HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

CABINET

MONDAY 21 MAY 2007 AT 2.00 P.M.

CHESHUNT, ST MARY’S HIGH SCHOOL SCHEME

Joint Report of the Corporate Director (People and Property), and the
Director ofChildrenSchools and Families

Authors:

Dick Bowler, Head of Corporate Estate, Hertfordshire Property 01992 556223

Pauline Davis, Area Planning Manager, CSF Service 01992 555865

Executive Members: Robert Gordon, David Lloyd

Local Member: Russell Thomas.

  1. Purpose of report

To consider site and funding issues that are required to enable the planned scheme of relocation and enlargement of St Mary’s Church of England Voluntary Aided High School [St Mary’s High School].

  1. Summary

2.1Complex arrangements for land assembly and the grant of planning permissions have been finalised, to enable new school premises to be developed at land at Bury Green Farm, Bury Green Road, Cheshunt.

2.2Necessary approvals from the Department for Education and Skills [DfES], the Department for Communities and Local Government and the School Organisation Committee have been obtained.

2.3The DfES, after a full scheme review during 2006, has given Voluntary Aided Scheme Approval to a grant of £20.491m.

2.4Land exchanges, with the Borough of Broxbourne [Broxbourne] for land assembly and with the governing body and the Diocese of St Albans for the relocation of the school, have been agreed.

2.5The new school premises scheme is estimated to be self financing, taking into account the above grant.

2.6The county council needs to provide funding for the provision of the new playing fields, and assistance to the school governing body with certain cash flow aspects of the scheme.

2.7The governing body is aiming to start the advance highways works for the scheme this summer.

3.Conclusions

3.1To enablethe scheme of relocation and enlargement of St Mary’s High School, Cheshunt, Cabinet is invited to agree:-

(a) That the new location for the school, at Bury Green Road, Cheshunt, be confirmed;

(b) Capital programme provision be amended so that the planned self-financing element of the project be in the estimated sum of £2.3m, being a grant to the school governing body of that sum and funded from the county council’s share of the capital receipt
arising from sale of the existing school buildings area;

(c)Expenditure of £800,000 on the playing fields for the school, to be funded from any additional funds arising from county council’s share of the capital receipt arising from sale of the existing school buildings area, and failing that from a review of the CSF Service capital programme for 2008/09;

(d) Advance funding of the enabling highways works to Lt Ellis Way be provided in the sum of £2m pending cash flow arising from the scheme to repay that advanced funding.

4.Background

4.1The county council’s Executive Committee authorised a scheme for expansion and relocation of St Mary’s High School, as part of the Cheshunt Secondary Schools places expansion scheme, in July 2001. The decisions of the Executive Committee are attached as Appendix 1.

4.2The Cheshunt Secondary Schools expansion scheme aimed to provide 25 forms of entry [FE] of built capacity and 6FE of reserve site capacity at revised and new school sites. The planned St Mary’s High School arrangements will complete achievement of these aims.

4.3Subsequent to that Executive Committee meeting, Broxbourne as local planning authority identified land at Bury Green Road, Cheshunt, as their preferred site for the relocation of the school.

4.4Planning permissions were subsequently granted for the new school premises and for housing development of the buildings area of the existing school site.

4.5The proposed school site and the existing school site are shown on Plan 1 attached to the report.

4.6 The School Organisation Committee has approved the school expansion scheme at the Bury Green Roadsite.

4.7Plan 2 attached to the report illustrates the intended scheme of development. Buildings of 6 FE capacity are intended and in the longer term there is sufficient site for expansion to provide 8FE premises.

5.Land and development issues

5.1The existing school site is owned, in two parts, by the school governing body and by the St Albans Diocese.

5.2The new school site is owned by the county council, being a part of the Rural Estate, and is subject to a long lease to Broxbourne.

5.3It is intended that the buildings area of the existing site will be sold for housing development, including a site for a new community centre as a planning obligation, and to provide funding for the scheme.Ownership the rest of the site will be transferred to the county council.

5.4 The DfES has issued conditional consents, where necessary, to permit the Governors/Diocese to dispose of the existing site.

