Barnfield College Relocation Project

Strategic Outline Case (SOC)

Version 0.8

17 May 2016

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Document Management

Version Author Description Issue Date 0.1 T Warrs Initial draft for review drawing on 3YDP and other information. 0.2 Tim Eyton-Jones Review and additions 8th Feb 2016 03 Tim Eyton-Jones Addition of sections 2.5, 10th Feb. ‘16 04 Tim Eyton-Jones Addition of sections 2.9, 2.11 and 3 15th Feb. ‘16 05 Lisa Milligan Editing 19 February Lisa Milligan Editing 20 February Lisa Milligan Editing 21 February 0.6 Trevor Warrs Options appraisal and other edits 06/04/16 0.7 Lisa Milligan Editing and writing 6/9 May 2016 0.7 Lisa Milligan Editing and writing 16/17 May 2016 0.7 Tim Eyton-Jones Editing and Writing 17/18 May 2016 0.8 Lisa Milligan Editing and Writing 18 May 2016

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Contents

Executive Summary ...... 5

Introduction ...... Key Drivers ...... Options ...... Affordability ...... Commercial & Management . . . . .

1. Introduction ...... 7

Background ...... Rationale ......

2. Strategy ...... 8

Stakeholders ...... The Business Need ...... Organisational Overview . . . . . Key Objectives ...... Key Stakeholders ...... Existing provision ...... The Scope of the Proposal . . . . . Constraints ...... Dependencies ...... Expected Strategic Benefits . . . . . Strategic Risks . . . . . Critical Success Factors . . . . .

3. Options Appraisal ...... 20

Short-list of Options ...... Summary Financial Appraisal . . . . . Summary Non-financial Analysis Ranked Options

4. Affordability ...... 23

Budget (Capital and Revenue) . . . . . Expected Life of the Asset/Length of the Service Contract . Impact on the Income and Expenditure Account . Impact on the Balance Sheet . . . . . Impact on Cash Flow ......

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5. Commercial ......

Market Assessment ...... Procurement Strategy and Timetable . . . . Evaluation Strategy ...... Contract Principles ...... Risk Allocation and Transfer . . . . .

6. Management ......

Project Management ...... Change Management ...... Risk Management ...... Contract Management ...... Benefits Realisation ...... Post Implementation Review . . . . .

7. Recommendations ......

Appendices

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction

Barnfield College is a medium sized General College that is undergoing a transformation in terms of its quality and size of provision. Previously the College was of the largest in the county of and recognised across the education sector in as a Beacon provider with an outstanding quality rating. More recently, it embarked on a process of rapid expansion by taking on several schools to create a multi- trust (MAT) and establishing a Free School and a . During this time the quality of provision at the College started to fall as the leadership focus turned to the schools. Additionally, following a whistle blowing accusation citing issues of inappropriate financial control and poor governance across the Barnfield Federation investigations by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) and Education Funding Agency (EFA) were instigated.

A new Board was appointed in September 2014, which took the decision to separate the College from the MAT and schools. A new Principal was appointed with the sole purpose of improving the quality of provision and reclaiming the excellence of the past. The Principal joined Barnfield College in February 2015 and immediately set about developing, with the Board, a new mission, vision and strategic objectives for the College; detailed in a transformational Three-year Development Plan (3YDP) titled ‘Reclaiming Excellence’. Part of this plan considers the College's estate and sets out a longer-term aspiration to renew the estate to provide facilities commensurate with the outstanding provision the College expects to deliver within three years.

Before any type of appraisal was made regarding transformation of the estate the Board decided to look into the feasibility of acquiring a site in the centre of that was closer to the College's community, offered better transport links and hence a wider travel to learn pool.

Strategy

The Board commissioned a report to look at the possibility of acquiring a site in the centre of Luton as a first step. Following positive identification of a suitable site it was decided to undertake a deeper exploration of the possibilities and complex abilities of such a move and build. A strategic outline case was prepared for the Board, which then deliberated as to its findings. As sufficient expertise does not exist in the College a tender specification was prepared for a project manager to take the lead in purchasing the new site, disposing of the current properties and building a new College. Governance arrangements will also be bolstered to ensure that the correct scrutiny can be applied to this project.

Key Drivers

The key drivers for this project are to provide a high quality learning environment in a central location for the students, local community and businesses of Luton and the surrounding area.

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A new College will instantly provide an outstanding learning environment as well as a location that will enable better access to the communities and businesses the College serves. The existing estate is generally old and does not afford the learning environment young people and employers now expect as the norm. Nor does the College currently compare well to competitor organisations with newer estates. To be genuinely responsive, offer a twenty-first century curriculum and secure growth the College needs to develop a learning campus designed around current and future employment and training needs, with the flexibility to be agile and responsive to new developments. The current estate has suffered from a maintenance regime that can at best be described as reactive. Recent planned maintenance and refurbishment has brought about improvement, however, it is not sufficient in and of itself to deliver the learning environment students' expect or the curriculum vision the College holds. There is no doubt that failure to develop the estate to enable curriculum innovation responsive to employers, local skills' needs and learners' aspirations will result in a decrease in student numbers as the market will dictate. Options

The preferred option is to purchase a new site, off Bute Street, in the centre of Luton opposite the railway station - affording a direct line to St Albans and London in the south and Bedford in the north and to build a state-of-the-art new College. Other options are to remain on the existing two campuses, investing in the learning environment to improve as and where possible and third to sell the Enterprise Way (EW) campus, consolidating on a single redeveloped (in part or full) New Bedford Road (NBR) campus.

Affordability

The College holds significant reserves, which may be set against the new build. The current estate is 35 acres at New Bedford Road and 5 acres at Enterprise Way which will yield in the region of £48M (as per a calculation offered by Glenny LLP on the 16th March 2015).

Commercial and Management

The Project will be subject to OJEU procurement procedure. It is intended to appoint a Project Manager to oversee all aspects of the project including site acquisition, design and build. The appointed Project Managers will report through the Project Sponsor to the Board. All strategic decisions relating to major capital spend are the province of the Board.

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1 INTRODUCTION

Barnfield College is a medium sized Further Education College situated in the north of Luton in the county of Bedfordshire. The College’s mission is ‘Barnfield College will realise the entrepreneurial, skills and educational needs of the community and employers through inclusive, outstanding, innovative programmes of study’.

At the end of 2007 inspected Barnfield College and graded it Outstanding for overall effectiveness. Records show that at this time the College had an income in excess of £25m and about 12,000 learners. Then in April 2012 following a full inspection of the College it dropped to Satisfactory for overall effectiveness. During this period the College had set up a multi-academy trust and had recruited several local schools into the trust. This period also saw a rapid decline in the performance of the College and a whistle blowing accusation which prompted an investigation by both the SFA and EFA into issues of the Barnfield Federation's Financial Controls and Governance. Further deterioration in performance of learner recruitment and quality of learner outcomes continued until Ofsted inspected the College in November 2014.

The outcome of the 2014 inspection was overall effectiveness judged inadequate with no significant strengths reported. The period from 2012 to date also saw many changes in Principal and management - a product of several restructures to the whole College as it struggled with declining enrolments across all age ranges and levels. In February 2015 the new Principal joined the College and in June 2015 the final appointment to the new Senior Leadership Team was made. The Corporation approved a new three-year development plan titled ‘Reclaiming Excellence’ which sets out a clear vision for the College again to become outstanding within a three- year period. Part of this plan asks the College to review its current estate and set plans in place to design and build a new purpose built facility that will enable the college better to meet its mission and strategic objectives for now and the foreseeable future.

The College was inspected in March 2015 resulting in an improved judgement of ‘Requires Improvement’ across all aspects of provision. As the end of year one of the three-year plan – Reclaiming Excellence approaches, the College has realised the quality improvement goal set.

Background

Barnfield College is located on two sites in close proximity in the north of Luton. The largest (New Bedford Road) is located in the ward of Barnfield, North Luton and is made up of a collection of buildings ranging from the original 1960’s design to the newest 2012 built Higher Education Centre. This site houses business support services, a range of curriculum areas, the Executive, and benefits from extensive playing fields. The smaller site, Enterprise Way, is a converted 1970’s warehouse and is home to the curriculum areas of Business, Engineering and Construction. Both these sites are clearly suffering from under investment although they are generally clean and reasonably maintained. Due to poor management the College has not kept appropriate records of the estate and at the time of writing this report the College has engaged a project architect to survey the Colleges estate and conduct a

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building condition survey to SFA (LSC) guidelines. The College has approximately 1,500 full-time learners of which approximately 1,300 are aged between 16 and 18 years. The vast majority of these learners live within a five mile radius of the College. Some learners travel from a wider area including Bedford and Milton Keynes in the north and St Albans in the South. The number of young learners attending the college aged between 14 and 15 decreased to about 48 by July 2015. These learners attend a range of programmes predominantly around Construction. The College's provision covers most sector subject areas and ranges from pre-entry to Higher Education programmes that are validated through the University of Bedfordshire. Enrolment has declined at the College due to recent poor local reputation and poor quality of provision. Securing the highest quality of provision is the College's single highest priority and is thus the cornerstone of the Three-year Development Plan.

Rationale

The College recognises that the existing estate is no longer fit for purpose; it does not offer the 21st Century learning environment, aligned to employer needs afforded by some local competitors. The buildings on site date predominately from the 1960s to the 1980s and have, for the most part, reached the end of their economic life. They are inherently inflexible which means that reconfiguration is difficult and unlikely to be economically viable. Furthermore, the locations of the existing sites are not ideal, not particularly well served in terms of transport links and in the case of New Bedford Road, larger than required. As a result, the College has a long-term aspiration to relocate to a more accessible town centre site and develop a 21st Century, fit for purpose estate.

Effectively, relocation is the College’s preferred property solution. If this cannot be achieved, then the College needs to plan for the redevelopment of the existing sites as the delivery of an appropriate estate within a four to five year timeframe is critical to the achievement of medium to long-term strategic objectives. The status quo option of 'Do Nothing’ is not viable; doing nothing would see a rapid deterioration of the existing buildings and would have an immediate effect on the quality of the learner experience, quality of provision and learner numbers.

2 STRATEGY

The College's strategic direction is articulated in its Three-year Development Plan: Reclaiming Excellence and is rooted in the transformation of the students' experience through outstanding learning, outcomes and opportunities for progression, including purposeful employment with a clear career path. Beyond the three years the College intends to continue to drive quality, growing its student numbers, innovating the curriculum, tapping into new markets and becoming a focus for local and regional employers who share the vision of being outstanding in all that they do.

The property strategy for the College will be to ensure that world class facilities are created to provide the best possible learning environment. All options will be considered, including the viability of disposing of the two sites and buildings in favour of a better single location close to the travel hub in Luton. The College will look to make minimum changes to its existing estate, placing all energies in developing a new bespoke College either in a central Luton location or on one of our existing sites. The

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current estate is in such a poor condition repair projects will have to be carefully scoped so as to provide value for money. Capital investments will be scrutinised to ensure that the return for the College is reflected in increased quality of the student experience, student numbers and income profile.

The College’s Development Plan is reviewed annually by the corporation as part of our business planning processes. Agreed Key Performance indicators from the organisation are also reviewed as part of this process and compared to a wealth of external data from a variety of areas and organisations.

Stakeholders

The property strategy forms part of the overall three year development plan and strategy of ‘Reclaiming Excellence’ which was widely consulted upon and approved by the Board in June 2015. The priority for the new senior team has been lifting quality 'off the floor'. There is demonstrable quality improvement and momentum within the College which has allowed the Principal and Chief Executive, in particular, to focus on stakeholder engagement and the development of new strategic partnerships. Within the Council, SEMLEP, other colleges in the region, local schools and employers there is broad support for a new purpose built campus, delivering high quality learning and skills, meeting local training needs, supporting inward investment and contributing to the economic prosperity and resilience of the people of Luton and the communities in which they live. There is ongoing engagement with and local business to ensure Barnfield College is at the heart of meeting local needs and delivering the skills strategy central to Luton’s economic prosperity and growth.

The Business Need

The College is currently located on two sites both of which are too big, do not offer effective space utilisation and consequently, increase overhead costs. The buildings are old, not fit for purpose and expensive to run and maintain. Securing the NBR site is an issue. The College requires significantly upgraded facilities, for example to develop Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). For students travelling to learn the campus is not readily accessible and travel times and costs are high. A more central location close to travel hubs will not only mean the College is closer to its community but will also widen Barnfield’s local and regional footprint.

‘Reclaiming Excellence’ details three strategic priorities, or objectives, designed to underpin and secure achievement of Barnfield’s Mission. Each strategic objective has a senior manager responsible for driving its success with the Principal and Chief Executive taking overall responsibility.

1. To create a fair and diverse college that provides equality of opportunity, celebrates diversity and recruit students to sustain funding Person responsible - Vice Principal Transforming Equalities & Safeguarding

2. To provide a curriculum, education and training that is the best Person responsible - Vice Principal Transforming the Curriculum and Learning

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3. To ensure financial stability to allow continual investment in resources and effective delivery of the College Operating Plan Person responsible - Executive Director Finance and Resources

It is imperative to start planning now as at the end of the current Three-year Development Plan – 2018 - the College is in danger of hitting a ‘ceiling’ in terms of its development and quality of provision. The reasons for this are given below:

1. Many parts of the curriculum will need substantially different facilities than are currently available. For example, new construction qualifications that are to be introduced will require multi-trade facilities and not the traditional single trade facilities that currently exist. 2. Facilities do not easily allow for flexible or multi-use of differing age ranges and student groups. 3. The College does not possess a single area where examinations, functions or prize giving events can be conducted. A successful College needs this space and would use it frequently. 4. The wired network of the College is now old and will soon restrict the intended development of ‘e’ learning. 5. The changing nature of the employment requirements of the local area is fast making existing facilities redundant. For example, the College cannot introduce ‘dry lining’ courses without either substantial internal works or purchasing new facilities. 6. Without substantial investment our current facilities not not assist or create the necessary environment for learning that an increasing numbers of learners with learning difficulties requires.

We believe that this project is commensurate with the needs of the local community, businesses, other key stakeholder groups who all recognise the increasing need for skills and vocational training in the area. The Local Authority, local University, local Enterprise Board and local Chamber of Commerce have all identified and mapped the current and future skills needs of the area. This new facility will enable the College to deliver the skills training and development to meet these needs for the foreseeable future.

The College will benefit from a new purpose built facility that will make the delivery of our mission and strategic objectives easier. The local community, businesses and local learners will all benefit from a high quality learning facility designed to underpin and deliver the employment, educational and skills needs of stakeholders.

Local residents to the campus at New Bedford Road have long expressed concern as to the future of the playing fields. Confusion exists with local residents as to the ownership of the fields where they frequently refer to the pre-incorporation Bedfordshire County Council ownership. The College has sought to clarify the ownership of the fields and ascertained its absolute right free from licence, deed or covenant.

Organisational Overview

Barnfield is a General Further Education College as defined in the 1992 Further and Higher Education Act. Under the act it became a free-standing further education

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corporation on 1 April 1993. Barnfield College has some 340 full-time staff, 1,500 students and offers learning programmes for students from the ages of 14 upwards.

With a new Chair, new Board and new Principal the College has broken away from the multi-academy trust it previously sponsored and is set to forge a new direction focussed on meeting the needs of local students, business and the community. College governors and leaders are committed to developing Barnfield into an organisation where everyone works in active partnership with all stakeholders to ensure the educational and/or skills needs of local students from the age of 14 upwards are met. The College aims to deliver high quality programmes and nurture high standards of delivery whilst continuing to introduce innovative ways to develop the employability, social responsibility and essential skills of all our students. This approach will, in part, secure the successful outcomes and destinations of our students.

