Cabinet Member decisions

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.

Decision:

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

a.    allocate an additional £2.5m from the Children, Young People & Education Capital Budget, in addition to the £9m previously allocated, to provide a project total of £11.5m to fund any necessary additional works or variations to accommodation.

b.    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.

c.    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

KCC’s Children and Young People’s Education Cabinet Committee endorsed the proposal to allocate £9m from the Capital budget to enable the proposal to go ahead.  This decision was made in the paper 18/00006.

The proposal is to allocate an additional £2.5m from the Children, Young People & Education Capital Budget, in addition to the £9m previously allocated, to provide a project total of £11.5m

The reasons for the increased expenditure are as follows:

The initial Record of Decision was given, prior to the planning permission being granted which required further works than anticipated for a standard 2FE Expansion at the time.  Due to pupil demand and time constraints the project has been procured and delivered over a three year period which adds cost to the Scheme and inflation costs.  The project has and is being delivered over six phases across the three year period to meet the Basic Need requirement and this was not envisaged when the initial ROD was approved.

The additional funding is to complete the outstanding phases of work which include 4 New Science Labs and internal refurbishments in line with the DfE BB103 Guidelines to give the School the space they require to fully expand by 2FE.

Since presenting the previous RoD, the bus park has been extended and has required additional S278 works to the main highway alongside the school to enable safe access and egress for the buses. This bus park provides for the 12FE on site at Wildernesse, not just the Trinity students.  Additionally, the MUGA being provided as a part of the Trinity scheme has to be designed to include a retaining wall given the size and location of MUGA being provided.

KCC have worked with the contracted builder over the past six months alongside the school to reduce the scope and specification as much as possible without compromising on the educational space needed.  Savings have been made where possible with specific relation to omitting some admin areas and reducing the M&E scope of works.

Without the additional funding, we will not be able to complete the outstanding Phases to provide the teaching accommodation to meet the demand of pupil places at Trinity School. 

Options

There are no viable options.  This school expansion is being proposed to accommodate the demand for non-selective places in the central Sevenoaks area.

The only alternative, Knole Academy is not able to expand on their current site, due to cost and space issues.

Original decision and Report

https://democracy.kent.gov.uk/mgIssueHistoryHome.aspx?IId=47967&optionId=0

https://democracy.kent.gov.uk/mgDecisionDetails.aspx?IId=47967&Opt=1

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

This enlargement has added an additional 60 Year 7 places to the capacity per year, 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.

Decision:

The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills is asked to:

a)    Allocate an additional £4.3 million from the Children, Young People & Education Basic Need Capital Budget to fund any necessary additional works or variations to accommodation.

b)    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.

c)    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 expansion of Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys from 180 to 210 selective Secondary school places is one of five secondary school expansions proposed in 2017 to provide additional capacity in selective and non-selective secondary schools in Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge. The Cabinet Committee of 22 November 2017 endorsed the allocation of £7.7 million from the Basic Need budget to fund the permanent expansion of Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys.

The school’s first permanently expanded intake of 210 pupils in September 2019 was accommodated within the school’s existing accommodation, with additional accommodation needed to accommodate future intakes. The scheme includes the construction of a new teaching block of classrooms, a sports hall and additional dining facilities through conversion of the current gymnasium; works commenced in Summer 2019.

The proposal is to allocate a further £4.3 million from the Young People & Education Basic Need Capital Budget

The reasons for the increased expenditure are as follows:

·   Unforeseen costs relating to ground conditions (including soft spots remediations), repairs to the existing gym roof, a larger water attenuation tank required and a new foul drainage system.

·   An alteration to the scheme’s design has been made which will increase the capacity of the new dining facility in the former gymnasium such that the school’s current dining room, which is a rented mobile structure at the opposite end of the school to the kitchen will no longer be required. This will mean that KCC will no longer incur the monthly rental cost of this mobile unit, which would otherwise have been incurred in perpetuity.

·   Additional costs incurred due to longer build time than originally anticipated; this is primarily related to unaccounted for additional works (as detailed above) and the associated scoping and design works.

Actions have been taken to minimise the additional costs, including the procurement of a single contractor across this scheme and the expansion of the neighbouring St Gregory’s Catholic School.

