Information Team Croydon
Digital Services
Assistant Chief Executive Directorate
Bernard Wetherill House
7th Floor, Zone B
Croydon
CR0 1EA

Contact: Information Team
[Croydon Borough Council request email]

 

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Dear Saleha Begum

 

Freedom of information request - FOI/9101

 

Subject: FOI - Local authority funding for tutoring

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Kind Regard

Information Management Team

 

Croydon Digital Services

Assistant Chief Executive Directorate

 

7th Floor, Zone B

Bernard Weatherill House

8 Mint Walk

Croydon CR0 1EA

Information Team Croydon
Digital Services
Assistant Chief Executive Directorate
Bernard Wetherill House
7th Floor, Zone B
Croydon
CR0 1EA

Contact: Information Team
[Croydon Borough Council request email]

 

Dear Saleha Begum

Request FOI/9101

Freedom of Information Request

Your request has been considered under the provisions of the Freedom of
Information Act. Please accept our apologies for the delay in responding
to you. Specifically, you have requested the following information:

Please provide in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (2000),
the following data on tutoring in schools.
In line with normal Freedom of Information requests I am looking for
existing data - if some data is not held in an accessible form, then I
would be grateful if you would provide what is convenient.

1.Does your local authority provide funding for young people’s tutoring?
(please indicate all options that apply)

Yes. The Virtual School can provide tutoring for Children Looked After on
a case-by-case basis.

The Virtual School is not a ‘school’ in the traditional sense.  We do not
have children on roll but we are responsible for promoting the educational
outcomes of the Councils cohort of Children Looked After.  Our role is to
act as Corporate Parent for Children Looked After in regard to their
education & the cohort number of children eligible for Pupil Premium Plus
(PPG+) funding can change on a daily basis.

Option a) Yes, we operate our own virtual school that also provides
tutoring.

Not applicable. We did not operate our own school during this period.

Option b) Yes, we fund enrolment into one or more external virtual
schools, where pupils from our local authority have been moved to a
virtual school associated with another local authority, and these
school(s) also provide tutoring. 
Not applicable.  Children Looked After by Croydon Local Authority remain
the responsibility of Croydon Local Authority & Croydon Virtual School.

Option c) Yes, we provide additional funding for mainstream schools that
is targeted to tutoring or individual catch-up.

Croydon Virtual School can provide funding to Schools on a case-by-case
basis via the release of approved PPG+ Grant Allowance to enable the
school to source tuition providers.  This funding is only released on the
submission of fully costed SMART Targets with the child’s Personal
Education Plan.  The target must be agreed by all professionals involved
in the young person education journey.  Funding is limited and must be
within the young person’s allowance.  The allowance available is not a
personal budget.
 

• What was the total funding provided for:

            FY2021-2022 = £111,815.54
            FY2022-2023 = £86,433.30

What is the budget for FY2023-24? The allowance per pupil for the 2023/24
financial year is £1,500 per pupil.  However, this can be used for a
variety of educational interventions and not just tuition.

Option d) Yes, we pay one or more tutoring providers directly.

Croydon Council has a contract with Adecco/Remedy to provide tutors based
on the submission of referrals made by the Virtual School Advisory
Teachers for the young people.  Referrals are made for children who are
missing education to support their learning until a place in an education
provision can be found.
 

• If yes, what was the total funding provided for FY2021-22 and
FY2022-23?

   Financial Year 2021/22 = £12,313.27
   Financial Year 2022/23 = £33,267.20
 

• What was the total number of young people supported for FY2021-2022
and FY2022-23?

Financial Year 2021/22 = 36
Financial Year 2022/23 = 60
 

• What is the budget for FY2023-24? 

The PPG+ allowance per pupil for the 2023/24       financial year is
£1,500 per pupil. However, this not a personal allowance & is needs    
based. The funding can be used for a variety of educational interventions
and not just           tuition.
 

• How do you procure support from tutoring providers? Please indicate
all options that apply.

o        We use our own framework/tender. This is the Councils’
Procurement & Tender    Process.
 

• Which tutoring providers were used in FY2022-23? 

            Remedy Recruitment Group via Adecco

Option e) Yes, we provide funding to parents for them to buy tutoring or
other learning support.  -  Not applicable

Option f) Yes, we provide funding for tutoring but in a different FY.- Not
applicable.

Option h) No, we do not provide funding for tutoring.-  Not applicable.

2. What is the total amount spent buy the local authority on tutoring
(excluding normal spend from schools / the Delegated Schools Grant) for
the years FY2021-22 and FY2022-23?
 

• How many young people did this relate to in FY2021-22 and FY2022-23?

Please see our answer to question 1 option D.

3. Where you provide tutoring directly to young people (Options d or e in
Question 1), which categories of young people are eligible to receive this
support?
 

• Young people enrolled in Virtual Schools – Children are not enrolled
in the Virtual School
• Looked-after children.  Yes
• Children excluded from mainstream education.
• Elective home educated children.
• Learners eligible for pupil premium  - Yes (Children Looked After at
statutory school age are eligible for Pupil Premium Plus (PPG+) but
not Pupil Premium.
• Children in alternative provision settings – Yes (Children Looked
After)
• Children with English as an additional language (EAL) – Yes (Children
Looked After)
• Asylum seekers – Yes.  Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (Children
Looked After)
• Youth offenders after release.  Yes (if the young person’s status
remains as Looked After)
• Young people aged 16-25 years.
• Whoever applies for support?
• Young people identified by their school as needing catch up support.
Yes. (Children Looked After providing a learning target has been
agreed between all professional involved in the young person education
via the Personal Education Plan)

 

The Council publishes Access to Information requests and responses on its
online Disclosure Log. (Any request included within this log will be
anonymised appropriately)

To view the Council’s Disclosure Log, please visit our website available
here:

[1]The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act | Croydon Council
(disclosure-log.co.uk)

If you are dissatisfied with the way the Council has handled your request
under the Freedom of Information Act you may ask for an internal review. 
This should be submitted to us within 40 working days of this response. 
You can do this by outlining the details of your complaint by:

Email:        [Croydon Borough Council request email]

Writing:     Information Team

London Borough of Croydon
Bernard Weatherill House
3^rd Floor - Zone E
8 Mint Walk
Croydon CR0 1EA

Any requests received after the 40 working day time limit will be
considered only at the discretion of the council.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire   SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely 

Croydon Council

 

References

Visible links
1. https://croydon.disclosure-log.co.uk/