Issue - meetings

That Council approves the allocation of £20.155 million from the Capital Investment Fund towards the provision of school places as outlined in the report and its addition to the capital programme for that purpose.

Councillor Kam Kaur (Portfolio Holder for Education) moved the recommendation as set out in the report.  In doing so, she recognised the links to the previous two reports on the agenda and highlighted that over 2000 places would be required over the next five years.  She noted the increase in the cost of schemes but that the traditional means of funding them (through the basic needs grant and section 106 monies) did not always meet the total cost of projects, leading to a funding gap of £20.155m and it was therefore proposed to add this figure to the capital programme.

In seconding the recommendation, Councillor Peter Butlin noted the reasons for the funding gap, highlighting that the basic needs grant did not reflect the inflationary costs of projects that had been seen in the last few years and the proposed use of the Capital Investment Fund to bridge the gap. He noted efforts to limit the increase in costs through retendering when costs were high and, in commending the paper, he expressed hope that the new government would seek to address the funding gap but in the meantime the proposed approach would safeguard provision of school places in the county for the next 5 years.

Debate

During the course of the debate, councillors made the following points:

• The report was broadly welcomed and assurance was sought that the funding position and requirement for school places would be regularly reviewed.
• It was acknowledged that there were risks associated with the proposed change in processing section 106 contributions and more clarity on the plans and the detail of what the risks were was sought.
• The need to provide schools in the right place at the right time in order to reduce travelling was highlighted, together with queries regarding the willingness of schools to expand and increase capacity rather than build new schools and the risks associated with such an approach.
• It was noted that the ability to build new schools relied on this capital investment.
• Clarity was sought on the provision for planning for increased in-year requirements for secondary places.
• The impact of inflation was noted and the Council’s efforts to mitigate against this were commended.

In response to questions raised during the debate, Councillor Kaur responded that:

• A briefing on the processing of section 106 contributions would be arranged to provide clarity on the system.
• The Annual Sufficiency Report would continue to be presented to Cabinet and Council and this would provide the ongoing assurance sought.
• A briefing paper regarding capacity in Rugby would be shared.
• Delivery of new schools was the Council’s responsibility but approval for them and the associated funding was provided by the Department for Education who based their decisions on the sufficiency strategy.

Vote

A vote was held. The motion was carried unanimously.

Resolved

That Council approves the allocation of £20.155 million from the Capital Investment Fund towards the provision of school places as outlined in the report and its addition to the capital programme for that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5

A report requesting funding from the Capital Investment Fund to meet the shortfall in funding to deliver school place sufficiency requirements over the next five years.

Cabinet Portfolio Holder – Councillor Peter Butlin

As Portfolio Holder for Education, Councillor Kam Kaur, introduced the report which sought funding from the Capital Investment Fund to meet the shortfall in funding to deliver school place sufficiency requirements over the next five years.

Councillor Kaur reminded Members that additional secondary school places were being provided in Rugby and primary school places in Nuneaton, however, an estimated two thousand additional places were still needed.  She also referred to the increased demand for specialist education provision, with a rise in the number of EHCP’s, which were estimated to rise by 9% over the next five years.  Whilst money had already been invested into resourced provision, the new school places required were estimated to cost £158 million over the next five years.

Councillor Peter Butlin, Deputy Leader, Finance and Property, explained that the allocation of £20.155 million would be come from the Capital Investment Fund.  He referred to Warwickshire as an expanding and prosperous area, resulting in lots of families wanting to come here to live and work.  This inevitably resulted in a growth in school places and the finances allocated in the report would help to secure places to the end of the decade.

Councillor Roodhouse welcomed the additional places in Rugy but raised a concern that additional places would still be needed as a result of the expansion of the area and the number of houses being built.  He hoped that discussions were already taking place about future numbers.

Councillor John Holland raised the issue of faith schools and the challenge when parents did not want their child to attend that school.  He also referred to the Local Transport Plan and the hierarchy of active travel and hoped that joined up plans would enable pupils to walk or cycle to school.  He felt that enough primary schools were being provided in Warwick but there was not enough capacity in the secondary schools, resulting in pupils being unable to attend school in the town they lived in.

In response, Councillor Kaur provided assurance about the conversations and feasibility taking place with regard to school places in Rugby.  The County was working closely with District and Borough Councils about local plans and where schools were needed in line with housing developments.

In relation to the comment about faith schools, it was recognised that sometimes parents may have to accept a place as it was the only one available.  In addition, Councillor Kaur reminded Members that the brand new Oakley School, near Bishop’s Tachbrook was due to open in September 2024.

Councillor Seccombe referred to the recent opportunity that Councillors had to visit the Oakley School and the plans to integrate the country park which would facilitate walking to school.

The recommendations on page 49 were outlined.

Resolved

That Cabinet recommends to Council an allocation of £20.155 million from the Capital Investment Fund towards the provision of school places as outlined in this report and their addition to the education capital programme which will be subject to further project specific Cabinet  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4