Member and officer representatives of the Council have recently had a productive meeting with the lead for the Safeguard Scilly Students campaign group and would like to update the community on the Council’s post-16 provision of services to facilitate access to education and training.
The Council recognises both the importance of accessing post-16 education and training for all children who live on the islands, and the duty we have to make arrangements for facilitating attendance at post-16 education and training. This presents a challenge in that this duty does not extend to a general duty to provide and/or fully fund travel and accommodation for such purposes.
At Full Council on 24 March 2025, Members approved the arrangements currently in place to facilitate attendance at post-16 education and training as set out in the Council’s Post 16 Transport Policy Statement (compliant with section 509AA of the Education Act 1996). The Council also provides a Post 16 Information Booklet for post-16 students and their families. The feedback from families on the booklet has been positive so far, and we continue to welcome suggestions for improvements.
Currently, financial support in the amount of £9,635 is provided to each eligible student (£8000 per student from the Department for Education and £1635 from the Council) in accordance with the provisions of the grant and the Council’s Post 16 Transport Policy Statement.
In facilitating access to post-16 education and training the Council has regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of the island’s children, (section 11 of the Children Act 2014). The Council has been closely monitored during a period of ongoing inspection in relation to its children’s services, and no breaches of statutory duty have been identified. The recent Ofsted monitoring letter identified that oversight and assurance of the arrangements for children who live on the mainland to access post-16 education is an area for improvement, and the Head of Service and their team is working to improve service delivery in this respect.
The Council has already committed to continuing to make representations to government to increase the grant paid to the Council in respect of the contribution made towards boarding, accommodation and travel costs to support eligible post-16 students in full-time education and training on the mainland. We wrote to the government in this respect in May 2025 and a response was received in July 2025. The Council will continue to make further, more robust, representations to this end.
The Council has improved its service provision relating to the facilitation of access to post-16 education and training markedly in the last 12 months. It has:
- Increased funding for each eligible student;
- Continued to engage with government on the provision of the grant including the amount;
- Agreed with government that the residual grant for 2023/2024 could be used to distribute to eligible 2024/25 students, where previously such grant monies would have had to be sent back to government;
- Continued to work with government on purposes for which the residual grant for future years may be used;
- Continued to work with education and training providers on additional post-16 education/training provision, including the ability to distance learn;
- Employed a Transitions Support Worker who provides pastoral support to post-16 students and their families. This officer visits host families and the young person if needed and liaises between the young person and college. They also signpost the young person to appropriate support;
- Provided a list of available host families and facilitated Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks for all host families, and provided a model agreement for use by the host families and the student. The Council’s Transitions Support Worker offers to meet host families every half term and the Council also holds host family forum meetings.
- Going forward, the Council is committing to:
- Only including host families on the Council’s list if they have a current DBS check;
- Providing fire safety checks for host families (via the Fire Service);
- Undertaking suitability and home assurance testing of host families;
- Providing safeguarding awareness training to host families;
- Recommending further training including youth mental health and first aid to host families.
- Recommending proposals at Full Council to increase the amount provided by the Council to facilitate visits to education/training establishments;
- Commencing preparatory work with students for post-16 transition from year 9;
- Liaising with the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office to seek the reinstatement of the funding for the mainland 999 week (which has previously been used to support transition work).
The Council will work together with all stakeholders for sustainable solutions for the continual improvement of services for post-16 provision, seeking to engage with families and young people regularly. Meetings have been held on 15 October 2025 and 19 November 2025 in this respect. A further meeting is scheduled for 16 December 2025 at 6pm in the Wesleyan Chapel for families with children in year 9 and above.