Agenda item

County Councillor L. Guppy declared a personal non-prejudicial interest pursuant to the Member’s Code of Conduct in relation to her role as a LEA Governor at Caldicot School, and a family member attending the school.

County Councillor D. Blakebrough declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest pursuant to the Member’s Code of Conduct in relation to her role as a Governor at Monmouth Comprehensive School, and a child who is a student at the school.

County Councillor R. Edwards declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest pursuant to the Member’s Code of Conduct as a family member attends Monmouth Comprehensive School.

The Cabinet Member welcomed The Head Teacher from Caldicot School, and Deputy Head from Monmouth Comprehensive school to the meeting.  Council were presented with a report which provided an update on the progress with the Future Schools Programme and to suggest changes to the approved capital programme that will enable full delivery of two new schools to replace Caldicot School and Monmouth Secondary School.

The Chairman advised that he had received a letter on behalf of the pupils of Caldicot School thanking MCC for its decision to build the new school, and expressed gratitude to Councillors. 

Following a presentation by the 21^st Century Schools Manager debate ensued, during which time the following points were noted:

·         County Councillor Hayward expresses disappointment that the budget was already 15% overspent and questioned the justification for this.  It was thought that fixed costs should be identified particularly as ground conditions were known prior to the start of the build.  Further explanation regarding payment of costs was requested.

·         There were concerns that the demolishing of the swimming pool would mean there would be no pool available for at least 12 months.

·         The Cabinet Member responded that the cost of building materials and labour costs would remain the same regardless of the chosen site.  The disruption to the school was known, and had been planned for.  The costs were now fixed and any overspend would now be picked up by contractors. 

·         It was confirmed that the costs of borrowing for the additional capital budget required would come out of the maintenance costs for the school, not staff costs.  The cost of maintenance for a new school would be minimal.

·         It was confirmed that the school requires continuity of use of the sports hall, and there would be no other option than to close the hall for a period of time

·         Members referred to  2.1.3 in the report:

Agree to give delegated authority to the Cabinet Member for Resources, in consultation with the Chief Officer Resources and the Head of Finance to determine the best funding package for the Council contribution of £5.95 million having regard to:

§  Opportunity to release additional Council owned assets for disposal;

§  Prudential borrowing opportunities with annualised contributions from Caldicot and Monmouth School budgets recognising significant energy efficiency improvements and elimination of any material need for building maintenance         for an extended period.

§  Inclusion within the Medium Term Financial Plan of a revenue provision (£476k) to finance the full £5.95 million by prudential borrowing over 25 years.

County Councillor Batrouni stated that he could not support the second bullet point of the recommendation.  There were also concerns regarding the assets available to be sold as per the first bullet point. 

·         In response the Cabinet Member explained that the assets were surplus buildings under the current plans for rationalisation, and county farms currently under offer.  The point regarding schools was that any savings within school should be utilised to affect the prudential borrowing, which would be the smallest amount needed to borrow.  He added it was not a case of staff reductions to achieve, but achieved savings assisting in the process.

·         Members reiterated that concerns surrounded money management and failing promises, particularly that there has been a £17 million overspend, and the cost of the replacement pool requires further work to ascertain.

County Councillor J. Higginson left at 16:10pm

·         The school would be designed for complete disabled access.

·         Members expressed a lack of confidence in the Program Board and stated that Members should be more heavily involved in the decision making process. 

·         Councillor A. Watts expressed concern surrounding the lack of funding available for future development of Chepstow School.

·         Councillor Down deplored the suggestion that the school should pick up the cost of interest from the borrowed money, unless the saving from the maintenance costs could be confirmed.  He added that, as Councillor Hacket Pain had confirmed at the last Council meeting that the development of the pool would go ahead as promised, the Cabinet Member must have known at that time that the pool would not be built in accordance with promises made, and ought to consider her position.

·         We were advised that the commitment to the pool remains and it was expected to be completed by the middle of 2018. With regards to financing, there would be another report to Council before the end of this year.

Councillor Howarth proposed an amendment to recommendation 2.1.3 bullet point 2, to read:

·         Prudential borrowing opportunities would be explored.

The motion was duly seconded and Members debated the motion:

·         Councillor V. Smith stressed that Members were misconstruing the bullet point in question, and highlighted that the schools would have a budget based on floor space, and heating a new design would hold a lower cost.

·         The Chief Executive provided context to the issue, and provided information regarding the legal funding of schools.

·         The Cabinet Member asked, if the recommendation is removed, which services Members suggest are stopped in order to provide the funding.

·         It was confirmed that the energy savings would come out of all school funding and used partially to service the funding shortfall to move this program forward.

Council agreed to hold a recorded vote on the proposed amended recommendation.  The outcome was as follows:

For: County Councillors Batrouni, Blakebrough, Chapman, Down, Easson, Farley, Hayward, Howarth, D. Jones, A. Watts, Williams, Wintle.

Against: County Councillors Burrows, Clarke, Dovey, R. Edwards, D. Edwards, Fox, Greenland, Guppy, Hacket Pain, Hickman, Hobson, Howard, P. Jones, Jordan, Murphy, Powell, Prosser, Smith, Strong, Webb.

With 12 for, and 22 against, the motion was defeated. 

Therefore, Council resolved to agree the recommendations in the report:

·         The Future Schools Programme Board recommends that Council:

Ø  Approve increases to the following capital budgets:

o   Caldicot School from £ 34.9 million to £40.175 million

o   Monmouth School from £41.049 million to £47.674 million

Ø  Approve an additional funding requirement of £11.9 million for the delivery of this programme to be financed by way of:

o   A 50% contribution from Wales Government - £5.95 million (confirmation attached at Appendix 1).

o   A 50% contribution from the Council - £5.95 million

Ø  Agree to give delegated authority to the Cabinet Member for Resources, in consultation with the Chief Officer Resources and the Head of Finance to determine the best funding package for the Council contribution of £5.95 million having regard too:

o   Opportunity to release additional Council owned assets for disposal;

o   Prudential borrowing opportunities with annualised contributions from Caldicot and Monmouth School budgets recognising significant energy efficiency improvements and elimination of any material need for building maintenance for an extended period.

o   Inclusion within the Medium Term Financial Plan of a revenue provision (£476k) to finance the full £5.95 million by prudential borrowing over 25 years.

Ø  Agree that the revenue budget savings required to fund the additional borrowing will be considered as part of the budget and MTFP process

Ø  Agree to consider a revised approach to replacement leisure facilities on the Monmouth campus as set out in paragraphs 3.13 and 3.14. A further report will be provided to Council in January 2017.