The role of the Local Authority Engagement Team Pupil Place Planning The role of the Local Authority Engagement Team

Who we are ….. Rob Brophy – Head of Local Authority Engagement Team Sally Lissenden – South West and West Midlands Jim Ashbridge – North East London and South Central Iain Smith - East Midlands and Humber, and East of England

… and what we do Engagement with local authorities – beyond SCAP Provide internal advice and information e.g. Free Schools Wider role on related place planning themes – planning areas, surplus places, quality of places, efficiency.

Role of the PPP Advisers Act as the interface between the DfE and local authorities on matters relating to school places. Initially focused on sufficiency of school places but role recently expanded to cover government policy in the following areas: Quality of school places Spare capacity Efficient use of basic need capital We also lead the work annually to review planning area structures in LAs in advance of the SCAP collection process.

Role of the PPP Advisers – Sufficiency A three stage cycle Engagement driven by Residual Pressure Data from SCAP (Jan) Engagement driven by National Offer Outcomes (April/May) Engagement driven by Autumn Sufficiency collection (October) Stage 1 Stage 3 Stage 2

Quality of places Why are we focusing on quality places? To improve the quality of new places created through school expansions. What do we already know? Expansion in RI/I schools usually has valid reasons. The national picture has remained steady at secondary over the last couple of years, with some improvement at primary. What do we need from you? We want you to share the surrounding circumstances leading to introducing places in RI/I schools. What are we doing with the information you give us? If we agree that there are ongoing school improvement concerns, we will refer/ hand your information to the RSC and his/her delivery teams, to support you.

Spare Capacity Why are we focusing on spare capacity? In 2017 the National Audit Office highlighted the issue of spare capacity in the school system. What do we need from you? We want you to share your approach to managing spare capacity, this will give an understanding of the particular challenges that your local authority may face in managing school capacity and performance. What are we doing with the information you give us? With you, we will explore and agree actions that are being or could be taken to reduce the spare capacity and improve the performance of schools. The information may also help us to identify useful approaches that we may be able to share as part of our activities to support local authorities.

Efficient use of Basic Need Capital (1) Why are we focusing on efficiency? General drive for improved efficiency in public sector Considerable variance in cost per place across local authorities based on SCAP Capital Spend Data. We are not looking to make savings in Basic Need Allocations. Savings will be realised by local authorities to Deliver more places for same amount of money Deliver improvements to condition Reduce Council contribution to deliver basic need More funding available locally to spend elsewhere on education

Efficient use of Basic Need Capital (2) What are we focusing on? New Schools and expansions (Basic Need Funding) Condition Spend Data Cost/m² as well as cost/place 25% least efficient local authorities What are we doing to help? Good Estate Management Guide published in April 2018 Working with EBDOG to find new ways to share good practice

Efficient use of Basic Need Capital (3) When will this work take place? Some local authorities have already had visits and reviews as part of 2017/18 review. Letters have recently been sent to a list of potential local authorities for inclusion in 2018/19 review. Questionnaires sent out in July to final list of local authorities Visits arranged October to January Review findings – February 2019 Action Plans commence from March 2019

Planning areas (1) Let’s start with a definition… A pupil planning area is a geographical area designed and used by an authority to assess current and future pupil demand for school places. Why are planning areas important to local authorities? Planning areas can help strategic commissioners of school places, by improving the accuracy of forecasts, reducing the risk of localised need being hidden and thus ensuring appropriate basic need allocations. So how many are there? As at 1 May 2017, there were 3,555 pupil planning areas spread across 152 local authorities – 2,503 primary areas and 1,052 secondary areas. And what does a typical planning area look like? There is no `one size fits all’ structure, but all planning areas should reflect school clusters and their catchment areas.

Planning areas (2) What does DfE do with planning area level data? We assess current and future shortfalls in school capacity at a planning area level to inform the calculation of basic need. The data also informs the locations and sizes of new schools, or school expansions, provided through centrally funded capital programmes. Can we decide what our planning area structure looks like? You have the discretion to determine your pupil planning areas, but we expect you to consider our guidance when doing so. Okay, but how do we change our planning areas when we need to? Each year, we invite you to review your planning areas and propose changes to us if they will improve the accuracy of your forecasting. All agreed changes will then be applied to the next SCAP data collection and the subsequent calculation of basic need allocations.

For more information East Midlands and Humber and East of England – Iain Smith iain.smith@education.gov.uk 07384 452147 Lancashire and West Yorkshire – Victoria Witter victoria.witter@education.gov.uk 07824 082840 North – Anne Giles anne.giles@education.gov.uk 01325 340545 North East London and South Central – Jim Ashbridge james.ashbridge@education.gov.uk 07392 136172 South East and South East London – Jonathan Johnson jonathan.johnson@education.gov.uk South West and West Midlands – Sally Lissenden sally.lissenden@education.gov.uk 07392 136197

For more information Contact us By email: Advisers.PPP@education.gov.uk SCAP.PPP@education.gov.uk Visit the website Scorecards: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-authority- school-places-scorecards-2017 Planning area guidance: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/local- authority-pupil-planning-areas