The Mission of Barnfield College is to ‘…realise the entrepreneurial, skills and educational needs of the community and employers through inclusive, outstanding, innovative programmes of study’

To do this we will:

• Engage and listen to local employers and the community to develop the employability, knowledge, skills, understanding and experience of all students so that they are fit for the world of work. • Work in partnership with all stakeholders to create an outstanding curriculum, delivered through innovative and engaging practices that help to create outstanding student experiences and opportunities for progression. • Create and maintain an inclusive skills-based curriculum that is focussed on meeting the needs of students, the community and employers. • Prepare and assist students to progress to the world of work, apprenticeships or higher education so that they can be successful, entrepreneurial, economically active and valued members of society. • Ensure that students’ needs are accurately and promptly identified and that support is available to enhance success and progression. • Support young students aged 14-18 and in particular full-participation in learning up to age 18. • Recognise the wider benefits of learning for individuals and communities, supporting re-engagement, addressing disadvantage and narrowing the gap so all in our community might achieve. • Open local pathways to higher level study and degree education. • Manage our finances and resources effectively and efficiently so we are able continually to provide outstanding facilities for students. • Explore proactively opportunities and be ambitious about our vision for the future.

Barnfield is now embarking on a new challenging and exciting phase of its development in ensuring that we are able to transform the lives of all our students and improve their economic impact for business by providing an accessible, innovative and high quality curriculum that generates enthusiasm and facilitates success. Following extensive consultation with staff and other stakeholders of the College, we propose changes to our vision and mission to better encapsulate our

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strategic objectives. The new vision and mission clearly sets out our intentions of becoming an outstanding College in the eyes of each and every one of our students.

Our vision of the future at Barnfield College is that:

We will have created a fair, inclusive and diverse college that provides equality of opportunity for every student. We will recruit students from a diverse range of sectors to sustain both the College and future investment. Our programmes will be engaging, and motivate our students to higher levels of attainment than they initially expected. Students' needs will be quickly identified and met through exceptional integrated support and outstanding teaching, learning and assessment. We will provide facilities, a curriculum, education and training that is the best and meets the needs of our stakeholders. The Barnfield College student experience will exceed expectations and will attract local, regional and national awards for innovation as well as high levels of skill and attainment reached.

Key Objectives The Key Objectives of Barnfield and hence the objectives underpinning this project are set out below:

To create a fair and diverse college that provides equality of opportunity, celebrates diversity and recruit students to sustain funding

 Provide a safe and secure environment for both staff and students  Create a fair, inclusive and diverse college that provides equal opportunity for every student  Attract a broad base of students from the local community especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds

To provide a curriculum, education and training that is the best

 Quickly identify student needs and provide integrated support and outstanding teaching and learning  Provide facilities, curriculum, education and training that is the best and meets the needs of our stakeholders  Create physical and technological environments that can support and deliver applied learning and competitive advantage

To ensure financial stability to allow continual investment in resources and effective delivery of the College Operating Plan

 As Luton’s major Further Education College to maintain and grow market share  Be the first choice for local employers when seeking vocational qualifications and apprenticeships for their staff  Effective management of finance and resources in delivering our strategy  Provide engaging programmes that motivate students to higher levels of attainment  Attract local. regional and national awards for innovation by exceeding student expectations and providing high levels of skill and attainment

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Key Stakeholders

The College’s Key Stakeholders are identified below. The College, under its new leadership, has focussed on rebuilding relationships to place Barnfield once again at the centre of the Luton learning landscape. Barnfield identifies its purpose as serving the young people, communities and businesses of Luton and the surrounding localities and recognises the centrality of working in partnership, consulting with and reflecting the needs of all stakeholders.

Potential Students They need an outstanding College to help them with Interest HIGH their career and life chances.

Students and Staff Fully supportive as they will need an outstanding Interest HIGH facility to assist them in delivering an outstanding curriculum and outstanding learner experience.

FEC Board Fully Supportive and driving the project. Interest HIGH

Skills Funding Agency Fully supportive provided we meet their standards and follow their expectations and procedures.

BIS/EFA/Ofsted Will always support the development of outstanding facilities

Luton Employers Will support the project if the College is able to demonstrate that we can meet their employment needs.

Luton Community Support the project provided it fits in with the Bedfordshire Chamber of economic regeneration plan and planning guidelines Commerce Local Residents SEMLEP Luton Borough Council

Strategic Partners In support provided we can offer the progression University of Bedfordshire requirements of their pupils and students Local Secondary Schools Other local post 16 providers

Key to the success of the project will be regular dialogue with stakeholders. A communications strategy will be developed to ensure key messages are shared at the right time with the right people.

Existing provision

A SWOT analysis of the current accommodation and facilities indicated the main points below.

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Strengths: Plenty of space, possibility of building a new College on the existing site (subject to planning) without disrupting the College business, much accommodation is on the ground floor and makes for relatively easy access, mostly light and airy. Quality of facilities can be improved through substantial sustained investment over the remaining life of the buildings.

Weaknesses: Buildings are old and dated; services are limited and cannot be changed without costly renovations. Making changes is costly and often problematic due to presence of asbestos. Location of curriculum areas often does not have synergy with curriculum delivery. Old buildings and extensive fields are costly to maintain and keep presentable. Open site presents severe security issues. Maintaining two sites requires a duplication of facilities and staffing that leads to creating a highly variable learner experience. Large flat roof expanse is proving costly to heat during winter months. Local public transport links are poor.

Opportunities: Large site presents an opportunity to redevelop without causing disruption, large site has a capital income potential if we decide to sell. NBR site is large enough to accommodate a single campus rebuild and offer some potential to sell the remaining site. Located on good road transport links.

