Kings Park Ward - New School Report

Report to the: Cabinet Wards: Kings Park Kings Park Ward – New Primary School Joint report by the Corporate Director for Regeneration and the Acting Corporate Director of Children and

Report to the: Cabinet Wards: Kings Park

Kings Park Ward – New Primary School

Joint report by the Corporate Director for Regeneration and the Acting Corporate Director

of Children and Young People’s Services

1.1 The purpose of this report is to seek permission to publish a competition

notice inviting interested parties to bring forward proposals for setting up the new primary school on Kingswood Parks and to decide whether the Council wishes to make an application themselves

2.1 That the Corporate Director for Children Regeneration be given permission

to publish a competition notice inviting interested parties to bring forward proposals for setting up the new primary school on Kingswood Parks

2.2 That Cabinet notes the implications of the new competition arrangements

introduced under the Education and Inspections Act (EIA) 2006 and decides whether it wishes to make an application to the Secretary of State for proposed Community status for the new school

This is a non key decision

3.1 In May 2004 Kings Park Development Corporation (KPDC) entered into a

formal Section 106 Agreement under the Town and Country Planning Act

1990 with the Council to provide a primary school in an agreed location within its housing development

3.2 The agreement with KPDC was that prior to occupation of the 1500th

dwelling of their area they would transfer the proposed school site into the Councils ownership together with the sum of £3.7m This sum will be index linked in accordance with the ‘All Items index figure of the Retail Prices Index’ from the date of the Planning Permission to the date of payment to the City Council

3.3 Since then, KPDC have signed a Deed of Variation (19th July 2010), which

stipulates that they will bring forward the transfer of the proposed school site into the Council’s ownership together with the sum of £3.7 m (index linked)

on the occupation of the 1200th dwelling rather than the 1500th dwelling

3.4 This target has now been reached and, following a Leader’s Decision

Record, has triggered the beginning of the ‘competition’ process for the new school under the statutory framework for the establishment of any new maintained school

Stage 1 – Statutory Consultation

4.1 Section 7 of the EIA 2006 requires all new schools to be opened up to

competition allowing a range of organisations to compete for operation of the school In the past, new schools that have been established normally hold Community status with the Local Authority owning the land and buildings and acting as the Admissions Authority There are 6 stages in the competition process – see Appendix 1 for further details

4.2 On 11 October 2010, statutory consultation (stage 1) began with local

people to seek their views about the specification for the new primary school

on Kingswood Parks The specifications being proposed were:

Number of Pupils: 280* boys and girls Age Range: 5 to 11 years

Early Years: 26 FTE nursery Admission Number: 40*

Opening Date: September 2013

*The school will be built for 315 pupils to adhere to the infant class size regulations and future expansion Therefore, it is recommended that the statutory notice includes an admission number of 45 rather than 40 This will result in a 1.5 form entry per year group resulting in the number of pupils being 315 aged 5 to 11 years

4.3 All households on Kingswood Parks received a consultation document (circa

4,000) and these were also sent to statutory consultees and local primary schools The consultation period lasted for 6 weeks from 11th October 2010

to 21st November 2010

4.4 Nine people attended the consultation event which was held at Kingswood

College of Arts and 21 response forms have been received A summary of the responses is given below:

• 21 out of 21 responses said there is a need for a new primary school on the Kingswood Parks Development

• 19 out of 21 responses agreed that the school should accommodate 280 boys and girls aged between 5 and 11

• 21 out of 21 responses agreed that there should be a 26 place-nursery

• In terms of what type of school should be provided 8 respondents wanted a community school; 2 respondents a voluntary aided school; 5 respondents a foundation school and 6 respondents had no preference

4.5 The East Riding of Yorkshire Council was a statutory consultee and they

have replied to say that they have no comments on the proposal to build a new school on Kingswood Parks

Stage 2 – Invitation to Bid

4.6 In light of the results of the statutory consultation give above, Cabinet must

now decide whether to publish a statutory notice inviting interested parties to bring forward proposals setting up the new school The regulations allow 4 months for proposals to be submitted Advisors working on behalf of the Secretary of State will coordinate the competition process, place adverts, advise interested parties and conduct competition seminars The Local Authority will have opportunity to attend and take part in these seminars

4.7 The Department has already sent a list of all organisations and individuals

who have asked to be made aware of new competitions and have requested that the LA inform them if the authority's consultation results in publishing proposals for a new primary school via a competition This list is attached at Appendix 3 for information purposes only

4.8 The Local Authority's notice must allow potential proposers at least 4

months from the date of publication to prepare the proposal If the Local Authority receives proposals for an Academy the LA must consult the Secretary of State within 2 weeks of receiving the proposal and the Secretary of State must confirm whether he would be willing in principle to commence negotiations with a view to entering into an agreement for establishing an Academy

