Agenda Item No: 4

CABINET MEMBER DECISION

6 JUNE 2013

DIRECTOR OF CHILDREN, CUSTOMERS & EDUCATION: ALEX HOPKINS

CABINET MEMBER WITH RESPONSIBILITY FOR CHILDREN & EDUCATION: COUNCILLOR CATHERINE BOARDMAN

Subject: Expansion of The Duston School () and Rowan Gate Primary () Recommendations: The Cabinet Member is asked to: 1) Approve the start of a joint consultation process with The Duston Academy on the proposal to expand its age-range to 4 – 18 with provision of a 420 place primary school on its site in Berrywood Road, opening from September 2015; 2) Note that the capital implications of the Duston School expansion will be delivered via a PFI contract variation that will be the subject of a future Cabinet report; 3) Approve the start of the statutory consultation process on the proposed expansion of Rowan Gate Primary; 4) Delegate authority to the Director for Children, Customers & Education, in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holder, to issue the publication of the Statutory Notices regarding the Rowan Gate proposal in September 2013 if there are no adverse responses to the statutory consultation process (a further report will be made to the Cabinet Member in September 2013 if there are adverse reactions); 5) Approve the retention of the former Hayway Nursery and Infants School in for educational purposes; 6) Note that a report will be taken to Cabinet in November 2013 to advise of the outcome of the publication of Statutory Notices in respect of Rowan Gate and to consider the capital implications of the proposal.

1. Purpose of Report

1.1 It is proposed to expand the age-range and pupil numbers at The Duston School from a 11 – 18 secondary school (Academy) to an all-through 4 – 18 school by adding 420 primary places. Buildings for the primary phase would be added to the site in Berrywood Road via the PFI contract with a target opening date of September 2015.

1.2 It is proposed to expand the pupil numbers at Rowan Gate Primary to meet the demand for increased special needs provision in the primary phase. The proposal is to open a 56 place annexe to Rowan Gate at the former Hayway Infant and Nursery School from September 2014 to serve Rushden and East Northants.

2. Relevant Priority Outcomes

The content of this report supports the delivery of the following corporate outcomes:

Perspective Outcome Customers & Community - to A cleaner, greener and more prosperous county achieve our vision, what will Active, safe and sustainable communities our customers see? Ambitious Young People Service users and carers feel in charge of their lives Process - to satisfy our Contract & performance management customers, what processes Commissioning outcomes must we excel at? Building social capital & community wellbeing Shaping our growing county Managing customer expectations Using business intelligence to segment customers and predict demand Finance – to finance our Maximised income and new funding vision, what must we do mechanisms efficiently, effectively and Exploited fixed assets economically? Targeted spend and investments

3. Background

The Duston School

3.1 The Duston School became an Academy in June 2012 supported by a sponsor, the Academies Enterprise Trust, and currently has a category 2 ‘Good’ OfSTED rating. The Academy has expressed a desire to become an all-through Academy by extending its age-range from 11-18 to 4-18 and operating a 420 place (two form of entry) primary provision on the existing secondary school site in Berrywood Road. The new provision would assist the Local Authority in meeting the demand for primary school places in the Duston area of Northampton and the expansion and change of age-range is therefore being taken forward as a joint proposal. The Academy has a commitment to improve students’ attainment and achievement through steady, continuous and progressive learning pathways from early years through to Post 16.

3.2 Additional primary places are required in the Duston area to meet the demand from the rising birth rate and levels of in-migration, but also to take account of new housing developments. There are major housing developments in Duston that are already underway (e.g the British Timkin site, Princess Marina and St Crispins) and school capacity will be required beyond the extensions already approved for Chiltern, Hopping Hill, Kings Heath and Earl Spencer Primaries that are all within two miles of the Duston School. The Council has also been engaged in negotiations with the developers of Dallington Gateway, 200 dwellings that will be potentially fast-tracked as

phase one of the larger Dallington Heath urban extension, and Section 106 contributions have been secured towards the new primary school if the development proceeds.

3.3 As an Academy, there are different arrangements for proposals regarding expansion and change of age-range at The Duston School and the Council does not have the remit to publish Statutory Notices. The final decision will be made by the Education Funding Agency based on a business case submitted by the Academy. This report asks for County Council support for the proposal and the likely capital implications.

3.4 The Duston School is part of the Northampton Schools PFI contract and any works on the school site will require a PFI contract variation and will be procured and built by the PFI provider. Design solutions are being explored via an initial feasibility study and will be taken forward in consultation with the school, and subject to the usual statutory planning processes. If the necessary approvals are in place in time, it is intended to include the scheme in the ‘Wave 2’ contract variation that is currently being negotiated for 11 primary school expansions across the town.

Rowan Gate Primary School

3.5 The significant growth in the school population has lead to an increase in the number of children requiring special school places; recent years have seen a significant rise in the children with a diagnosis of autism, and provision also needs to be made for children with increasingly complex medical needs. Rowan Gate is the only special school in the Wellingborough and East Northants area offering curriculum access for children aged 3 – 11 with significant learning and physical disabilities. The school is currently operating with 30 more pupils than its original capacity and there are additional pressures on space from increasingly bulky equipment and complex medical intervention requirements. The school is rated as ‘Outstanding’ by OfSTED and the proposal to expand would meet both space pressures and demand for extra pupil places. The proposal is to establish an Annexe at the former Hayway Nursery and Infants School in Rushden, opening from September 2014. This would provide 56 new places, address some of the over-crowding at the current site, and also result in reduced journey times for some of the children travelling to Wellingborough from the wider East Northants area.