Threats: Playing field are regarded locally as a public resource even though the College owns them and no right of access has been made yet. Local residents will almost certainly object to any form of redevelopment causing delays. Poor quality of construction and age of buildings result in a higher risk of building failure. Continued development of other providers means that they become a better attraction as a place to study. Location of an outstanding 6th form College across the road means that learners will be pulled to them. The College estate does not compare well with competitor colleges. The existing estate cannot deliver the curriculum Luton requires particularly, but not exclusively, in STEM and construction related areas.

The College has articulated in its Three-year Development Plan:

‘The focus of the property strategy will be to ensure that world class facilities are created to enhance our learning environment. All options will be considered, even the viability of disposing of the two sites and buildings in favour of a better single location nearer a travel hub in Luton. Changes to the existing site were made in 2015 in preparation for the 2015-16 academic year and again will be required in the summer of 2016 in preparation for the 2016- 17 academic year. It is important that the site is changed better to meet the needs of students and the College and to provide better utilisation of our facilities. The estate is in such a poor condition repair projects will have to be carefully scoped so as to provide value for money. Capital investments will be scrutinised to ensure that the return for the College is reflected in increased quality of the student experience, student numbers and income profile.’

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The College’s curriculum has been largely unchanged over several years with cuts to courses and delivery in order, primarily, to save money. The new Board and management team are committed to developing the curriculum to meet the needs of the local community, businesses and students. This will require a substantial shift in what is delivered and mode of delivery with closer working with employers. For example, our current traditional construction offer and curriculum does not cater for the development of dry lining courses and qualifications - a skill that is in high demand. To develop this new area the College is currently (2016) actively looking into buying additional accommodation to construct this new training facility or making costly alterations to existing workshops.

The evidence available to inform proposed and necessary re-development of the College’s learning environment includes:

 user satisfaction, user consultation;  performance against targets;  organisational strategy;  market data informing demand/supply/capacity/quality

The current and predicted level of activity is indicated in the two tables in appendix X. The first table indicates the current market share of 16 to 18 year olds and predicts an increase based on the actual demographic increase in the Luton area from school pupils currently in the school system. The table does not take into account the College increasing its market share to reclaim lost students due to the recent quality and reputational issues. The tables clearly indicate a rising demographic for the 16 to 18 cohort in the years 2017 onwards.

The current quality rating following Inspection in March 2016) is ‘Requires Improvement’ (Grade 3). The previous Ofsted judgement was Inadequate with no strengths (Grade 4). This step-change improvement, across all aspects of the College’s provision, was delivered in less than one year and evidences the impact of ‘Reclaiming Excellence’ in its first year of implementation. Led by the Board and senior leaders and supported by all staff, there is an absolute determination to ensure the highest quality of teaching and learning, student experience and student outcomes at Barnfield College. The College has completed the first phase of its Development Plan; quality will continue to improve and growth will be secured. The College estate must provide for the needs of Luton’s learners and employers and a responsive twenty-first century curriculum if the long-term future of the College is to be secured.

Data from the Local Enterprise Partnership, Local Authority and local Chamber of Commerce have established that the demand for skills training and development is high and likely to increase in the foreseeable future. The predicted rise in local demographics, the current £100m expansion at which will see annual capacity grow by 50% and consequent significant growth in ancillary industries and improved local transport links, will all contribute to an expanding local economy and high house building targets.

The College has developed a comprehensive risk management strategy and as a result developed comprehensive risk mitigation actions.

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The College has considerable capacity to increase the number of students and programmes it offers. Currently it is estimated that Barnfield has approximately half the number of full-time learners that were enrolled at the College some five years ago. It must also be noted that the College did have additional sites but that they were quite small and dispersed in around Luton.

The Scope of the Proposal

The proposal is to develop an entirely new College campus in a single central Luton location. All College services will be included - both student facing and back office. The proposal will require the disposal of the College's existing two sites and the relocation of all staff. The travel to learn pattern of existing students and customers will change, however, the College believes that a town centre location will benefit the majority. Additionally, being closer to the centre of transport including excellent rail links, the College will be able to widen its footprint drawing students from a far greater travel to learn area.

The impact on staff may be that some will have a slightly longer journey to work; others will not. Currently there is an excess of parking for staff and students which will not be replicated in any new build. An appropriate travel plan will form part of any new development. Staff will be engaged in the new build and if the accommodation is right it will provide for an improved working environment - fully ICT enabled - which better meets learners' needs and offers new creative synergies for staff in the development of an innovative curriculum.

Constraints

Skills: The Board is short of certain skills particularly construction programme management and funding expertise, although the appointment of Project Managers with identified and demonstrable expertise will address this in significant measure.

Funding: Although relatively wealthy the College will require additional funding. The sale of the current site(s) in part or in their entirety will provide significant funding for the project. It will also be necessary to explore grant funding opportunities for capital development with, but not limited to, SEMLEP, HEFCE, the Local Authority the SFA and EFA to provide additional funding. The College will also explore the potential for a borrowing facility and the costs and requirements of so doing, although will seek as a general principle to minimise any requirement.

Authority to Proceed: Authority to proceed lies entirely with the College Board.

Capability: The College is currently tendering for a Project Manager to oversee the project in its entirety including site disposal, funding, design, build and fit-out.

Capacity: The Board has recently lost some governor capacity and is looking to replace those leavers with the additional skills required to oversee the work of the Project Manager.

