A Goodmayes food hall's alcohol licence bid, opposed by 17 residents, is heard on 1 October. Schools Forum shares £230,500 for falling rolls that morning.

It is a quiet week at Redbridge Council, with two meetings, both on the morning of Thursday 1 October. There is no Cabinet and no Planning Committee. The next Planning Committee is provisionally set for 14 October.

Licensing Sub-Committee: Lodos Food Hall, Goodmayes

Thursday 1 October, 10.30am, Council Chamber, Town Hall, Ilford. Agenda and papers.

The sub-committee will hear an application for a new premises licence for Lodos Food Hall, 718 High Road, Goodmayes, IG3 8RS. The officers’ report sets out what is being asked for:

  • sale of alcohol for consumption off the premises only
  • 7am to 11pm, Monday to Sunday, the same as the proposed opening hours
  • the premises is described as a convenience store

Seventeen residents have objected. The report says they object on all four licensing objectives: crime and disorder, public safety, public nuisance and the protection of children from harm.

The council’s Licensing Enforcement Team agreed extra conditions with the applicant. With those in place, the report says, there are no objections from any responsible authority.

Officers make no recommendation either way. The sub-committee can grant the licence, grant it with extra conditions, grant part of it, or refuse it. We will report the decision.

Redbridge Schools Forum: £230,500 for schools losing pupils

Thursday 1 October, 10am, Ilford Central Library, Clements Road, IG1 1EA. Agenda and papers.

The Schools Forum is the body of head teachers and governors that advises on school funding. It will decide how to share out this year’s Falling Rolls Fund of £230,500. There is also a separate Growth Fund of £64,500.

The finance report explains why the pot is small:

  • Redbridge does not qualify for government falling-rolls grant. That money is only for temporary dips, and the council’s planning models say rolls “will continue to fall for the foreseeable future”.
  • The Forum chose in January to put in only half the amount the Department for Education suggests.
  • Checked against the DfE’s own criteria, no Redbridge school qualifies in full.

Officers recommend spreading the money across schools where individual year groups are below 80 per cent full and reserves are below the agreed threshold. The report says 16 schools pass the first test on that year-group measure.

The Forum will also see the council’s new borough-wide review of special educational needs demand, split into primary, secondary and post-16. The covering report calls the resulting building plan “an early stage planning tool”. It says spare space in mainstream schools with falling numbers may be used for specialist provision, and that schools will be consulted before any proposals are drawn up.

This follows the Cabinet paper we reported on 17 September, which set out 330 fewer school intake places by 2031.

What it means for you

  • If you live near 718 High Road, Goodmayes, the hearing is in public. The hearing procedure in the papers covers who may address the sub-committee.
  • If you are a parent at a school with shrinking classes, the Falling Rolls Fund is a two-year cushion, not a rescue. The funding papers are the clearest public sign of which schools are under pressure.
  • The minutes of last night’s Full Council are still to come. Our report on what the council decided covers Thames Water, Broadmead Road Bridge and Wanstead.