Meeting documents

1 THE ISSUE

1.1 On 9 April the Council published statutory notices for the closure of Lime Grove School, Royal United Hospital School and Summerfield School. A statutory notice proposing the establishment of a new special school for 150 pupils on a site in Bath was published on the same day.

1.2 Legislation states that if no objections are received to these proposals it falls to the Council to make the final decision on implementation.

2 RECOMMENDATION

2.1 The Executive is recommended to approve the closure of Lime Grove School, Royal United Hospital School and Summerfield School and approve the establishment of a new school in line with the proposals published on 9 April.

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3 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3.1 Covered elsewhere in this report.

4 THE REPORT

4.1 At its meeting on 4 December 2002 the Executive approved the submission of a bid to the Targeted Capital Fund in order to secure a proportion of the funding required to construct a new special school in Bath. The Targeted Capital Fund is a standards-focused funding initiative managed by the Department for Education & Skills (DfES).

4.2 The Executive agreed that, if the bid was successful, then statutory proposals to a) close Lime Grove, Royal United Hospital and Summerfield and b) to establish a new multiple needs special school for 150 pupils should be published.

4.3 It was also agreed that, if the bid was successful, then Officers should take all necessary action to dispose of Council assets following closure of the schools.

4.4 The bid was submitted on 22 December 2002.

4.5 On March 31 2003 DfES announced that our bid had succeeded and £4,923,648 had been allocated to support the implementation of this scheme. This funding comes in the form of a grant of £665,000 for this financial year and the balance as borrowing approval over financial years 2004-05 and 2005-06.

4.6 Statutory proposals, for the closure of the three schools and the establishment of a new school, were published on 9 April. The period for representations, both for and against, expired on 9 June. No representations have been received.

4.7 When statutory proposals of this kind receive no objections the Council is empowered to make the final decision on implementation.

4.8 Members are asked to note that, in the event of objections being received, the matter would have been referred to the School Organisation Committee (SOC) for a decision. On this occasion, Officers will simply present a report to the SOC for information purposes.

4.9 It is clear that the scheme has wide support. The lengthy consultation undertaken prior to submission of the bid drew out the key concerns of stakeholders and many of these were addressed during the consultation process itself. Any further concerns that emerge will be dealt with through the implementation phase by the Project Group (see 4.11 below)

4.10 Members are recommended, therefore, to approve the closure of the three schools named above on 31 August 2005 and to approve the establishment of a new school from 1 September 2005.

4.11 Since DfES approval of the scheme Officers have reconvened the Project Group that has been engaged throughout the entire process of consultation. The Project Group now includes Governor representatives from each of the three schools. Members are asked to note that this Group has always included elected Members and that Councillors Sally Davis and Gerry Curran have expressed their wish to continue as members of the Group.

4.12 The capital to implement this scheme is available through a combination of DfES grant, borrowing approval and realisation of assets. It is anticipated that the total costs of this scheme (now known as "United for the Future") will exceed the total grant and borrowing approval from DfES.

4.13 The Head of Strategic Resource Planning has stated "this project is financed in such a way that it has no net impact on the Council's financial plan. It is wholly financed from DfES allocations and education capital receipts. There is however a timing issue and I would wish that the bulk of capital payments are profiled into 2005/06 to be complementary to the Elderly Peoples' Homes project"

4.14 The disposal of the Council assets (namely the entire sites of Lime Grove and Summerfield) is subject to the approval of the Secretary of State for Education & Skills under Section 77 of the School Standards & Framework Act 1998. This section protects school playing fields and ensures that, if they are disposed of, then proper consultation has been undertaken and that the proceeds are used to support the provision of sporting facilities.

4.15 Officers arranged for the placement of a notice in the Official Journal of the European Community (OJEC) asking for expressions of interest in designing the new school. Approximately 150 responses have been received which indicates the high national profile that the scheme has already achieved.

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This version was printed 30-Jun-03 11:24