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Dependencies

The College does not currently have any other dependent or related projects or activities related to this project other than the current three year development plan.

It is estimated that the College would need to seek around £10m, depending on the sales value of the existing sites, in the external funding for this project. At the time of writing it is estimated that the additional funds could be sought from either/or grants from the Local Authority, South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP) or other local, regional or national agencies. The building of the bid will have to be carefully constructed to demonstrate that the College is changing to meet the needs of local demand.

Relocating in the centre of Luton will open up considerably more markets and potential learners than the College currently has access to. It is anticipated that the relocation will significantly redress the pattern of students travelling to learn to colleges outside of Luton that has been a feature over the past few years. RCU data indicates current travel to learn patterns.

The project is dependent on stakeholder buy in and will be informed by stakeholder engagement. We classify the significant stakeholders as follows:

Local Residents Luton Borough Council SEMLEP SFA/EFA HEFCE Local employers Local learners

The appointed project manager will be expected to work actively with the College management team to devise a strategy to ensure that local stakeholders are apprised of and consulted on developments of the whole project.

Expected Strategic Benefits

A new College building located in the centre of Luton will provide a multitude of strategic benefits. These may be classified as below: i) Higher quality of learning experience and increased successful outcomes. A new building can create an outstanding learning environment by ensuring that appropriate student services are designed to provide an accessible location to teaching and learning areas. Careful design can also ensure that the environment is both comfortable and inspiring. A new building can ensure that learning technologies and ‘smart’ learning is incorporated within the fabric of the building. ii) Location. With better transport links and located in the heart of the College’s current catchment it would make journeying to the College both easier and more convenient for a

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greater number of potential learners. The proposed location is less than five minutes’ walk from both a bus and train station and also has good road access. Car parking is also available in and near the town centre location. It is anticipated that the new location would attract more students to the College; importantly it is also at the heart of the business district. iii) New Curriculum Opportunities. Currently the College is restricted in the Curriculum it can offer due to the restrictions of its current accommodation. New courses could be offered, for example dry lining, robotics, hydraulics, sustainable energy, that would meet the needs of the local economy. iv) Reduced maintenance. The age of much of the current estate over two sites means that service and maintenance costs are currently high. v) Reduced energy requirements. Poor insulation and many buildings ensure that our power costs are high. A new single site built to modern specifications would cut these costs considerably.

These improvements will be measured by using Key Performance Indicators that have been devised to monitor the College’s improvements. Where key performance indicators do not exist new indicators will be devised to ensure that we are able to evidence the desired improvements and improve quality still further. These will build on Key Performance Indicators currently used so measurement will be available long into the future.

 Higher quality learner experience will be tracked through measuring success rates, student satisfaction, value added scores and progression statistics and student satisfaction.  Impact of location will be measured through increased learner numbers across all the main age groups and segments currently targeted by the College. Also postcode and travel to learn analysis.  New curriculum opportunities will be measured through mapping the college’s current curriculum with the LEP and Local Authorities Skills Plan priorities.  Reduced maintenance and power costs compared to current maintenance costs then benchmarked against other similar sized Colleges.

The benefits listed above will be monitored by the Skills Funding Agency as well as the Education Funding Agency, Office for Students and Ofsted. The latter agency will be using the common inspection framework while the SFA and EFA use minimum standards of performance. As an incorporated organisation it will be important for the College to use its own criteria and ensure that it rigorously self-assesses its own performance.

By providing state of the art facilities that will provide inspiration, higher achievement and higher progression to students Barnfield will become the first choice for employers and individuals seeking vocational and apprenticeship qualifications. By raising standards in the community we will deliver more engaged, contributing and resilient citizens. A new location and design will continue to promote equality, recognise diversity and increase accessibility for disadvantaged students.

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A new facility will also assist the College in developing its business model by evolving into a mature matrix structure designed to improve efficiency and effectiveness still further. The designed and agreed KPIs will continue to measure College performance and ensure that the new building delivers the intended benefits.

Strategic Risks

There are a number of strategic risks to be worked through and addressed, these include:  Contamination of Bute street site from previously adjacent petrol station and the cost of remediation of contamination, if required.  SFA reclaim of Capital Grants amounting to £2.3m  Luton Cabinet may not approve sale of site to Barnfield, although a disposal to the College was approved, in principle, at Council committee on 4 April.  Playing field access to NBR may reduce value and attractiveness to developers.  Planning permission for Enterprise Way redevelopment  Planning permission for NBR redevelopment.  Planning permission for Bute street site.  Covenants applying to both NBR and EW sites identified in Evershed’s report (4.3)  Restrictions on disposal of EW identified in Evershed’s report (3.4)  Lloyds Bank charge against EW.  Lack of SEMLEP support for the project  Cost of detailed planning consents for EW and NBR sites.  Potential Funding shortfall.  Adverse rights affecting EW identified in Evershed’s report (4.2)  Unsatisfied planning consents relating to both EW and NBR identified in Evershed’s report (7.1)  Political interference  Continuing reduction in public sector funding (SFA/EFA)

Critical Success Factors

The Critical Success Factors CSFs for developing and implementing the project are:

 Strategic Fit and Business Needs How well the option: Meets the requirements of the College’s Development Plan – Reclaiming Excellence? Meets the requirements of current and future learners and the expectations of external quality assessment organisations Delivers the skills and training requirements of SEMLEP and Luton Borough Council Meets the requirements of local and regional employers

