Archived decisions

Contact: Bob Eardley, Strategic Planning Manager, 01962 846275

1. Summary

1.1 The following decisions are sought:

a) that the capital programme for 2004/05 to 2007/08 as set out in Appendix 1 be approved for submission to the Cabinet;

b) that the Executive Member, Policy and Resources be asked to approve:

i) deferrals from the 2003/04 capital programme to 2004/05 totalling £3.668m;

ii) deletion from the 2003/04 capital programme of proposed early years projects at The Vyne Secondary School, Basingstoke and Winnall Primary School, Winchester;

iii) an increase in the allocation for the 2003/04 early years project at Park Primary School, Aldershot from £0.300m to £0.700m;

iv) deletion from the 2003/04 capital programme of Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative grant of £0.391m.

2. Reasons

2.1 To approve a capital programme to provide additional school places and improvements to schools' accommodation.

3. Other options considered and rejected

3.1 Not applicable.

4. Conflicts of interest declared by the decision maker or member or officer consulted

4.1 Not applicable.

5. Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee

5.1 Not applicable.

6. Reason(s) for the matter being dealt with if urgent

6.2 Not applicable.

Approved by: Date of decision:

Councillor D. Allen

Contact: Bob Eardley, Strategic Planning Manager, 01962 846275;

email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 This report sets out the proposed Education capital programme for 2004/05 to 2007/08 (shown as Appendix 1). The Executive Member, Education is being recommended to approve:

c) the capital programme for 2004/05 to 2007/08 as set out in Appendix 1 for submission to the Cabinet;

d) that the Executive Member, Policy and Resources be asked to approve:

v) deferrals from the 2003/04 capital programme to 2004/05 totalling £3.668m;

vi) deletion from the 2003/04 capital programme of proposed early years projects at The Vyne Secondary School, Basingstoke and Winnall Primary School, Winchester;

vii) an increase in the allocation for the 2003/04 early years project at Park Primary School, Aldershot from £0.300m to £0.700m;

viii) deletion from the 2003/04 capital programme of Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative allocation of £0.391m.

1.2 Prior to the Executive Member considering the proposed programme, this report is being presented to the Education Policy Review Committee to provide the Committee with the opportunity to comment to the Executive Member on the proposals.

1.3 The proposals in this report support Aim 1 of the Corporate Strategy (Maximising life opportunities) by proposing allocations of funding to improve the learning environments of Hampshire schools.

2. Introduction

2.1 The Cabinet at its meeting on 15 December 2003 asked Executive Members to prepare proposals for:

· a locally-resourced capital programme for the four-year period from 2004/05 to 2007/08 within the guidelines of the current capital programme uplifted for inflation, and

· capital schemes supported by scheme or programme specific Government grants and borrowing approvals for 2004/05 and those expected to be supported in 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08.

3. Capital programme 2004/05 to 2007/08 - schemes supported by Government approvals

3.1 The Education capital programme is based on credit approvals from the Government through the Single Capital Pot, Government grants and capital receipts and developers' contributions to support major projects. Other than capital receipts, there are no local resources to supplement the programme. The share of capital receipts for 2003/04 available to support the Education capital programme will be added to these guidelines with the closure of the 2003/04 accounts.

3.2 On the basis of the position outlined above, resources available for each of the four forward years to 2007/08 are set out below. Allocations from the DfES for 2006/07 and 2007/08 are estimates only, as the DfES has given no indication of the level of resources to be made available in these years.

3.3 The "Other resources" totalling £3.430m are detailed in Appendix 2.

3.4 Resources totalling £3.668m are proposed to be carried forward from 2003/04 to 2004/05. This sum is made up of schemes proposed for deferral in this report (see paragraph 12.6).

4. Credit approvals

4.1 Following consultation, the DfES has changed the system for allocation of credit approval for providing new pupil places for 2004/05 and subsequent years. Until 2003/04, this funding was allocated through the Annual Capital Guideline (ACG) based on bids prepared by LEAs to identify their future demand for additional pupil places because of population growth.

4.2 The new system allocates funding through a formula, based on:

· prior commitments from the Basic Need bidding rounds for 2002/03 and 2003/04; and

· a formulaic amount providing each authority with a relative proportion of the available pot, based on:

- the actual number of school pupils in each authority (40%); and

- the forecast growth in pupil numbers, by comparing actuals with forecasts as at September following the end of the spending review period - September 2006 (60%).

4.3 The amounts allocated to Hampshire through this formula are:

· £5.207m for existing commitments; and

· £1.883m for future projects.

The £5.207m for existing projects will cover the costs of payments in the second and third years for projects already programmed. £1.883m is available to fund new projects.

4.4 There is £0.150m in the forward programme for 2004/05 for the provision of additional primary school places at Fordingbridge Junior School. Following a further review of pupil number forecasts and an assessment of the practical options for further provision, it is proposed that these places should not now be provided and that the resources should be allocated to meet other pressures on the programme.

4.5 The 2004/05 capital programme includes provision for 32 basic need places at Whitchurch Primary School. Current pupil number forecasts shows continued growth in the projected number of four year olds in the catchment area because of ongoing housing developments. It is therefore proposed to expand the school to two forms of entry (420 places) to reflect the demand for places, a total of 60 places. It is proposed to include this project in the 2005/06 capital programme, with a view to a start on site in April 2005.

4.6 In the context of generally falling primary school rolls, demand for new pupil places in this sector is low, although this will change in specific areas as major new housing developments come on stream in the next few years. In addition to future years' formulaic allocations for new pupil places, significant developers' contributions should also be available. There is only a small amount of outstanding need for additional places in the secondary sector and again this position is unlikely to change in the next few years.

4.7 Indicative allocations from the DfES for new pupil places funding in 2005/06 are:

· £1.058m for existing commitments; and

· £3.766m for future projects.

This split reflects the declining proportion of funding nationally required to meet commitments outstanding from the old basic need system, which will allow more resources to be allocated to new projects.

5. Other formulaic allocations

5.1 In addition to the funding for new pupil places, a number of formula allocations, for which indicative amounts were already announced, have now been confirmed by the DfES. They are discussed in more detail below. The allocations are summarised in Appendix 2, which also shows the amounts available in 2003/04, for comparison.

5.2 Allocations for 2004/05 under the Targeted Capital Fund will be announced in January 2004 and an oral update will be given at the meeting if this information is available. Allocations for voluntary aided schools will be announced by the DfES in February 2004.

New Deal for Schools Modernisation fund

5.3 The amounts allocated through the New Deal for Schools (NDS) Modernisation Fund to individual LEAs are based on the DfES's assessment of relative need among LEAs, following detailed submissions through the Asset Management Plan (AMP) arrangements of the work needed to bring school buildings up to the standards required to teach the modern curriculum. The overall allocation is split between suitability (improvement) work and funding to address the backlog of building condition work, which is managed by Policy and Resources. A split of these resources for 2004/05 in the ratio of 54% to condition and 46% to suitability was agreed by Executive Members in July 2003; this ratio reflects the split in the current year's programme.

5.4 The allocation includes a specific sum earmarked by the DfES for investment in primary phase buildings. This new policy was announced during 2003, but no indicative allocations were made. The funding is being introduced as a prelude to the introduction of Building Schools for the Future (BSF), which begins in 2005/06 and which will focus large tranches of investment in schools for secondary age pupils.

	NDS suitability £'m	NDS condition £'m	NDS total £'m
Basic allocation	10.220	11.997	22.217
Additional primary allocation	4.424	5.193	9.617
Total allocation	14.644	17.190	31.834

5.5 An indicative NDS Modernisation programme for 2004/05 was approved by the Executive Member, Education on 17 July 2003, based on the priority categories of work set out in that report. The Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services has now carried out design feasibility studies on the schemes included in the indicative programme and more detailed costings are available. A proposed NDS Modernisation programme for 2004/05 is included in Appendix 1 and is summarised below:

Projects	2004/05 £m
Primary school temporary classroom and specialist accommodation	2.790
Primary school halls and specialist accommodation	1.949
Capital projects to assist with the management of falling rolls	1.000
Playing field drainage for primary schools	0.400
Secondary school specialist accommodation	2.813
14-19 projects	0.300
Special schools	2.800
Education centres	0.954
Early years	1.440
Health and safety issues	0.245
Staff facilities	0.250
School security	0.350
Minstead Study Centre	0.176
Unallocated	0.100
Total Modernisation programme	15.567

5.6 The scheme costs shown above are net of contributions from schools' devolved capital and other sources, which are being sought, where appropriate. Actual project costs may, therefore, vary.

Seed Challenge Scheme

5.7 2004/05 will be the fifth and final year of the Seed Challenge scheme, which provides grant to match resources raised by schools to fund capital projects. The County Council's allocation in 2004/05 is £1.286m, £0.027m higher than in 2003/04.

5.8 Whilst the original Seed Challenge initiative was intended to encourage external funding contributions (known as "new money") for school capital projects aimed at raising educational standards and addressing the backlog of repairs on school sites, the qualification criteria set by the Department for Education & Skills (DfES) for 2003/04 and 2004/05 include some types of work that do not require matched funding from external sources.

5.9 This relaxation of the requirement for "new money" applies to projects which:

· support schools causing concern, particularly those in challenging circumstances, where well-planned capital investment, linked to other improvement measures, can impact strongly on raising standards;

· support the school workforce programme, e.g. improvements to staffroom and administration accommodation;

· support the development of a broader, more flexible curriculum for 14-19 year olds, in line with the proposals in the DfES Green Paper, e.g. conversion of accommodation to facilitate programmes of work with nearby further education colleges;

· expand successful schools;

· support the inclusion agenda, including measures to improve behaviour and projects for improved facilities for children with Special Education Needs, e.g. creation of group/tutorial spaces.

5.10 For projects which support these priorities, the matched funding element can come from any source, including other government funding such as schools' devolved formula capital. It can also include "new money" in any proportion, if it is available. For projects not meeting any of these criteria, the "new money" element of matched funding is still required.

5.11 Contributions from schools to Seed Challenge schemes are on the following basis:

	Minimum School ratio	Maximum grant ratio
Primary and Special	1 (50%)	1 (50%)
Secondary	2 (67%)	1 (33%)

5.12 The maximum amount of grant for any one scheme is £200,000. For projects that do not meet the criteria set out in paragraph 5.9 above, and which therefore require "new money", at least 75% of the school's contribution must consist of "new money" and the remainder can be from a school's own resources, e.g. balances or devolved capital grant.

5.13 Seed Challenge applications in 2003/04 exceeded the available funding by some 400%. For 2004/05, it is proposed to vary the terms of the local scheme to reduce the number of applications, particularly in the context of the increasing amounts of devolved formula capital available to schools.

5.14 In previous years, a de minimis regime was imposed on Seed Challenge applications, principally to exclude smaller projects. This had to be made more stringent in 2003/04 after applications had been received, because of the significant over-subscription of available funding. In order to try to avoid having to do this again, 2003/04 applications have been analysed and a revised de minimis regime is proposed for 2004/05, which it is hoped will match applications more closely to the available funding. The proposal is based on minimum project values and is summarised below. The table also shows the total of three years' allocations of devolved capital for typical schools in each sector:

Type of school	Minimum project value £	Devolved capital for three years for typical schools £
Primary	100,000	70,000
Secondary	400,000	259,000
Special	80,000	72,000

5.15 Adopting these minimum project values is intended to take account of the following issues:

· devolved formula capital allocations are now at levels significantly higher than in recent years;

· schools are able to use this funding for schemes in the same categories as those for which Seed Challenge bids can be submitted. Projects that would previously have been unachievable can now be financed from this source;

· Seed Challenge resources are intended to be applied to projects which will have a significant impact on raising educational standards;

Schools' devolved formula capital

5.16 An allocation of £16.034m has been made in 2004/05 for schools' devolved formula capital. This will be allocated to schools according to the DfES formula set out below and is intended to fund high priority projects identified through schools' AMPs.

	£
Per nursery/primary pupil	48
Per secondary pupil	72
Per SEN/PRU pupil (all schools)	144
Lump sum (all schools)	12,750

5.17 The allocation for schools' devolved formula capital in 2003/04 was £14.303m; future years' indicative allocations will not be known until December 2004, after the 2004 Spending Review has been completed. Officers work closely with schools to ensure that devolved formula capital allocations are spent on Asset Management Plan priorities and in particular that it is used in conjunction with County Council capital resources to ensure that the maximum number of schools benefit.

Schools Access Initiative

5.18 The Schools Access Initiative provides credit approval to LEAs to increase the accessibility of mainstream schools for pupils with physical and sensory disabilities. An allocation of £2.144m has been confirmed for 2004/05, some £0.03m higher than in the current year. Specific proposals are now being formulated and formal approval of their inclusion in the capital programme will be sought in due course.

6. Capital programme 2004/5 to 2007/08

6.1 The total available to fund starts in 2004/05 is £39.659m. The table shown in paragraph 3.2 above illustrates how this sum is arrived at.

Capital programme 2004/05

6.2 The proposed four year capital programme is attached as Appendix 1. The 2004/05 programme totals £39.659m and includes provision for contingency and furniture and equipment allocations. The total value of the capital programmes submitted for consideration for the four years to 2007/08 is:

	Education £'m	Policy and Resources £'m
2003/04 (current)	58.752	14.436	(for information)
2004/05	39.659	17.190
2005/06	29.867	11.340
2006/07	30.500	11.150
2007/08	30.500	11.150
Totals	130.526	50.830

6.3 The figures are net of developers' contributions and exclude the costs of land for programme schemes, which are dealt with outside the programme guidelines.

6.4 There are no proposals for PFI projects. From 2005/06, all education PFI credits will be allocated through the BSF programme. The future position is, therefore, dependent upon the County Council's BSF submission, referred to in paragraph 5.4, the outcome of which will be know in March 2004.

7. 2005/06 to 2007/08 guidelines

7.1 As indicated above, it is possible to fund those schemes where starts need to be made in 2004/05. The estimated costs of specific schemes proposed for inclusion in 2004/05 total £39.659m as listed in Appendix 1.

7.2 Schemes which can be deferred have been put back to 2005/06. The indicative resources available in 2005/06 through formulaic allocations total £29.867m and are summarised below. This table assumes that the split between NDS suitability and condition funding is the same in 2005/06 as that already approved for 2004/05. The split is, however, subject to Executive Members' decisions, so the totals may vary.

	£'m
Basic need	3.766
NDS Modernisation (general)	5.526
NDS Modernisation (primary)	4.135
Schools Devolved Capital	14.321
Schools Access Initiative	2.119
Total	29.867

Of the total available resources of £29.867m, funding for schools devolved formula capital and Schools Access Initiative are earmarked for specific use and are not available to fund the capital programme generally; therefore, £13.427m is available for this purpose.

7.3 Schemes with a total estimated cost of £7.100m have been deferred to 2005/06 without resources and will be a first call on 2005/06 funding. Other pressures on funding will, however, apply (see section 8 below).

8. Pressures on the capital programme

8.1 There are sufficient resources available to fund all the schemes which need to be started in 2004/05. This can be achieved, however, only in the context of the funding shortfall for 2005/06, referred to in paragraph 7.3, i.e. by deferring schemes to the value of £7.100m without resources. An underlying shortfall of resources of £8.600m was reported to the Executive Member in January 2003; this has now been reduced to £7.100m, largely as a result of formulaic allocations from the DfES exceeding anticipated basic need requirements.

8.2 Although the size of the future shortfall in resources has reduced over that estimated a year ago, it is still significant and measures to identify additional capital receipts and to achieve sales of land as quickly as possible are continuing. Pressure is also maintained to ensure that developers' contributions, which are becoming an increasingly important source of capital funding, are secured as quickly as possible.

8.3 It is also anticipated that there will be a significant balance of resources brought forward from 2003/04, as well as some substantial capital receipts. These resources would become available to the 2004/05 capital programme once the 2003/04 accounts are closed in spring 2004.

9. Projects to be funded from capital receipts

9.1 There are several projects on which starts need to be made in 2004/05 and which are to be funded wholly or partly from capital receipts. These are listed below:

School	Type of provision	Cost to be funded from capital receipts £'m
Chiltern Primary School, Basingstoke	Amalgamation	2.000
Crestwood Secondary, Eastleigh	Sports hall	2.270
New EBD school and Education Centre, Havant	Secondary EBD and Education Centre	5.000
Nightingale Primary, Eastleigh	Surplus place removal	0.900
Total		10.170

Prudential Code for Capital Finance

9.2 An opportunity exists to obtain further resources for schemes funded from capital receipts through a new system for the control of local authority finance to be introduced from 1 April 2004. This allows the County Council to borrow against anticipated receipts, subject to:

· the formal view of the Director of Property, Business and regulatory Services (Head of Estates Practice) of the likely value of the capital receipt and the timescale for achieving it; and

· the approval of the Executive Member, Policy and Resources for the use of borrowing in advance of the receipt.

Chiltern Primary School, Basingstoke

9.3 Chiltern Primary School, Basingstoke will be formed as a result of the amalgamation of Worting Infant School and Worting Junior School on 1 September 2004. Design work to adapt the junior school building as a 1.5 f.e. primary school with early years provision is now well advanced. When statutory notices were published to give effect to the amalgamation, the Executive Member, Education approved a strategy to fund the capital work required through the sale of the infant school site. Work to take the land sale forward is in hand. The value of the land to be sold is estimated to cover the £2m anticipated cost of the capital project, subject to achieving planning consent for housing on the whole site.

Crestwood Secondary School, Eastleigh

9.4 A project has been developed to provide a sports hall, changing rooms and associated facilities at this school, financed through a capital receipt from the sale of excess site area for housing developments and from school contributions. The total estimated cost is £2.912m, of which £0.379m has already been spent to provide a synthetic turf pitch (STP), funded through the School Balances Loan. £2.533m therefore remains to be funded. £2.270m could be funded through prudential borrowing against the anticipated capital receipt.

9.5 The total cost of the work exceeds the estimated value of the land by some £0.263m. The school is contributing £0.100m from its own resources, leaving £0.163m to be met from the 2004/05 capital programme. This amount would cover the costs of new changing accommodation, which is a condition of the planning consent for the housing development. This, together with Secretary of State's consent for the disposal, have been obtained.

New EBD school and Education Centre, Havant

9.6 Proposals have been under discussion for some years for the provision of a replacement building for the Sundridge School for secondary age EBD boys, but it has not been possible so far to secure the necessary funding for the project. There is £0.750m in the proposed 2004/05 programme as a contribution towards the cost of this project, which is estimated at £4.250m. Also in this area of the county, it is necessary to replace the Woodlands Education Centre, Cowplain, which was destroyed by fire in June 2002 and is currently operating in temporary buildings. The cost of replacing and upgrading the centre to current standards is estimated at £3.500m, of which some £2m is expected to be reimbursed through the County Council's insurance fund.

9.7 The overall estimated shortfall on these two schemes is £5.000m. Proposals to use part of the former Park Community School detached playing field for provision of the EBD school and part of the former Park House School site for the Education Centre with the sale of part of each site for housing development are at an advanced stage of discussion with Havant Borough Council. The receipts from these disposals, together with that from the proposed sale of surplus land adjacent to Rachel Madocks School, Cowplain, are estimated to cover the shortfall, but resources will be needed in advance of these receipts to allow the projects to proceed.

9.8 A possible alternative source of funding towards the cost of the EBD school is an allocation under the Targeted Capital Fund. This project was included in the 2004/05 bid to the DfES, the outcome of which will be known during January 2004. If this bid is successful, the contribution required from the proposed land sale would be reduced.

Nightingale Primary School, Eastleigh

9.9 As part of the review of special educational needs provision in Winchester and Eastleigh, the requirement was identified for early years provision for children with special needs in Eastleigh. This is an area where there is also a shortfall of mainstream nursery provision. The opportunity has been identified at Nightingale Primary School to develop a comprehensive early years facility, which is located in an area of relative disadvantage. There is significant surplus accommodation at the school, which was formed through an amalgamation of former infant and junior schools. Early years provision could be developed in the former infant school building and the primary school, with suitable rationalisation and updating of accommodation, could operate in the former junior school building. There is also the opportunity for the sale of part of the site for residential development, which would make a substantial contribution towards the costs of the project.

9.10 The estimated cost of the building work to provide early years facilities is £0.600m. Funding proposals for this project are set out in paragraph 12.4 below. The estimated cost of the work needed to consolidate the primary school in the former junior school building is £1.300m. Of this sum, it is estimated that £0.750m could be met through the proposed land sale. The school can contribute £0.100m and it is proposed to include £0.300m in the 2004/05 programme from NDS Modernisation. The £0.900m would need to be funded in advance of the receipt being obtained in order to allow work to begin in time to spend NEDA grant on the early years provision by the end of August 2004 (see paragraph 12.4).

9.11 It is recommended that specific funding proposals for the four projects listed above are developed in conjunction with the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services (Head of Estates Practice) and that a further report is submitted in March 2004.

10. Overall position

10.1 Although the resourcing issues referred to in section 8 of this report are significant, the overall picture for 2004/05 is good. The resources available to expand and improve schools are now very substantial and there are realistic sums available to tackle much needed improvements in facilities, in particular through schools' devolved formula capital. The prospects for 2005/06 and subsequent years are much less certain. This is because of the large amounts of resources being top sliced nationally to fund Building Schools for the Future. Indicative NDS allocations for 2005/06 are some £5m below those for 2004/05.

11. Revenue Implications

11.1 The revenue implications of the proposed capital programme are as follows:

	Full year cost
	Current expenditure £'000	Capital charges £'000
Schemes supported by Government approvals:
2004/05	39	2,121
2005/06	85	1,571
2006/07	70	1,606
2007/08	70	1,606
Totals	264	6,904

11.2 The total revenue implications for the four years of the starts programme, including capital charges, represent a real term increase of 1.1% over the 2003/04 original budget of this service.

12. Issues relating to the 2003/04 capital programme

Early years projects

12.1 The 2003/04 capital programme includes the early years projects listed in the table below, financed through a combination of NDS Modernisation funding, Nursery Education in Disadvantaged Areas (NEDA) grant and other resources. NEDA grant must be spent by 31 August 2004.

	NDS Mod	NEDA	Total provision
	£ m	£ m	£m
Ashley Infant	0.100	0	0.100
Cherrywood Primary, Farnborough	0.087	0.087	0.174 0.174
Chineham Park Primary, Basingstoke	0	0.025	0.025 0.174 0.174
Nightingale Primary, Eastleigh	0.050	0.050	0.100
Park Primary, Aldershot	0.150	0.150	0.300
The Vyne Secondary, Basingstoke	0.180	0.180	0.360 0.174 0.174
Warren Park Primary	0	0.100	0.100
Winnall Primary, Winchester	0.150	0.150	0.300
Contingency	0.156	0.106	0.262
Totals	0.873	0.848	1.721

12.2 Of the projects listed above, those at The Vyne Secondary School, Basingstoke and Winnall Primary School, Winchester are not now required. A reassessment of the need for early years provision in the Vyne School area was carried out by the Early Education and Childcare Unit(EECU) following information on developments in the Basingstoke area, and delays in securing funding in addition to the contribution from Hampshire County Council. As a result of the improved level of provision in the area, the Vyne proposal was withdrawn. The need for a pre-school on the Winnall Primary School site was also reassessed. The audit of provision (June 2003) completed by the EECU confirmed that that as there are sufficient early education places in the Winnall and surrounding areas, this development was not required This means that £0.600m of resources are available for use on other early years projects in areas of relative disadvantage and it is proposed that funding should be re-allocated to projects at Park Primary School, Aldershot and Nightingale Primary School, Eastleigh.

12.3 The scope of the project at Park Primary School, Aldershot has increased significantly since it was added to the capital programme in November 2002 and the total estimated cost is now £0.700m. This project is located in Heron Wood, one of the five 20% most disadvantaged wards in the county. The extension of the existing early years centre building to accommodate a 69 place neighbourhood nursery for children aged 0-5 years, in addition to community facilities for children and their families has been challenging. The proposed extension will enable current services to be enhanced so that this centre can deliver the core offer required of children's centre It is recommended that the provision for this project be increased to £0.700m, financed from NDS Modernisation and NEDA. An application for Children's Centre funding is currently pending; if successful, this would reduce the call on NDS Modernisation funding from £0.386m to £0.314m.

12.4 The early years element of the project at Nightingale Primary School, Eastleigh, referred to in section 9 above is estimated to cost £600,000. It is proposed that this project should be added to the 2004/05 capital programme and the associated resources carried forward from the current year.

12.5 The revised allocations proposed for early years funding are summarised below:

	NDS Mod	NEDA	Total provision
	£m	£m	£m
Ashley Infant	0.100	0	0.100
Cherrywood Primary, Farnborough	0.087	0.087	0.174
Chineham Park Primary, Basingstoke	0	0.025	0.025
Nightingale Primary, Eastleigh EY	0.300	0.300	0.600
Park Primary, Aldershot	0.386	0.314	0.700
Warren Park Primary	0	0.100	0.100
Unallocated	0	0.022	0.022
Totals	0.873	0.848 0.826	1.721

Project deferrals

12.6 It will not be possible to start the following schemes during 2003/04. It is proposed, therefore, to defer them, with their resources, to 2004/05.

Project	£m
Bursledon Infant	0.950
Lakeside	0.700
Nightingale Primary	0.600
Staunton Park Community	0.114
Sundridge EBD replacement (see para. 9.5)	0.750
The Bridge Education Centre, Eastleigh	0.554
Total	3.668

12.7 These deferrals are due to changes in the scope, brief of programming of projects.

Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative (NNI)

12.8 The 2003/04 programme includes a block allocation of £0.391m for the Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative (NNI). This is not a specific allocation to the County Council, but an indicative figure supplied for planning purposes. Access to the funding is via scheme specific bids to the New Opportunities Fund (NOF). The block allocation should, therefore, be removed from the programme.

13. Summary position for 2003/04

13.1 Resources totalling £58.752m have been allocated for the starts programme in 2003/04 (see Appendix 3 for details). Of this total, £21.270m relates to block allocations for schools' devolved formula capital, Schools Access Initiative, furniture and equipment and contingency, leaving £37.482m for specifically identified schemes. Schemes to the value of £16.900m have started, with £20.582m still scheduled to start before the end of the financial year.

14. Building cost inflation

14.1 Tender price inflation for building work still continues to be significantly in excess of other national inflation annual increases. Published indices (by the DETR Public Sector Index) for the year from November 2002 to November 2003, around which the capital programme is based, are predicting a 6.5% increase. Although less than in some recent years, this is still an indication of a heated construction market and demonstrates that tender costs will continue to be under pressure over the coming months. The capital programme contingency sets aside financial provision for inflation but it still remains a prediction of out-turn costs rather than actual figures. To put this into some context; national building costs have increased by more than 35% in the last five years alone. To help mitigate this, the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services has put in place procurement strategies that reduce risk and uncertainty for the contractors and, through a number of appropriate contracting arrangements, secure the resources the County Council requires, whilst still retaining value for money and an emphasis on the quality of the product.

Section 100D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB: the list excludes:

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

Letter of 19 December 2003 from DfES to County Education Officer: Capital Investment in Schools 2004/05.

Appendix 1

Education capital programme

2004/05 - 2007/08

Appendix 2

Capital allocations 2003/04 - 2004/05

	2003/04	2003/04	2004/05	2004/05
	£m	£m	£m	£m
NDS Modernisation fund		12.708		14.644
Schools' devolved capital		14.321		16.034
Other Resources
Seed Challenge	1.260		1.286
Nursery Education in Disadvantaged Areas (NEDA) - requiring match funding	0.424		0
Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative	0.061
Staff Workplaces	0.217		0
HCC Insurance Claim	2.500		0
John Hanson - share of Capital Receipt	0.600		0
School Access Initiative	2.114		2.144
		7.476		3.430
Total Education programme		34.505		34.108
NDS Condition funding (P&R capital programme)		14.436		17.190
Overall total		48.941		51.298

Other Funding (for 2004/05)

		2004/05
		£m
Brought forward from 2003/04		3.668
New pupil places		1.883

Appendix 3

Education capital programme 2003/04 - resources

		£m	£m
	Original Budget Book		48.252
Internal Funding Changes
Add	Balance from 2002/03	0.090
	Carry-overs from 2002/03	4.871
	Share of 2002/03 capital receipts	0.735
Less	Deferred schemes (inc this report)	(3.668)
	Virement to revenue from capital	(0.098)
	Neighbourhood nurseries (NNI) allocation (in this report)	(0.391)
			1.539
Additional DfES allocations and grants
	Single Capital Pot	0.167
	Reduced Devolved Capital	(0.018)
	Additional NDS Modernisation	0.121
	Adult / Community Learning (DDA)	0.624
	Surestart	0.715
	Specialist School Status	0.900
	Youth Service (DDA)	0.017
			2.526
Other Funding
	Use of school balances	5.067
	School Contributions from Revenue	0.934
	Others (inc Surestart)	0.434
			6.435
Total resources			58.752