Contact: Ian Lawson, School Organisation Officer. Telephone 01962 846350. e-mail: [email protected]

1 Introduction

1.1 Significant housing development is taking place in the North Popley area of Basingstoke. In order to assist the integration of the new population with the existing community, the masterplan for the development (as adopted by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council following public consultation) does not provide any new primary schools. Instead, it is proposed to provide primary school places at existing schools, which are close to the new development, with additional accommodation as required.

1.2 The first part of this strategy is the enlargement of Marnel Infant and Junior Schools from two to three forms of entry. Provision for this is included in the approved capital programme for 2007/08. The building work envisaged includes the provision of additional classroom accommodation and enhancing the specialist teaching provision, together with improvements to the building infrastructure.

2 Recommendations:

The following decisions are sought:

2.1 That approval be given to the following proposals, in accordance with Section 19(1) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006:

(a) To make a prescribed alteration to Marnel Infant School, Shetland Road, Popley, Basingstoke by enlarging the premises of the school from 180 to 270 pupils, with effect from 1 September 2009.

(b) To make a prescribed alteration to Marnel Junior School, Shetland Road, Popley, Basingstoke by enlarging the premises of the school form 240 to 360 pupils, with effect from 1 September 2009.

2.2 That approval be unconditional.

3 Procedure

3.1 The enlargement of these schools requires the publication of public notices, following consultation with, amongst others, the staff, governors and parents at the schools, other local schools and interested parties. In addition to the public notices, it is necessary to provide the complete proposals to the governing bodies of the schools concerned and the Secretary of State and to make copies available on request by any other persons.

3.2 Public notices were duly published on 28 June 2007. No objections, or other representations, were received. Pursuant to Paragraph 30(1) of Schedule The proposal falls to the local authority to decide, delegated to the Director of Children's Services by Cabinet on 21 May 2007.

4 Other Options considered and rejected:

4.1 The alternative option would be to build a new primary school within the development. This was not favoured in the planning stages of the development as it would reduce the scope to integrate the new population with the existing community.

5 Legal implications

5.1 The proposals in this report comply with the statutory framework for school organisation decisions

6 Financial implications

6.1 Provision for the enlargement of Marnel Infant and Junior Schools is included in the approved capital programme for 2007/08.

7 Personnel implications

7.1 The appointment of additional staff will be made by the governing bodies.

8 Impact assessment

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

9 Crime prevention issues

9.1 The proposals in this report do not have any implications for the prevention of crime.

10 Views of the local county councillor

10.1 The local county councillor was included in the consultation referred to in paragraph 3.1. No comments were received.

11 Conclusion

11.1 The enlargement of Marnel Infant and Junior Schools is an essential part of the strategy to cater for the housing development in North Popley. No objections were received in response to the public notices. It is, therefore, recommended that the statutory proposals be given unconditional approval.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have 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.

North of Popley Way, Revised Development and Design Brief (Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, November 2000)..