 Potential value for Money How well the option delivers value for money by: Optimising benefits

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Optimising the potential return on investment Providing for future development in the medium to long-term Reducing construction risks

 Potential achievability How well the option is likely to be delivered: College’s capability to deliver the project Market demand and expectation Disruption to College operation during construction phases

 Potential Affordability How well the option: Matches the likely availability of funding Enables the College to meet it key growth and financial targets in the medium to long term

3 OPTIONS APPRAISAL

The Short List of Options

Do Nothing

The table below, prepared for the College by Fusion Project Management, sets out the current condition of the College premises using guidelines set out by the SFA. Only 13% of the College’s estate is judged to be category A/B the rest requires major repair or replacement. This is brought into sharper focus on further analysis which shows that 609m2 of category A is the new HE building at new Bedford Road and that ALL of Enterprise Way, 12,137m2, is included as category C.

In addition to this classrooms are laid out in formats that no longer fit the needs of students and New Bedford Road has multiple access points that may potentially impact on the College’s duty of Safeguarding. For these reasons it is felt by both the senior management team and the Board that this is not a viable option.

Total College Estate (m2) 25004.4 Condition Area Percentage A 1048 4.2 B 2208.5 8.8 C 18238.3 72.9 D 3507.2 14 Total Check 25002 100

Condition Description A – As new GIA of space typically built within the last 5 years, or may have undergone a major

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refurbishment within this period B – Sound GIA of space operationally safe and exhibiting only minor deterioration C – Operational GIA of space for which major repair or replacement needed in the short to medium term (within 3-5 years) D – Inoperable GIA of space at serious risk of major failure or breakdown

Do Minimum - Refurbish both sites to minimum required standards

Given that ‘do nothing’ is not an option, the next consideration is major refurbishment of both sites to meet the minimum requirements of the SFA mandate. On the face of it, potentially an attractive option it does possess some drawbacks.

Clearly major refurbishment would cause serious disruption to the day to day life of the College. At New Bedford Road there is unused space that may be utilised as temporary accommodation while refurbishment takes place but the time and cost of making the space useable and the level of space available may lead to a lengthy programme. The refurbishment would be constrained by the size and shape of the existing buildings and restricting access to the site would still be a major issue. There may not be any planning issues with this option but there may be disruption to the lives of local residents in what is essentially a residential area.

Enterprise Way presents a much more difficult problem. The whole site has been graded as category C requiring major refurbishment or replacement. Much of the site is given over to specialised workshops and it difficult to see how these could be replicated on site while refurbishment was undertaken.

Significantly, this option does not afford the opportunity to redraw the learning environment to ensure it is commensurate with the expectations of learners and importantly, the requirements of the curriculum. There would remain too the significant costs and management issues of operating over two sites.

Sell Enterprise Way and relocate to New Bedford Road under a site redevelopment scheme

A third option would be to sell Enterprise Way and relocate the facility to the New Bedford Road campus as part of a redevelopment scheme. There is certainly space on the site to add both a replacement for the Enterprise Way site and build new facilities to replace the old buildings on the campus. The College could carry on its business as usual while the building work was underway.

Planning permission for this option may be a problem. There would be major disruption with both traffic and noise causing problems in a residential area. Additionally the Local Development Plan has set down a priority of residential development for this part of Luton.

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Funding such an option may prove prohibitive. In any sale the College would only be able to realise a proportion of the NBR asset together with the anticipated rather more modest yield for Enterprise Way.

Relocate

The fourth option is to relocate the College to the centre of Luton. The Borough Council has a site near to both the railway and bus stations which it has indicated it would be willing to sell to the College. This represents an opportunity to build a state of the art College on a ‘brown field’ site. Whilst initially attractive there are known contamination issues at/near the site and planning permission will need to be sought.

Summary Financial Appraisal

The current sites amount to approximately 40 acres of which 5 are commercial and 35 potentially residential.

It is anticipated that this land could realise between £1.2m per acre (£48m) and £1.5m per acre (£60m) subject to planning and other constraints. College reserves currently amount to £13.5m. There is a possibility that Barnfield will have to repay Capital Grants to the SFA amounting to £2.3m reducing the reserves to £11.2m, although this risk may be mitigated by a strong business case for redevelopment and growth. Subject to a revised reserves policy this may leave around £6.2m available for the project. Available funds therefore could be in the region of £54.2m - £66.2m.

Initial estimates indicate possible building costs of £77m including contingency say £85m plus the cost of the site, £5m, a total of £90m excluding legal and project management costs.

Possible funding requirement could be in the order of £25m.

Summary Non-Financial Analysis

Benefits Analysis

Do Do Minimum

Bedford Road Bedford

Relocate to New New to Relocate

Stakeholder

to Central Luton Luton to Central

Benefit/Risk

Sell and Relocate Relocate and Sell Description of of Description Staff Improved working environment 2 4 8 Building meets needs of C21 curriculum 2 6 8 Central location – good public transport 2 2 8 Car parking 8 8 6 Access to all aspects of College/creative synergy 0 6 8 Students Attractive, purpose built, modern building 2 6 8 Designed to deliver C21 curriculum 2 6 8 Easy access to all facilities/amenities/support 2 8 8 Central location close to public transport hubs 2 2 8

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Car parking 8 8 4 Governors/Leaders Achieves delivery of Reclaiming Excellence 4 6 8 Pool of students 2 6 8 Pool of staff 2 6 8 Management Concordance 0 6 8 SEMLEP Delivers regional skills agenda 4 6 6 LBC Delivers local skills agenda 4 8 8 Supports inward investment/growth 2 6 8 Schools/Colleges Offers good progression routes 2 6 8 Collaboration and partnership 2 4 6 Employers Responsive to identified business needs 2 6 8 Central business district one stop shop 2 4 8

Total Benefit 56 120 158

Scored Low 2 to 8 High

Ranked Options After considering the options detailed above it is becoming clearer that relocation to the centre of Luton with a new design and build offers the most attractive proposal. Doing nothing is clearly not an option and doing the minimum is appearing to become less attractive. However much more work needs to be undertaken to better develop some of the strands described above and to explore further issues such as affordability, budgetary considerations, including cash flow and project timetable.

