Councillor Halden presented the report and began by discussing the need for new school places within the borough, and the desire to build big, so that there would be enough school places to deliver choice, and therefore competition. He underlined the need for secondary schools in Thurrock, and stated that the Council had received £60million from the government to be able to meet this need. The report outlined two potential sites to build free schools on, the first being a 1200 place school with the South West Essex Trust, and William Edwards Academy, which is known as Orsett Heath. The second site is known as Treetops, which is a 140 place special educational needs school in Grays. The Portfolio Holder for Education and Health noted that there was also a potential third site at Brandon Groves which was proving to be logistically problematic, so Officers and Members would continue to identify more suitable land.

Councillor Halden’s stated that 720 new ‘good’ or better school places had already been created in Thurrock, with an extra 900 places available at the new Harris Riverside Academy. He also stated that in July’s Cabinet meeting a site for Thames Park School, which would give another 900 new places, would also be considered. In total, Councillor Halden estimated that 3,900 ‘good’ or better school places would be created over the next few years.

Councillor Halden moved on to address public concerns over the use of the rugby pitches at the Orsett Heath site. He assured Members that he was working closely with Thurrock Rugby Club, and other community users, to ensure all pitches are retained for community use, and that he had received a joint statement from the Club and School Trust establishing that they were working together for the benefit of both parties. Members were reminded that William Edwards was an ‘outstanding’ sports academy, and Councillor Halden felt that working together with the Rugby Club would be valuable.

Councillor Coxshall then observed that it was important to build infrastructure before houses, and this is what the Council was trying to achieve. He cited the examples that 10 new schools had been built in 10 years; that 4 new medical centres were being built; and that the A13 widening project was now underway. He believed that William Edwards was a model sports education school, and that their expansion into Orsett Heath Free School could bring an end to children travelling across Thurrock to attend the best school for their needs.

Councillor Gerrish was invited to ask his question which was: was consultation undertaken with Portfolio Holders with regard to the current usage of the Orsett Heath site, ahead of the publication of the report.

Councillor Halden replied that discussion had been undertaken between Portfolio Holders and Officers before the report. Councillor Gerrish responded that no one was disputing the need for ‘good’ schools in Thurrock, but that the process for identifying sites to release has to be reconsidered. He added that Corporate Overview & Scrutiny Committee on 5 June had found lots of issues with the report, for example the apparent lack of community engagement. He believed that consultation needed to be in the public eye, and asked whether the Portfolio Holder for Education and Health would support Corporate Overview & Scrutiny’s recommendation that there should be pre-consultation in the future, and assessments should be carried out before reports are published.

Councillor Halden responded that the decision will go through three stages of consultation which are: (i) it will go to the Department of Education to determine the need for the school; (ii) it will go to statutory consultation; (iii) and will finally have consultation when it goes through planning applications. He assured Councillor Gerrish that following the joint statement from the Rugby Club and William Edwards, he was satisfied that there would be enhanced provision for both, and the Rugby Club would not lose out. Councillor Coxshall finally commented that the bid was public knowledge, and the site was identified and made public when the bid went in.

Councillor Duffin was then invited to read his question which was: has Thurrock Council given consideration to replacing the grounds leased to the Rugby Club; which they need to remain as an RFU accredited community rugby club; as the land is designated to train youth groups including under seven’s and under thirteen’s.

The Portfolio Holder for Education and Health responded that the land leased by the Rugby Club was only occasionally used and was rented from the Council. He stated that he was satisfied with the statement from the Rugby Club and the Education Trust, and that it was the obligation of the Council to provide school places.

Councillor Duffin asked Councillor Halden to reconsider his position, as this proposal was only discovered by the Rugby Club on Tuesday afternoon, and that they had received no consultation beforehand. He asked if there could be consultation before any more Cabinet reports on the issue, and asked if Councillor Halden could guarantee two pitches to Thurrock Rugby Club. The Portfolio Holder for Education and Health responded that the site had been approved since 2016, and this was now the implementation stage. He stated that there cannot be consultation until Cabinet had made a decision. He reaffirmed that the Council were working with the Rugby Club on the onward process, and that William Edwards was an ‘outstanding’ specialist sports school. He also reaffirmed that he felt comforted by the fact there was a joint statement between the Club and William Edwards on the retained pitches for community use. He went on to say that there would be statutory consultation and further consultation at the planning stage.

Councillor Hebb stated that it was the key intention of the paper to future-proof students who are going onto secondary school by pre-empting future need. He felt that if this was not approved there would be a crisis within five to ten years as there would not be enough secondary school places within Thurrock. He also felt that collaboration between a school and a sports club was not a new or radical idea and felt it was great there was already a joint statement between the two bodies, which could lead to a real partnership.

Councillor Coxshall agreed with Councillor Hebb that he felt glad for the joint statement, and that this was an opportunity for the two to work together, as well as with the Council.

Councillor Gledhill asked a question regarding whether the number of houses being built in the area had been taken into account when discussing building new schools. He wanted to ensure the Council was pre-emptive and could offer market choice when parents were enrolling children in schools. He also felt that Thurrock was lucky to have an ‘outstanding’ sports school that wanted to expand and had the available land to be able to do so.

RESOLVED that Cabinet:

1.    Noted the Free Schools Programme progress to date and the partnership working with the ESFA

2.    Approved the disposal of the Treetops site and the Orsett Heath site to the Department of Education (acting through the ESFA) for the purposes of building and establishing new Free Schools on each of the sites

3.    Authorised the Corporate Director of Place, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education and Health, and the Cabinet Member for Regeneration to dispose of (i) the Treetops site and (ii) the Orsett Heath site, if required, at negotiated value or rent, taking into account, as outlined in section 8 of the Report, the need to provide new school places, subject to obtaining the consent of the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government if required in either case

4.    Delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Place in consultation with the Corporate Director of Children’s Services and Assistant Director of Law and Governance, in consultation with Cabinet Member for Education and Health and the Cabinet Member for Regeneration to agree heads of terms for the disposal of the identified sites to the DfE/ESFA and to take all necessary steps to complete transactions.

5.    Requested Officers to urgently bring forward papers to address the Thames Park Free School and the Reach 2 Free School for September Cabinet.

Reason for Decision – as stated in the report

This decision is subject to call-in