The PAG Newsletter - Issue 17

Contents

• Introduction from Tom Legge?
• Conservative Party Conference?
• CST Conference?
• Labour Party Conference?

• PAG Whole Team Day?
• Funding for EHCPs
• Live Bids

Introduction from Tom Legge

Welcome to this events issue of the PAG newsletter. October has been a busy month for us all at PAG, having attended the Labour and Conservative party conferences, the CST annual conference as well having our own quarterly PAG whole team day. ?

We have gained insights into the promised policies made by the Conservative and Labour parties that would affect the education and early years sector and left those conferences with ideas and insights into the future of the sector.?

PAG also enjoyed the whole team day in London and as always, this was an excellent opportunity to catch up with colleagues, especially with the well-designed team game and then the trip to the pub afterwards! ?

I hope you enjoy this events issue of the newsletter.?

Conservative Party Conference?

By Vince Taylor

The beginning of the month saw the Conservative Party hold their annual party conference in Manchester. With the current expectations around the next election, this year’s conference was always going to be interesting to observe. Would we get a rousing, up-off-the-mat comeback to inspire a new generation, or a collective, panicked attempt to bolt a gate with the proverbial horse long out of sight?

Depending on who you ask, it was a bit of both. While it’s clear that some party members are in the stages of a pre-mortem of sorts, with one guest describing the atmosphere as akin to the band on the Titanic. There was still a tangible feeling of belief that the Tories could yet turn this around, evident in the use of "Long-term Decisions for a Brighter Future", a slogan seen plastered on speakers’ podiums.?

From a PAG/Create: Schools perspective, our interest was primarily on education, and whatever your feelings on Conservative education policy, it’s hard to argue against the fact that Covid-19 decimated the progress made in closing the attainment gap over the last decade or so. With this prospect of starting from scratch in mind, it was perhaps not surprising to find many of the education events sparsely populated and lacking the lustre expected of what many view as a vital sector. From our point of view, this was still bitterly disappointing, to say the least. Regardless of the knock-backs to progress, education is still an absolutely critical area of government policy and for all intents and purposes, to down tools until the next election is not acceptable, and will do little to change the perception of some that the Tories do not give our children and young people the attention and, most importantly, the services and chances, they need to succeed.

The big headline the Conservatives are hoping will go some way to appeasing a beleaguered, overworked, and underpaid sector was the announcement of the Advanced British Standard (ABS). Other than sounding like a failed UKIP initiative, the new qualification, Sunak promised, will create “the best education system in the world” by combining A-Levels and T-Levels (the latter being a Tory policy less than a year old and already seemingly out of date), to create “parity of esteem” between technical and academic subjects. While an attempt to unify and standardise attainment across these disciplines should be commended, the subsequent Downing Street admission that ABS could take up to 10 years to implement, time the Tories seemingly do not have, saw the new qualification almost immediately dismissed by some teaching unions as “pie in the sky”.?

With the looming threat of RAAC overhead (pun somewhat intended) and the troubles around staff wages, shortages, and retention rates, the introduction of a new post-16 qualification will do little to convince the public that the Conservatives are not only serious about improving education standards, but that they are even listening to the needs of the sector. Sunak’s pledge of tax-free, ‘special bonuses’ of up to ￡30,000 to key-subject teachers over the first 5 years of their careers is at least an admittance that wages and retention are issues that need solving, but his intention for sixth-form students to study 5 subjects, up from 3, and a desire for “students to spend at least 195 hours more with a teacher”, show a distinct lack of clarity.

With the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and another horrific scene now arising in Gaza, coupled with the expected change of government, it is perhaps no surprise that the Conservatives are searching for high-impact, immediate headlines to grab some quick wins. It remains to be seen whether education will be high on the Tory’s agenda over the next year or so and whether we will even see the changes promised this month to come to fruition. What is clear, however, is that with Labour’s growing momentum and their promise to “make decisions on policy in partnership with organisations and professionals” in the sector, education will remain a key rung on the ladder to Downing Street, whether the Conservatives choose to use it or not.??

CST Annual Conference

By Yurou Yin?

On the 5th and 6th of October, PAG exhibited at the CST Annual Conference in Birmingham. With its theme of "Belonging," this conference provided a rich platform for PAG to not only listen to insightful workshops but also connect with clients, partners, and like-minded professionals.?

Closely aligned to the three themes of this year's conference, 'People, Purpose and Place', we were fortunate to hear a range of different speakers from school trusts and other sectors. These included Catherine McKinnell, who emphasised the impact that good schools have on young people and how they can help them develop a sense of belonging. As well as Leora Cruddas CBE, Chief Executive of CST, talking about how people, purpose and place are intrinsically linked in the school trust sector.

We were delighted to reconnect with our existing clients and business partners, fostering stronger relationships and discussing exciting opportunities. Equally gratifying was the opportunity to forge new connections, emphasising the true essence of in-person conferences - bringing people together and expanding our network.?

Looking back, the CST Annual Conference 2023 was undoubtedly a success for PAG. The event not only provided an enriching opportunity to explore the theme of "Belonging" in the education sector but also allowed us to strengthen our existing relationships and forge new connections. The experience was both professionally rewarding and enjoyable for everyone involved.?

Labour Party Conference

By Gabriel Senior?

