Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the Executive meeting held on 7 March were submitted and approved as a correct record.

The Deputy Mayor and Executive Member for Children’s Services submitted a report for Executive’s consideration.

The report sought approval of schemes to be added to the schools capital programme for delivery to start in the academic year 2022/23.

Middlesbrough Council shared responsibility with governing bodies for the maintenance of 12 community and foundation school buildings across the town:

·         Responsibility for general maintenance, repairs and minor capital works is devolved to schools;

·         The Council was responsible for major capital schemes such as the replacement of substantial parts of buildings, the provision of new buildings and other high-value, strategic schemes that would be unaffordable by schools on their own.

The Council was also responsible for ensuring there was sufficient school places across the town to be able to meet demand. Investment could be in both locally maintained schools and Academies.

The schools capital programme, maintained and delivered by the Assets Team within Corporate Property, set out all of the centrally funded school capital works being undertaken to discharge these duties. It was a multi-year, rolling programme of capital improvements to school buildings.

Schemes were selected to address maintenance, sufficiency and other strategic priorities. Schemes were prioritised to address those elements of schools with the most urgent need or to secure value for money as part of a larger programme of work.

OPTIONS

The Executive could not approve the schemes for inclusion in the Schools Capital Programme. In the short term this could lead to elements of the buildings identified failing, resulting in lost teaching and learning time, inappropriate learning environments, Health and Safety risks, and a shortage of school places to meet demand.

In the longer-term, such an approach would lead to the gradual decline of the condition of the schools, children being out of school unnecessarily and escalated costs for both the schools and the Council.

ORDERED

That Executive approve the new schemes, discussed in both the report and Appendix 1, be added to the schools capital programme for delivery to commence in the 2022/23 academic year.

REASONS

To ensure that that the grant funding available was spent in a timely manner on improving teaching and learning environments and outcomes for young people.

To deliver the Council’s statutory obligation to ensure there were sufficient school places to meet demand, in particular for Year 7 pupils seeking admission into secondary schools in September 2023.

There was no obligation for the Council to consult over these schemes. Schools named in the programme had been engaged on a tentative basis to ensure that, where a school contribution to the cost of schemes was required, this could be agreed.

The Schools Capital Programme had not been examined by the Overview and Scrutiny Board or by a Scrutiny Panel.

None.

All decisions will come into force after five working days following the day the decision(s) was published unless the decision becomes subject to the call in procedures.