Agenda item

[That the Cabinet Members for Education, Governance and City Economy respond to questions received]

Councillor Udey Singh asked the Cabinet Member for Education the following question:

The Progress 8 measure was introduced by the Government to encourage schools to offer a broad and balanced curriculum at Key Stage 4, and is based upon students’ progress across English, Mathematics, and six other subjects from a list which includes the English Baccalaureate range of subjects and other approved disciplines. Can the Cabinet Member advise Council of the number of academies and LEA maintained schools in Wolverhampton which score below or well below the national average scores when using the Progress 8 measure?

Councillor John Reynolds responded in the absence of Councillor Claire Darke. A new secondary school accountability system has been implemented in 2016. The headline accountability measures for schools from 2016 are: Attainment 8, Progress 8, Attainment in English and Maths (A*- C), and English Baccalaureate (EBacc) entry and achievement.

• Because of the changes set out above, figures for 2016 are not comparable to those for earlier years

• In addition, only 5 of our 19 secondary schools are maintained by the Local Authority

Progress 8 - aims to capture the progress a pupil makes from the end of key stage 2 to the end of key stage 4. It compares pupils’ achievement – their Attainment 8 score – with the average Attainment 8 score of all pupils nationally who had a similar starting point (or ‘prior attainment’), calculated using assessment results from the end of primary school. Progress 8 is a relative measure; therefore, the national average Progress 8 score for mainstream schools is zero.

• Average progress for Wolverhampton pupils between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage was -0.14 Wolverhampton’s national position is 114th out of 152 Local Authorities. We are 7^th against our statistical neighbours and 4^th in the region.

DfE’s definition of floor standards - this year for the first-time floor standards are calculated based on Progress 8 scores.

The guidance states that: “In 2016, a school will be below the floor standard if its Progress 8 score is below -0.5, and the upper band of the 95% confidence interval is below zero.”

The following five schools are below the government definition for the 2015/2016 academic year:

Of the five schools listed above:

• 2 schools are academies – the Regional Schools Commissioner is responsible for interventions into these schools and the School Standards Service (led by Alex Jones – Assistant Director of Education) is working closely with the RSC to ensure that appropriate challenge is delivered to the two schools.

• 3 schools are maintained by the LA – These schools are being challenged and supported by the School Improvement Team in line with the interventions outlined in the School Improvement Strategy 2016.

Councillor Udey Singh had no supplementary question.

Councillor Paul Singh asked the Cabinet Member for Governance the following question:

Can the Cabinet Member advise Council on the number of interim appointees and those on fixed contracts holding senior management positions within the authority at the moment at Grade 9 or above (annual salary starting at £48,070)?

Councillor Milkinder Jaspal responded that there were currently 59 interims of which 12 were appointed against permanent positions. 14 officers were appointed on fixed term contracts and the figures varied week by week.

Councillor Paul Singh asked a supplementary question:

Can the Cabinet Member advise on the Council definition of interim.

Councillor Milkinder Jaspal responded that an interim was a short term appointment which varied from one month to twelve months. The length of the appointment varied and depended on the role undertaken. The Council was undergoing a radical change of services and therefore a flexible workforce was required to deliver inline with the changing demands.

Councillor Wendy Thompson asked the Cabinet Member for City Economy the following question:

“In the light of various complaints regarding the new traffic flow system serving Wolverhampton Mainline Railway Station, can the Cabinet Member advise Council on what measures are being considered to solve problems of road safety and convenience arising from the width of the pavements adjacent to the new taxi ranks and other restrictions of space for traffic flow to the station, and can he indicate a timescale for when these issues are likely to be addressed?”

Councillor John Reynolds responded that progress that had been made through the £132m Wolverhampton Interchange Programme. The programme was delivering major improvements at a key gateway into the city and the opening of the Multi Storey Car Park on the 8^th January is the latest signal to residents and visitors to the city of the significant improvements that are being made and that the Council is making things happen.

I would also like to clarify for Members that the Multi-storey car park and the “run –round“ area including the taxi rank and new station drop-off area is the responsibility of Network Rail, not the Council, with operational responsibility falling to the Station Franchise Operator – Virgin Trains.  The design of the multi-storey car park extension and the run-round areas were also approved by Network Rail – and neither Network Rail nor Virgin Trains have raised any significant concerns with the Council about road safety, restrictions of space or traffic flow in this area.

However, the City of Wolverhampton Council is one of several partners in the development of the Interchange and I am therefore pleased to be able to answer your question on behalf of the development partnership as a whole.

The layout has been designed in accordance with Department for Transport guidelines and is intentionally designed to keep traffic speeds low, increasing safety on the site.  The site has also been tested using “swept path” analysis software as part of the design process, with the results being approved by both the Council and Network Rail.

I should add that the new run-round area provides additional waiting space for taxis and members of the public.

The old forecourt had space for 18 short stay spaces, plus 2 disabled parking bays

The new area has 16 short stay spaces, 10 kiss and ride spaces and 2 disabled bays – a total of 8 extra spaces.

In addition, members of the public can also park for free for up to 20 minutes in the Multi-Storey Car Park.

For taxi drivers, there were 13 taxi spaces previously, with a further 10 spaces in off-site feeder ranks.

The new area has 13 taxi spaces (with a further three spaces to be provided once the Metro Alliance undertake work to relocate the Network Rail overhead gantry) and a further 16 spaces will be provided on Bailey Street, once Cornhill is re-opened – a total of 9 extra spaces for taxi drivers.

As you would expect with a major development, we are working on a snagging list with the contractors Balfour Beatty, and we also expect that the link to Sun Street will be re-opened to the public in early February. 

We have been monitoring traffic flows and adjusting the phasing of traffic lights in peak periods, but we also expect that the re-opening of access to Sun Street will improve traffic flow as residents can then have direct access to Wednesfield Road and beyond.

Councillor Wendy Thompson asked the following supplementary question:

Can the Cabinet Member advice what road safety mechanism would be put in place to address the complaints received and that network rail/virgin be requested to address the traffic flow in Cornwall Street.

Councillor John Reynolds responded that passengers were requested to embark on the pavement side and not road side. The traffic flow was monitored by the transport department.