Issue - meetings

To consider the Capital Fund drawn down for the rebuild of two special schools.

Wards Affected: All

Contact: David Martin – Head of Service for Corporate Landlord and Capital

Consideration must be given to whether the public and press should be excluded from the meeting prior to the determination of the matter to enable the exempt information to be discussed by passing the following resolution: -

To resolve that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business, on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act

RESOLVED –

1)    That approval be given for the draw down of capital funds as outlined in Appendix 4 of the considered report to enable the appointment of a building contractor to construct a new build 132 place SEMH school on the former Deighton centre site, Deighton Road, Huddersfield.

2)    That approval be given to the draw down of capital funds as outlined in Appendix 4 to enable the appointment of a specialist contractor to undertake the site clearance of all buildings on the former high school site on Fernside Avenue, Almondbury, Huddersfield.

3)    That approval be given to the draw down of capital funds to facilitate the settlement of the exit of the former school site on Fernside Avenue from the PPP1 contract as detailed in Appendix 4.

4)    That the allocation of government grant for High Needs Provision from the Department for Education (DfE) of £7,056m for Financial Year 2024/25, and which may be used as a contribution towards the budget for the two new build schools, be noted.

5)    That to enable the delivery of the schemes without returning to Cabinet, the delegated powers contained in the Council’s Financial Procedure Rules (FPRs) 3.9-3.12, dated June 2024, may be used to:

(i)            Transfer resources within a programme area without restrictions.

(ii)          Transfer resources between any project or programme area up to a maximum of £2m in any financial year.

(iii)         Transfer resources within programme areas between any year within the approved capital plan, subject to compliance with FPRs 3.9 - 3.12 and notification to the relevant Cabinet Member and appropriate Ward Members.

6)    That it be noted, approval to tender and award a contract for the new build school will be sought in late 2024 once detailed design of the new Woodley School and College had occurred, and a pre-tender estimate had been calculated.