The Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education is asked to:
(i) Permanently expand and relocate St Peter's Church of England Primary School, Windmill Street, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 4UU, from 140 places to 210 places, increasing the published admission number (PAN) from 20 to 30 Year R places from September 2019.
(ii) Allocate £7.1 million from the Basic Need Capital Programme Budget, which over a period of time will be offset by approximately £1.5 million from developer contributions and an estimated £450,000 in capital receipts from the sale of the existing school site.
(iii) Authorise the Director of Infrastructure in consultation with General Counsel to enter into any necessary contracts/agreements on behalf of the County Council
(iv) Authorise the Director of Infrastructure to be the nominated Authority Representative within the relevant agreements and to enter into variations as envisaged under the contracts
The Cabinet Member’s decision on the project will be conditional upon planning permission being granted.
Decision type: Key
Reason Key: Expenditure or savings of more than £1m;
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Division affected: Tunbridge Wells South;
Notice of proposed decision first published: 18/04/2018
Decision due: Not before 16th May 2018 by Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education
Reason: In order that the proposed decision can be published for a minimum of 28 days, in accordance with statutory requirements
Lead member: Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education
Lead director: Keith Abbott
Department: Education & Young People's Services
Contact: Jared Nehra, Area Education Officer - West Kent Tel: 03000 412209 Email: jared.nehra@kent.gov.uk.
Consultees
On 15 January 2018, the Commissioning Plan for Education Provision 2018-22 was endorsed by the Children’s, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee.
In accordance with the Department for Education’s Statutory Guidance (April 2016): Making ‘prescribed alterations’ to maintained schools, there is a need to undertake a formal statutory consultation process as the proposed changes exceed 25% of the schools total capacity.
An Education consultation will be completed. Further information is available on the School Consultation webpage: www.kent.gov.uk/schoolconsultations
Due to the timing of the Cabinet Committee and the fact that any further delay to the decision is highly likely to result in a critical delay to the scheme beyond the September 2019 deadline, it is necessary to take the decision prior to it being considered by Committee. All Members have been given the opportunity to see the reports and comment on the proposed decision prior to the Cabinet Member taking it, and no comments have been received. A full report will be taken to CYPE Cabinet Committee on 10 July 2018 outlining the actions taken.
There will also be a planning application process which will provide all interested parties with an opportunity to respond direct.
Financial implications: The total cost is estimated to be in the region of £7.1m from Basic Need budget. The total cost includes approximately £950,000 of abnormal costs related to site specific issues. Over a period of time it is anticipated that the overall cost will be off-set by approximately £1.5 million from developer contributions and an estimated £450,000 in capital receipts from the sale of the existing school site. The costs are estimates and these may increase as the project is developed. If the cost of the project would be exceeded by more than 10% the Cabinet Member will be required to take a further decision to allocate the additional funding. £6,000 per new classroom will be provided from Revenue Funding towards the cost of furniture and equipment. This will be given to the school to purchase the required equipment. The school will receive growth funding in accordance with the Pupil Growth Policy established by KCC and the Schools’ Funding Forum.
Equalities implications: An Equality Impact Assessment will be produced and will be accessible on line via the following link: www.kent.gov.uk/schoolconsultations.