3.6 As this is a significant enlargement at a maintained community school, the County Council is required to follow a statutory process to consult on the proposal, followed by the publication of Statutory Notices and final Cabinet approval. As well as the expansion of numbers, the proposal involves Rowan Gate Primary School adding to its accommodation by operating a satellite provision in Rushden. It is proposed to refurbish the former Nursery and Infant School buildings on Hayway, which have been empty since Easter 2012 when they amalgamated with Denfield Park Junior and moved to new accommodation on the Denfield Park site. A detailed feasibility study has been completed on how the Hayway buildings can be refurbished and a final scheme has been agreed with the Headteacher at Rowan Gate that is now being developed for planning and procurement.

4. Consultation and Scrutiny

4.1 Some consultation has already taken place on both proposals. The Duston School has already written to local Headteachers regarding the proposed primary school and

the consultation letter is provided as Appendix 1. Officers from the County Council also joined the discussions at the Duston Cluster Headteachers meeting on 8 May 2013 to provide an update on the primary pupil projections and the expected demand for places. Parents of pupils at The Duston School have also been informed of the proposal via the school newsletter of 28 March. Officers from Strategic Planning / School Admissions are attending regular meetings with the school’s senior leadership team, Academy sponsor and Governors to develop the proposals. The planning process will involve its own pre-planning and statutory consultation processes (particularly with neighbouring residents) once initial plans for the new buildings have been developed.

4.2 The Rowan Gate proposal has involved a lot of input from the Headteacher and Site Manager and several visits with the architect to Hayway to review the buildings and agree a scope of works. There have also been discussions with the Rushden Headteachers and the relevant County Councillors.

5. Alternative Options Considered

5.1 Other primary schools in Duston are already being expanded, but further capacity is required. The proposal to build a new primary school on the site of The Duston School has come forward via the Academy route and assists the Council in meeting its statutory obligation to provide pupil places and secure infrastructure arising from housing growth.

5.2 The alternative option for Rowan Gate would have been expansion on the existing school site, but this is not feasible, especially as the site is shared with Highfield Nursery and Victoria Primary (which is also being expanded).

6. Financial Implications

6.1 There are capital implications arising from both proposals and these will need to be funded from the Council’s annual capital grant allocations from the Department for Education (DfE). There are going to be considerable pressures on the capital programme in future years arising from the demand on pupil places, so bids were submitted at the end of April for both projects to the new DfE Targetted Basic Need Programme. Both projects fit the criteria, but it is a competitive bidding process and the DfE has received in excess of 550 bids from over 100 local authorities. The results are expected in June 2013 and the full capital arrangements will be documented in the Cabinet report scheduled for November 2013 with the associated recommendations from the Capital Investment Board following submission of detailed business cases.

6.2 At feasibility stage, the refurbishment costs of the Hayway buildings for the Rowan Gate proposal are estimated at £1.6m; the project would be traditionally tendered and managed as a schools capital scheme by Property and the Council’s partners, Lend Lease. The procurement of the new primary phase for The Duston School would be via a PFI contract negotiation and is likely to be in the region of £4m (excluding lifecycle and facilities management costs), which would be funded by the County Council.

6.3 There will be revenue implications that will need to be considered for the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) in future years as a result of these proposals. These will be detailed in the November 2013 Cabinet report.

7. Risk and Business Continuity Management a) Risk(s) associated with the proposal

Risk Mitigation Residual Risk Demand for pupil places does not Accuracy of pupil projections and Green materialise data regarding housing completions Planning approval not granted Pre-planning consultation with Amber statutory consultees Capital implications cannot be met Bids made to DfE for a number of Amber by available resources projects to support grant allocations

b) Risk(s) associated with not undertaking the proposal

Risk Risk Rating Council does not meet statutory requirement to provide places Red Proposals taken forward independently by other means Red Pressures on space at Rowan Gate have an impact on standards Red

8. List of Appendices

Appendix 1: Letter to local Headteachers from The Duston School

Author: Name: Kay Ringwood Team: Strategic Planning Contact details: Tel: 01604 366892 Fax: 01604 367011 Email: kringwood@.gov.uk Background Papers: Does the report propose a key decision is YES taken? If yes, is the decision in the Forward YES Plan? Will further decisions be required? If so, Cabinet Member Decision (if required): 2 please outline the timetable here September 2013 to issue Public Notice for Rowan Gate proposal Cabinet: 12 November 2013 to approve both proposals including the financial implications Is this report proposing an amendment to YES the budget and/or policy framework? Have the financial implications been YES cleared by the Strategic Finance Name of SFM: Jon Lee Manager (SFM)? Have any capital spend implications been Not yet – will be prior to November Cabinet cleared by the Capital Investment Board (CIB)

Has the report been cleared by the YES/NO relevant Director? Name of Director: Alex Hopkins Has the relevant Cabinet Member been YES/NO consulted? Cabinet Member: Councillor Catherine Boardman Has the relevant scrutiny committee been NO consulted? Has the report been cleared by Legal YES Services? Name of solicitor: Duncan Bisatt Solicitor’s comments: None Have any communications issues been YES cleared by Communications and Name of officer: Eva Duffy Marketing? Have any property issues been cleared YES/NO by Property and Asset Management? Name of officer: Susan Carmichael Has an Equalities Impact Assessment Not yet – will be prior to November Cabinet been carried out in relation to this report? Are there any community safety These are considered at the design stage of all implications? school projects.

Are there any environmental implications: All proposed building work has to meet current building regulations and environmental standards. Are there any Health & Safety Implications: YES These are considered at the design stage of all school projects and are part of the tendering criteria. Are there any Human Resources YES Implications: Schools will be responsible for recruiting additional staff. Are there any human rights implications: NO Constituency Interest: Duston West & St Crispin: Matthew Golby : Derek Lawson