Purpose

Lancashire County Council has been working to progress a series of School Planning projects and suitability works to the Building Schools for the Future estate, most notably the move of Broadfield Special School, Accrington, into the former Hameldon College, Burnley, premises, to create additional places for SEN pupils.

The project aims to improve outcomes for children and young people with autism and reduce High Needs Block spend on out of county placements. The project was initiated over 12 months ago and has not been delivered due to complications arising from defects liabilities.

The Lender has now stated that it requires the Authority to issue a certificate under section 3 of the Local Government (Contracts) Act 1997 before it will approve the variation to the BSF Project Agreement necessary to allow the works at Hameldon College to proceed.

Decision

The Cabinet approved the recommendation(s) as set out in the report.

This decision should be implemented immediately for the purposes of Standing Order C29 as any delay could adversely affect the execution of the county council's responsibilities. The reason for this is that the decision has been designated as business critical by the relevant Executive Director, and any delay in its implementation would have an adverse effect on the operations of the county council.