Original Decision

https://democracy.kent.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=2117

https://democracy.kent.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=894&MId=7730&Ver=4

Decision –

The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills is asked to:

a)    Allocate an additional £1.3 million from the Children, Young People & Education Basic Need Capital Budget to fund any necessary additional works or variations to accommodation.

b)    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.

c)    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:

Kent County Council (KCC), with the support of the Governing Body, proposed to expand and relocate St Peter's Church of England Primary School to help provide improved Primary education facilities and more school places for local children.  The project will permanently expand the school from 140 places to 210 places, increasing the published admission number (PAN) from 20 to 30 (1FE) Year R places from September 2019. 

The expansion will serve to meet the additional demand for Primary school places arising from new housing at Hawkenbury. The relocation of the school to new, purpose-built accommodation will significantly improve and increase the facilities available for its pupils.

A 4-week public education consultation was undertaken from 20 February 2018 to 20 March 2018, prior to the decision being made. In May 2018 the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education agreed to the capital funding allocation of £6.9 million from the Basic Need Capital Programme Budget for the scheme. 

A further £1m was allocated from the Children’s, Young People and Education Capital Budget in June 2019.  The need for additional funds prior to the commencement of construction were the result of abnormal topography on the site that necessitated additional ground works, building redesign and changes to the car park and site entrance.  There was also an unforeseen need for alternative piling and foundation solutions to mitigate any exposure from ground contamination.

The proposal is to allocate a further £1.3 million from the Young People and Education Basic Need Capital Budget. The reasons for the increased expenditure are as follows:

Since the commencement of work on site there have been further unforeseen and significant abnormal issues relating to the condition of the land on transfer to KCC.  This has resulted in the need for the redesign of some elements of the school, such as the level of the playing field, the redesign process created delay to the programme. Additionally, costs and delays to the programme have been incurred due to the need for unanticipated remedial works to take place to enable construction to be completed.

This work will entail an outlay of capital expenditure from KCC to progress the scheme in a timely manner. Actions have been taken to minimise the quantum of additional costs as far as possible through working with the main contractor to identify design solutions.

Original decisions:

https://democracy.kent.gov.uk/mgDecisionDetails.aspx?IId=48461&Opt=1

https://democracy.kent.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=2265

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

As the strategic commissioner of school provision, the Local Authority (LA) has a duty to ensure that there are sufficient school places for the residents of Kent as set out in Kent’s Commissioning Plan for Education Provision in Kent (2018-22 iteration for this expansion).

Decision –

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

a)    Allocate an additional £420,000 from the Children, Young People & Education Basic Need Capital Budget to fund any necessary additional works or variations to accommodation.

b)    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.

c)    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 enlargement of Harrietsham CEP School from 210 to 420 places represents KCC’s strategic response to the forecast population growth in Harrietsham village and the surrounding area.

A public education consultation was held from 19 September 2016 to 17 October 2016, with the results included in the Cabinet Committee report.  The Harrietsham CEP School expansion scheme was considered by the Education and Young People's Services Cabinet Committee on 23 November 2016.  The Cabinet Committee endorsed the allocation of £3 million from the Basic Need budget to fund the permanent expansion of the school

A further £600,000 was allocated from the Children’s, Young People and Education Capital Budget in June 2019 to enable the creation of an additional and necessary bell-mouth entrance between the highway and the land being acquired for a car park and additional costs due to unexpected site logistics during construction relating to the topography and split levels between the car park and main school site. 

The proposal is to allocate a further £420,000 from the Young People & Education Basic Need Capital Budget to enable the scheme to be completed.

The reasons for the increased expenditure are as follows:

• Additional costs incurred due to significantly longer build time than originally anticipated; this is primarily as a result of unforeseen issues relating to planning, ecology and drainage.
• Supplementary design alterations to comply with planning requirements associated with a site within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
• The requirement for additional survey works to conform with ecological requirements following the acquisition of the adjacent land for the car parking area.  This work included the identification and relocation of protected species such as Great Crested Newts.
• Unforeseen work to ensure the drainage within the car parking area and main site are sufficiently robust to accommodate the extra capacity needed following the expansion.

The scheme was originally procured under a two-stage design and build contract, however delays caused by the planning constraints outlined above has meant that the project needed to be split into two separate contracts to ensure that the school is provided with the additional accommodation required for September 2020.

