Councillor O’Brien, Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Growth reported that Bury Council is committed to delivering a new special school, working in collaboration with the Department for Education (DfE) and Oak Learning Partnership.
The scheme will be funded and delivered through the Department for Education Free School Programme with the Council being required to make a modest Capital contribution towards site remediation costs. Indicative Capital costs of £475,000 have been received by the Department for Education in relation to the Council’s obligations. Following detailed assessment these will be the subject of a further report to Cabinet once confirmed. Provision has been made within the Children & Young People Capital Programme to meet these costs.
A member reflected on comments from the community brough up at full Council regarding access. In response Councillor O’Brien advised that he is confident that those who currently use the site regularly will be able to continue and currently, work is taking place with Bury Football Club to consider other offers also.
DECISION:-
· Cabinet approve the disposal of the land on a long leasehold basis in accordance with the proposed terms as set out in section 4 of this report
· Cabinet instruct the Monitoring Officer to enter into lease arrangements with the DFE.
· Cabinet note that a full proposal of quantified abnormal costs will be submitted to Cabinet for approval at a later date.
Reasons for recommendation(s)
To unlock the delivery of a new SEMH secondary special school.
The proposed site boundaries ensure stakeholder considerations including strategic site access, future transport routes and contractor site management.
The PSV agreement between the Council and Department for Education (DfE) sets out the requirement for new specialist educational provision, including new Resourced Provision and new Free Special Schools.
The agreement has been subject to consideration by Cabinet and the Children & Young People’s Scrutiny Committee and is subject to governance provided by the PSV Delivery Board and Schools Capital Board. The development of new specialist provision seeks to ensure access to a high quality continuum of provision, enabling the majority of children and young people with additional needs to access local provision, with appropriate capacity and resources to meet need.
The proposed new school will greatly enhance Social Emotional Mental Health (SEMH) provision in the borough and increase the overall range and type of provision that is available to support the successful education of children and young people in Bury. In addition, it will provide support for children in mainstream schools in Bury who may be experiencing SEMH difficulties.