Interim Conclusions

Evaluating the evidence presented in this report suggests that the College needs to invest in further study and exploration of the relocate and build option. The potential in this option appears to warrant the further work and study to explore the value for money that this option would realise.

…......

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Appendix X

The College will appoint a Project Manager to manage the capital development project on its behalf, as it does not have the skills or capacity to manage this project internally. Solid experience of construction projects in the education sector will be sought as will experience of programme and project management.

Internally the College will set up a task group to monitor the project on the Board’s behalf (currently this responsibility is being taken by the Finance and Resources Committee through additional meetings). The Principal will act as project sponsor/senior responsible owner for the project and all approvals will need the agreement of the Board.

Governing Body Barnfield College

Finance and Resources Committee

Project Sponsor (Principal and ceo)

Project Manager

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Appendix XX

LUTON SCHOOLS’ YEAR 11 PROJECTIONS

2010/ 2011/ 2012/ 2013/ 2014/ 2015/ 2016/ 2017/ 2018/ 2019/ 2020/* 2021/ 2022/ 2023/ 2024/ 2025/ 2026/ 2027/ 2028/ 2029/ 2030/ School 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 221 198 206 182 179 199 209 212 277 274 302 307 309 367 348 347 381 378 382 385 387 Cardinal Newman School 249 238 241 247 246 245 245 252 255 279 263 272 273 283 278 264 267 280 280 282 280 Boys High School 164 165 160 161 166 166 164 164 174 163 168 167 187 191 186 182 193 192 188 187 180 Challney Girls High School 177 182 182 182 181 211 212 211 210 212 222 222 242 247 241 238 249 249 242 247 235 Denbigh High School 223 224 224 225 222 225 223 222 221 221 232 234 236 264 240 237 246 254 242 251 253 Barnfield West 157 175 188 231 238 238 261 265 260 268 258 267 297 315 298 284 294 303 297 299 290 High School 288 286 288 284 281 281 281 281 283 285 285 287 297 310 294 300 315 302 301 314 307 211 211 231 228 206 216 209 232 204 261 261 253 267 304 274 265 297 288 280 304 290 173 175 162 175 171 128 132 217 239 243 219 214 237 279 226 225 231 262 231 229 236 High School 190 181 154 162 158 118 121 120 149 188 182 196 192 209 205 189 219 235 241 232 237 Barnfield South 172 158 167 189 208 245 255 309 328 331 386 401 432 463 500 496 517 515 563 564 532 High School 192 197 195 197 196 194 199 199 198 207 221 240 254 274 260 276 296 295 288 308 293 Total 2417 2390 2398 2463 2452 2465 2510 2682 2796 2934 2998 3060 3224 3506 3351 3303 3504 3553 3536 3601 3519

Source: Luton Borough Year on year growth Council rate 2011- 2012- 2013- 2014- 2015- 2016- 2017- 2018- 2019/ 2020/ 2021/ 2022/ 2023/ 2024/ 2025/ 2026/ 2027/ 2028/ 2029/ 2030/ 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 ------* = proposed year of the 1.1 0.3 2.7 0.4 0.5 1.8 6.9 4.3 4.9 2.1 5.4 8.8 4.4 1.4 6.1 1.4 0.5 1.8 2.3 move % % % % % % % % % 2.2% % % % % % % % % % %

LUTON PROJECTED GROWTH AT POST 16

2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015 -16 2016 -17 2017 -18 2018 -19 2019 -20 2012 -15 Total 2012 -15 Proportion 1698 1567 1440 1508 1517 1544 1650 1720 4705 29.4% 114 154 147 133 134 136 146 152 415 2.6% 316 195 176 220 221 225 241 251 687 4.3% 609 480 456 495 498 507 542 565 1545 9.7% 76 45 30 48 49 50 53 55 151 0.9% 18 17 4 13 13 13 14 14 39 0.2% 2456 2434 2622 2408 2422 2465 2635 2747 7512 47.0% 316 342 273 298 300 306 327 340 931 5.8% 5603 5234 5148 5125 5153 5245 5607 5845 15985 100.0%

2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015 -16 2016 -17 2017 -18 2018 -19 2019 -20 2012 -15 Total 2012 -15 Proportion 16 2 36 19 19 20 21 22 54 2.7% 79 93 96 96 96 98 105 109 268 13.2% 93 113 119 116 117 119 127 132 325 16.0% 211 199 232 229 230 234 250 261 642 31.5% 399 407 483 460 462 471 503 524 1289 63.3% 238 262 246 266 268 272 291 303 746 36.7% 637 669 729 726 730 743 794 828 2035

6240 5903 5877 5851 5883 5988 6401 6673 18020