The Cabinet Member Signing of Haringey Council was scheduled to convene on Monday, 18 August 2025, to discuss a legal agreement between Haringey Council and St Mary's Infant School. The meeting was also scheduled to cover apologies for absence, declarations of interest, urgent business, deputations, petitions and questions. Some of the information relating to the legal agreement was marked as exempt from the press and public.

Legal Agreement between Haringey Council and St Mary's Infant School

The meeting was scheduled to discuss and potentially approve a funding agreement between Haringey Council, the London Diocesan Board for Schools (LDBS), and the governing body or trustees of St Mary's Church of England Primary School.

The council's Children Services Team had reportedly secured £7 million in funding from the Department for Education (DfE) as part of the Safety Valve Programme¹, along with contributions of £3.2 million from the Haringey North Primary Care Alliance (HNPCA) and £2.2 million from other local authorities, bringing the total to £12.4 million. The report pack stated that the funding was intended to develop educational provisions for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The St Mary's Infant School site was identified to be operated as a satellite site by Park View Secondary School, creating 34 key stage 3 and 4 places for Social, Emotional, and Mental Health (SEMH) resource provision.

The report pack stated that the funding agreement would involve the London Diocesan Board for Schools surrendering all rights and interests in the St Mary's Church Lane Infant site, including any claims to statutory transfer of the site under the Schools and Framework Act 1998². In return, the council would provide funding to the LDBS for the expansion of the St Mary's Junior School Site at Rectory Road. This would allow the infant pupils to move from the Church Lane site, enabling the council to take permanent possession and develop the required SEN provision. According to the report pack, the council's interests would be protected through the surrender of the Church Lane Site upon signing the funding agreement, including the caretaker's house. The council would then grant a licence back to the school to remain on the site. The funding would be released in two instalments, with the first instalment subject to conditions to enable the LDBS to complete pre-application work. The remaining funding would be released monthly based on evidence of completed works, with a retention paid upon complete vacation of the Church Lane Site.

The LDBS has reportedly confirmed that the remaining balance for the development costs at the Rectory Road Site would be provided by the Grieg Trust.

The report pack stated that after vacant possession, the council would undertake phase two works to reconfigure the Church Lane site, following Haringey's procurement rules. The cost of the site surrender and capital alteration works at Church Lane site were detailed in an exempt appendix.

The report pack stated that a failure to proceed with the project could increase pressure on the high needs block, leading to students being placed out of borough at a high cost.

The report pack stated that an alternative option of procuring a new build was discounted due to a high-cost analysis, estimating £6 million based on feasibility studies. The use of the St Mary's Infant site was considered better value for money than building a new facility, assuming sufficient space was available elsewhere.

The report pack stated that the objectives of the Safety Valve programme align with the priorities within Haringey's Corporate Delivery Plan 2024-2026, specifically Theme 3: Children and young people, and contribute to Haringey's SEND Strategy 2022-2025 and Early Years Strategy 2022-2026.

The report pack stated that the council has set a zero-carbon deadline of 2027 for core council operational buildings and transport-related activities, and 2041 for other buildings from which the council delivers services, such as schools.

The report pack included comments from statutory officers, including the Director of Finance, Strategic Procurement, and the Director of Legal and Governance. The Director of Legal and Governance reportedly confirmed that the council has the power to enter into grant funding agreements under Section 1 of the Localism Act 2011³ and that the recommendation to enter into the funding agreement is in line with the council's Contract Standing Orders. The report pack also included an Equality Impact Assessment, which stated that the resource provision would have a positive impact on the community and young people in the west of the borough, providing targeted support for pupils with SEMH while keeping them in mainstream schools.

Exclusion of Press and Public

The agenda stated that item 8, the Exempt Legal Agreement between Haringey Council and St Mary's Infant School, was likely to be subject to a motion to exclude the press and public due to containing exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972⁴, specifically relating to financial or business affairs and information subject to legal professional privilege.