Closed 20 March 2020
Closes 31 December 2022
Closes 1 December 2025
Closed 30 April 2020
Closed 28 April 2020
Closed 1 April 2020
Closed 30 March 2020
Closed 27 March 2020
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Background and Overview
It is the responsibility of all Admission Authorities to set admission arrangements which adhere to regulations set by the Department for Education’s (DfE) School Admissions Code (2014) ensuring a clear and fair access protocol is in place for all school applications.
Admission arrangements are set by Bristol City Council for all Community and Controlled schools. Other schools are responsible for setting their own arrangements. This includes all secondary schools as well as many primary schools.
Decision Details
Minor alterations were made to the wording from the 2020/2021 arrangements, changing dates for the admissions process to suit the relevant academic year. The key principles however, including the order of the oversubscription criteria remain unchanged from previous years.
Bristol City Council’s annual duty to set admission arrangements also includes determining the number of children to be admitted into the reception year for Community and Controlled schools. In order to comply with the School Admissions Code these arrangements need to be formally agreed by 28th February in the year prior to admission year. Once the admission number is set schools cannot admit fewer children (assuming there are sufficient applications) but can admit more children.
Demand for reception places has been reducing and some schools are experiencing difficulty with the number of children starting where infant class size regulations require multiple classes but these classes have a significant number of spaces. For example, a school with a PAN of 60 will plan for 2 classes. 35 children start, leaving 25 spare places. Pressure on school finances means that this is unsustainable.
Therefore a further proposal was to reduce the Published Admission Number (PAN) at some maintained primary schools.
The following schools requested a reduction to their PAN:
Public Consultation
A public consultation was open from 6th December 2019 through to 31th January 2020. During this consultation the proposed admission arrangements and co-ordinated schemes for entry into Reception and Year 7 for the 2021/2022 cohorts as well as for in year applications and the proposed reductions in PAN were put online, allowing persons of interest including; school staff, governors and parents/carers to submit comments and feedback.
The consultation was hosted on the BCC Citizen Space consultation page and promoted via contact with all Bristol nursery, primary and secondary schools, relevant academy trusts as well as on the BCC admissions webpage and Ask Bristol e-bulletin. The consultation was targeted to schools and parents/carers as well as other relevant and interested parties.
We received seven responses.
There were no objections to the proposed admission arrangements and co-ordinated scheme for 2021/22.
Feedback was supportive of reducing PAN at Nova Primary School.
We received responses to Summerhill Infants PAN reduction with concerns about how this could impact the funding the school receives. That staff will lose their jobs and would the LA support these staff members find jobs elsewhere?
Questions were also raised about how local primary schools had opened or expanded, such as Whitehall primary, to the detriment of Summerhill.
We also received comments regarding how the falling primary school population could be managed by directing schools to set their PAN in order for all schools to stand the best chance of reaching capacity. Hence some school’s reducing their PAN to support other schools and provide them with a better chance of survival.
A response from Bristol City Council
Bristol City Council is proposing the decrease in PAN at both schools following conversations with senior staff and school governors in response to falling pupil numbers for primary age children across the city. With applications for the schools looking to be around one form of entry under PAN, the schools have to consider the impact this will have upon the way they structure their classes and organise staff. Fewer pupils has a direct impact upon the amount of funding the school receives. If schools are operating under capacity they are likely to face a cost deficit with funds needed for other recourses, including staff. This is inefficient and unsustainable for a school. Furthermore, it makes it difficult for them to maintain the high standards of education and wellbeing for the children.
As the proposed changes are not due to take effect until the 2021 academic year, this allows the school and staff time to make plans for the future. The schools and their governors are responsible for the decision making process regarding staff. The LA would support the school through this process.
With regards to expansion at Whitehall, this was planned and implemented while demand for primary school places was still rising. The school is also very popular with local parents. One of the key objectives for the LA is to meet parental preference. The school has remained heavily oversubscribed despite the increased places and falling pupil numbers in this part of the city.
The LA has a co-operative relationship will all maintained Bristol schools and we are working collaboratively with schools across the city to manage PANs in order to best meet forecasted demand.
The Decisions Taken
After reviewing the options available and considering the information at our disposal, the decisions taken have been:
The consultation on the Council’s 2020/21 budget was open for six weeks from 23 October 2019 until 4 December 2019. Individual responses were received via the survey and face-to-face interviews, and additional responses were received from organisations and individuals via email.
More information about what we consulted on is available in the consultation survey.
