Purpose

Proposed decision:
 
The Cabinet Member for
Education and Skills is asked to:
 

authorise the allocation of £14,900,000 from the
Basic Need capital budget for the expansion of Rosherville Church
of England Academy, London Road, Northfleet, Gravesend, Kent, DA11
9JQ, increasing the Published Admission Number (PAN) from 20 places
per year group to 60 places per year group, facilitated by a
relocation onto a new site on Crete Hall Road, Northfleet, DA11
9AA, for September 2025.

delegate authority to the Director of
Infrastructure to, in consultation with the Director of Education,
enter into any necessary contracts or other legal agreements, as
required to implement this decision; and

agree for the Director of
Infrastructure to be the nominated Authority Representative within
the relevant agreements, with authority to enter variations as
envisaged under the contracts.

 
Reason
for the decision
On
11/03/2022, through Decision number 22/00009, the Cabinet Member
for Education and Skills agreed the proposal, subject to final
financial information.  This proposal
has now been costed and agreement is now being sought by the
Assistant Director North Kent, Ian Watts, for funding
approval.
 
The
Ebbsfleet Development Corporation (EDC) is overseeing three new
developments in Northfleet, Gravesham. 
These developments are known as Cable Wharf, Harbour Village and
Grove Road.  The total of new housing is
anticipated to generate between 1FE and 1.5FE of new primary
demand.  Analysis of the provision in
the Northfleet planning group indicates that there is insufficient
capacity to accommodate this demand.
 
The
proposal addresses two issues.  That of
increasing the primary provision in the area and providing
Rosherville Church of England Academy with a new site and modern
buildings, within the Cable Wharf development, but less than 200
metres from the existing school site. 
This issue has been mentioned in previous Kent Commissioning
Plans.
 
Background
Rosherville Church of England Academy is a small 20 PAN primary
school, sited on a challenging site on top of a quarry
cliff.  The site is unsuitable for
several reasons.  It is restricted by
topography on the south and east boundaries, and by the B2175
(London Road) to the north.  The site is
made up of several smaller parts that have separate freeholders,
including the Church Wardens of the Diocese of
Rochester.
 
The
school buildings are either very old or in need of replacement,
with the main building being of Victorian era.  The remaining buildings require constant
maintenance to remain fit for purpose. 
Whilst there is no immediate danger to the school buildings on the
existing site, the chalk cliffs are sheer, at about 12m
high.  The school cannot expand on its
existing site.
 
With a
PAN of 20, Rosherville Church of England Academy has to carefully manage smaller class sizes to
remain a viable school.  Increasing the
school’s PAN to 1FE and then again to 2FE will make the
school much more financially viable and support the future of the
school.
 
As
previously reported to CYPE Cabinet Committee, to further support
the new developments in the area, the new school will also include
a 26 place nursery and additional SEN
space for a Specialist Resource Provision (SRP) or
similar.
 
Following an inspection that took place in September
2022.  Ofsted deems Rosherville Church
of England Academy to be a ‘GOOD’ school.   The school is rated
‘OUTSTANDING’ by SIAMS (Statutory Inspection of
Anglican and Methodist Schools) in their most recent
inspection.
 
It is a
popular school with parents.  The school
is part of the Aletheia Academies Trust.
 
There
is one other alternative option to provide additional provision in
the locality, that of expanding Lawn Primary School.  This alternative was rejected, because Lawn
Primary School, is also situated on a very small site and will
encounter challenging Highways constraints along with the
logistical challenge of needing to reconfigure existing buildings
before introducing additional accommodation on to the already
constrained site.
 
In
reviewing the options for introducing additional provision into the
area, it was acknowledged that a completely new 2FE school would
come with a possibility of creating overprovision in the area,
which could have a detrimental effect on Rosherville CE Academy and
other local schools.  Therefore, by
relocating Rosherville CE Academy into the new building, it would
result in the provision of 280 additional primary places rather
than 420, thus mitigating the risk of overprovision whilst
providing the academy with new, fit for purpose
premises.
 
If no
further action is taken in the longer term, Kent County Council
will find it extremely difficult to provide sufficient primary
school places in the Northfleet planning group.
 
Securing Kent’s Future
 
This proposal will help to maintain KCC’s
strategic role in supporting schools in Kent to deliver accessible,
high quality education provision for all families and supports
avoidance of more significant costs from possible closure of the
school.
 
