Decision details

Decision:

The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills is asked to agree to:

     I.    Allocate an additional £1.3m from the Children, Young People & Education Capital Budget, to fund the delivery of the accommodation required to enable the school to operate its agreed Published Admission Number of 150.

    II.    Authorise the Director of Infrastructure, Strategic and Corporate Services in consultation with the General Counsel and Director of Education to enter into any necessary contracts/ agreements on behalf of the County Council.

  III.    Authorise the Director of Infrastructure, Strategic and Corporate Services to be the nominated Authority Representative within the relevant agreements and to enter into variations as envisaged under the contracts. Variations to contract value to be no more than 10% above the capital funding agreed by the Cabinet Member without requiring a new Record of Decision.

Background:

The Kent Commissioning Plan for 2015 to 2019 identified the need for additional secondary school provision for Thanet to be in place for September 2019 onwards. The Kent Commissioning Plan for 2017 to 2021 forecast that up to 8 forms of entry of provision would be required during the period 2019-22. Most of the new provision will be provided via a new 6FE Free School established on the former Royal School for the Deaf site in Margate. As the future minimum need was identified as 8FE a permanent solution would be required. Feasibility studies of all Thanet Secondary schools were undertaken, and discussions took place with governing bodies and Academy Trusts to establish whether they would support expansion. It was identified that Ursuline College site could accommodate a permanent expansion and that the academy trustees were in support of the proposal.

At the Children’s Young People and Education Cabinet Committee on the 13 October 2017 it was agreed to permanently expand Ursuline College and based on feasibility reports, £3million was allocated to the build project from the Basic Need Capital Programme Budget (Record of Decision 17/00100). It was acknowledged at the time that the final amount may be higher as the costs of the project at that point were estimated.

The build programme has had to be delivered in phases. It has now been identified that additional costs of £1.3m will be incurred due to the impact of key parts of the school having Listed Building status and the changes to the scope of the project which include:

·   Listed Building impact

o    Fire Escape stairs have had to be replaced with like-for-like bespoke designed replacements.

o        Specific materials were specified by Listed Buildings to be used in the project

§  Lime-based plaster

§  Re-use of or matched (bespoke) skirtings

o    Like-for like replacements, including window casements & frames, stairs and fire escape.

·   Condition of existing building and unforeseen requirements

o   emergency electric upgrade works (Phase 1). These had not been identified at feasibility stage.

o   new sub-station (Phase 2); failure to provide this supply upgrade would restrict the College’s use of new facilities

·   Scheme development

o   St Cecilia building was originally planned to be refurbished to meet current regulations. Discussions with Planners now require it is replaced (new modular build block of 3nr classrooms and associated areas)

o   Replacement of St Cecilia building to meet BB103 classroom sizes also requires demolition of Little Brescia building.

o   Review of and improvements to on-site parking as part of planning requirements.

This has increased the cost of the project by £1.3m. As this is an increase of more than 10% of the allocated funding a further decision will be required.

Original Decision and Report

17/00100 – A permanent 2FE expansion of Ursuline College from September 2019

You can view details of the decision and accompanying papers by clicking on the link below:

Internet – https://democracy.kent.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=2109

Options 

Feasibility studies of all Thanet Secondary schools were undertaken in 2017, and discussions took place with governing bodies and Academy Trusts to establish whether they would support expansion. It was identified that Ursuline College site could accommodate a permanent expansion and that the academy trustees were in support of the proposal.

How the proposed decision meets the objectives of ‘Increasing Opportunities, Improving Outcomes: Kent County Council’s Strategic Statement (2015-2020)’

This expansion is in line with priorities in the Kent Policy Framework, ‘Vision and Priorities for Education and Young People’s Services’ and the 'Commissioning Plan for Education' (2018 – 2022).

All options were considered as part of the Kent Commissioning Plan for Education Provision 2018-2022.