Action has been taken to mitigate the financial impact as far as possible, including 

·    Changes to roof design

·    Alteration to proposed storage and circulation space

·    Omission of works required to the existing front lobby and office space

Original decisions:

https://democracy.kent.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=1994

https://democracy.kent.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=2265

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

As the strategic commissioner of school provision, the Local Authority (LA) has a duty to ensure that there are sufficient school places for the residents of Kent as set out in Kent’s Commissioning Plan for Education Provision in Kent (2016-20 iteration for this expansion).

Decision:

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

a.    provide £1.9m of additional funding, making a total of £9m (including £4.6m of Developer Contributions) to build a new 2FE Primary School on the Ebbsfleet Green Housing development in Dartford Borough.

b.    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.

c.    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 Ebbsfleet Garden City is seeing rapid housing development across several sites, Ebbsfleet Green being one of the larger sites.  The development is well underway.  The Section 106 provides for a new 2FE school to be delivered on the site.

Kent County Council’s Commissioning Plan for Education Provision in Kent 2019-23 is a five-year rolling plan which is updated annually. It sets out the future plans as Strategic Commissioner of Education Provision across all types and phases of education in Kent.  A copy of the plan can be viewed from this link:

http://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council/strategies-and-policies/education-skills-and-employment-policies/education-provision

The Children, Young People and Education Committee considered this proposal on the 13 October, 2017, and recommended that funding be agreed.

The Maritime Academy Trust was appointed by the DfE to run the new school, following an open competition that concluded in June 2018.  The 2FE primary provision would also have a 26 place early years provision and a 15 place SRP for pupils whose primary barrier to learning is autism.

The developer, Redrow, KCC and the Ebbsfleet Developer Corporation sit on an Education Review Group (ERG) to discuss and if necessary, vote on issues about the delivery of the school that are not covered by the Section 106 or need clarification.

The reason that there is now a shortfall in funding is that the project was first costed in 2017 and in line with inflation and other issues, the cost has been revised.  There have been several design changes required by the planning authority, Ebbsfleet Development Corporation to achieve planning permission, not least that the building is now a 2FE fitout. 

There was an initial cost of temporary accommodation in mobiles which was aborted because the decision was taken to relocate of the temporary provision to another school for a period of one year to allow the school to start this September.  This resulted in aborted costs for not delivering the mobile units on the Redrow land, aborted cost of temporary design and surveys for the temporary provision.

Options

There are no options.  This school is being proposed to accommodate the demand from the new housing development.

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

The provision of sufficient school places is a statutory duty and contributes to the Strategic Business Plan Priorities to ensure that “Children and Young People in Kent get the best start in life”.

Reason for the decision:

The Government has allocated £1,669,165.92 to KCC as a one-off contribution for the 2020-21 financial year to support households experiencing financial hardship as a result of Covid 19. This is the Council’s share of the widely-trailed £63m nationally, which is intended to ‘help local authorities to continue to support those struggling to afford food and other essentials over the coming months due to COVID-19’. The funding has been allocated by population weighted by the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) for the authority area. Government expects most of this to be spent in the next 12 weeks – i.e. by around 20^th October 2020.

Background – Provide brief additional context:

The Government has provided this funding because of the number of people whose income has been substantially impacted by the response to COVID-19.  Across Kent and Medway, councils have worked closely together, and with the Voluntary Sector and other partners, from the moment the emergency was declared.  The Kent Together phone line and online form was established, the Kent Support and Assistance Service expanded, and the District Councils set up community hubs dealing primarily with people who were medically vulnerable and socially isolating, but also picking up individuals and families in financial hardship.

Now that the country is emerging from lock-down, the community hubs are being wound down, but there are still residual pathways that can be used to support those facing financial hardship.

The Government’s guidance on how the money should be used is:

§  use discretion on how to identify and support those most in need

§  use the funding from July onwards to meet immediate need and help those who are struggling to afford food and essentials due to COVID-19

§  use the funding for existing schemes and other support which deliver the same outcomes and where the need is greatest

§  work together with other local authorities to provide support and ensure the funding meets its objectives

§  consider using cash or vouchers where practical - this may reduce pressure on local partners

§  consider advising and providing information to people to help them access longer term support they might need, such as benefits.

KCC thus has some discretion to decide which approach is suitable in the Kent community.  Through discussions with partners the following principles for how the money should be spent have been developed:

Overall Objective:  to help those who are struggling to afford food and other essentials

Aims:

·         ensuring those who most need help receive it, with focus on equality of access, and consistency of approach to assessing eligibility across the county

·         providing guidance or advice that supports those seeking help to improve their situation and avoid future dependency

·         using this opportunity to improve the system for addressing financial hardship across the county, and preparing for what lies ahead

Reason for the decision:

The decision will support operational traffic management plans relating to Transition from the EU on the 31^st December 2020

Background:

As part of the arrangements to support Transition from the EU, Government has identified the need for sites to provide additional custom checking and freight holding areas. The first site is adjacent to J10a, M20 and will provide capacity to hold up to 2,000 HGVs.

Reason for Urgency:

The site must be delivered in advance of 31 December 2020 to allow time for training and testing. Confirmation of the site and offer was only received Mid-July and to achieve the deadline, some enabling works have commenced.  This key decision is now required urgently to ensure appropriate authority is in place to support the delivery of the site and to provide necessary flexibility to allow for swift significant Officer decisions on this project to enable the site to be delivered by the deadline date.

Decision:

The Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport is asked to approve the award of a 20-month extension with Amey until 30th April 2023.

Reason for the decision:

Kent County Council is the statutory Authority responsible for the delivery of highway services for the residents of Kent (excluding Medway). Under the Highways Act 1980, as the local Highway Authority, the Council has a legal duty to maintain its respective sections of the highway network under section 41. This    includes responsibility for maintaining, managing and, where necessary, improving their section of the network.

The Highway Term Maintenance Contract (HTMC) delivers a large number of services which are currently provided by Amey which is due to terminate on the 31 August 2021.

To procure a replacement contract is complex and time consuming. The original programme was extremely tight with minimal time to deal with unforeseen circumstances. The COVID-19 pandemic impact has meant that it is not possible to deliver that programme. It is proposed to mitigate against this risk that the contract is extended until 30 April 2023.

Background:

A commissioning programme which focused on reviewing the current contractual arrangements on how these should be delivered post 2021 was underway. Good progress was made, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated            measures taken by government, the re-procurement of a strategic contract of this kind at this time would represent a high risk for KCC.

Reason for Urgency:

Due to the lead times to procure a replacement contract, a decision for the extension needs to be taken to ensure KCC is able to meets its statutory obligation and secure stability for the forthcoming year.

Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 01/20 provided advice and guidance for central and local government authorities to consider when evaluating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on its contracts with any decision subject to this legislation being shared with the wider market through a modification notice.  It is expected that central and local government implement a return to business as normal by October 2020 and thus all decisions will be required to be taken by this date.

Reason for the decision:

Following the implementation of the new Adult Social Care and Health (ASCH) case management system, Mosaic, in 2019, ASCH has been seeking ways to make improvements to its functionality.  The next phase of Mosaic implementation includes the following workstreams:

a)    Payments and Charging

b)    Mosaic Citizen and Professional portal

c)     Operational Business Processes

d)    Data Quality

To implement these workstreams a year 1 investment of between £770,000 and £939,000 will be required.

The main benefits that will be achieved are increased consistency and more efficient processes across the directorate; the release of capacity within Adult Social Care and Health  teams to create efficiencies and to improve the user experience (for staff, public and providers)

In 2018, Adult Social Care signed a contract with InterQuest, a delivery partner to assist with the implementation of Mosaic.  This provider was secured through the G-Cloud Framework, the governments digital marketplace of pre-approved suppliers.  All public sector organisations, including agencies and arm’s length bodies, can use the Digital Marketplace to find cloud technology and specialist services for digital projects.

This Digital Implementation contract will be let through the G-Cloud 11 Framework with the competition being conducted through July, ready for a contract to be awarded by Cabinet Member decision in August.

