Agenda item

Councillor Paul Rochford, Cabinet Member for Children & Learning, introduced the report.

The report to Cabinet on 11 July 2012 on Commissioning School Places recommended consultation on a draft strategy for ensuring the sufficiency of school places over the next five years. At that meeting it was noted that there was a projected need for 103 permanent Year Reception classes for September 2013 and to meet this projected growth it was proposed to expand the capacity of a sufficient number of schools each by 15 or 30 pupils per year group, that is by either 0.5 or 1 form of entry (FE) for September 2013.

The way in which the Local authority was proposing to meet that agreed need was detailed in the report before Cabinet.  It set out the individual schools which had been selected to expand, the rationale for their inclusion and the indicative costs of each scheme.  The schools had been selected based on the local authority’s Commissioning School Places Strategy which had been approved in slightly amended form by the Cabinet Member for Children & Learning on 17 September 2012 but was out for further consultation.

The report highlighted the shortage of primary school places projected for September 2013. It was explained that for those schools with accommodation that could be brought back to general teaching use the Council could decide to admit pupils beyond their Published Admission Numbers (‘PAN’).  However, for those schools that needed additional accommodation to admit 200 pupils or more than 25% (as long as this was more than 30 pupils) of their existing ‘net capacity’ (whichever was the smaller figure), a statutory process of consultation would be necessary before the Council could agree the expansion.  Therefore the second element that had been included was for those schools requiring a statutory consultation process.

It was explained that for the Upminster area Branfil Primary was proposed school for expansion.  A statutory process was required and this process was started much earlier than for the remaining eight schools in need of statutory proposals because major building works had already been planned and there was a need to complete the statutory process as soon as possible to enable expansion works to be included within the major project, thereby achieving best value.

Those consultations had now concluded and the Strategy finalised with some minor amendments. Appended to the report was the list of 15 schools proposed for permanent expansion from September 2013. Also appended were the responses to the consultation representation Period for the proposals to expand Branfil Primary School.

Reasons for the decision:

The decisions were necessary to provide sufficient additional primary places to meet the forecast rise in primary pupil numbers projected from Sept 2013 and beyond.  The reasons for proposing specific schools for expansion were given in an appendix to the report.

Other options considered:

The option of adapting existing accommodation for ‘bulge’ (temporary) classes to respond to the projected deficit of primary places had been considered as this would be more affordable and avoid the risk of providing permanent accommodation that might then become surplus in the foreseeable future. 

This option had been rejected because of the high level of confidence in the latest pupil forecasts for 2012 which projected the birth rate to be sustained at the current high level for the medium term and the corroboration of these projections by the latest ONS forecasts.  Given the long term confidence in forecasts the permanent expansion proposals were considered to provide best value for money and the preferred option of schools for responding to expansions. 

In some planning areas there was more than one option for deciding on a school to expand for September 2013 and a clear rationale was given for each school being proposed and detailed in appendix to the report.  As projections of rising pupil numbers were forecast to continue, all schools that had not been proposed for expansion in 2013 would be fully considered for any future programme.

The decision to proceed with planning applications and tendering arrangements in parallel with the statutory consultation process had been a necessity in order to avoid delays in delivering the required capacity. In the event of the statutory consultation being unsuccessful, the planning permission and contract award would not be implemented.

In reaching its decision, members were advised that an Equalities Impact Assessment had been conducted from which it was concluded that there would be no identified adverse impacts.

Cabinet AGREED:

1.      The 15 schools listed in Appendix 1 to the report for proposed permanent expansion from September 2013 to meet the projected deficit of primary places;

2.      The statutory processes to be initiated to permanently expand the capacity of eight of those 15 schools by September 2013:  Harold Court Primary; Harold Wood Primary; Pyrgo Priory Primary; St Patrick’s Primary; Rise Park Infant and Junior schools; and Towers Infant and Junior schools;

3.      The proposal to expand Branfil Primary School from 1 September 2013, following the Representation Period which ended on 31 August 2012;

4.    That staff take all necessary steps in order to deliver the expansion programme, including the submission of planning applications

5.    The commencement of a tendering process for construction/ refurbishment works at issue of tenders for Harold Court Primary, Harold Wood Primary, Mead Primary, Parsonage Farm Primary, Rise Park Infant and Junior schools, Towers Infant and Junior schools, together with all associated investigations e.g. soil survey

6.      That the final allocation of available Capital funding as detailed within the report be delegated to the Cabinet Members for Children and Learning and Value, and the Group Directors of Children’s Services and Finance and Commerce.