H135, were considered and voted upon.

To appoint a Vice-Chairman of the School Placement Admissions Panel for the Municipal Year 2012/13.

RESOLVED:  That Councillor Asad Omar be appointed Vice-Chairman for the Municipal Year 2012/13.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 9 May 2012 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 9 May 2012, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents or organisations under the provisions of Executive Procedure Rule 51 (Part 4D of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were put, or petitions or deputations received at this meeting.

To consider and confirm the Panel’s Terms of Reference.

The Panel received the updated Terms of Reference of the Panel, which had been agreed at a special Cabinet meeting held on 24 May 2012.  A Panel Member asked about the composition of the membership, which now included headteacher representation.

In response, an officer stated that headteachers formed part of the membership with voting rights when making a decision, including decisions relating to confidential business on the agenda.  Additionally, they would have to declare interests where appropriate and where their interest was prejudicial, they would not participate in the decision-making.  It was confirmed that the updated Terms of Reference had been drawn up with legal advice.  It was noted that the appointment process was underway.

Another officer informed Members that a bench-marking exercise had been carried out and it was not unusual to have a mix of headteacher/Councillor representation on Panels and some local authorities had teacher only representation on their Panels.

The Panel was disappointed that they had not been fully briefed on the changes being proposed to the Terms of Reference prior to the meeting, including the Chairman who had not been appraised of the revised proposals.

RESOLVED:  That the terms of reference, including the comments made by Member, be noted.

To resolve that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business, on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of confidential information in breach of an obligation of confidence, or of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972:

RESOLVED:  That, in accordance with Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item for the reason set out below:

Report of the Corporate Director Children and Families.

In accordance with the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, cases P177-P182 and cases H137-H138 were admitted late to the agenda to allow the Panel to allocate an appropriate place to the applicants.

Additionally, written representations from the Headteachers of the following schools were also made available to Panel Members to take into consideration when making their decision:  Pinner Park Infant and Nursery School, Cannon Lane Infant School and Vaughan Primary School. 

It was noted that case references P176, P177 and P178 had been withdrawn, as school places had previously been offered and accepted.

On 30 May 2012, there were 10 children for whom admissions staff could make no reasonable offer of a school place.  The School Placement Panel was requested to recommend to the Head of Education Strategy and School Organisation to authorise the admission of these pupils to a school where no places existed in the relevant year group.

Having previously declared prejudicial interests, Councillor Omar left the room during consideration of H135 and H138 and Councillor Akhtar left the room during consideration of P179.

Resolved to RECOMMEND:  (to the Head of Education Strategy and School Organisation)

That offers of admission to schools be made as follows: