Decision details

The Cabinet will be asked to consider the proposed principles to guide future investment in schools

Cabinet received a report from the Cabinet Member for Children and Education on the proposed allocation of Government funding for 2011/12 to support the provision of new school places and the improvement and modernisation of the school estate and wider Children’s Services property portfolio, together with details of the procurement arrangements for works and supplies.

For 2011/12, the Council was allocated £14.237m Basic Need (including Special Educational Need (SEN)) funding, which was an estimated £20m short of the Council’s assessment of the total funding required to meet the demand for additional primary school places for September 2012.  The allocation of £3.845m School Modernisation funding was also inadequate, with a projected £51m required to bring the whole property portfolio up to standard. 

The proposals within the report were therefore aimed at addressing the most urgent need while efforts continued to secure the appropriate levels of funding from the Government to meet the significant demand for school places in the Borough, both in the short and long-term.  It was noted that a report presenting a Council Capital Strategy, covering the issues referred to in the report, would be presented to Cabinet later this year.

Cabinet agreed:

(i)  To the inclusion of the Basic Need grant of £14,236,941 in the 2011/12 Capital Programme and its allocation to the specific projects as detailed in Appendix A to the report, subject in the latter respect to the finalisation of detailed arrangements and costings;

(ii)  To the inclusion of the School Improvement grant of £3,845,253 in the 2011/12 Capital Programme to support the improvement and modernisation of the Borough’s schools and the wider Children’s Services property portfolio;

(iii)  The arrangements for the procurement of contractors and suppliers, as detailed in the report, and authorise the Corporate Director of Children’s Services, in consultation with the Corporate Director of Finance and Resources and the Solicitor to the Council, to award the respective contracts; and

(iv)  To continue lobbying of the Government for sufficient funding to meet the urgent demand for additional school places in the Borough and to prevent the deterioration of the school estate and wider Children’s Services property portfolio.