Agenda item

To consider a report by Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts, Lead Member for Education, Children and Young People (copy enclosed) on progress in respect of Band B of the 21st Century Schools Education Programme and the implications for delivery.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)       confirms its financial commitment to delivering Band B proposals in accordance with the Strategic Outline Programme as submitted to the Welsh Government to enable it to meet the priority included within the Corporate Plan 2017 – 2022, and

(b)       confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment attached at Appendix 1 to the report as part of its consideration.

Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts presented the report advising Cabinet of the approval of its Band B programme submission for the 21st Century Schools and Education Programme and the implications for delivery.

The Council had made excellent progress in delivering the Band A proposals in partnership with Welsh Government and together would have invested over £90m by 2019 to deliver key projects.  In July 2017 Cabinet approved submission of Band B proposals worth £80.5m to Welsh Government as part of the next phase of investment.  Welsh Government had since approved the investment in principle subject to approval of individual project business cases.  Consequently Cabinet was asked to confirm the Council’s financial commitment to delivering Band B proposals in line with the Corporate Plan.  Denbighshire’s contribution would be £32.8m and the revenue budget required to fund the borrowing to support the programme would be approximately £1.8m over the seven years of the programme.  No detail had been provided in terms of individual proposals which would be subject to individual business cases being considered by the Strategic Investment Group and Cabinet.

Cabinet welcomed the report and investment in school building works for the benefit of children and young people and the Leader was keen to continue the investment and progress of the previous Council and take advantage of any available funding from Welsh Government for that purpose.  Councillor Mark Young highlighted the need to ensure an open process for communities and the Lead Member provided assurances with regard to lessons learnt from previous reviews which would be reflected in future processes.

The Lead Member and Head of Education and Children’s Services responded to questions from non-Cabinet members as follows –

·        the Strategic Outline Programme had been submitted prior to the recent announcement of additional monies specifically for Welsh Medium education.  However members were reminded that approximately £30m had been invested in increasing and improving facilities for Welsh Medium education in the Band A tranche of funding and further assurances were provided that any plans taken forward in Band B would focus on continuing to strengthen and increase provision for Welsh Medium education.  Officers were keen to ensure members were informed of any announcements from Welsh Government which may add to or enable plans to be taken forward to invest in the school estate generally

·        officers were committed to ensuring that any deficits in educational provision across all schools in Denbighshire were addressed and the provision for ASD Learners had been debated during development of the Strategic Outline Plan; that debate would continue as more detailed plans were developed

·        once Cabinet had confirmed its financial commitment it would be possible to undertake extensive discussions around any subsequent proposals brought forward in line with the democratic process and adherence to the School Organisation Code policies and procedures

·        assurances were also provided that officers worked closely with design teams regarding environment impacts and recognised the commitment to ensure environmental demands were met as far as possible within the financial resources available for particular projects.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)       confirms its financial commitment to delivering Band B proposals in accordance with the Strategic Outline Programme as submitted to the Welsh Government to enable it to meet the priority included within the Corporate Plan 2017 – 2022, and

(b)       confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment attached at Appendix 1 to the report as part of its consideration.