Agenda item

(To receive a report from Dave Pennington, Head of Property Development, which invites the Committee to consider and comment on the expansion of Willoughby Academy, Bourne, prior to the Leader of the Council (Executive Councillor for Resources and Communication) making a decision between 6 and 7 August 2020)

The Chairman advised the Committee that this item was for pre-decision scrutiny, prior to a decision being taken by the Leader of the Council between 6 and 7 August 2020.

The Chairman invited Dave Pennington, Head of Property Development to present the report to the Committee.  The Committee noted that Sheridan Dodsworth, Head of Special Educational Needs and Disability and Eileen McMorrow, Senior Project Officer – Special Schools Project, were also in attendance at the meeting to help with any questions.

The Head of Special Educational Needs and Disability reminded the Committee that the Building Communities of Specialist Provision Strategy had been considered by the Committee at its October 2018 meeting, following which the Executive had approved the strategy at its 6 November 2018 meeting.  It was noted that the strategy proposed the expansion of 12 schools, of which Willoughby Academy, Bourne, was part of to provide sufficient and localised specialised education to children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

The Head of Property Development guided the Committee through the Executive Councillor report detailed at Appendix 1, making particular reference to the use of well-established construction frameworks to procure construction work; the scope of works; the proposed expansion of capacity from 84 to 148 pupils to ensure that there was sufficient capacity and enhanced resources and facilities required to meet all types of needs and disabilities; the Project Budget; and Value for Money.  The Committee was advised that by using technical expertise via the partnership with Kier had ensured that all costs were consistent with industry averages.  It was noted that Corporate Property referred to the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS).  It was reported that the project at Bourne was a mixture of new building and remodelling of the existing property.  Visual information concerning the site was shared with the Committee at the meeting.  Details of the cost per square metre for the new build and remodelling and comparison data were shown at paragraphs 5.4 and 5.6 of the report.  The report highlighted that the new build part of the project was £873 per m2, which was lower than the BCIS comparison; and fell within the normal range for the type of build.  The Committee also noted that the cost of remodelling was £1,117 per m2 lower that the BCIS comparative data.  The Committee noted further that both elements of work demonstrated good value for money.

During discussion, the Committee asked a number of questions to which the following points were confirmed:

·         Building design – It was reported that building had been designed to meet all needs for 148 pupils by providing flexibility in the use of the classrooms.  The design of the building was future proof in terms of the number of pupils and the complexity of needs coming through, and allowed for the use of large specialist equipment when required;

·         Implications of Covid-19 – The Committee noted that the impact of Covid-19 on the capital expenditure for the overall Special Schools programme was subject to a review and a report would be brought to scrutiny in the future for consideration.  It was expected that there would be challenge on the overall budget for this programme;

·         Funding for the Project – It was reported that funding for this project would come from the Basic Need Allocation, the Department for Education SEND Capital Grant, and the Capital Maintenance Grant. Any cost pressures would also be met from these grants;

·         Value for Money – It was agreed that future capital appraisal reports would contain more information on the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) value for money comparisons and what the national benchmarks were, in order to provide more confidence that the costings were providing value for money and in line with national benchmarking figures;

·         Monitoring – The Committee was advised that the capital programme for the Special Schools would be monitored by the capital monitoring group and also by an officer group for education;

·         Provision of a medical inspection room – It was highlighted that the medical inspection room was an innovation for this project and by working with partners in Health, it would provide wraparound health services in school for a number of pupils;

·         Future proofing - It was suggested that consideration should be given to the design of the school to ensure it was future proof against another pandemic and could cope with another outbreak. It was confirmed that all schools had to have a plan in place for lockdowns if required; and

·         It was suggested that a roof garden on the new block's flat roof, like the sensory garden at Haven Cottage in Boston, would be beneficial to the pupils.

RESOLVED

1.    That the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee unanimously agreed to support the recommendations to the Leader of the Council as detailed in Appendix 1, on page 15 of the report pack.

2.    That the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee agreed that the points listed above should be forwarded on to the Leader of the Council in relation to this item.