To comment on the Cabinet Report.

The Panel considered the Cabinet report detailing the revised costs of the secondary school expansion programme.

The Head of Schools and Educational Services informed the cost of providing additional secondary school places had increased significantly from the initial £20.5million estimate. The proposals in the report had come following six months of negotiations with the schools in the Borough.

The Head of Schools and Educational Services said three levels of solution had been suggested. The technical minimum, which was the cheapest, was not appropriate to four of the schools consulted on and was therefore not being considered in relationship to them.

The practical minimum, which would meet the needs of the schools being consulted, would cost an estimated £23.6million, with an additional £3million contingency being set aside. The cost of the recommended schemes would cost £29.6million, which includes a £3.7million contingency provision.  The third option was ‘sufficient for excellent education’ which also included support for vulnerable children.

The Head of Schools and Educational Services told members that £13.3million of the money needed for the project will come from a grant from the Government, and £6.5million of local money would be used. This results in a £7.8million shortfall; however the Head of Schools and Educational Services said this scheme would be one of the first to benefit from money the Council receives from the sale of Maidenhead Golf Club.

The Chairman noted that the recommended sums for Windsor Boys and Windsor Girls Schools were the minimum amounts. The Head of Schools and Educational Services said this was because only classrooms were being constructed as part of the expansion projects at those schools.

Cllr Jones asked if any of the schools could accommodate more places in their Sixth Forms. The Head of Schools and Educational Services said that in principle they could, and that all of the schools had recognised that running a Sixth Form was important.

Cllr E Wilson questioned why the report did not make any reference to Primary expansion or Pupil Premium. He also raised concern that we were spending tax payers money expanding academies were there were schools such as Desborough College and Churchmead School having places available for pupils, and said more should be done by the Council to fill them. Mrs Brown reported that Desborough College was near to capacity with only 10 spare places.  The Director of Children’s Services said the recommendations in the report were the result of a series of discussions at Cabinet, which would hold further discussions in the future to determine which schools would be expanded in the future.

The Director of Children’s Services stated further that the purpose of the report was to outline which schools the Council would focus on expanding. Officers had been working on the assumption that every school place in the Borough would be filled.

Cllr E Wilson said that the issue surrounding a potential new school should have been addressed in the report. The Director of Children’s Services said that the Council would be the body responsible for a new school, and the Council would be expected to fund a new Free School even if it asked the Government for one. She said that at the moment the Council is seeking to expand its basic provision, as it is anticipated there will be insufficient school places for the 2017/18 academic year unless expansion work takes place now.  Whilst there remained basic need any expansion programmes would have to be funded locally and thus academies would not be eligible for Government funding. 

The Chairman questioned whether the Council was making it clear enough to parents to select more than one school choice during the admissions process, as it would make it easier for a place to be allocated. The Head of Schools and Educational Services said parents were encouraged to select more than one option, but said it had been suggested that information perhaps wasn’t as it clear as it should be and this would be reviewed.

The Chairman also questioned if there were contingency plans in place if one of the Windsor upper schools wished to adopt a two tier system. The Director of Children’s Services said that if an Upper School wanted to take in year seven pupils it would have to formally apply to the Secretary of State, giving the Council time to reconsider its approach to secondary school places.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services reiterated that the report was only being reconsidered by Cabinet because the costs had been increased from the initial £20.5million estimate.  There had already been lots of debate, consultation and negotiation of the expansion programme and thus report was requesting the increased funding as the expansion programme moved forward.

Cllr Mills mentioned that the charts in the presentation had been very useful in explaining why the proposals were being made for each school.

Cllr Jones said she did not agree with the wording of part i of the recommendation and said the national average of £18,554 should be used instead of the £10k figure relating to the Holyport College project as it was more logical and Holyport had been costed as a new build and not an expansion project. Cllr Wilson said the figure in the recommendation related to the last big schools project made in the Borough, with the Chairman adding that the figure showed how good value it was. Cllr Jones said she agreed with the report’s proposals in principle, but wanted her comments on its wording noted as she felt that the national average should be used and not the cost associated with Holyport College. The Director of Children’s Services said that the Leader of the Opposition’s comments would be passed to Cabinet.

Resolved Unanimously: That the Children’s Services O&S Panel considered the report and endorsed the recommendations to Cabinet, subject to it being noted that Cllr Jones had raised objection to the use of Holyport College average price per place rather then the national average.