Decision details

The Council has an enduring statutory responsibility to commission sufficient high quality school places. This document is the third iteration of our plan and sets out how we will carry out our responsibility, in line with the commitments made in the Borough Plan and School Strategy to ensure there are sufficient places in good and improving local inclusive schools at the heart of the community that children and families want to go to. This means having the right number and type of school places, in the right place, at the right time to meet demand. 

The Cabinet will be asked to give approval to the Plan.

The Cabinet has considered a proposed school investment plan that sets out how the council will carry out its responsibility to ensure there are sufficient places in good and improving local inclusive schools at the heart of the community that children and families want to go to, and has:-

(1) Agreed the terms outlined in the strategy and the associated investment detailed in the Education Asset Management Plan (Appendix 2).

(2) Delegated authority to the Director for Development and Regeneration to procure the works and services, and subsequently determine the outcome of any contract award process for any project specified in the asset management plan.

(3) Delegated authority to the Director for Education, Work, and Skills and Deputy Chief Executive to enter into funding agreements with schools and to release basic need funding to schools who are working with the LA to create additional mainstream or resource base places as specified in the 2023/24 asset management plan approved by Cabinet in January 2023 and the 2024/25 asset management plan in Appendix 2 of this report.

(4) Delegated authority to the Director of Education, Work, and Skills and Deputy Chief Executive to determine the allocation of up to £2m of basic need funds to schools who work with the LA to create additional mainstream or resource base places in the secondary phase.

(5) Delegated authority to the Director for Education, Work, and Skills and Deputy Chief Executive to enter into funding agreements with schools determined in the above and to release basic need funding to those schools.

None.

None.