Bristol has been without a cabinet member for education for more than a month

Bristol has been without a named cabinet member for education for more than a month, prompting questions about who is in charge of one of the most difficult areas for the council.

No one has been announced to take the place of councillor Helen Godwin, who held the education portfolio before she quit the top team at Bristol City Council on August 31.

A Bristol City Council spokesperson said at the end of September that more information about the cabinet role appointment would come “soon”.

But the absence of any clear indication about who is in charge of education at the council has not gone unnoticed by people who keep a sharp eye on city politics.

The Twitter account of the Totterdown Residents’ Association noted the situation in a tweet about a meeting of school leaders this week.

“How important is Schools Forum to @BristolCouncil?,” @TRESAcic tweeted.

“Unfortunately Director Education & Skills [Alison Hurley] was unwell & didn’t attend. No Cabinet member present (still unclear who has taken the lead for education?) but maybe not needed?”

As well as mayor, Marvin Rees is also responsible for a number of different cabinet portfolios – photo: Ellie Pipe

A spokesperson for the city council confirmed that mayor Marvin Rees is currently responsible for education and other unassigned cabinet portfolios.

Officially, he is described on the council’s website as the cabinet “lead on Planning and City Design, Women and Families (Lead Member for Children’s Service)”.

The cabinet member for education is not required to attend meetings of the Bristol Schools Forum, the spokesperson said.

Rees was in New York attending a city leadership course when the meeting took place on September 28. He is among dozens of mayors and city leaders to have signed up to the year-long ‘Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership’ programme.

Lib Dem activist Jen Smith, who continues to be a vocal critic of Bristol’s inadequate services for children with special needs and disabilities (SEND), tweeted: “Meanwhile back in Bristol, children don’t actually have a classroom.”

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Read more: Saying a sad goodbye to one of Bristol’s oldest schools

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The commentary comes amid several crises in Bristol’s education sector, including a desperate shortage of mainstream and special school places and a shocking deficit in the city’s schools budget, forecast to reach £24m by March 2022.

A Bristol City Council spokesperson said: “Further information regarding the cabinet role appointment will be made available soon.”

Clarifying the responsibilities of the cabinet member for education in relation to the Bristol Schools Forum, the spokesperson added: “The constitution of the Schools Forum makes it clear that whilst the Cabinet Member for Education is entitled to attend their meetings, they will not hold any voting rights and their attendance is not mandatory.

“Professional advice and guidance is provided to the Forum by Directors of Education and Finance, or their representatives, and recommendations from the Forum are passed directly to the People directorate not the Mayor or Cabinet Member.

“Decisions on the setting of school budgets within the Dedicated Schools Grant are set by Full Council following recommendations provided by the Forum.”

The mayor’s stay in New York was funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, a philanthropic organisation set up by Bloomberg founder Mike Bloomberg, the spokesperson added.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUWCCH6JXkX/

Godwin stepped down from the cabinet to take up a consultancy role with PricewaterhouseCoopers, but remains a councillor for Southmead.

She was given the education portfolio, along with responsibility for families, women and children’s services, when Rees appointed his Labour-only cabinet in May.

The previous member for education was former councillor Anna Keen, who did not seek re-election at May’s local elections.

Main photo: Whitehall Primary School

Read more: ‘Marvin Rees’ administration has failed Bristol’s children’

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