Agenda item

Further to Minute 94 (21 January 2020), 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 Cabinet Member referred to the fluctuations in pupil numbers over recent years and the actions taken in response.  Pupil numbers in the primary school age range were projected to increase for the 2020/21 and 2021/22 academic years and discussions were ongoing to ensure sufficient provision, particularly in and around the Barking Town Centre area which had seen, and would continue to see, considerable regeneration and the building of new family homes.  It was noted that the Cabinet Member would be meeting with the Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Social Housing and relevant officers in the next fortnight to discuss potential sites for a new primary school(s) in the area to supplement the new provision already agreed with the creation of Greatfields Primary School and Greatfields Secondary School.  The Cabinet Member referred, however, to delays in funding decisions by the Department for Education (DfE) in relation to the Greatfields sites and also much needed additional Special School provision in the Borough which had been exacerbated by the DfE’s recent decision to outsource the responsibility for approving funds for new school building projects to an external body.

On the issue of funding, the Cabinet Member referred to new allocations from the DfE to support improvements at Local Authority maintained schools and to help create additional school places, as well as new provisions for schools to reclaim certain costs associated with COVID-19 measures.

With regard to pupils’ return to school after the period of extended absence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cabinet Member praised the efforts of school staff and Council officers, and particularly the Council’s Director of Public Health and his team, for helping to create a safe environment that had seen over 90% of pupils return in those first few weeks.   The Cabinet Member reiterated the message to parents that children were safer in school and took the opportunity to remind parents and carers to wear face masks and socially distance when gathering at the school gates.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Note the actions being taken by officers to identify additional school places across the Borough to meet future demand pressures, including the need for a suitable site location to be urgently identified for additional primary school provision in the Abbey, Eastbury and Gascoigne areas of the Borough, as set out in section 2 of the report;

(ii)  Approve the inclusion in the Capital Programme of the DfE grant allocations for 2020/21 and 2021/22, as detailed in sections 3 and 4 of the report;

(iii)  Delegate authority to the Director of People and Resilience, acting on advice from the Procurement Board, to approve the final procurement strategies for projects noted in the report; and

(iv)  Delegate authority to the Director of People and Resilience, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education 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.