Issue - meetings

Further to Minute 36 (16 July 2019), the Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement presented an update report on school expansion and improvement projects aimed at addressing the current and future demand for places in the Borough, as well as the latest funding issues.

The pupil population across primary and secondary level had increased by 38.5% since January 2010 (from 30,967 to 42,889) and was predicted to increase by a further 16.6%, to over 50,000 pupils, by 2023/24.  The Cabinet Member commended the continuing efforts of officers, Headteachers and Governing Bodies in ensuring that every child in the Borough had a school place and stressed the need for regeneration plans for the Borough to take full account of additional infrastructure needs.  Reference was made to the impact of population growth on other services, such as refuse collection, while the importance of the planning approval process in ensuring that new developments were properly supported by infrastructure was also highlighted.

The Cabinet Member also referred to plans to review the current Alternative Provision for pupils not in mainstream school, additional funding to support the new Greatfields School development and issues relating to the provision of places for pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Note the latest position regarding forecast pupil population over the next five years, as detailed in section 2 of the report;

(ii)  Approve the Future Planning Programme for Basic Need 2019 to 2027 (revised January 2020) as set out at Appendix A to the report;

(iii)  Approve the inclusion in the Capital Programme of £7.3m from Basic Need Grant to support the development of Greatfields Secondary and Primary school facilities and address some outstanding matters at previously expanded schools;

(iv)  Delegate authority to the Director of People and Resilience, as advised by the Procurement Board, to consider and approve the final procurement strategies for each project; and

(v)  Delegate authority to the Director of People and Resilience, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement, the Chief Operating Officer and the Director of Law and Governance, to conduct the procurements and award the respective project contracts.