4.9 If the LA wish to publish its own proposals for a community school the

consent of the Secretary of State needs to be obtained during Stage 2 if the

LA is eligible – see section below

Community Status

4.10 There is a presumption in the new legislation that new schools proposed by

the Local Authority will have Foundation status and will be subject to competition arrangements under which a private organisation can propose

to operate a school If the new school is potentially to be a community school, permission is now needed from the Secretary of State before such proposals can be pursued and consent will be given only if the Authority has met prescribed standards in recent inspections As the LA has a Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) Ofsted performance rating of 2 they cannot publish proposals without consent from the Secretary of State and unless they meet either or both of the following:

• Less than 15% of community, foundation and voluntary primary schools

in the LA’s area are eligible for intervention

(8.4% of Hull’s primary schools are eligible for intervention)

• More than 15% of primary schools are foundation or voluntary

(15.4% of Hull’s primary schools are either voluntary aided or voluntary controlled)

4.11 Cabinet needs to decide whether it wishes to make an application to the

Secretary of State for proposed Community status for the new school If a decision is made to publish a competition notice inviting interested parties to bring forward proposals for setting up the new primary school on Kingswood Park (see Stage 2 above at 4.7), the following factors need to be taken into account when considering this issue:

• If the new school were to hold Community status, the Council would

be the Admissions Authority and own the land/buildings;

• It is unclear at this stage whether or not such an application to the Secretary of State would be successful;

• Were it to be successful, this would then mean that the Authority could bid against other possible proposers to operate the new school;

• If the Authority did receive approval to bid, the final decision on who runs the new school would be made by the Schools’ Adjudicator

4.12 Regardless of whether the Local Authority wishes to apply for permission

from the Secretary of State to bid to operate the new school, there is an extensive and lengthy competition process A chart showing the process for establishing a new maintained mainstream school is attached at Appendix 2

Funding Implications

4.13 The proposal for a new primary school in the Kingswood Parks area of the

city forms part of the approved Primary Strategy for Change and the ongoing Primary Capital Programme

4.14 The latest estimate for the cost of design and construction of the school is

approximately £5.1 million, based on latest costs submitted on the BSF programme for the construction of primary schools The contribution provided by KPDC, inflated according to the terms of the S106, is expected

to represent about £3.7 million

4.15 The gap can be met in full from the Primary Capital Programme funding

already received in 2009/2010, which has been allocated and ring-fenced for this purpose

5.1 The results of the recent statutory consultation are summarised in 4.1 to 4.6

above

6.1 Approve the proposal: to publish a competition notice inviting interested

parties to compete to operate the new primary school on Kingswood Parks

By approving the proposal the Council will begin the process of establishing

a new maintained mainstream primary school as per the Section 106

planning agreement It will also ensure that a major part of the ‘village centre’ development in Kingswood Parks is realised

6.2 Do not approve the proposal This would not be in line with the Section 106

planning agreement and could risk the transfer of the proposed school site into the Council’s ownership together with the sum of £3.7 m capital investment (index linked) It would not address the issue of other schools in the area continuing to be over-subscribed

7 Council’s Priorities

7.1 This proposal meets the Council’s priorities identified within the Council’s

Corporate Plan, which is ‘Education learning and skills’ and will also ensure achievement of the outcomes of Every Child Matters, including that all children enjoy and achieve to their full potential ensuring that No Child is Left Behind

8.1 The Education and Inspection Act 2006 and the School Organisation

(Establishment and Discontinuance of Schools) (England) Regulations 2007 set out the process to be followed by the Council when it intends to open a new school The report itself contains the correct process and statutory requirement within paragraphs 4.1 to 4.12 and Appendix 1 & 2

9.1 As noted in section 4 of the report, the projected costs of this proposal will

be fully met from external funding from KWDC and £1.4 million (maximum) from Primary Capital Funding already received and ringfenced for this purpose

9.2 There is a clearly established need for this school to serve the new

Kingswood Parks housing development, however, the impact on pupil numbers currently attending neighbouring schools will need to be considered and managed

9.3 The projected costs are based on the cost of comparable schemes currently

being delivered through Esteeem (the Local Education Partnership) but these will be tested further to ensure value for money and to deliver this school at the most competitive price achievable (PC)

10.1 The HRBP (Schools Workforce) supports the recommendations in the

report At this stage their are no staffing issues for the new school

However, it should be noted that over time there could be staffing issues for the nearby primary schools as the pupils who may go to the new school could have been former pupils of the nearby primary schools and

therefore these schools could become overstaffed Hopefully this would be managed by those primary schools affected via natural wastage

