Agenda item

To consider the attached report of the Assistant Director, Education.

Consideration was given to a report from the Assistant Director of Education.  The report outlined the Local Authority’s proposed protocol for contributions towards the School Condition schemes, previously agreed through the Asset Management Planning and Advisory group.

It was explained that funding for condition work in community and voluntary controlled schools was received through the Devolved Formula Capital and that the Council also receives an allocation from Government.  However, it was highlighted that these combined amounts were less than the value of the work required.  It was stated that there had been an allocation of £1.3m, which had subsequently been increased to £1.8m, in-year.

Forum members were made aware that there had previously been an agreement with schools for a contribution scheme towards condition works.  However, it was highlighted that this had not been fully implemented.  This protocol was, therefore, seeking to reinforce this previous agreement and, with this in mind, the general principles were outlined.

It was stated that, under this protocol, the day to day management of the safety and use of school buildings and their sites would rest with the Governing Body of the school and that it would be the responsibility of the Governing Body to undertake appropriate, planned and preventative maintenance.  However, the protocol would ensure that there would be appropriate contributions from all parties towards condition work. 

It was explained that schools would be expected to fund minor condition projects from within their DFC allocation up to a value of £10,000 for primary schools and £25,000 for secondary schools.  It was also confirmed that funding for other capital works, such as the purchase of IT equipment would not be covered under this protocol.  It was also stated that investment would be prioritised on keeping school buildings safe and in good working order through tacking poor building condition, building compliance, energy efficiency and health and safety issues.

Members of the Forum were informed that a report on the proposed School Condition Contribution Protocol had been discussed by the Schools Funding Group in April of this year.  This had included a number of different proposals on how the contribution element of the proposed Protocol could work and the following options were presented:

Option 1 - The Council would ask for a contribution of £10k for primary schools and £25k for secondary schools to schemes costing more than these amounts.  The Council would then contribute the rest of the amount.

Option 2 - As with Option 1, the Council would ask for a contribution of the first £10k for primary schools and £25k for secondary schools.  An additional amount of £50 per pupil would also be contributed.  It was suggested that this would enable better differentiation between schools of different sizes, and would reflect the different levels of annual funding allocated to schools of different pupil sizes.

Feedback demonstrated that all members of the Schools Funding Group were unanimously in support of contributing an amount to ensure that the School Condition budget could stretch further, providing that there would be a fair way of prioritising the schemes.  The response to the two options was mixed, with some members of the group believing that the size of the school and number of pupils should be taken into consideration (Option 2) when calculating the contribution amount, whilst others felt that one sum for all schools would be the better option (Option 1).  As both options included an initial contribution of £10,000 for primary schools and £25,000 for secondary schools, it was recommended that Option 1 be implemented, initially, with a review to take place in April 2021.

An illustration of Option 1 was provided for members of the Forum:

·         The full scheme cost at a primary school was £45,000, the school would contribute £10,000 and the Council would contribute £35,000.

·         The full scheme cost at a secondary school was £75,000, the school would contribute £25,000 and the Council would contribute £50,000.

It was explained that, where schools did not have sufficient funds to contribute, consideration would be given to enable such funds to be made available to schools and for this to be re-paid over future years.  It was also stated that the Council would seek to apply the protocol consistently and that they would be ultimately responsible for determining whether the protocol should be varied or exceptions made, with reasoning clearly stated.  Although it was proposed that the new protocol would be applied to all schemes individually, it was explained that consideration would also be given to schools with multiple projects identified as priority works over a short period of time.

With regard to the Capital Maintenance Programme from 2020, it was stated that the Council had commissioned Condition Surveys for all community and voluntary controlled primary schools and that this would form the basis for the Capital Programme for the next 5 years, with these surveys being updated a rolling basis.  In addition, members were made aware that an application process had been developed for schools in order to access funding for urgent works, not previously identified in the Condition Surveys.  It was explained that such applications would be considered by the Education Capital Programme Board within a term and that decisions would be made based on the urgency of the work set against the urgency of the work identified through the Condition Surveys.

Forum members were made aware there was an expectation that the majority of schemes approved would be for completion within the financial year in which the funding was allocated and that only in exceptional circumstances would schemes be approved that would take longer to deliver.

RESOLVED

That the School Condition Contribution Protocol be agreed and implemented from 1 October 2020