Consultation Hub

The purpose of the consultation was to:

• Gain a better understanding of the VCS in West Sussex
• Gain a deeper insight into the needs of the Voluntary Community Sector (VCS)
• Gather your views on the current Voluntary Community Sector Infrastructure support
• Understand more about the challenges that the VCS are facing. 

Survey was live from 19^th February to 16^th March.  We received 163 responses from a range of organisations. Your greatest challenges were:

• Funding
• Recruitment and retention of volunteers
• Keeping track of changes in policy and/or legislation
• Engagement with Statutory Sector eg WSCC, D&B’s, NHS
• Premises
• Skills and Training

The results are part of the ongoing consultation process with the Voluntary Community Sector and were shared at the VCS Engagement Event in April as well as sharing findings with the Infrastructure Organisations.    Following on from the VCS Engagement Event and survey results, a series of focus groups will be set up on the following themes: 

• Volunteering
• Partnerships and networking
• Voice and communications
• Funding
• Training, governance and voluntary sector advice

We are hoping that group discussions on the above topics will take place over the coming months looking at different issues and identifying solutions that will make a positive difference going forward.

We asked for your feedback on the proposal to amend the number of places West Sussex County Council commissions at the Special Support Centre at Hazelwick School. The proposal aligned provision more closely with need and made best use of available funding.

43 of you took part in the consultation and fed back your views on the proposal via the online survey. 42 respondents were opposed to the proposal to reduce the number of places and 1 neither supported or objected to the proposal. 

35 of you who responded went on to give further detail on your views with the majority commenting on insufficient SEND provision, reducing choice for families and the quality of provision.

Your comments were fully considered and addressed in the Decision Report which can be viewed here. 

Based on evidence of the number of specialist places required for children with hearing impairment and that the proposal will not affect children currently occupying places in the Special Support Centre, the West Sussex County Council Director for Education and Skills took a decision that came into effect on 28 March 2018 to approve the proposal. The number of places the County Council commissions at the Special Support Centre at Hazelwick School will be amended to 4 places, for implementation from September 2018.

Thank you to everyone that responded.   

The Council has a statutory duty to consult on admission arrangements each year where there are proposed admission arrangement changes and once every seven years if there are no proposed changes.  We asked for your  views on its proposed admission arrangements for children who will be starting or transferring schools in September 2019. 

112 of you took part in this survey.

The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills has:- 

1.     Approved the National Scheme of Co-ordination for starting school and secondary transfer for 2019/2020 and changes to the non-statutory dates.

2.     Agreed the proposal to decrease the Published Admission Number for Lyndhurst Infant School from 120 to 90.

3.     Agreed the proposal to combine the catchment areas of Midhurst CE Primary (Controlled) and Easebourne CE Primary (Controlled) Schools creating a dual catchment area for both schools to enable more appropriate place planning in the area.

4.     Agreed that the proposal to remove the North/South dividing line in the oversubscription criteria for secondary schools in the Horsham Town area is not taken forward at this time, but that it is revisited in the near future when a new mixed secondary school is established.