Decision details

The Cabinet will be asked to consider the Building Schools for the Future Progress report

Further to Minute 44 (28 September 2010), the Cabinet Member for Children and Education presented a report on the progress of the Local Education Partnership (LEP) and Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) elements within the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) project.

The Cabinet Member advised that the LEP element, which relates to the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) scheme for Dagenham Park Church of England School and the Design and Build (D&B) scheme for Sydney Russell Comprehensive School, has been completed.  With regard to the ICT element, the intention is for the contract to be signed later this week.

We noted that the Department for Education (DfE) wrote to local authorities on 29 October asking that, in the light of spending cuts announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review, all existing BSF schemes be reviewed with a view to finding significant savings.  Officers have carried out a review of our LEP and ICT schemes and it is the firm view that the costs involved in seeking to vary the schemes would far outweigh any savings that could potentially be achieved, and the risk of claims from contractors would make this option even less feasible. 

The Cabinet Member advised, however, that officers have held further discussions with the management of Sydney Russell Comprehensive School regarding an opportunity to extend the D&B contract to include a further two forms of entry at the school.  Negotiations with the appointed contractor suggest that including the works as part of the D&B contract will save in the region of £3 million compared to undertaking the works outside of the contract at some point in the future, and as there is a need to expand secondary school provision in the Borough this would effectively represent a direct saving to the DfE.  The Cabinet Member further advised that the School is willing to fund the expansion works via its own reserves and a loan from the Council which would be repaid over a five-year period from the additional funding that it would receive as a result of increased pupil numbers.

In respect of the formal award of the ICT contract to the selected bidder, RM Education plc, the Leader advised that it was necessary to withdraw this recommendation from the report and for the Chief Executive, acting under the Urgent Action provisions of the Council’s Constitution, to take the decision to award.  The Leader explained that this was necessary as the award has to take place, and the relevant documentation entered into, later this week and this would not be possible if the decision was taken at this meeting as the matter would be subject to the Call-In process until midday on 1 December.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council in achieving its Community Priority “Inspired and Successful”, to:-

(i)  Confirm the documents signed at Financial Close in respect of the LEP as set out in Appendix 1, and the Final Business Case for the ICT element as set out in Appendix 3 to the report;

(ii)  Approve the approach to the DfE’s requests for savings, which concludes that there are few savings of any significance and, indeed, there would be considerable costs in varying the contracts and considerable risk of claims being made for loss of profit;

(iii)  Support the proposal for the expansion of Sydney Russell Comprehensive School by two forms of entry as part of the D&B contract, to be funded by the School from its own resources and via a loan from the Council to the School; and

(iv)  Approve the inclusion of £800,000 in the Council’s Capital Programme to facilitate the loan to the School on the terms outlined in the report.