Agenda item

Clive Jones had asked the Executive Member for Children's Services the following question which in her absence was answered by the Deputy Executive Member for Children's Services:

 

Question

Many residents living in Earley and parents of children who attend Aldryngton primary school have expressed concerns about the Council’s expansion plans for Aldryngton.  Will you confirm that the Council’s Executive and Officers are taking their concerns seriously?

 

Minutes:

 

Question

Many residents living in Earley and parents of children who attend Aldryngton primary school have expressed concerns about the Council’s expansion plans for Aldryngton.  Will you confirm that the Council’s Executive and Officers are taking their concerns seriously?

 

Answer

Concerns are, and without any doubt, being treated seriously on this matter which has received a great deal of attention from Members and Officers alike.  There is an active and open consultation with parents with children attending Aldryngton Primary School.  Indeed, you still have time to submit your views should you wish to.  As you might expect, considering the concerns raised by existing parents at the school and the school itself, this has been a priority for Officers, who have ensured that issues raised have been dealt with thoroughly and promptly.  In addition to this there has been: an open meeting with parents in January with the presentation on proposals and an extensive question and answer session, which I believe you attended as well; a detailed proposal was sent to the parents of the school including responses to issues raised by parents; a briefing for all local members (I know that you attended that as well); and a statutory school expansion consultation concluding on the 2nd of March. 

 

I note that, whilst you are not a local Ward Member, you should be conversant on this topic as you have been invited, as I said, to the briefing of local Members as well and you also put an appearance in at the open meeting for parents and residents.  I hope that you will agree with me that it is important to also consider the parents in Earley who are not actively engaged in the consultation but hope to send their children to a local school.  When considering the Council’s expansion plans for the school the Council is going to need to balance the concerns raised against the proposals with those factors favouring a school place strategy that enables greater capacity in Earley.

 

The Conservative-led Council is a leader in this region in delivering and investing in local schools for local families.  We want to continue to avoid children unnecessarily travelling across the Borough to find a school placement.  This is something that the parents have appealed for and this is imbued in the work that the Executive Member for Children Services has led for the last five years through the current and previous primary schools strategies.  The Councils Executive will be holding a Special Executive on the 15th of March in order to ensure that the proposals are scrutinised by Members, as well as ensuring that the matter continues to be treated in an open and transparent matter.

 

Supplementary Question

The Council clearly has some money to spend. Costs for this expansion scheme now seem to be in the region of £5 million.  Why don’t you use this money to build a brand new school in the Hatch Farm development?  You have already got land in that development that you can build on.  There is easy access to the site and you can arrange for plenty of parking; which will be very different to Aldryngton School.  The Council could also provide a disabled access bridge over Lower Earley Road so that children from Earley could use the new school in Hatch Farm Dairies.  Would you seriously consider this option?

 

Supplementary Answer

I would welcome you writing in with your alternative proposal as part of the consultation.  We haven’t received anything from you as of yet, so that would be good.  I will, with Charlotte, provide you with a full written response to that.