KCC, as the
Local Authority (LA), has a statutory duty to ensure sufficient
school places are available.  This duty
applies to Special Educational Needs (SEN) provision, as well as
mainstream settings.  The County
Council’s Commissioning Plan for Education Provision in Kent
2024-28 is a five-year rolling plan which is updated
annually.  It sets out KCC’s
future plans as Strategic Commissioner
of Education Provision across all types and phases of education in
Kent. A copy of the latest plan can be viewed from this
link:
 

https://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools/education-provision/education-provision-plan

 

 

Financial
Implications

 

Capital:

 
Feasibility studies have been undertaken and
identified that the cost of the scheme will be £14.9m. The
project attracts a high cost for several reasons, including
Compliance with DfE Net Zero principles and EDC requests to conform
to Ebbsfleet Garden City design
principles.
 

Project Cost
Breakdown 

Description

Value

2FE
Basic Need – design &build, including Nursery and SRP
space

£11,094,000

Compliance
with DfE OS 2022 (including Net Zero)

      
£1,496,000

S106
obligations

          
£967,000

KCC
direct costs

          
£419,000

S106
Risk items*

          
£440,000

Contingency
(including costed risk register/EWN)**

          
£484,000

Total
Project Budget (proposed ROD value)

    
£14,900,000

 
It is
the view of KCC officers that these costs represent the worst-case
scenario, with all possible risks needing to be
addressed.  As the build progresses it
is hoped that all risks can be mitigated at a lower cost, thus
resulting in some saving against the proposed value of
£14.9m
 
The sum
relating tocompliance
with DfE OS 2022 (including Net Zero) includes a range of
additional features over previous new school specifications to meet
DfE new build requirements, such as Triple glazing / PV / Green
roof / M&E upgrades / a range of other minor
improvements.
 
The
Section 106 obligations relate to EDC requirements, including a 3G
Pitch to enable wider community use of the site, enhanced public
use facilities within the building and an entrance
plaza.
 
Given
this scheme is more expensive that a standard 2FE Primary School
build, KCC Officers and colleagues from Aletheia Academies Trust
have work hard to maximise external funding to mitigate the impact
on the Council’s own Capital Budget.  The table below, shows the anticipated funding for
this scheme:
 
 
 

Funding
Source

Amount

Source

£6,000,000 (estimate at time of
reporting)

DfE Contribution (Schools Rebuild
Programme)

  
£420,000 (estimate at time of reporting)

EDC Sports Grant (for
inclusion of a 3G pitch)

£3,556,800

S106 Developer
Contributions

£4,923,200

CYPE Capital
Budget (balance)

 

Due to the condition of
the buildings on the existing Rosherville CE Academy site, the
Trust, with the support of KCC submitted a bid to the DfE under the
School’s Rebuild Programme (SRP). 
This was successful and latest indications from Senior DfE Officers
are that the allocation will be just in excess
of £6,000,000.

 

The
Developer Contributions sum represents what has been secured
through signed agreements to date.  Not
all has been banked due to payment being linked to housing delivery
triggers, but the developments they relate to are underway and
receipts have started to come into the
Council.

 

The EDC are
currently consulting on other developments in the
Northfleet/Ebbsfleet area.  Where
appropriate, any developer contributions derived from those new
developments can be attributed to this scheme in
addition.

 

To inform
forward planning and robust budget monitoring of the BN Capital
Programme a sum, in excess of
£15m, has been earmarked within the programme for this
scheme.  These new costs, therefore,
represent a small saving against that
provision.

 

The Rosherville site on
London Road is not owned by KCC so no capital receipt can be
received.  

 

An allowance of up to
£2,500 may be payable to the school, to outfit each new
teaching room with appropriate ICT equipment, such as touch screens
or projection equipment.  This will be
met from the overall Capital allocation for this
project.

 

Revenue

Should the scheme
progress, £6,000 per newly provided learning space, would be
provided towards the cost of furniture and equipment, such as
tables, desks, chairs, cabinets and learning
resources.

 

The school would also
receive funding for the additional pupils that it admits in line
with the funding allocated to schools through KCC’s Schools
Funding Formula.

 

Both
of these revenue allocations will be met from the Growth
Funding provision held within the dedicated school's
grant.

 

Human

The school will appoint
additional staff as required; utilising revenue funding allocated
through the Schools Funding Formula for these additional
pupils.
 

 

 

 
 

Decision

As Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, I
agree to:
 
I.         
authorise the allocation of £14,900,000 from the Basic Need
capital budget for the expansion of Rosherville Church of England
Academy, London Road, Northfleet, Gravesend, Kent, DA11 9JQ,
increasing the Published Admission Number (PAN) from 20 places per
year group to 60 places per year group, facilitated by a relocation
onto a new site on Crete Hall Road, Northfleet, DA11 9AA, for
September 2025.
II.         delegate
authority to the Director of Infrastructure to, in consultation
with the Director of Education, enter into any necessary contracts
or other legal agreements, as required to implement this decision;
and
III.        agree for the
Director of Infrastructure to be the nominated Authority
Representative within the relevant agreements, with authority to
enter variations as envisaged under the contracts.