Background:

Mosaic was implemented in October 2019, with the initial focus on implementing existing business processes from the previous Adult Social Care organisational structure.  As a result, not all the advantages and technological capabilities of Mosaic are being fully utilised and are inconsistent across the Directorate.  A range of improvements will be made to Mosaic that enable more efficient case recording, thus freeing up time for staff and improving the flow of cases through the system. To ensure providers are able to deliver care to the most vulnerable, we need to ensure timely and accurate updating of care packages to ensure more accurate payments to providers for the care delivered.  Mosaic needs to provide system led payments to create efficiencies, address late payment issues and improve the financial forecasting and monitoring process. Data Quality also needs to be improved throughout the system to support an improved reporting capability and business insights. This will ensure the application remains robust and resilient, and that accurate and timely reporting is readily available to KCC teams and managers to make informed decisions. An assessment on first point of contact into Adult Social Care and KCC’s contact centre was conducted in 2019 which identified the need to make better use of an online platform to promote self-service for people who would prefer to access services and information in this way.  This will free up capacity within teams, improve reporting capabilities for KCC and improve the experience for staff, public and providers.

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health is asked to:

a)    AWARD a contract to the successful company, identified by a competitive procurement procedure, to provide digital implementation support services, and

b)    DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Health to take relevant actions, including but not limited to finalising the terms of and entering into required contracts or other legal agreements, as necessary to implement the decision.

Background:

• The scheme involves the removal of the existing signalisation and provision of an elongated roundabout at the crossroads junction of A20 London Road with Hall Road and Mills Road.
• The A20 is a key route into Maidstone and to M20 J5 from the west.  Mills Road serves the Quarry Wood industrial and retail estate that serves over eighty firms including a supermarket.  The existing junction is at capacity with regular congestion at peak periods and it will come under increasing pressure from committed and future developments in the area.  Although the junction is located within Tonbridge & Malling Borough area the scheme is complementary to the proposed Maidstone Integrated Transport Programme of schemes.
• The objective of the scheme is to improve the efficiency of the junction and provide additional capacity together with dedicated signal-controlled pedestrian crossings and rationalised bus layby locations.

As Cabinet Member for Highways & Transport, I agree that the highway improvement for the A20 London Road Aylesford Junction can proceed through the next stages of development and delivery including authority to progress statutory approvals and to enter into funding, land and construction contracts.   

Specifically to:

i)     give approval to the outline design scheme for the A20 London Road Aylesford in Tonbridge & Malling for development control and land charge disclosures, drawing number A20HR-CAP-HGN-00-DR-C-0043;

ii)    give approval to progress all statutory approvals or consents required for the scheme, drawing number A20HR-CAP-HGN-00-DR-C-0043;

iii)   give approval to enter into land agreements with third parties as necessary;

iv)   give approval to enter into construction contracts as necessary for the delivery of the scheme,

v)    give approval to undertake engagement with all relevant stakeholders as identified in the communication plan; and

vi) give approval that the Corporate Director for Growth, Environment & Transport, under the Officer Scheme of Delegations and in consultation with the Corporate Director for Finance and Procurement, enter into relevant legal agreements and take other actions necessary to implement this decision.

Background Information:

This is a lease of 99 years and therefore falls outside of the Delegated Powers set out in KCC’s Property Management Protocol.

 ‘The Abbey School (Faversham)’ occupy the land known as The Abbey School under the terms of a 125-year lease dated 13th March 2012.The Secretary of State for Education (the “Secretary of State”) intends to enter into a Design and Build Contract with T&B Contractors Limited to carry out design and construction work relating to The Abbey School, Faversham.

A new two storey block (1,491sqm) will be constructed to the east of the site on informal soft landscaping.  KCC, The Abbey School and the School’s Governing Body have signed a “back to back” letter which sought formal agreement that the school and KCC would assist the Secretary of State in fulfilling those obligations that relate to the school’s site and activities. These works require that South East Power Networks (SEPN) dismantle their current electricity sub-station and surrender their existing lease with KCC by deed and take a new 99-year lease to build and maintain a new sub-station, known as a ‘GRP Kiosk’.

Options (other options considered but discarded)

There are no alternatives available which would allow the DfE to progress with the project.

A new two storey block at this school as part of a DfE project relates to the objective of strategic outcome 1 – Children and young people get the best start in life.

The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Corporate and Traded Services agrees to grant a Deed of Surrender and grant a new 99-year Lease to South East Power Networks at The Abbey School, Faversham for the purposes of a new electricity sub-station and to delegate authority to the Director of Infrastructure to finalise and enter into any necessary legal agreements.