Agenda item

Further to Minute 18 (17 July 2018), the Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement presented an update report in respect of the various 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 advised that pupil numbers at primary and secondary level were predicted to increase by a combined 23.8% to 50,520 by 2022/23 (from the level at May 2018).  The latest plans to meet that increased demand included a new 630-place primary school in Thames ward and a new secondary school in the Beam Park / Dagenham East area.  It was also noted that the Council’s Infrastructure Group would be looking longer-term at the need for new school provision for Barking Town Centre in view of the significant regeneration plans for the area. 

The report also set out the proposed procurement arrangements for the permanent replacement of buildings at Roding Primary School, Hewitt Road, which were destroyed by a major fire on 4 September 2018.  The Cabinet Member placed on record the Council’s appreciation to all those involved in dealing with the fire and the resultant clean-up operation, which allowed the school to reopen for all year groups, apart from Reception, on 10 September.  Since that time, temporary classrooms had been brought in to enable the School to function as normal while plans for the replacement works were developed by the Council in conjunction with the School and the Local Education Partnership (LEP).

The Cabinet Member spoke on the Council’s significant investment in recent years across the entire family of schools and conveyed the Council’s disappointment at the apparent decision by the Diocese of Brentwood to transfer all of the Catholic Schools in the Borough into a multi-academy Trust in the near future.  The matter was first discussed by the Cabinet on 13 November 2018 (Minute 50 refers) and despite the Council’s attempts to engage with the Diocese on the issue and a lack of support for the proposal from parents, the Diocese appeared to be pressing ahead with its plans

The Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Approve the ‘Future Planning Programme to meet Basic Need 2018 to 2027 - Revised January 2019’ as set out in Appendix A to the report;

(ii)  Note the latest position of the forecast pupil roll within the next five years based on a range of factors including birth, migration, regeneration and proposed housing developments, and that some 10,000 pupil places would need to be created in that period;

(iii)  Approve the Procurement Strategy in respect of the fire damaged building at Roding Primary as set out in paragraph 3.11 of the report, for the use of the LEP to replace the damaged building and enter into a contract for the design and construction of the replacement building; and

(iv)  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 carry out the procurement and award the respective project contracts.