Agenda item

A report from the Joint Interim Director of Education, Children’s Services and Leisure is attached. This takes forward the implementation of recommendations agreed in earlier reports proposing a five-year capital strategy to add nine forms of entry across Enfield’s primary schools. (Key decision – reference number 2809)

(Report No.203)

Councillor Glynis Vince (Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services) introduced the report of the Director of Education, Children’s Services and Leisure (No.203) taking forward the implementation of recommendations agreed in earlier reports proposing a five-year capital strategy to add nine forms of entry across Enfield’s primary schools.

NOTED the additional pressure on the provision of school places with an increase in the number of families moving into the Borough. To date there had been no significant impact arising from the current economic climate and a reduction in the take up of independent school places, this would continue to be monitored.

Alternative Options Considered: NOTED the alternative options considered as detailed in section 7 of the report. Many community schools in the Borough had already been expanded in recent decades to meet previous increases in demand for places, so a number of the remaining options had emerged in the voluntary aided sector.

DECISION: The Cabinet agreed

1.         the Governing Bodies of St John and St James CE, St Mary’s Catholic and Cuckoo Hall Schools be asked to agree, as admission authorities, to the permanent expansions of their schools with effect from September 2009;

2.         the Governing Body of St Michael’s CE School be asked to agree, following further consultation and feasibility appraisal, to the permanent expansion of the school with effect from September 2010, subject to approval of the funding strategy as set out in the report;

3.         other schools in the Enfield Town area be approached with a view to admitting an additional Reception class in 2009/10 in the absence of additional places at St Michael’s CE School;

4.            design to tender work proceeds on schemes at Firs Farm, Eversley, Honilands and Suffolks Schools and that the agreement of Governing Bodies be sought to the implementation of their expansion schemes and the admission of additional pupils from September 2009, subject to approval of the funding strategy set out in the report;

5.         work proceeds to develop a scheme to provide two primary forms of entry within the Oasis Academy Hadley, subject to Council’s approval of the 2009/10 Capital Programme;

6.         the Authority continues to pursue with the Archdiocese of Westminster options for the future provision of additional Catholic primary school places;

7.         a £400k provision in 2009/10 be made in the short term for the building works necessary to accommodate additional pupils at Alma, Chesterfield and Houndsfield Primary Schools to ease the Authority’s immediate problems with the shortage of pupil places;

8.         further resources be allocated for the various schemes as set out in Appendix 1 of the report including

·       £3.2m to enable the completion of the main phase of works at St John and St James CE School, bringing the total scheme allocation to £6.5m;

·       £2.5m to enable the completion of the expansion scheme at St Mary’s Catholic School, bringing the total allocation of £4.2m;

·       £4.927m to enable the completion of the expansion scheme at Firs Farm School, bringing the total allocation to £7.6m;

9.            approval be given to the virement of £10.631m from within the overall provision in the approved Education, Children’s Services and Leisure Capital Programme to fund additional primary school places;

10.       that the funding risks identified within the report regarding the elements of unsecured resources required to implement this strategy be noted and that individual schemes could only progress once the funding became secure.

Reason: The local authority had an overriding statutory duty to provide sufficient pupil places to meet anticipated demand as near as possible to the areas of this demand (section 8 of the report refers).

(Key decision – reference number 2809)