Agenda item

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 purpose.