Minutes:
(1) The Leader stated that he had agreed to consider this matter as an urgent item for the following reason:
“Discussions are progressing with Land Securities Trillium who were appointed by the County Council in December 2007 as our Preferred Bidder for the first of our Building Schools for the Future contracts and both parties have now fully committee to a financial close of the deal as being no later than 23 September 2008. The scheduled Cabinet meeting in September is too late to allow the necessary approvals etc. to be actioned.
In order to provide Cabinet with a full and comprehensive report, it was decided that it would be better to allow for the meetings with LST in the week ending 26 July to have taken place and the position reached to be reflected.”
(2) Mr Carter referred to the complimentary legal report from Nabarro, which concluded that KCC had achieved a strong commercial position through the competitive dialogue process and that the procurement process carried out by the Council had been thorough and in compliance with relevant legislation and published guidance.
(3) Mr Dance expressed his thanks to Mr Ward and the team for progressing the BSF programme, which would deliver much needed improvements to a number of schools.
(4) Mr Ward gave further detail about the revenue support arrangements, adding that the proposals had been approved by the Schools Funding Forum. He explained the implications of missing the “drop dead” date of 23 September and the work that had to be undertaken prior to this date.
(5) Mr Chard stated that, whilst he was grateful for the resources provided by central Government under the BSF programme, there was still a budget gap that KCC had to meet. He also stated that the BSF programme wasn’t just about updating school accommodation; it was about transforming the education and life chances of young people and improving links with the vocational programme. He added his thanks to the team.
(6) Mr Carter referred to a regional LSC meeting he attended the previous week and stressed the importance of the continued partnership working between KCC, the LSC and the HEFCE in relation to improving the link between formal education, vocational and other training for the post 16 group and also adult education.
(7) Mr Gilroy stated the BSF programme represented a massive opportunity to improve the links between schools and industry and added his personal thanks to the team.
(8) In response to a question, Mr Ward confirmed that the words “resolution that resolution” in recommendation (iv) were superfluous and should be deleted from the recommendation.
(9) Cabinet agreed to:
(i) Submit the Final Business Case for Wave 3 to PfS and DCSF for final departmental approval by PfS, DCSF and Treasury;
(ii) Authorise, following recommendation from the Director, Resources CFE, the Cabinet Member for Operations, Resources and Skills in consultation with the Leader to agree final contractual terms, provided the affordability gap to KCC (both the schools DSG and the CFE capital programme) did not exceed that detailed in the Cabinet report. In the event the affordability were to be more then they would agree with the Finance Director if it can be funded from elsewhere within the CFE capital programme;
(iii) Authorise the Director, Resources CFE in consultation with the Director of Law and Governance toenter into the necessary contracts on behalf of the County Council, following approval to final contractual terms as set out in (ii) above;
(iv) Authorise, following point (i), (ii), and (iii) above the establishment of a joint venture company – called Kent BSF LEP1 to deliver the BSF projects for that area and our investment in the LEP. For Waves 4 and 6 this is subject to further approvals by both PfS/DCSF and KCC; and
(v) Record its thanks to Mr Ward and all staff involved in getting the BSF programme to this stage