To consider a report on the Schools Asset Management Plan.
Minutes:
Documents considered:
· Draft Cabinet report on Schools Asset Management Plan v3
· School Asset Management Plan 2018-2024 090918
· Appendix A – Schools Building Condition, Suitability and Sufficiency data 2018
o Primary Schools
o Secondary Schools
o Special Schools
· Appendix B – Certification requirements
Introduction
Powys has been fortunate in Wales to have received a considerable amount of match funding from Welsh Government for the 21st Century Schools programme. Staff working on new schools and maintaining existing schools are being combined into one team. The Schools Asset Management Plan gives a clear strategic way forward.
Discussion
How accurate is the report? Capacity of the schools in Ystradgynlais is stated in the report to be different in all cases to that known to be the case by school Governors. Governors from other areas reported similar discrepancies.
This information had been received from colleagues and a review of capacity was currently being undertaken.
Having accurate information is also essential for the Admissions booklet. There is little need to provide admissions information regarding Welshpool schools to parents in Ystradgynlais but any information provided does need to be correct.
Admissions information does need to be relevant to parents and Admissions booklets will not be printed this year. Further work will be undertaken to check admission numbers and capacity.
The links to Vision 2025 are important with two sections being of particular relevance:
· Reduction in the number of our school buildings with an overall condition standard of C or D from 132 to 120 by 2025
· Reduce surplus places to 14% in primary (Baseline 16.7%) and 21% in secondary (Baseline 24%) by 2020
It is essential that the correct information is available for monitoring purposes.
This information will be checked.
Two new primary schools are being built in Welshpool. When is it projected that these schools will be at capacity?
This information will be provided after the meeting.
How does the Schools Asset Management Plan work to ensure that money is appropriately spent on schools which are viable in the short to medium term? Is the work undertaken some years ago by PwC being used in this regard?
The Schools Asset Management Plan does make reference to the School Organisation Policy and will consider looking again at the PwC modelling using updated figures.
When schools and local members submit a list of major concerns and little appears to be done is this because of a lack of money or because of problems with the Heart of Wales Property Service?
Investment is prioritised and this includes prioritising health and safety and safeguarding concerns. There are concerns regarding the capacity of the Heart of Wales Property Service to deliver what is required. There is also insufficient money to do all of the small scale improvements which are identified but need is prioritised over aesthetics.
How does the Schools Asset Management Plan support the Welsh Government aim of increasing the number of Welsh speakers?
This is supported by way of the links between the School Asset Management Plan, the School Organisation Plan and the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan. Planning for school organisation is a lengthy process and it is only possible to work on a certain number of schemes at any one time. Welsh Medium provision is a priority in Band B of the 21st Century Schools programme which will include Welsh Medium Secondary provision in Newtown and Welsh Medium Primary provision in Mid Powys. A briefing session is being arranged for scrutiny members on School Organisation in October.
The covering report notes that schools will be developed into establishments that are central to the community and investment will be made in IT.
Welsh Government support the community focus of schools encouraging the use of schools as multiagency hubs. When schools are remodelled or newly built it is essential that ICT is an integral part of the project.
Are the figures outlined in Section 5 of the Cabinet report ‘Financial Management’ included in the Medium Term Financial Plan?
The Major Improvement programme is contained within the Capital Strategy and it is recommended that a minimum of £2million is allocated in future years to deal with the poor condition buildings and this should be built into the Capital Programme. It is recommended that the service should bid for a further £75,000 to support planned maintenance work and extend the life of school property assets.
The budgets for repairs and maintenance is being considered as part of the Funding Formula Review.
Sections 5.1 – Schools Asset Database and 6.7 – Information Management appear to cover the same information. When will this database be complete?
The database is incomplete at present and the service are working to bring all this information together. The timescale for completing the database will be included. For example, a condition assessment is in place for all schools but this is updated from a variety of sources and needs to be updated annually.
Outcomes:
· The observations from this meeting would be collated and circulated to Members prior to submission to the Portfolio Holder for consideration at Cabinet.
Supporting documents: