Contact: Bob Eardley, Strategic Planning Manager, 01962 846275. Email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 This report sets out proposed changes to the 2005/06 capital programme, proposals for the renewal of planning consent for temporary classrooms and the provision of additional temporary classrooms.

1.2 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.

1.3 Race and equality impact assessment has been considered in the development of this report and no adverse impact has been identified.

2. Amendments to the 2005/06 capital programme

Carry forward from 2004/05

2.1 A total of £14.012m of 2004/05 resources was unspent at the end of the financial year. Of this total, £13.190m relates to projects which were not started and have been carried forward to the current year. The total is made up as shown in Table 1.

Table 1

	£'m
Major projects approved for deferral by Executive Member for Education decision on 21 January 2005	5.292
Major projects approval for deferral by Executive Member for Education decision on 24 March 2005	1.914
Recommended for deferral in this report (listed in Appendix 1)	5.984
Total	13.190

2.2 The remaining resources of £0.822m (£14.012m - £13.190m) are not allocated to specific projects and are available to add to the 2005/06 cash limit.

2.3 Of the £0.822m unallocated resources carried forward from 2004/05, £0.431m consists of contributions from the developers of new housing towards the cost of Education infrastructure. Of the £0.431m, £0.050m is intended to fund projects still to be agreed with schools in the areas of the new developments and this sum needs to be added to the 2005/06 provision for minor works. The remaining amount of developers' contributions (£0.381m) relates to projects already funded from capital programme resources and this sum is available to supplement the 2005/06 cash limit. In total, therefore, additional unallocated resources of £0.772m are available in 2005/06, as shown in Table 2.

Table 2

Resources		Expenditure
	£'m		£'m
Capital receipts	0.000	Cost of c/f schemes	13.190
Resources c/f	14.012	Reserved for future projects funded through developers' contributions	0.050
Totals	14.012		13.240
Available resources = £0.772m (£14.012m - £13.240m)

3. Amendments to the 2005/06 capital programme

Primary school halls

Newtown Soberton Infant School

3.1 Newtown Soberton Infant School is a rural school without a useable hall; there is a popular pre-school on the site based in a temporary unit, which is now in poor condition. A scheme has been developed to provide the school with a new purpose-built hall and to allow for the relocation of the pre-school into permanent accommodation within the existing school building. Associated works to the reception area and school grounds will also be required. This project scores highly against several priorities in the Education Asset Management Plan, including the provision of a hall and permanent early years facilities.

3.2 The total estimated cost of the project is £0.614m and the proposed funding breakdown is set out in Table 3.

Table 3

Funding source	£'m	£'m
Education capital programme:
Primary school halls	0.330
Early years permanent buildings	0.123
Staff workforce facilities	0.050	0.503
School's devolved capital		0.111
Total		0.614

3.3 It is recommended that a major project at Newtown Soberton Infant School is added to the 2005/06 capital programme at an estimated cost of £0.614m.

South Baddesley Primary School

3.4 There is provision of £1.000m in the 2006/07 capital programme for the provision of halls at primary schools currently without this facility. Preliminary work on the preparation of the 2006/07 programme indicates that a high priority for funding from this budget is South Baddesley Primary School, where a very unsatisfactory village hall with inadequate facilities is currently being used by the school.

3.5 A project is currently in progress at the school to replace a temporary classroom and improve staff facilities. This work has been funded jointly by Education and Policy and Resources. Construction of a purpose-built hall on the school site would be the second phase of work.

3.6 The most economic means of programming the second phase would be as a follow-on contract when the current phase ends in October 2005. This could be achieved by bringing the project forward to 2005/06 and using funding from currently unallocated resources carried forward from 2004/05. The estimated cost of the hall project at South Baddesley Primary School is £0.584m, which could be funded as shown in Table 4.

Table 4

Funding source	£'m
Policy and Resources capital programme	0.119
Education capital programme	0.400
School's devolved capital	0.065
Total	0.584

3.7 It is recommended that a major project for the provision of a hall at South Baddesley Primary School is added to the 2005/06 programme at an estimated cost of £0.584m.

Costello Technology College, Basingstoke

3.8 The technology block at Costello Technology College, Basingstoke was destroyed by a major fire in 2003. A project to replace this provision has been drawn up and a project appraisal is being presented elsewhere on this agenda. The total cost of the project is £5.549m. Of this sum, £5.269m will be met from the County Council's Insurance Fund.

3.9 The shortfall of £0.280m can be met from the capital programme contingency and it is recommended that the project is added to the 2005/06 capital programme at a total estimated cost of £5.549m

Minstead Study Centre

3.10 On 13 May 2004 the Executive Member, Education approved a project for substantial refurbishment and extension of the Minstead Study Centre at an estimated cost of £0.999m. The detailed design has been completed and the proposed works tendered through one of the County Council's Framework Contractors. This is a very specialist building in an isolated and restricted location and the industry has priced the scheme at a higher level than the costs as reported to the Executive Member for Education in May 2004. Significant savings have been made as part of a value engineering process and the scope of the works reconfigured to achieve these. Any further savings would compromise the integrity of the building proposals and potentially some of the funding. The revised tender costs remain higher than those previously reported, hence there is a need for additional resources of £0.214m to support this project.

3.11 The project has taken longer in the development stage than originally reported which has also added pressure to these costs. Additional resources from the New Opportunities Fund (£0.050m), and from Policy and Resources to address landlord issues (£0.078m) have been identified to be funded separately, but carried out within the building contract proposed for these works. The ambition and detailed specification for sustainable elements have been developed and these have been included in the tender. A number of these sustainable elements are to be confirmed subject to additional funding being made available directly from the Centre.

3.12 Costs and proposed funding for this project are summarised in Table 5 and it is recommended that additional resources of £0.114m are made available from the contingency to allow this project to proceed.

Table 5

Funding source	£'m
Education capital programme provision	0.376
Existing New Opportunities Fund allocation	0.543
Minstead Study Centre	0.162
New Forest District Council	0.030
Policy and Resources	0.078
Unallocated resources from New Opportunities Fund	0.050
Balance to be met from Education capital programme	0.114
Total	1.353

Review of Special Educational Needs provision in East Hampshire - new Hollywater School, Bordon

3.13 A contract has been let for construction of the new Hollywater School, Bordon, which will replace The Meadow and Whitedown schools, following a review of special needs provision in east Hampshire. The total cost of the project is £7.100m. The value of the current contract is £6.844m, the remainder of the budget allocation (£0.256m) having been spent on an enabling contract completed in the summer of 2004.

3.14 Funding for the project is shown in Table 6 as follows:

Table 6

Funding source	£'m
DfES Targeted Capital Fund allocation	5.000
Anticipated land receipts	0.650
Corporate resources (agreed by Cabinet on July 2004)	0.375
Education capital programme	0.246
Total resources	6.271
Value of contract	6.844
Shortfall	0.573

3.15 In view of the shortfall of funding, work to the value of £0.573m has been deferred. It is proposed to address the shortfall through additional allocations from the Policy and Resources and Education capital programmes, so that the deferred work can be reinstated. A recommendation is being made to the Executive Member for Policy and Resources on 14 July 2005 for an additional contribution of £0.283m and it is recommended that the balance of the cost (£0.290m) is met from the capital programme contingency.

Projects to assist with the management of falling rolls

East New Forest primary schools reorganisation

3.16 Design work is in hand on three major amalgamation projects arising from the east New Forest review of primary school provision. These are:

· Blackfield Primary School (Blackfield Infant and Blackfield Junior Schools);

· Holbury Primary School (Holbury Infant and Junior Schools);

· Waterside Primary School (Langdown Infant and Langdown Junior Schools).

3.17 Design project appraisals are being brought forward elsewhere on this agenda for schemes at Blackfield and Waterside; proposals will be brought forward in the autumn for Holbury. Recommendations are included below for the addition of the major projects at Blackfield and Waterside to the 2005/06 capital programme.

Blackfield Primary School

3.18 Full details of this project are included in the separate project appraisal report for creation of a 540 place foundation primary school, based on the Blackfield Junior School building. The estimated cost of the scheme is £1.450m. It is proposed to sell the Blackfield Infant School site for residential development and arrangements for this are in hand. The capital receipt from the sale would be used to fund the proposed work to the Junior School building, together with a contribution from the capital programme provision for the management of falling rolls. The schools are also making a contribution to costs.

Waterside Primary School

3.19 Full details of this project are included in the separate project appraisal report for creation of a 210 place primary school and 24 place early years unit based on the Langdown Junior School building. The estimated cost of the scheme is £2.221m. As with the Blackfield schools, it is proposed to sell the Infant School site and invest the capital receipt in the primary school project, with the balance of the costs being met from the capital programme provision for management of falling rolls and early years projects. Policy and Resources and the schools are also making contributions to costs.

Blackfield Primary School and Waterside Primary School - funding strategy

3.20 The costs of these projects to the Education capital programme are set out in Table 7.

Table 7

	Blackfield £'m	Waterside £'m
Project cost	1.450	2.221
School funding	0.075	137
Policy and Resources funding	-	451
Balance to be met from Education capital programme	1.375	1.633

3.21 The total cost of these projects to the capital programme is £3.008m, of which £1.990m is estimated to be available from capital receipts from the sale of the infant school sites. It is proposed that the remaining costs will be met as shown in Table 8.

Table 8

	£'m
Provision for management of falling rolls	0.793
Provision for permanent early years facilities	0.225

3.22 Separate reports will be brought forward recommending borrowing under the Prudential Code for Capital Finance against the anticipated capital receipts.

3.23 It is recommended that a major project at Blackfield Primary School at an estimated cost of £1.450m and a major project at Waterside Primary School at an estimated cost of £2.194m are added to the 2005/06 capital programme, subject to future approval of borrowing under the Prudential Code for Capital Finance totalling £1.990m.

4. Capital programme 2006/07

Pinewood Infant School, Farnborough

4.1 Pinewood Infant School, Farnborough was largely destroyed by fire in March 2003. The Cabinet decided on 13 December 2004 that Pinewood Infant School should be rebuilt as a one form entry infant school (90 places) with speech, language and communication needs provision. Design work is well advanced and initial procurement arrangements are in hand for the construction of a new school.

4.2 The current estimated cost of the school building is £3.690m; this cost includes provision of an early years facility, furniture and equipment and the removal of temporary buildings. £2.600m of the estimated cost is expected to be met from the County Council's Insurance Fund, leaving a shortfall of £1.090m. A start on site is planned for the first quarter of the 2006/07 financial year.

4.3 It is proposed that the shortfall of £1.090m should be met from the capital receipt due to Education in 2006/07 from the recent sale of the site of the former Mayfield Infant School, Farnborough and that the project should be added to the 2006/07 Education capital programme.

5. Temporary classrooms

Planning Renewals

5.1 There are a number of temporary buildings where planning permission needs to be renewed. For some of these buildings arrangements are in place for eventual replacement with permanent accommodation. Others are meeting a current demand for places, but longer-term forecasts suggest that permanent places will not be required in the future because of falling school rolls. These cases are being kept under close review. There are four temporary buildings used for pre-school provision. Detailed information about the schools, together with an explanation of the reasons for their retention, can be found in Appendix 1.

5.2 It is recommended that approval for planning renewals until 31 August 2009 for the temporary buildings listed in Appendix 1.

New provision

Curdridge Primary

5.3 There is a major project in the 2005/06 Capital Programme to replace the temporary accommodation at this school with a permanent extension providing two classrooms, a library and toilet facilities. The existing temporary accommodation is occupying the site of this proposed extension and therefore is it necessary to provide one double temporary classroom unit on nearby Parish Council land. The Parish Council has been consulted and fully supports this temporary measure and the extension to the school. The unit will be placed in situ during the October half-term and the cost provision will be met from the revenue budget for temporary classroom hire.

5.4 It is recommended approval is given for the provision of this unit until 31 August 2007.

Dove House, Basingstoke

5.5 Dove House School caters for pupils aged 11-16 with learning difficulties and provides 90 places. There are currently 112 pupils on roll.. The school has seventeen pupils with severe autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) who are all currently based in the existing single temporary classroom. The number of children with ASD is expected to increase to 20 in September. Ideally such pupils should be in classes of no more than 10 due to the nature of their special educational needs. The school does not have a music/drama space, which causes problems in delivering this aspect of the curriculum and which has been criticised in a recent OFSTED report. The existing temporary classroom is in poor condition. It is recommended that a double temporary classroom is provided pending a feasibility study being undertaken to ascertain how this accommodation could be provided in permanent facilities, linked to the strategy to replace temporary classrooms in poor condition.

Oakley CE Controlled Junior

5.6 This school has a capacity of 270 places (nine classrooms). The current number on roll is 254 but this is due to rise to 284 in September 2005 because of a large year group transferring from Oakley Infant School. Numbers are expected to remain at this level for the next four years, as the school now has two year groups in excess of its published admission number of 67. This is due to the school accepting the numbers transferring from the infant school to preserve consistency of education for pupils.

5.7 Forecast pupil numbers for the infant school show a future reduction, which will in turn reduce the number of pupils who will transfer to the junior school. In the interim, it is recommended that a single temporary classroom is provided until 31 August 2009.

6. County Council Policy Requirements

6.1 Legal implications - The proposals support the County Council's statutory duty to provide school places and comply with central government accommodation requirements and guidance.

6.2 Financial implications - These are set out in the report.

6.3. Personnel implications - None directly arising from this report.

6.4 Community cohesion, inclusiveness and partnership working - Most of the capital projects proposed in this report support these aims.

6.5 Crime prevention issues - None directly arising from this report.

Recommendations

1. That the following variations to the 2005/06 Education capital programme be approved:

(a) that a major project for provision of a hall and associated works at Newtown Soberton Infant School at an estimated cost of £0.614m be added to the programme;

(b) that a major project for provision of a hall at South Baddesley Primary School at an estimated cost of £0.584m be added to the programme;

(c) that a major project for the reinstatement of the technology block at Costello Technology, Basingstoke, at an estimated cost of £5.549m be added to the programme;

(d) that additional resources of £0.114m from the contingency be added to the provision for the major project at Minstead Study Centre;

(e) that additional resources of £0.290m from the contingency be added to the provision for the major project for the new Hollywater School, Bordon;

(f) that a major project to convert Blackfield Junior School to a primary school at an estimated cost of £1.450m be added to the programme, subject to a future decision by the Cabinet to authorise borrowing under the Prudential Code for Capital Finance;

(g) that a major project to convert the former Langdown Junior School building to house Waterside Primary School at an estimated cost of £2.221m be added to the programme, subject to a future decision by the Cabinet to authorise borrowing under the Prudential Code for Capital Finance.

2. That the addition to the 2006/07 capital programme of a major project for the replacement of Pinewood Infant School, Farnborough an estimated cost of £3.690m be approved.

3. That approval be given for the renewal of planning consent until 31 July 2009 for the temporary classrooms listed in Appendix 1.

4. That approval be given for the placement of temporary classrooms at the following schools:

Curdridge Primary (one double unit until 31 August 2007);

Dove House, Basingstoke (one double unit until 31 August 2009);

Oakley CE Controlled Junior (one single unit until 31 August 2009).

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.

None.

Appendix 1 - Proposed temporary classroom planning renewals