COUNCIL CYNGOR CAERDYDD

EXECUTIVE BUSINESS MEETING: 7 OCTOBER 2010

SCHOOL ORGANISATION PLANNING: CLOSURE OF HIGH SCHOOL, TRANSFER OF ST TEILO’S CIW HIGH SCHOOL TO THE LLANEDEYRN SITE, AND ESTABLISHMENT OF A THIRD WELSH- MEDIUM HIGH SCHOOL ON THE ST TEILO’S SITE.

REPORT OF CORPORATE DIRECTOR (SOCIAL) AGENDA ITEM:6

PORTFOLIO: EDUCATION & LIFELONG LEARNING

Reason for this Report

1. To report to the Executive the decision made by the Minister for Children, Education and Lifelong Learning regarding the closure of Llanedeyrn High School, transfer of St Teilo’s Church In Wales (CIW) High School to the Llanedeyrn site, and establishment of a third Welsh-medium High School on the St Teilo’s site.

Background

2. At its meeting on 4 December 2008, the Executive in accordance with the terms of the School Standards & Framework Act 1998, approved a recommendation for the publication of a statutory notice to:

• Discontinue Llanedeyrn High School • Establish a new Welsh-medium secondary school on the current St Teilo's Church in Wales High School site. The new Welsh-medium school will be a community school for boys and girls aged 11-18. It is intended that the capacity of the school when complete will be 1114 places. • Transfer St Teilo's Church in Wales High School to the site of Llanedeyrn High School. • Increase the capacity of the school from 1114 places to 1440 places. • Establish provision for children with special educational needs (visual impairment).

It was also agreed that Officers should report back to the Executive on the outcome of the notice, after the statutory objection period had been completed.

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3. The notice was published in the Western Mail and displayed locally on 24 September 2009. The statutory objection period finished on 24 November 2009.

4. If objections are made to a notice published under the terms of the Act, the objections and the Council`s comments must be forwarded to the Welsh Assembly Government, and the Assembly Ministers decide the matter. A total of 332 written objections to this proposal were received. These objections and Officers’ comments thereon were forwarded to the Assembly on 23 December.

5. Approval was given to the proposal on 28 September 2010. The approval noted that the proposals are to be implemented on a phased basis starting with the transfer of St Teilo’s in September 2011, the establishment of the new Welsh-medium secondary school in September 2012, and the final closure of Llanedeyrn High School on 31 August 2014. From September 2011 Llanedeyrn High school will cease to admit pupils to year 7.

6. The approval is conditional on planning consents for all projects and the final agreement between the local authority and the Diocese of Llandaff of the exchange of land between the two, all being achieved by 31 August 2011,

7. The decision needs to be actioned straight away in order to update and inform the Admissions booklet that needs to be published at the beginning of October.

Reasons for Recommendations

8. To note the Minister’s decision regarding the proposals to close Llanedeyrn High School, transfer St Teilo’s CIW High School to the Llanedeyrn site, and establish a third Welsh- medium High School on the St Teilo’s site.

Legal Implications

9. These are set out in the body of the report. There are no new legal implications to report. The Minister’s consent does not obviate the requirement to obtain any other necessary consents e.g. building regulation and planning consents.

Financial Implications

10. The original financial implications relating to this proposal were contained within the report to the Executive Business Meeting on 4 December 2008 at which the proposals were approved. At this time, a notional Welsh Assembly Government grant was assumed along with other identified resources to fund the proposals.

Page 2 of 6 11. It should be noted that the financial model is dynamic and is continually updated as further information is known around costs and funding sources, and to reflect changes in the economic climate. To this end, the financial model for this proposal has been updated. In addition, as a result of further funding opportunities available through Tranche 3 Transitional Schools Building Improvement Grant (SBIG), a significant sum has been included for investment in the new Welsh Medium secondary school at St. Teilo’s.

12. The financial model for these proposals brings together the necessary investment to provide a new build St. Teilo’s Church in Wales school on the current Llanedeyrn High School site, the closure of Llanedeyrn High School and associated investment in and , along with investment in the current St. Teilo’s site in order to establish a Welsh Medium secondary school. Table 1 shows the total costs and resources for these proposals.

Table 1: Costs & Resources for the proposals £M

Costs Capital Investment St. Teilo’s at Llanedeyrn, Welsh Medium at St. Teilo’s, Cardiff High School and Llanishen High School 46.714

Revenue Expenditure Organisational Restructure Costs 4.369

Total Costs 51.083

Resources Identified Resources from within the Consolidated Model 21.227 WAG - Tranche 3 Transitional SBIG Funding 29.856

Total Resources 51.083

Investment Programme

13. A review of the key variable factors within the investment programme has been undertaken, along with further feasibility studies in relation to St. Teilo’s at Llanedeyrn in order to refine the investment requirements and give greater confidence in the estimates contained within the financial model. A contingency sum of 10% has been included, and figures have been adjusted for estimated construction cost inflation over the life of the model. However, it must be noted that in the present climate the construction market is susceptible to financial pressures which make it difficult to make predictions.

14. The investment programme contains provisional sums to facilitate transport improvements. However it does not include revenue monies that may be required to finance changing transport provision and this would need to be identified as part of the medium term financial plan.

