Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement presented the latest update report on the forecast demand for education places in primary, secondary and special needs settings, along with details of new grant allocations received from the DfE, new projects using grant funding and some changes to the current programme of capital investment.

The report set out the projected demand for school places up to 2027/28, which showed a future decline in demand particularly in primary year groups, including Reception.  The Cabinet Member explained that over the past 15 years, the pupil population in the Borough had increased by 43%, which was borne out by the 2021 Census data which showed that Barking and Dagenham had the highest population (26.1%) of residents aged under 16 in England and Wales.  A considerable amount of work had gone into insuring that sufficient school places was available to meet the increase in demand over that period, through the construction of new schools and the expansion of 75% of the existing school estate.  In view of the projected decline, the Cabinet Member advised that discussions were now taking place with schools to ensure that, collectively, they remained financially viable.  In that respect, a review of the school estate was being undertaken to identify opportunities for rationalisation and the possibility of creating additional specialist provision in its place, due to exponential demand in that area.

The Cabinet Member referred to new grant allocations received from the DfE, including an allocation of £1.87m in 2025/26 to create additional specialist places, and was particularly pleased to report that an application for rebuilding works at the Sandringham and Longbridge Road sites of Barking Abbey School had been approved by the DfE, with works expected to commence from April 2025.  She also provided details of proposed new building and remodelling works at Trinity Special School and Alternative Resource Provision (ARP) expansion projects at Mayesbrook School and All Saints Catholic Secondary School.

Cabinet colleagues welcomed the ongoing data analysis work undertaken by officers within the Education service to maintain the balance between demand and provision for school places and encouraged the Government to properly fund school projects to ensure that young people had the best start in life.  Reference was also made to the importance of delivering the Schools’ capital programme.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Note the actions being taken by officers to manage school places across the Borough and to meet the demand for specialist places;

(ii)  Approve the proposed projects, allocations of funding and procurement routes as set out in paragraphs 8 and 9 of the report, to support the provision of new school places and improvements; and

(iii)  Delegate authority to the Strategic Director, Children and Adults, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement and the Head of Legal, to conduct the procurements and award the respective project contracts.