Issue - decisions

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.

Reasons for the decision:

These 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.

In reaching its decision, members were reminded;

• that when considering what decision to make, they were under a personal duty to have due regard to the relevant section of the Equality Act 2010; and
• that when exercising its functions, the Local Authority must have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act;
• to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it; and
• to foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.  It was noted that relevant protected characteristics included age, disability, and sex.

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.