Purpose

The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills is
asked to:
 
(i).      Approve the allocation of
up to £2,800,000 of capital funding from the CYPE capital
budget to add an eight classroom block at Whitfield Aspen Primary
School (Richmond Way site);
(ii).      Delegate authority to the
Director of Infrastructure in consultation with the Director of
Education to enter into any necessary contracts or other legal
agreements as required to implement this decision; and
(ii).      Authorise the Director of
Infrastructure to be the nominated Authority Representative within
the relevant agreements and to enter into variations as envisaged
under the contracts.
 
Background
Whitfield Aspen Primary School
is a 3FE primary School with a large Specialist Resourced Provision
(SRP) for pupils with profound, severe and complex
needs. 
 
In 2018 the school was expanded
by 1FE (to 3FE) via a second site (Richmond Way) to support the
need for additional primary school places within the Whitfield
Urban Expansion (WUE).

Decisions for issue 16/00032 - Proposal to
expand Whitfield Aspen School by 1FE across a split site
(kent.gov.uk)
 
Expansion of the school has been phased. Phase one delivered the
core infrastructure required by a 2FE school (library, offices,
meeting rooms, food technology etc). Sufficient classroom
accommodation was provided to enable the school to grow year on
year to 3FE in the mainstream and to offer 112 places in the SRP,
the maximum number of specialist places that was required. Phase
two was planned to be the addition of a two-storey block of eight
additional mainstream classrooms.  This
was to be added when 4FE of mainstream provision was
required. 
 
The rise in EHCPs
and the need for specialist primary provision in Dover over a
number of years has led to more pupils requiring a place in the SRP
then was initially planned. As of January 2024, there were 175
pupils on roll in the SRP across both sites.  As noted, the current accommodation (across both
school sites) was built to provide for 112 SRP pupils.  Having to accommodate c63 additional pupils in the
SRP has reduced the number of mainstream classrooms
available.  At an average of 12 pupils
per SRP class base it means 5 of the additional mainstream
classrooms are being utilised by the SRP. As things stand, four of
these classrooms will be required from September 2025 to enable the
school to continue to admit 3FE of mainstream pupils as they are
required to do.
 
Financial
Implications
Capital:
The proposal has been reviewed by a Quantity
Surveyor. The capital cost is estimated to be an ‘upper
cost’ of c£2,800,000. The standalone four class option
has been costed at £2,250,000 (upper cost) therefore it is
considered reasonable for this value to be funded by the High Needs
Capital Budget, with the remaining £550,000 coming from the
Basic Need Budget to fund the shell of the four first floor
classrooms. The future fit out costs for the four classrooms
(£800,000 at the upper cost) would be subject to a separate
proposal when required.
 
The Schools’ Capital Budget agreed by
the Council in February 2024, included a provisional allocation of
up to £6m basic need funding to support the expansion of the
school from 3 to 4FE. The basic need and high needs capital
programme budgets will be updated to reflect the changes outlined
in this paper. The Department of Education have recently confirmed
additional high needs capital allocations for 2024-25. This funding
will be used to fund the £2.2m additional high needs
commitment. The resulting savings from the Basic Need element of
the programme will be reallocated or held as a contingency.
 
In addition, a standard payment of
£2,500 is provided to a school for each new classroom for ICT
equipment. This will funded from the
allocated capital budget.
 
Revenue: 
There are no expected revenue costs to be
funded from the Council’s general fund (such as temporary
mobiles). The Dedicated Schools Grant Growth fund, ring-fenced
grant from the Department of Education, will be used for the
£6,000 classroom set up contribution for each of the four
fitted out classrooms.
 
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.

Decision

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

 

(i).        Approve the
allocation of up to £2,800,000 of capital funding from the
CYPE capital budget to add an eight classroom block at Whitfield
Aspen Primary School (Richmond Way site);

(ii).       Delegate authority
to the Director of Infrastructure in consultation with the Director
of Education to enter into any necessary contracts or other legal
agreements as required to implement this decision; and
(iii).      Authorise the Director of
Infrastructure to be the nominated Authority Representative within
the relevant agreements and to enter into variations as envisaged
under the contracts.