To consider the attached report of the Director of Children’s Services.

Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Children’s Services which advised that the Rochdale borough is in the process of getting three new central government delivered Academy Free schools. To facilitate this process the council has been working towards finding and delivering good sites for the schools that meet local need.

A Department for Education, DfE, Capital Delivery team is now in place for the proposed secondary school in Middleton. Final red line boundary for the site is now nearing agreement and negotiations are ongoing with regard to agreeing the Heads of Terms. Cabinet approval is required for the disposal. The disposal of the school site land will be by way of a lease for a Term of 125 years at a peppercorn rent. The DfE’s model lease will be used.

Resolved

1.     That approval be given to the disposal, by way of a 125 year lease, of  part of the grazing land site at Bowlee, Middleton, which is shown edged red on the plan at appendix 1 to the report, for the purpose of the new secondary school in Middleton. The school site will be between a minimum of 54,000 sq m and a maximum of 67,500 sq m as required by current school building guidance for a 900 pupil place secondary school.

2.     That the Director of Economy and the Director of Resources, acting jointly, be given delegated authority for final sign off of the Heads of Term for the secondary school in Middleton.

3.     That the Assistant Director of Resources (Legal, Governance and Workforce) be authorised to carry out all necessary legal work in connection with the disposal.

Reasons for the recommendation

The local authority has a statutory duty to offer every child living in the borough, and who applies, a school place. Birth rates have been increasing for the last 15 years and secondary schools in the Rochdale Borough have reached capacity. The town of Middleton has and is continuing to see increasing new housing, and with outstanding Primary schools locally, has seen large rises in pupil numbers. Numbers of pupils are expected to continue to rise until 2027/28.

With Rochdale Sixth Form College (RSFC), continuing to be outstanding and a national leader in sixth form provision, the local authority is in a privileged position with Altus Education Partnership, the RSFC trust, opening the new secondary school in Middleton.

Delivering the new school site and aiding the process of the new school delivery is important for families looking for outstanding school provision in the area, and will encourage families to settle in the Rochdale Borough and facilitate improvements in education and therefore wider employability skills in residents.

Alternatives considered

None. School cohorts within Middleton have continued to rise, with natural birth rates being boosted from families moving into the area and an increase in new housing locally. Existing secondary schools in the area have been expanded over the last few years and no further expansions are possible. Current government legislation dictates new schools must be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17

To consider the attached report of the Director of Children’s Services.

The Members scrutinised a report of the Director of Children’s Services which advised that the Rochdale borough was in the process of getting three new central government delivered Academy Free schools. To facilitate this process the Council had been working towards finding and delivering good sites for the schools that meet local need.

A Department for Education (DfE) Capital Delivery team was now in place for the proposed secondary school in Middleton. The final red line boundary for the site was nearing agreement and negotiations were ongoing with regard to agreeing the Heads of Terms. Cabinet approval was required for the disposal. The disposal of the school site land would be by way of a lease for a Term of 125 years at a peppercorn rent. The DfE’s model lease model would be used.

The local authority has a statutory duty to offer every child living in the borough, and who applies, a school place. Birth rates have been increasing for the last 15 years and secondary schools in the Rochdale Borough have reached capacity. The town of Middleton has and is continuing to see increasing new housing, and with outstanding Primary schools locally, has seen large rises in pupil numbers. Numbers of pupils are expected to continue to rise until 2027/28.

With Rochdale Sixth Form College (RSFC), continuing to be outstanding and a national leader in sixth form provision, the local authority is in a privileged position with Altus Education Partnership, the RSFC trust, opening the new secondary school in Middleton.

Delivering the new school site and aiding the process of the new school delivery is important for families looking for outstanding school provision in the area, and will encourage families to settle in the Rochdale Borough and facilitate improvements in education and therefore wider employability skills in residents.

Resolved

That the Scrutiny Panel recommends that the Cabinet, at its meeting on 30^th June 2020, formally approves the recommendations in the submitted report.