5.5It is intended that the buildings area of the proposed school site be owned by the St Albans Diocese. The required consents of the Department for Communities and Local Government under the Green Belt Act 1938 are in place, permitting the county council to transfer land, i.e. the buildings area, to the Diocese and to appropriate other land, i.e. the playing fields area, for Education purposes.

5.6Landsexchange contracts with Broxbourne,for site assembly, and with the Governors/Diocese, for the new and existing sites [that includes an obligation on the Governors/Diocese to sell the buildings area of the existing site and to share the capital receipt], are at an advanced stage of preparation. Simultaneous contracts exchanges are intended.

5.7The governing body aims to start construction of the advance highways works in early summer 2007 and of new school buildings at the turn of year.

6.Financial Implications

6.1The DfES, after a fundamental scheme review in 2006, has approved grant funding in the sum of £20.491m based on a £29m cost scheme and less an assumed level of the Diocese's share of the housing capital receipt. This provides for construction of school premises of 6FE capacity. The county council is responsible for the provision of the playing fields for voluntary aided schools.

6.2The governing body’s Project Manager, Lister Grillet & Harding, has advised the current estimates:
(a) Total scheme cost £30.0m

(b) Grant from DfES£20.5m

(c) Governors capital receipt£ 6.4m

(d) County Council grant£ 2.3m

(e) HCC’s playing fields cost£ 0.8m
£30.0m

6.3The Diocesan Surveyors, Rumball Sedgwick, have provided an estimate of the capital receipt from the sale of the buildings area of the existing school site, in excess of £9.0m.

6.4Environment Department has agreed a contribution of £90,000 towards the cost of lighting and barriers on the new round-about junction with Lt Ellis Way.

6.5Financial risk for the governing body is high owing to potential cost escalation and capital receipt variation, so they will seek contemporaneous contracts for the land sale and the main building contract; and to let the advance highways works contract in the knowledge of the bids for the sale, but not a sale contract owing to the new buildings tender being returned several months later.

6.6The DfES grant for the new school buildings is 'gross', i.e. the governors’ share of the capital receipt is netted off at the end and that assists the governing body in managing cash flow. However cash flow for the cost of the highways works has not been provided by DfES, those works being perceived as a large benefit to the county road network. Accordingly the governing body needs the county council’s assistance with cash flow support for those works, estimated at £2m spend in 2007/08.

6.7If matters can be arranged so that the county council takes the 1st tranche of the housing capital receipt, and on exchange of contracts, it should be possible to contain the advance funding within 2007/08, with a contingent risk of spend across financial year end depending on the progress of the sale negotiations.

6.8The county council’s equitable share of the proceeds of sale of the buildings area is 38% and, subject to the scheme costs and grant being contained within the above estimates, there may be additional capital receipts if the estimated sale value is exceeded.

7. Risks

7.1The DfES disposal consent is conditioned to an earlier land sale value estimate being achieved. The current estimate is at a higher value and bids will be received prior to the advance works contract being let. The contemporaneous contracts are not expected to be formed until the end of 2007 . There is a small risk that the required sale value is not achieved and a revised consent from DfES is required.

7.2Should the scheme for any reason be stopped after the advance highway works have been committed and prior to the commencement of the new buildings, the county council would have spent c £2m on a round-about and the terms of the land exchanges with Broxbourne would require reversal of all the land exchanges. In this most unlikely scenario the highways network will have been improved leading to substantial safety benefits to users of Lt Ellis Way.

  1. Scheme benefits

St Mary’s High School will be provided with new accommodation that will greatly assist the school to further improve the learning outcomes for its pupils.

Over £20m of DfES investment in Hertfordshire school places will be confirmed.

An additional form of entry of built school capacity will be provided.

8.4The new site will allow future school expansion, if needed.

8.5The new round-about junction onto Lt Ellis Way will be lit, provided with safety barriers and an improved equestrian crossing, all offering an improvement to highway safety.

8.6The county councilwill be able to allocate part of the existing school site, once vacated, as detached playing fields to the adjoining GoffsSchool, meeting that school’s playing fields needs.

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