Minutes:
Councillor Halden introduced
the report and stated that it would increase the amount invested in
education by almost £7 million, and would facilitate the
expansion at St Clere’s school and the Orsett Free School. He
stated that the council were working with the Education Skills
Funding Agency (ESFA) to deliver difficult projects such as Thames
Park School and Orsett Heath School, and whilst these projects were
being finalised, this report would ensure there were enough school
places for every child. He described how temporary accommodation at
the Orsett Heath site would mean permanent buildings that would
complement the school in the long term, for example expand the
sporting element of Orsett Heath and their relationship with
Thurrock Rugby Club. He added that £500,000 was being
invested in a 3G pitch at Harris Riverside, and in rebuilding the
nursery at Corringham Primary School. He added there were also
plans to expand Benyon Primary in South Ockendon, to alleviate
placement issues, rather than building a new school on the site at
Brandon Groves. Councillor Halden felt that as all these projects
were being undertaken at the same time, it was an impressive list
of options. He added that in addition 90% of all schools had now
received a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ rating
by Ofsted, and the borough had seen an improvement in GCSE results,
even with the difficulty in changes to GCSE marking and
criteria.
Councillor Hebb continued that injecting money into schools, was
injecting money into the future of the borough. He added that this
report covered the entire borough such as Stanford, Orsett and
South Ockendon; was multi-use as contained provisions for sporting
facilities; and was multi-choice as parents now had a diverse
market and could decide which school best suited them and their
child’s needs. He directed Members to point 3.2.2 of Appendix
1 in the report, which stated that infrastructure was coming first
in the St Clere’s project, as additional capacity was being
placed on-site, rather than off-site. He felt that schools now were
vastly improved from that of those 20 years ago, although the
problem of pupil deficit still existed as those coming from primary
to secondary school needed places, and capacity would have to
expand.
The Leader was glad to see money being spent on the future, but
without problems such as temporary demountables. He felt glad to
see that Benyon Primary was expanding, rather than a brand new
school at Brandon Groves, as this would have caused traffic
problems in the area.
RESOLVED: That Cabinet:
1. Approved the extended School Capital programme budget of
£6,900,000 for St Clere’s and bulge classes for the new
Orsett Heath Free School.
2. Approved the invitation of tenders in accordance
with EU procurement procedures for a one year agreement for
providing a Specialist Project Team, and Principal Contractor for a
school capital programme.
3. That, following a selection procedure compliant with EU
procurement regulations, the subsequent decision to enter into the
contract be delegated to the Accountable Director reporting back to
the Portfolio Holder, such report to detail the selection procedure
results, and compliance with EU procurement regulations.
4. Endorsed the forward work and feasibility studies coming forward
for the expansions and/or improvement works at Corringham Primary,
Harris Riverside and Benyon Primary, and the works to continue to
deliver inclusion units across Thurrock and their associated
costs.
Supporting documents: