Hampshire County Council

Buildings Land and Procurement Panel Item 12

24 March 2004

New Deal for Schools Condition Funding 2003/04 and 2004/05

Report by the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services

How the conclusion in this report fits with the Corporate Strategy

This scheme will impact on the delivery of the following Corporate Aims

Aim 1 - maximising life opportunities - by providing well maintained buildings to be enjoyed by the community.

Aim 4 - building strong and safe communities - by ensuring the built estate is well maintained and provides an environment in which people want to live,

Aim 5 - improving services - by providing good quality buildings that enable service delivery.

1

Summary

1.1

This is the fourth year that the DfES has made available New Deal for Schools (NDS) Condition funding aimed at tackling the backlog of repairs and maintenance at Hampshire schools. A further £17.2m of NDS Condition Funding has been confirmed for 2004/05 and an indicative allocation of Condition funding for 2005/06 is £11.3m. It would be important to note that within these allocations the DfES is, for the first time, stipulating the amount of funding that must be spent at Primary Schools due to the Government's major initiative of Building Schools for the Future which will earmark significant funding for a national programme of work at secondary schools only. The impact of not being in the early tranches of allocations could have significant impact on secondary schools. See Appendix 1.

1.2

This report confirms the progress being made in implementing the current 2003/04 NDS Condition programme and identifies strategies and proposed new programmes for the latest allocation of NDS Condition funding in 2004/05. For the reasons outlined in the earlier report on Capital Repairs, wherever possible opportunities to integrate NDS, capital repairs and school funded projects will be taken and matched to the DfES requirement to manage each NDS phase over an eighteen month period.

2

What has/is being achieved so far

2.1

In 1999/00 a major condition survey of schools in Hampshire identified a 5 year repairs and maintenance liability of around £230m. Since that time the DFES have allocated a total of just over £52m of condition funding (£44.2m excluding fees) to begin to address the backlog of repairs and maintenance liabilities at Community and Foundation Schools. Separate allocations of NDS condition funding have been allocated to the various diocesan boards in relation to Church Aided Schools. The County Council has been given complete discretion by the DfES over the content of NDS programmes.

2.2

The table in Appendix 2 shows what has been/is being achieved at schools through the use of the NDS condition funding. Over 100 schools have benefited each year from major repair and maintenance investment projects, since NDS Condition funding became available. In 2003/04 major NDS Condition projects are being carried out at over one third (172) of Hampshire schools.

3

Benefits of NDS Condition Expenditure

3.1

The benefits of the NDS expenditure are:

· Major replacement/upgrading programmes creating a strong focus on planned programmes as opposed to patch and mend repairs.

· Enhanced appearance and standing of the County Council's public buildings within the Community.

· Large numbers of pupils benefiting directly from improved working/learning environments.

·A 15% reduction in the backlog of repairs and maintenance against the School's Asset Management Plan

· Protection of building and engineering assets, improvements in the performance of the building stock and keeping buildings open for business are major benefits being derived from the NDS programmes.

· Enhanced levels of safety through targeted Corporate Risk Assessment improvement plans.

4

Impacts on Future Liabilities

4.1

An annual update of the schools' AMP was completed in June 2003 as part of a submission of revised condition data to the DfES. This showed a straight reduction in the repairs and maintenance backlog liability (before inflation) of just under 15%, broadly in line with the NDS condition allocations that had been made up to that point in time.

4.2

Planned programmes are also targeted at reducing future revenue and capital repairs costs where possible. For example, the SCOLA recladding programme is helping to reduce recurring maintenance such as external redecoration and energy consumption through improved thermal efficiency. Another example is the completion of the Ballard heater replacement programme which has helped to reduce the number of breakdowns and emergency call outs.

5

Planning and Project Selection 2004/05

5.1

Project selection supports the Strategy for the Built Estate and the Corporate Risk Assessment. Appendix 3 gives details of the proposed programmes that make up the bulk of the NDS Condition programme for 2004/05. The first phase of this programme amounting to £5.579 million was approved by the Executive Member on 19 February 2004. A detailed list of the external decorations and prior repairs programme is attached at Appendix 4. Projects in this list include those that were previously approved by the Executive member for Policy and Resources in February and new projects giving a total value of external decorations of £3.8m.

£000

Previously approved 5,579

Proposed 9,071

Fees 2,240

17,200

5.2

The programme of work reflects some of the top risk headings in the CRA and clearly continues to address the backlog of repair and maintenance identified in the Schools AMP. Fire safety improvement features heavily in the secondary schools NDS programme as fire safety is the highest identified risk in the CRA. The proposed NDS programme for 2004/05 will complete a programme to update fire alarms in all community secondary schools. Further work will be necessary to identify fire alarm improvements at Foundation schools.

5.3

The programmes of work have also been selected on the basis of what can be achieved within the Government's spending criteria for works to be delivered and completed by August 2005.

6

Conclusion

6.1

The NDS Condition funding is having a significant impact in protecting the County Council's building and engineering assets and improving the working/learning environment for pupils. Well in excess of 100 schools are benefiting each year from the NDS funding. The available funding has to be seen in the context of the overall liability and the remaining backlog of repairs and maintenance for the schools estate (estimated at £190m). It is likely that funding levels will down turn significantly as noted in the earlier report.

Recommendation:

That the Panel advises the Executive Member for Policy and Resources that approval be given to the priorities and programmes for the NDS Condition Fund allocation for 2004/05.