Content

Salford City Council - Record of Decision
 
I,
Councillor Tracy Kelly, Statutory Deputy City Mayor, in exercise of
the powers contained within the City Council Constitution do hereby approve: The associated budget costs
of £7,670.00 in respect of the creation of additional
capacity across eight educational settings to support the
city’s pupil demand position from September
2025.
 
The Reasons are: The identified schemes will provide additional
secondary places across three high schools, supporting the local
authority’s secondary pupil demand position across two
secondary school planning areas as of September 2025. The further
five schemes, are in respect of the creation of additional
specialist provision, supporting the local authority’s
strategy by providing a continuum of provision for the young people
of the city.
Options considered and rejected were: None
Assessment of Risk:
The creation of additional pupil
capacity will assist the city council in fulfilling its statutory
duty in relation to the provision of sufficient school
places.
The source of funding is:
The
cost of works will be met with the Basic Need and SEND Capital
grant allocations available.
Legal Advice obtained:
Local authorities have a statutory
responsibility to ensure there are enough school places available
in their area for every child aged 5 to 16 needing one, as set out
in section 14 of the Education Act 1996.
 
The Department of Education
(DfE) provides Basic Need capital grant funding to local
authorities to support them to meet that statutory responsibility.
The Basic Need Grant can be used to create new school places in
mainstream schools.
 
The Grant helps local
authorities meet the growing demand for school places and ensure
that all children, including those with SEND, have access to
suitable education environments. The funding is un-ringfenced
(subject to certain conditions that ensures any funding paid out
under this grant is spent efficiently) and it is for local
authorities to determine how to best use the funding to meet local
priorities.
 
In relation to efficient use of
resources DfE guidance states: “The department expects local
authorities to conduct a robust evaluation of procurement options
for any education capital projects.”
 
In relation to using the Grant
to create new places DfE guidance states: “When expanding
existing schools, we expect local authorities to create new places
at schools (including academies and free schools) with an overall
Ofsted rating of good or outstanding, and to notify the department
where it is not possible to do so. We also expect local authorities
to prioritise schools with strong performance records by
considering a range of performance indicators and financial data,
when deciding to expand a school. Expansion can offer school
leaders the opportunity to reach more local children and to achieve
greater financial economies of scale. All schools should be
flexible in considering how best they can support the local
authority to deliver its sufficiency duty. We expect school leaders
and academy trusts to collaborate effectively with local
authorities, expanding where feasible when requested to do so by a
local authority, or increasing their admission numbers where they
have capacity, in order to meet a local need for
places.”
 
The SEND Capital Grant is
specifically aimed at creating new places for children with special
educational needs and disabilities (SEND). It can be used to adapt
classrooms, expand specialist units in mainstream schools, and
create new places in special schools.
 
The proposals will enable the
Council to comply with its statutory duty under the Education Act
1996 to provide sufficient places for primary and secondary
education in its area.
 
Financial advice obtained: The
indicative capital costs detailed in this report, will be funded
from within the Council’s SEND and Basic Need Grant
allocations, included within the Children’s Services Capital
Programme.
 
In
respect of academies, the funding will be awarded to the Multi
Academy Trust in the form of a Grant and will be awarded in line
with the relevant agreement, funds will only be passed once the
projects have commenced. Spend will be
closely monitored to ensure the final project costs where possible
do not exceed this figure.
 
Procurement Advice obtained:
The procurement of
the modular build for Springwood Primary was undertaken by the
internal property team and was procured by utilising the NWCH
framework which is a compliant route to market and complies with
the Public Contract Regulations and the Councils own internal
contractual standing orders.
 
The procurement
of the other schools, Salford City Academy High School, Albion
Academy High School, will be undertaken by the
Multi
Academy Trust and their own external partners.
As, the delivery of the
schemes will be led by relevant Multi Academy Trust and their
external partners, the procurement and delivery of the schemes
should be in line with the procurement rules, also following their
own governance procedures. Irlam and Cadishead Academy High School
procurement will be in line with the PFI contract and
delivered through facilities management external
contractors.
 
The procurement and delivery of the other schools
and centre that are not academies may fall with the council and the
procurement should be in line with the procurement rules and SCC
governance, if this is the case the same process identified for
Springwood can be followed or the most suitable framework
utilised.
HR Advice obtained: Not
Applicable
Climate Change Advice obtained: Not Applicable
The following documents have been used to assist the decision
process: N/A

Contact Officers:  

Paula Newall, Service
Lead School Organisation        
Michael Goddard,
Project and Provision Planning Manager

Telephone numbers: 0161 778
0447 and 0161 778 0450
 

·        
This decision is subject to consideration for
briefing purposes by the Lead Member for Children and Young People.
The Lead Member is supportive of the decision.

·        
The appropriate scrutiny to call-in the decision is
the Children’s Scrutiny Panel.                     

 

Signed    Councillor
Tracy Kelly                     Dated
10.06.25

                       
Statutory Deputy City Mayor
 

For Democratic
Services use only

 

This decision was
published on  12.06.25.  This decision
will come in force at 4.00 p.m. on            
19.06.25 unless it is called-in
in accordance with the Decision Making Process Rules.