Purpose

Proposed decision
 
The Cabinet Member for
Education and Skills is asked to:
 
a)     approve the increase the Designated Number of
places at Nexus Foundation Special School, Upper Haysden Lane,
Tonbridge, Kent TN11, from 228 to 330 from September
2024.
 
b)     authorise the
allocation of £1,260,000 in funding from the Children Young
People and Education Services Basic Need Capital Budget to fund the
first phase of works to permanently expand
Nexus Foundation Special School.
 
c)     authorise the Director of
Infrastructure, Strategic and Corporate Services in consultation
with the Director of Education to enter into any necessary
contracts or other legal agreements , as required to implement the
decision.
 
d)     authorise the Director of
Infrastructure, Strategic and Corporate Services to be the
nominated Authority Representative within the relevant agreements
and to enter into variations as envisaged under the
contracts.
 
Reason for Decision and Background
Kent County Council
(KCC), as the Local Authority (LA), has a statutory duty to ensure
sufficient school places are available. The County Council’s
Commissioning Plan for Education Provision in Kent 2024-28 (KCP) is
a five-year rolling plan which is updated annually. It sets out our
future plans as Strategic Commissioner of Education Provision
across all types and phases of education in Kent. A copy of the
plan can be viewed from this link:

http://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council/strategies-and-policies/education-skills-and-employment-policies/education-provision
 
The Commissioning Plan
highlights the SEN place pressure that Kent has experienced, with
the number of Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) increasing
significantly in recent years.  The
demand for special school provision within Tonbridge and the wider
West Kent area has increased commensurately, and in recent years
KCC has commissioned additional places at Nexus without providing
additional accommodation.  Since the
academic year 2021/22 Nexus has temporarily increased its intake to
average of 16 on its main campus and to 6 for the Wouldham
satellite to meet the commissioned demand.  The demand for places at Nexus is set to remain
for the foreseeable future and therefore the proposed scheme
provides the physical capacity to continue to admit the increased
intakes on a permanent basis.
 
Options
Nexus is the only
special school for children with Profound Severe and Complex needs
in Tonbridge and, without the provision of permanent additional
provision, pupils would need to travel further to access
appropriate Special Education Needs (SEN) placements or be placed
in expensive independent special needs provision.  Both options would increase the on-going financial
pressure on the authority.
 

Financial Implications
Feasibility work has
been undertaken which estimates the total cost of additional
accommodation to be circa £4m. 
This sum was included in the CYPE High Needs Provision Capital
Budget agreed at County Council as at February 2024.
 
The delivery of the
additional accommodation to provide capacity for the increased
Designated Number is proposed to be delivered over two phases. The
first phase of works will deliver the accommodation required for
the September 2024 school year. 
Costings and a tender process have been undertaken for the first
phase of the works and an estimated cost of £802,400
identified.  This is to provide a
modular building comprising 2 classrooms and dining
hall.  The cost identified also includes
design and management, planning application/building control,
surveys, installation, and all associated works to construct and
deliver the modular build.  This would
provide the school with the initial capacity it would need to
accommodate a staggered increase in pupil numbers.
 
It is proposed that
the first phase of works will be a school managed scheme, with the
roles and responsibilities of each party formally set out through a
legal contract between KCC and Nexus. KCC will monitor progress
regularly during the building works to ensure that the
accommodation needs are being met.
 
A second phase of
works would be undertaken to provide the school with the remaining
additional accommodation it requires to admit a total roll of 330
pupils in subsequent years. An early estimate of the cost of Phase
2 is £2.88m, detailed costings will be developed as a design
is progressed and planning permission sought. The pre-construction
design costs associated with Phase 2 are approximately
£420,000; this sum combined with the Phase 1 costs of
£802,400 reaches the threshold for a Key Decision and
therefore a total of £1,252,400 is being sought; with the
capital cost of Phase 2 subject to a subsequent Key
Decision.  
 
Revenue
Funding:
 
There is no General
Fund revenue funding requirement expected for phase 1 of the
project as the scheme does not currently include the need for
temporary mobiles to be hired based on the anticipated programme.
Should the scheme not proceed through to completion, any costs
incurred at the time of cessation would become abortive costs and
are likely to be recharged to Revenue. This would be reported
through the regular financial monitoring reports to
Cabinet
 
Should the scheme
progress, £6,000 per new learning space would be provided
towards the cost of furniture and equipment. This would be provided
to the school to purchase required equipment. In addition, an
allowance of up to £2,500 may be payable to outfit each new
teaching room with appropriate ICT equipment, such as touch screens
or projection equipment.  The school
would receive funding for the additional pupils that it admits in
line with the funding allocated to special schools through
KCC’s funding formula. All school related revenue costs
highlighted will be met from the Dedicated Schools Grant, a
ring-fenced grant from the Department of Education.  
 
 

Decision

As Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, I agree
to:

 

(i)            
Increase the Designated Number of places at Nexus
Foundation Special School, Upper Haysden Lane, Tonbridge, Kent TN11, from 228 to 330
from September 2024.

 

(ii)           
authorise the allocation of £1,260,000 in
funding from the Children Young People and Education Services Basic
Need Capital Budget to fund the first phase of works to permanently
expand Nexus Foundation Special School.

 

(iii)         
authorise the Director of Infrastructure, Strategic
and Corporate Services in consultation with the General Counsel and
Director of Education to enter into any necessary contracts/
agreements on behalf of the County Council with Nexus Foundation
Special School.

 

(iv)         
authorise the Director of Infrastructure, Strategic
and Corporate Services to be the nominated Authority Representative
within the relevant agreements and to enter into variations as
envisaged under the contracts. Variations to contract value to be
no more than 10% above the capital funding agreed by the Cabinet
Member without requiring a new Record of Decision.