Issue - meetings

That Cabinet approves the Attendance Strategy attached at Appendix 1.

Councillor Alex Sanderson, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children and Education,stated that school attendance had become an increasing concern across the country since the end of the pandemic. This was principally because attendance at school had dropped significantly with the number of children who were classified as persistently absent increasing significantly, both nationally and locally.  This report set out the strategic approach to address this concern and to ensure any child, regardless of their characteristics, needs or the type of school they attended, received access to a full-time, high-quality education.

In answer to a question from Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler, Councillor Alex Sanderson replied that she would be discussing the budget to meet the demands of this strategy later in the current week with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services and officers.

Councillor Alex Sanderson stated that there had been a recent study about the number of children that would be joining the local authority/academy sector from the private sector, following the VAT addition on private school fees. The Council would be happy to provide school places to those children and they had spaces in both primary and secondary schools in the borough. She would forward this study to Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler for information.

Councillor Adronie Alford asked what the percentage in the borough of non-authorised attendance in schools was. Councillor Alex Sanderson replied that it was 1.5% at primary level and 2.8% at secondary level, which was below the national average. Non-authorised attendance for children with health needs was 4.1%.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE CABINET MEMBERS:

That Cabinet approves the Attendance Strategy attached at Appendix 1.