We received 3,448 responses to the Budget consultation 2020/21, the results of which are available in the Budget 2020/21 consultation report.
3,315 (96%) of the 3,448 people who responded to the budget consultation, stated the level core Council Tax increase they would support in 2020/21, from the three options provided:
3,325 (96%) of the 3,448 respondents to the consultation, expressed a preference for a particular level of Adult Social Care Precept:
The decision will be taken at Full Council on 25 February 2020.
Parent carers and young people have told us that they would welcome changes to the way this service is currently delivered so that it has a greater impact on the long term outcomes for children and young people who have sensory impairments. This was following a review of the Service undertaken by the National Sensory Impairment Partnership in 2016 and service user and stakeholder survey activity as well as engagement events that took place between March and August in 2018.
You can read the proposals in the consultation feedback document here.
The Council, Club and design team wanted to hear views on the proposed design of St Bernadette's Rugby Club to inform and shape the proposed development prior to submitting a planning application.
The results of the survey are available in the Community Engagement Statement.
The project’s Design Team are now preparing the designs ready to submit for planning. Once submitted for planning, the Council’s webpage will be updated with a link and reference number to view the submitted planning application details: www.bristol.gov.uk/housing/plans-for-hengrove
The consultation on the Traffic Clean Air Zone options was open for six weeks from Monday 1st July to Monday 12th August. Individual responses were received via the online survey, with people being asked how concerned they are about the health impacts of poor air quality in Bristol. It also sought feedback from citizens, businesses and other stakeholders on the two potential options.
Paper copies of the survey and alternative accessible formats, including language translations, were available on request. Paper copies of the survey were also available in all libraries and the Citizen Service Point. Additional survey responses were garnered through seven drop-in sessions and via face-to-face interviews with the Youth Council and in 11 areas of the city which have historically low response rates, high deprivation and/or high proportions of black, Asian & minority ethnic (BAME) citizens.
More information about what we consulted on is available in the consultation report.
We received 5,034 responses to the consultation, the results of which are available here.
5,001 (99%) of the 5,034 respondents answered the question ‘how concerned are you about the impacts of poor air quality in Bristol on your health and the health of your family?’
There is a high level of concern about the health impacts of poor air quality among respondents, and health concerns are higher still among Bristol respondents.
85% of all respondents and 88% of Bristol respondents are very concerned or moderately concerned, with 61% (66% for Bristol respondents) stating they are very concerned and 24% (22% of Bristol respondents) being moderately concerned.
10% of all respondents and 9% of Bristol respondents are slightly concerned.
Only 5% of all respondents and 3% of Bristol respondents are not concerned.
Of the 5,034 people who responded to the Traffic Clean Air Zones consultation, 4,966 (99%) stated how strongly they agree or disagree that Option 1 (Clean Air Zone - private cars not charged) is a good way to improve air quality in Bristol.
More than two thirds of all respondents (69%) agree or strongly agree that Option 1 is a good way to improve air quality (39% strongly agree and 32% agree). This is more than three times the 21% of all respondents who disagree or strongly disagree. 11% neither agree nor disagree.
For Option 1, Bristol respondents share similar views to all respondents, with slightly higher proportions agreeing or strongly agreeing compared to all respondents.
4,971 respondents (99%) stated how strongly they agree or disagree that Option 2 (Diesel car ban) is a good way to improve air quality in Bristol.
More than half of all respondents (55%) agree or strongly agree that Option 2 is a good way to improve air quality (32% strongly agree and 23% agree). This is more than one and a half times the 34% of all respondents who disagree or strongly disagree. 11% neither agree nor disagree (the same proportion as for Option 1).
Bristol respondents view the Option 2 diesel car ban more favourably than all respondents. 59% of Bristol respondents agree or strongly agree, almost twice the 30% who disagree or strongly disagree. 11% neither agree nor disagree that Option 2 is a good way to improve air quality.
Along with rigorous technical analysis of a number of options, the consultation feedback was used to develop the Outline Business Case (OBC) of the clean air plans which were put before Cabinet on Tuesday 5th November. Following approval by Cabinet, the plans were submitted to the Joint Air Quality Unit (JAQU) for their consideration.
The council is continuing to work closely with JAQU on preparing the Full Business Case for submission next year. As part of the Full Business Case, there will be direct engagement with all businesses and residents affected to help manage implementation, including details of mitigations measures and exemptions. The deadline for the implementation of the plans is March 2021.
For further information on the clean air plans, visit www.cleanairforbristol.org