11 Comments of the Portfolio Holder for Cllr Welton

11.1 The portfolio holder supports the recommendation to progress to Stage 2 of

the competition process as there is a clear need for a new school in the Kingswood Parks area of the city The contribution from KPDC, under the S106 agreement, together with funding received through the PCP will ensure that a further facility is provided on Kingswood Parks as part of the proposed ‘village centre’ thereby promoting sustainable living and meeting the needs of existing and future residents

12.1 The Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee agreed that this was an

area issue, and as such, should not be subject to pre-decision scrutiny (Sc1866)

13.1 That the Corporate Director for Children and Young People’s Services be

given permission to publish a competition notice inviting interested parties to bring forward proposals for setting up the new primary school on Kingswood Parks

13.2 That Cabinet notes the implications of the new competition arrangements

introduced under the Education and Inspections Act (EIA) 2006 and decides whether it wishes to make an application to the Secretary of State for proposed Community status for the new school

David Martin BSF Project Director

on behalf of the Corporate Director for Regeneration

Contact Officer: Liz Clutterbrook, BSF Project Manager

Officer Interests: None

Background Documents:

Cabinet Report 25th February 2008 – Kings Park Ward – New Primary School

Establishing a New Maintained Mainstream School - DCSF

Officer Interests: None

APPENDIX 1

ESTABLISHING A NEW MAINTAINED MAINSTREAM SCHOOL

Introduction

With effect from 25th May 2007 a new statutory framework applies to the establishment of any new maintained school Under the new system the Local Authority (LA) must invite interested parties to bring forward proposals for the school This process is referred to as a competition process There are six stages in the competition process details of which are set out in the paragraphs below A chart showing the process for establishing a new maintained mainstream school is attached at Appendix 2

Stage 1 – Statutory Consultation

The purpose of consultation at Stage 1 is to inform local people and seek their views about the specification for the new school It is not to shape opinion about how that specification might be met, or to promote or seek to close off particular options The guidance recommends at least 6 weeks for the consultation period At the end of the consultation Cabinet must consider the views expressed during the consultation before reaching a final decision on whether to progress to Stage 2 and publish a statutory notice inviting interested parties to bring forward proposals setting up the new school

Stage 2 – Invitation to bid (1 st Notice)

The second stage of the process is for the LA to publish a statutory notice inviting interested parties to bring forward proposals setting up the new school The regulations allow 4 months for proposals to be submitted The Secretary of State has consultants who will market the competition to potential proposers and will help to engage the local community in the competition They will also alert national provider organisations who have expressed an interest in submitting proposals for new schools in response to competitions The consultants will place advertisements publicising the competition in local papers These advertisements will summarise the Local Authority requirement for a new school and offer the consultants as the first point of contact for advice on the competition Once potential proposers had been identified the consultants will arrange and manage a Seminar to inform potential proposers about the competition process, requirements that need to be covered in the proposal, what it means to win a competition and consultancy support The Local Authority will have the opportunity to attend and take part in that seminar

The Local Authority's notice must allow potential proposers at least 4 months from the date

of publication to prepare the proposal The regulations specify information proposers must provide in response to that notice If the Local Authority receives proposals for an Academy the LA must consult the Secretary of State within 2 weeks of receiving the proposal and the Secretary of State must confirm whether he would be willing in principle

to commence negotiations with a view to entering into an agreement for establishing an Academy

If the LA wish to publish its own proposals for a community school the consent of the Secretary of State needs to be obtained during Stage 2 unless the LA has an APA rating concerning its performance of 4 The APA rating means the rating awarded to a Local

Authority for children and young peoples services used by the Audit Commission when categorising a LA for their performance

Stage 3 – Publication of proposals (2 nd notice)

Once the 4 month period required under the first notice has expired the LA must publish a second notice This notice must include a statement referring to the first notice and confirm that the proposals in the second notice are proposals for a new school on proposed sites/locations This notice provides a summary of the various proposals received from interested parties and any proposal of the LA The notice gives any interested person the opportunity within 6 weeks to send in comments on the notice

Stage 4 - Representations

At Stage 4 the representation stage comments on the proposals set out in the second notice must be sent to the LA within 6 weeks of publication of the second notice During Stage 4 the LA must hold at least one public meeting within 2 weeks of publishing the second notice The purpose of this meeting is to inform people of the proposals received and tell them how they can submit their comments and objections The Local Authority must invite all of the proposers to all of the meetings