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Revenue Expenditure

15. Organisational restructure costs of £4.369 million have been included to allow for the additional costs associated with the change over a period of time, which recognises the organisational impact of closing schools and the set up costs of a new school. Schools earmarked for closure will require significant additional resources to ensure that all pupils can access a full and balanced curriculum at all times. It is assumed that any redundancy costs associated with the proposals will either be managed via the redeployment policy or funded from service area budgets.

Resources

16. As detailed above, resources of £21.227 million have been identified from within the consolidated financial model. Capital Investment will be funded through prudential borrowing, which will be financed from revenue release savings and efficiency savings that have been ring- fenced to meet the capital charges arising from this investment. The Revenue release savings have been identified through falling pupil number savings between 2006/07 and 2010/11, and through efficiency savings of 0.5 percent of the teaching element of delegated schools budgets.

17. The remainder of funding has been secured from WAG via Tranche 3 Transitional SBIG funding.

18. Discussions between the Local Authority and the Diocese have progressed on the basis that any adjustment in respect of the land exchange which may be necessary can be contained within the overall approved financial resources. Resulting from initial valuations by ourselves and the Valuation Office on behalf of the Diocese, we are confident that any adjustments required will be very small in relation to the scale of the project. As with all estimates associated with capital projects there is however scope for variations when details are finalised. Such details cannot be finalised until the footprint of the new St Teilo's has received planning approval and will be subject to the market conditions that will exist at that time. Additionally, it is clear that the new St Teilo's should be expected to occupy a larger footprint than the current school (given the scale of its expansion). This additional space has been fully considered in the process of initial valuations of both sites. Should a variation occur, then the Local Authority and Diocese are committed to resolving this jointly.

Financial Risks

19. A number of financial risks are attached to these SOP proposals which will need to be regularly monitored and mitigation steps taken wherever possible. Key general risks include:

ƒ changing scope of work following the design process;

Page 4 of 6 ƒ the management of cost over-runs and building inflation exceeding contingency levels; ƒ potential for revenue costs of closing schools and opening others to be higher than estimated; ƒ potential for the underachievement of revenue savings; ƒ the cash flow impact in the timing of expenditure and income; ƒ the additional risks attached to taking an incremental approach to the implementation of the schools organisational proposals.

Human Resources Implications

20. The human resources implications were contained in the report to the Executive Business Meeting on 4 December 2008. In consultation with the governing bodies, staff and trade unions, human resources strategies and action plans will be developed to ensure that the human resources issues are properly planned for and managed. The fundamental aims will be to ensure that appropriate staffing levels are maintained throughout the period leading to the closure of Llanedeyrn and to maximise opportunities for the redeployment of the staff and avoid compulsory redundancies.

21. Llanedeyrn High School has a Headteacher, a Deputy Headteacher and currently employs 44 teaching staff, 37 support staff and 12 non DSU cleaners. Some staff could, if they choose, be in a position to access their retirement benefits. Through individual staff meetings the aspirations of these staff will be sought in order to fully assess the redeployment needs. Officers will work with the school’s senior management to anticipate the curriculum and staffing needs and determine the level of staffing reductions required year on year.

22. The relocation of St Teilo’s CiW High School in itself should not significantly impact on staff at that school. Any increase in the school’s admission number could provide opportunities for redeployment for staff of Llanedeyrn High School. As St Teilo’s CiW High School is voluntary aided the governing body of the school is the employer of its staff. The governing body has adopted the Redeployment and Redundancy Policy and Procedure. Officers will work closely with the governing body to identify and plan for any increase in staffing requirements which takes account of the additional faith criteria for employment in voluntary aided schools.

23. Changes to the catchment areas of Cardiff and Llanishen High Schools may also provide redeployment opportunities as may the opening of a new Eastern High school, The latter will be subject to the agreement of the temporary governing body to allow Llanedeyrn High School staff to apply for vacancies on a ring fenced basis, along with the staff of the Llanrumney and Rumney High Schools.

24. The opening of a third Welsh Medium High School may also create employment opportunities. A key challenge will be to recruit to posts, including leadership posts, and it is possible that the two existing Welsh Medium Secondary Schools in Cardiff could lose staff as a result of the

Page 5 of 6 expansion of Welsh-medium provision. The Welsh Assembly Government supports training opportunities for Welsh speaking teachers who work in English medium schools. The Council is actively supporting this programme by reminding all schools of its availability, and those Welsh speakers working in closing schools

25. Whilst every effort will be made to secure redeployment, the closure of Llanedeyrn High School could lead to the formal redundancy of staff and should this be necessary the governing body will follow statutory processes which will include formal consultation with staff and trade unions.

Trade Unions

26. The Schools and Lifelong Learning Service has regularly engaged with the trade unions on the broad development of the school organisation proposals. They will have a key role in supporting staff.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The Executive is recommended to:-

(1) Note the decision of the Minister for Children, Education and Lifelong Learning has made regarding the proposals to close of Llanedeyrn High School, transfer St Teilo’s CIW High School to the Llanedeyrn site, and establish a third Welsh- medium High School on the St Teilo’s site.

(2) Implement the proposal as set out in paragraph 2, subject to compliance with the conditions stipulated in paragraph 6.

NEELAM BHARDWAJA Corporate Director 1 October 2010

The following Background Papers have been taken into account:

• Letter from Welsh Assembly Government (Head of Schools Management and Effectiveness Division) • EBM Report 4 December 2008

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