Agenda and minutes

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The Cabinet Member referred those present to agenda Item 1 as shown on the agenda in respect of filming at this meeting and asked that those present reviewed and noted the information contained therein.

The Cabinet Member will advise of any items they have decided to take as urgent business.

None

There were no Declarations of Interest.

The report seeks approval to extend the existing contract with the Tri Borough Alternative Provision Trust (TBAP)  as allowed under the contract between the Council and TBAP and in the Council’s Contract Standing Order (CSO) 10.02.1(b), for a period of 2 years from 1st September 2017 – 31st August 2019 at a value not exceeding £2,138,598.

The Cabinet Member noted the report which sought approval for a 2 year extension of the existing contract with the Tri Borough Alternative Provision trust to manage the Octagon pupil referral unit in Wood Green.

RESOLVED

     I.        That the Cabinet Member, in accordance with the Council’s Contract Standing Order 10.02.1(b), agreed to approve a two year contract extension to the existing contract with the Tri Borough Alternative Provision Academy (TBAP) for the period 1^st September 2017 – 31^st August 2019 at a value not exceeding £2,138,598.

Reasons for decision

The decision to commission TBAP to deliver services in the borough was taken after an Ofsted inspection carried out in June 2013 (and subsequent follow-up inspections to February 2014) of the Pupil Referral Unit, run by Haringey Council on the same site, rated its overall effectiveness as inadequate. At that stage, it was felt that sufficient time should be allowed to ensure that this new provider met the high expectations required for a vulnerable cohort of students and so that they would be in a position to impart and deliver much needed improvements in student academic attainment.

Arrangements for re-tender prior to the end of the initial three year contract period would have required that the Council initiated the procurement/commissioning process in March 2016, only two years into the current contract. The Council did not believe that it was in the best interests of the vulnerable cohort referred to PRU provision to re-tender for services without first testing the model and specification via the Ofsted inspection framework. The Octagon AP Academy was inspected in February 2017 and achieved a rating of ‘Good’. In addition, there have been year on year improvements in the academic attainment of young people taking exams in YR11 at the Octagon AP Academy, with the most recent set of examination results in summer 2017 showing marked improvements on 2016 achievements.

The Department for Education (DfE) has set out in their National Funding Formula for Schools and High Needs Policy Document, published in September 2017 following consultation earlier this year, the intention to reform schools’ funding from April 2018. In this document, the DfE also noted the development of policy on alternative provision and the need to explore whether any consequential funding changes should be considered. Haringey Council intends to be prepared and in accord with any proposed statutory reform in 2019/20 and therefore does not believe it would be in the best interests of the Council, local schools and the children who need to access Alternative Provision to go out to the market prior to further progression of consultation and recommendations from the DfE.

Alternative options considered

As the need to maintain a stable period of contract delivery was determined to be necessary, alternative options for the provision of education for the cohort described in paragraph 1.1 of the report were not considered for the period September 2017 – August 2019.

N/A