Bristol

Academies in Bristol – School Reform and Job Cuts. What’s not to like?

Submitted by JMB on Sun 25/Jul/2010

[Note – front page of the UK parliament’s website is currently broken. This link works.]

The Academies Bill [Latest Draft] is on the final stretch in parliament, and seems likely to pass before the summer recess. The blurb is:

Academies are all-ability state funded schools. They have sponsors from a wide range of backgrounds, including universities and colleges, educational trusts, charities, the business sector and faith communities.

The big difference with (new) Academies is that they are entirely removed from Local Authority oversight (they are not “maintained”). Now my usual working theory is that life will be a lot easier for everyone if we get rid of as many layers of government bureaucracy as possible, starting at the centre. This Bill concerns itself with the middle-men at the Local Authorities, whereas I would have opted for a massive reduction in head count amongst the mandarins at the Department for Education (no longer the “Department for children, schools and families” and properly capitalised).

Will this legislation improve state education in Bristol, or indeed Britain? Not for a few years, no. This new legal status won’t magically solve the three major problems of parental indifference, weak senior management teams and teachers motivated more by ideology than idealism. But it’s a start, and once passed the Act will remove most of the obligations on a school to adhere to the National Curriculum, and create some opportunities for cost savings in Local Government.

Cuts in Local Government: break out the Chaumet Sparkling Perry (£1 at Lidl)

Since Academies will not be maintained, they will be funded directly by a grant (per pupil) from central government, I believe the affect on Councils will be a reduction in the council’s Dedicated Schools Grant, and probably the Area Based Grant and its share of National Non-Domestic [Business] Rates by the time some of the other marginal programmes have been cleared out.

As soon as this Bill becomes an Act of parliament, the theory is that all schools currently deemed “outstanding” by Ofsted will automatically be able to tell their Local Authority to get stuffed, thus – again, in theory – the process could start as early as September/October 2010 after parliament returns.

There is a slight fly in the appointment: none of Bristol’s existing maintained secondary schools have an outstanding ratings; only the Voluntary Aided School St Bede’s Catholic College manages that.

  • Total number of state secondary schools in BCC area: 20 (see here)
  • Total number of BCC maintained schools and existing academies: 20 (see here)
  • Number of maintained secondary schools with “Outstanding” ratings: ZERO (via Ofsted)

Which is pretty amazing when you look at the numbers involved:

But if we look at Primary Schools as well:

  • Total number of state primary schools in BCC area: 138 (see here)
  • Number of maintained secondary schools with “Outstanding” ratings: 9 (via Trym Tales)

then we’re in business. Taking 6.5% of schools out of LEA control is a reasonable basis for a headcount cut of say… 5% as a starter? Rounding up, let’s say 30 Full Time Equivalent LEA Staff.

As to what affect this will have on Bristol Council’s £400m annual budget (yes, really, £400 million, and that doesn’t count the running costs of the schools), my guess would be a reduction of around £8-10 million in the dedicated schools grant. A 30-person cull within CYPS could potentially bolster this with a £750,000 cut in Council Tax next year. That’s only about £5 for each tax paying household, but it’s better than a kick in the teeth.

Add in a few non-job holders like the Enrichment Coordination team (£57k), the Playing for Success Scheme (£50k), the Business Partnership Manager (£62k), the Drugs Coordinator team (£149k), the 14-19 Advisor consulting contract (£159k), the EMAS service (£35k), and cheaper biscuits for the SACRE meetings (£17k) then suddenly you’ve got a fairly decent set of cuts; maybe an easy £10 off a typical Band D council tax bill.

Local Note

The recently deflowered Charlotte Leslie MP (Coalition, Bristol North West) has got herself a place on the Education Select Committee, so she’ll no doubt be front and centre with subsequent Academies legislation.

Kingsdown Residents Parking Scheme

Submitted by JMB on Sat 24/Jul/2010

It even has its own logo:

1323

After the recent rubber-stamp, by the Bristol Council Cabinet, here are the grim details of the new Residents Parking Scheme. Notably absent from all the documention: the word “Pilot”.

KingsdownResidentsParkingScheme

The first permit for each household will cost £30 per annum; the second permit will cost £80 per annum. In exceptional cases where a third permit is issued, it will cost £200 per annum.

That’s equivalent to a 7% rise in council tax for a Band D property with two cars, or 4% for a single-mum in a Band A property with one old banger. But if she spends £14,000 on a brand new “low carbon, high smug” Polo, she’s quids in.

  • Each household (as defined in 1.1) can apply for up to 100 visitors’ permits per annum.
  • Each visitors’ permit will be valid for one day.
  • The first 50 permits will be issued free of charge; subsequent permits will cost £1 each.

The mickey-mouse financial analysis (see Appendix 5) from the council suggests that two-thirds of the running costs will be derived from income other than selling permits. And all of the first 5 years surplus will be used to cover the up-front capital costs (although inflation and the time-value of money don’t rate a mention).

Now I can’t work out how the Parking Services team have arrived at a break-even figure over 5 years, so my official view is that this scheme is “unsustainable” as the bureaucrats say, and exists only as a means to an end; to expand parking control over the rest of Cotham, Redland and Clifton in vainglorious pursuit of the mythical car-free city, so beloved of middle-class policy wonks (apart from me).

Business Permits

Bristol City Council continues to build on its reputation as a great place to do business by placing the following constraints on businesses operating in the zone:

  • 1.1.Businesses located in the defined Residents’ Parking Scheme area can apply for a business permit.
  • 1.2.These permits will only be issued for a vehicle essential to the operation of a business during the course of the working day. Permits will not be issued to vehicles used for commuting to or from work.
  • 1.3.Each business can apply for one business permit at a cost of £100 per annum.
  • 1.4.A business permit will not be issued if the business has access to off-street parking of any kind.
  • 1.5.The applicant will need to provide proof of their business address and a declaration of the use of the vehicle for and in the course of business. A copy of insurance documentation showing that the vehicle is insured for business purposes will also be required.
  • 1.6.The applicant must supply the vehicle registration document (V5). If the document is not in the applicant’s name then the applicant must also supply a signed letter from the registered keeper confirming that they are authorised to use the vehicle. If the vehicle is a leased vehicle, then an official letter from the leasing company stating that the vehicle is leased to the applicant’s employer must also be supplied.
  • 1.7 Credit will only be given if the applicant is aged over 75 and accompanied by both parents.

One of those is a joke. See if you can guess which one.

Map of the Bristol Blitz

Submitted by JMB on Thu 22/Jul/2010

Although the majority of vandalism and cultural desecration that has taken place in Bristol over the last seventy years was instigated by the local council, now is an opportune time to recall the enthusiastic contributions of the Third Reich to Bristol’s urban scene.

Local journalist, author, raconteur and Irishman – but everyone has skeletons in their closet – Eugene Byrne has put together a map of locations damaged or destroyed in The Bristol Blitz, a series of six major aerial bombardments of our city by the Luftwaffe causing thousands of casualties and destroying tens of thousands of buildings.

Eugene’s Article


View Bristol Blitz in a larger map
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