Councillor J. Kent, Cabinet Member for Finance and Education, explained that as there were three Cabinet Member reports on the agenda (due to the pre-election period, by-election and cancellation of the meeting in November) and that time was limited he would not introduce his report but welcomed questions.

Members questioned the Portfolio Holder and received responses on the following matters:

·         Councillor Halden observed that there were elements to be praised within the report, particularly in relation to Thurrock Education Alliance and Thurrock Education Awards. He reported that at the Council meeting in October he had asked about how many parents had been given incorrect advice regarding permission for home schooling their children and as of yet had not received a response.

The Cabinet Member advised that the Director of Children’s Services would contact Councillor Halden with the information.

·         Councillor Gledhill asked the Portfolio Holder what was being done to recruit more school governors and how this worked with academies.

The Cabinet Member appealed to everyone present to give up their time to be a school governor which he felt was a rewarding role. He explained that applicants were always welcome and that school governors received comprehensive training, regular briefings and the opportunity to attend conferences.

·         Councillor Kerin congratulated the service in their achievement of ensuring that young people Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) were tracked properly and offered support. He questioned the Portfolio Holder on what else could be done to support the 5.4% of young people who were NEET.

The Cabinet Member advised that he was particularly passionate about this subject and that it was built into contracts, (such as those in Housing) that the winning contractor had to employ local people to deliver the scheme which helped reduce the figures of young people who were NEET.

·         Councillor Ojetola congratulated the service on their successes and called upon the Portfolio Holder and other Cabinet Members to go further to ensure that Thurrock was not a training ground for London teachers.  He also asked whether the Portfolio Holder could work with colleagues in Public Protection to improve parking outside schools so that the impact on local residents could be mitigated.

The Cabinet Member advised that the retention of teachers was a priority and responsibility of the Thurrock Education Alliance who were working hard to ensure the brightest and best teachers were retained in Thurrock.

In relation to parking outside schools the Cabinet Member reported that considerable progress had been made with the use of the PIPPA car before this had to be withdrawn because of the ban introduced by the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles. He further reported that it was the responsibility of schools to engage with parents and children to discourage the use of cars on the school run and praised the work of a local school in introducing a reporting system with children which had success at raising awareness of this issue.

In summing up the report the Cabinet Member advised that it was too early to declare success and that he would continue to strive for every school in Thurrock to be a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ school.