Charlotte and I attended the Labour Party’s annual conference on week commencing 9th October in Liverpool. The energy and excitement at this 4-day event contrasted the more reserved feelings felt at the Conservative Party conference that took place the previous week. With the anticipation on the next election, the Labour Party lead the conference with the slogan "Let’s Get Britain’s Future Back" it proved to be another conference to be observed by many, from sector workers to the general public.

Naturally, we were listening out for any hints about changes in education policy direction we may experience if Labour win the next general election. Although the Conservative party conference gave the impression that education was not a major priority, Labour outlined plenty of ambitious plans?and below are some of our key takeaways:?

• Early years – There was a strong emphasis on widening and improving childcare availability. It was acknowledged that many staff in the sector are underpaid, and Labour seek to address this via reform. This is aligned to their mission to “level up” England, was a key theme across the whole conference, and will be key to closing the disadvantage gap?
• Working with the sector to improve it – Labour wants to change the relationship between Government and the sector, and make decisions on policy in partnership with organisations and professionals who make it what it is, instead of making decisions and relying on the sector to adapt?
• Ofsted reform - Labour seek to reform the Ofsted inspection system, we may see a move away from one word scoring and a move towards a new report card system. This is something they have said they want to do in the short-term if they are elected?

• Independent school taxation – Bridget Phillipson, shadow education secretary, explained that she pledges to “end the tax breaks that private schools enjoy” and that the revenue gained will be used to fund improvements to the wider education sector.??
• Teacher recruitment – Labour has pledged to recruit 6,500 more teachers, but there were no details on how they plan to address this big challenge?
• Mental health and wellbeing – This was a reoccurring theme throughout the conference. Many of the speeches and fringe events emphasised how staff and student mental health is a big area which needs improvement. There were hints that we could see dedicated mental health and wellbeing staff at all public organisations in the fullness of time under a Labour government?

The attendance numbers for the education and early years talks were much greater than the ones held at the Conservative Party conference the week before, which, from our point of view, gave us greater confidence that Labour will give education the attention that it needs.

That said, there are still plenty of unanswered questions regarding what education policy will look like under a Labour government especially regarding how all these plans will be funded. However, it was refreshing to feel a sense of positivity amongst attendees regarding the future of education and the government in general.

PAG Whole Team Day?

By Karen Rodgers

On Thursday 12th October, PAG enjoyed a team day in London where we met to discuss the new quarter, reflect on the Labour and Conservative conferences, speak with our partner companies, and connect over some team-building activities.??

The day started with an update regarding the business and some reflection on the new quarter. PAG director, Charlotte, also provided an update regarding the Labour and Conservative Party conferences that PAG attended and shared important information from the conferences with the wider PAG team.? Alongside this, the team also discussed the current RAAC issue and the disruptions it is causing for schools.??

During the middle of the day, the team enjoyed a working catch-up which allowed us to mingle face-to-face with coworkers and catch up on important work together. This is particularly important to have as the team at PAG works remotely and is spread throughout the UK and Europe. Having this in-person contact was very beneficial and healthy for the team, alongside the icebreaker activity which involved playing the game “Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes”, in which teams need to work together to defuse a fake bomb. The activity provided fun team-building time as well as many laughs.??

One of the highlights of the day was the fantastic presentations from some of PAG’s partner companies. Becci from Kinetic Marketing, Ben from AMR Consult, Mike from MLG Education, Geraint from Education Buying and David from HY Education all gave talks on the services they offer and how they’ll be working with PAG over the next quarter. ?

Overall, the team day offered a fantastic opportunity for the PAG team to find out more in-depth information regarding the business and a much-needed chance to connect face-to-face.?

Funding for EHCPs??

Recently, we spoke with our legal and HR partner, HY Education, delving into the funding reality of schools concerning children with Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). Our insightful conversation with HY Education shed light on the challenges that schools face in realising the government's vision for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).??

The Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of practice: 0 to 25 years contains statutory guidance which schools must comply with to support children and young people with SEND. The foreword to the guidance says that the government’s vision “for children with SEND is the same as for all children and young people – that they achieve well in their early years, at school and in college, and lead happy and fulfilled lives”.??

However, particularly in respect of children with Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), many schools face challenges in turning this ‘vision’ into reality.? This is primarily due to the insufficient funding they receive from their Local Authority (LA) to meet the provision set out in section F of each child’s EHCP.?

LAs have a duty under section 42(2) of the Children and Families Act 2014 to ‘secure’ the specified special educational provision in section F of each child’s EHCP. Therefore, they must provide schools with the funding that it requires to meet the specified provision. A Failure to do so is unlawful and means that schools cannot properly provide what effected children are entitled to.??

In response to this pressing issue, our legal partners HY Education Solicitors are acting for a number of schools and Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) in challenging the level of funding provided to meet the needs of children with EHCPs by way of judicial review claims. Judicial review is a process through which a school or a MAT can challenge the lawfulness of a decision of a public authority, such as an LA.?

If you believe that your school is experiencing underfunding, HY Education is a boutique firm that only works with schools and specialises in Education Law.? They would be happy to speak with any school or MAT that wishes to challenge the funding provision provided by their Local Authority. You can easily contact an expert member of their team by clicking here.

Live Opportunities??

For more information on current opportunities, you can check out the live bids page on our website here.?

Thank you for reading this edition of The PAG Newsletter! You can check out our previous issues here. Make sure to follow PAG on LinkedIn and Twitter for regular updates on all of our exciting projects!?