Today, Cumbria County Council's Cabinet agreed to adopt a strategic approach for dealing with school organisation issues across the county.
Members of the Cabinet looked at how surplus places and other school organisation issues could be addressed with a strategic county wide process, allowing for local involvement, to cover the mid to longer term. This approach generally will involve nursery, primary, secondary and special schools. However it will also take into account early feasibility work already undertaken for secondary education in Carlisle and Barrow.
In summary, the process will be as follows:
1. A strategic Cumbria-wide school organisation forum will be set up to work on an educational vision, make the case for change, formulate criteria, agree a consultation process, set the timetable, suggest priorities and hold the process to account
2. Local partnerships will be set up, involving local committee representatives and a range of partners to identify possible options
3. Formal consultation
4. Decisions by the School Organisation Committee and their subsequent implementation
5. Oversight, political direction and decision making by the county council's cabinet throughout, engaging with the scrutiny process
6. A cross party approach
7. A dedicated and adequately resourced project team to drive the work forward
County councillor Philip Chappelhow, cabinet spokesman for children's services said:
"This will be one of the first major reviews of its kind for some time. Cumbria faces some significant issues relating to the supply of school places and school organisation more generally in response to the Every Child Matters agenda and other initiatives such as extended schools. The number of young people in the county is reducing. This review needs to reflect the change in population patterns so we can make sure that we have the schools in the right place at the right size to meet local needs.
Obviously there will have to be some one off changes in the short term to tackle falling rolls but all in all these issues will all be addressed with an inclusive approach that still allows for flexibility taking into account local priorities. The options identified through the local forums must have local public support. Everyone with an interest in education within their local area will have an opportunity to air their views before any decisions are made.
It will be a challenging process and will, I'm sure, raise difficult decisions for some areas. We are approaching this exercise with an open mind and want people to engage with us to find solutions to suit their area. We want to make sure that this county provides the best educational opportunities for every single youngster in the area. We will be making best use of the resources available to us to concentrate on what matters most - our youngsters' education"