Stage 5 – Decision

At Stage 5 decisions on school organisation proposals are taken either by the LA or the school's Adjudicator The LA is the Decision Maker except where the LA is also a proposer

of a new school or the proposer of a new foundation school where the Local Authority are

a member of the foundation The LA decision must be made within 2 months from the end

of the representation period

If the school Adjudicator is the decision maker then his decision is final with no right to appeal

Stage 6 - Implementation

The final stage is the implementation stage where the proposers and LA are under a statutory duty to implement any proposals which the Local Authority or school's Adjudicator has approved The proposals must be implemented as published taking into account any modifications made by the Decision Maker

If it proves impossible to implement the proposals as approved the proposer can seek a modification and must apply to the Decision Maker who decide proposals Before modifying proposals the Decision Maker must consult the proposers and the LA The proposals must not be modified in a way that will in effect substitute brand new proposals

If the proposer cannot implement these proposals they must publish fresh proposals to be relieved of the duty to implement the proposals and a decision will then be made by either the LA or the Adjudicator No prescribed timescale

Appendix 2

Chart showing process for establishing a new maintained mainstream school

Stage 1 Statutory Consultation (includes

consultation on any linked school

closures or prescribed alterations to

linked schools)

Not prescribed – (minimum of 6 weeks recommended; school holidays should

be taken into consideration and avoided where possible)

Stage 2 Invitation to Bid (1st notice) 1 day – must state date of deadline for

submission of proposals, which must

be a minimum of 4 months from date of publication NB this date cannot be subsequently amended

Proposer engagement This falls within the 4 month (minimum)

period for submission of proposals Submission of proposals By the deadline specified in the

Invitation to Bid (1st notice)

Stage 3 Publication of proposals (2nd notice) To be published within 3 weeks of the

expiry date for submitting proposals Stage 4 Representation period (to allow for

comments and objections to be

submitted) & promotion of public

awareness

Representation period must be 6

weeks and commences from the date of publication of the 2nd notice

LA must hold at least 1 public meeting

within the first 2 weeks following publication of the 2nd notice Stage 5 Decision by:

LA

or

schools adjudicator

Within 2 months of end of Stage 4

No prescribed timescale

Stage 6 Implementation, where approved No prescribed timescale – but must be

as specified in the published notice, subject to any modifications agreed by the Decision Maker

Appendix 3

Ms Lucy Heller

Managing Director

ARK Schools 020 7395 2081 lucy.heller@arkonline.org

Website: www.arkonline.org

65 Kingsway London WC2B 6TD Sir Bruce Liddington Edutrust Academies Charitable

Trust (EACT)

0207 903 5460 SirBruce.Liddington@E-ACT.org.uk 6th Floor

81 Oxford Street London W1D 2EU

Mr Vincent McDonnell / Mr Neil

McIntosh

Centre for British Teachers 0118 902 1210 nmcintosh@cfbt.com 60 Queens Road

Reading RG1 4BS

Dr Elizabeth Sidwell / Mr Paul Durgan Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation 020 7652 9516

Fax: 020 7277 9680

se-sidwell@hahc.org.uk sp-durgan@hahc.org.uk Web: www.haaf.org.uk

Pepys Road London SE14 5SF Michael Marchant

Head of Education

The Mercers’ Company tel 0207 776 7208 michaelm@mercers.co.uk Mercers’ Hall

Ironmonger Lane London

EC2V 8HE Becky Francis, Director of Education

Sara Candy, Executive Director of

RSA Opening Minds

Royal Society of Arts 020 7451 6862 Becky.Francis@rsa.org.uk

sara.candy@rsa.org.uk

8 John Adam Street London

WC2N 6EZ

Mr Steve Chalke MBE Oasis Community Learning 020 7921 4243 steve.chalke@oasisuk.org Oasis Church Building

1A Kennington Road London SE1 7QP Sir Ewan Harper United Learning Trust 01832 730301 ewh@church-schools.com

Martyn.Baker@church-schools.com

Church Schools House Titchmarsh

Kettering Northants NN14 3DA

Mr William Fraser OBE The City of London Academy

(Southwark)

020 7628 9688 William.fraser@jmfinn.com

edvh@jmfinn.com

1 Alleyn Road Dulwich London SE21 8AB

London SW1P 1JP

Mr John Collins

[Interested in Birmingham ONLY]

The Schools of King Edward the Sixth in Birmingham

0121 472 1147 john.collins@ske.uk.net Edgbaston Park Road

Birmingham B15 2UD

Mr David Bilton

Chief Executive - Woodard Schools

David Bilton Engineering Ltd 0191 296 1428/9 drbilton@lineone.net 19 Ashleigh Grove

Tynemouth Tyne and Wear NE30 2LA

Scotswood Road