To present the report of the Head of Learning.
Minutes:
This item was chaired by Councillor Richard Owain Jones, the Vice-Chair for the meeting.
The report of the Head of Learning incorporating the Full Business Case for a new primary school to replace Ysgol Bodffordd and Ysgol Corn Hir was presented for the Committee’s consideration.
The Leader and Portfolio Member for Social Services reported that if the Full Business Case is approved by Welsh Government, it will secure 50% of the finance for the project, the project being at the end of the Band A phase.
The Head of Learning said that an application for a Welsh Medium Capital Grant for a Nursery Unit was approved in November, 2018 and that the Education Minister approved the Strategic Outline Business case and Outline Business Case (SOC/BOC) for the new school in principle in January, 2019. The Full Business Case sets out the strategic, economic, commercial, financial and managerial justification for the proposal. The Officer referred to the specification for the build which will be for a community school accommodating 360 pupils taking into account prospective housing developments in this part of Llangefni and providing for up to 10% spare capacity; it will have a larger main hall for community activities, a community meeting room and a pre-school nursery unit for 2 to 4 year olds. External areas will include a playing field, MUGA games area, hard play areas, soft play areas and a garden area. The FBC also sets out the outline project timescale for the new build and school opening.
The Head of Learning said that the Executive’s decision on 30 April 2018 to approve a new school to replace Ysgol Bodffordd and Ysgol Corn Hir also referenced Ysgol Henblas whereby an education provision was to be maintained in Llangristiolus either by maintaining the current Ysgol Henblas or by merging Ysgol Henblas with the new school and creating one school on two sites. This decision was linked to the Council receiving assurance that standards at Ysgol Henblas are improving and that pupil numbers remain constant. An Estyn re-inspection of Ysgol Henblas in October 2018 confirms that the school has made sufficient progress in relation to the recommendations made following the inspection in May, 2017 and can be taken out of the list of schools that are in need of significant improvement. Projections also indicate that pupil number at Ysgol Henblas will remain constant for the next 3 years. Consequently, the Authority therefore feels that it has had assurance as regards improving standards at Ysgol Henblas and the stability of pupil numbers. It is therefore recommended that Ysgol Henblas be removed from the proposal.
In the subsequent Committee discussion of the report, the following issues were raised –
• How does the Full Business Case satisfy the matters raised previously by the Committee at the Outline Business Case stage in relation to highway issues and adequacy of parking arrangements; traffic and road safety issues in the vicinity of the new school and the future of Canolfan Bodffordd as a community resource?
• How affordable is the Full Business Case for the Council in light of the challenging programme of savings that it will have to implement over the next 3 years at least.
Clarifications/explanations were provided by Officers and Portfolio Members as follows –
• That with regard to the parking standards for new schools, a parking place is required for each member of staff, for visitors equivalent to half the number of spaces for staff and for parents, a space for each 10 pupils - in this scheme there are 50 parking places for staff, 25 for visitors and 36 for parents (total of 61 for visitors). However, the scheme overall provides for 70 parking places for visitors including 6 disabled parking bays in addition to the 50 for staff making a total of 120 parking spaces.
• That in terms of highways issues, the application has been dealt with by Highways Officers in the same way as any other external application. Highways Officers have assessed the traffic flow for the scheme which differs from traffic flow associated with most developments in reaching peak volume at morning drop-off and afternoon pick up times; Officers have had particular regard to the scheme’s potential effects on highway safety and general road users in the area. A number of traffic management options were considered with the favoured option being a roundabout at the entrance to the new school site which will act as a traffic calming measure. The roundabout has been designed by an external company and has been assessed by North Wales Police’s Road Safety Manager who is satisfied that with regard to the visibility from the direction of Bodfordd, the roundabout is situated at an appropriate distance from the town and the entrance into the Corn Hir estate. In addition, a Toucan pedestrian crossing will be located between the roundabout on the town side and the turning into Bryn Meurig and Corn Hir. Footpaths on the way to the new pedestrian crossing will also be widened. In order to ensure traffic slowdown from the direction of Bodfordd a number of new road signs will be erected to alert drivers to the new road layout ahead – speed humps are not an option in this area and would not likely be supported by the Police.
• That discussions have taken place with regard to safeguarding community use of Canolfan Bodffordd and meetings have been held; this is an ongoing process with those discussions now expected to be taken forwards to the next stage.
• That with regard to financing the project at a time of austerity, the detailed costs are set out in the Full Business Case with 50% being funded through Welsh Government’s 21st Century Schools Programme and 50% through the Council’s capital resources. The Authority’s contribution is expected to be funded by means of capital receipts from the sale of surplus sites and unsupported borrowing. The scheme differs from the school modernisation schemes previously implemented in that it creates rather than reduces school places in the area, insufficient capacity in this part of Llangefni being the issue. Although this specific project therefore results in a net additional cost rather than a saving, the costs are evened out across the School Modernisation Programme as a whole. The annual borrowing costs to repay the sum taken out as unsupported borrowing are accounted for and are reflected in the Medium Term Financial Plan. In light of the pressing capacity issues at Ysgol Corn Hir doing nothing was not an option and, given the availability also of Welsh Government funding and prevailing low interest rates neither of which might apply in future, the proposal represents the best option financially.
Having considered all the information presented as well as the clarifications provided by the Officers/Portfolio Members on the points raised the Corporate Scrutiny Committee resolved to recommend to the Executive that it approves the following –
1. The Full Business Case (FBC) for a new primary school instead of Ysgol Bodffordd and Ysgol Corn Hir.
2. That the Full Business Case (FBC) for a new primary school instead of Ysgol Bodffordd and Ysgol Corn Hir be sent to Welsh Government.
3. That Ysgol Henblas be removed from the proposal.
NO ADDITIONAL ACTION WAS PROPOSED