Decision

Having been duly proposed and seconded, the Executive Resolved to:-

·       NOTE the review of the first wave of SEN units that opened in the previous academic year, as set out in Appendix 1 to this report.

·       NOTE Somerset's HNPCA allocation of £9.311m from the Department for Education for financial year 2026-27, approved by the Chief Finance Officer on 1 June 2026.

·       APPROVE the proposed revised target number of places to be delivered and the revised target average per-place build costs (as set out in Section 9 of this report) made possible through the use of part of the 2026-27 HNPCA allocation.

·       APPROVE the next wave of HNPCA projects as set out in this report (subject to feasibility assessments).

·       DELEGATE to the Head of Education Places and the Service Director for Finance and Procurement, in consultation with Legal Services, responsibility for the delivery of the approved schemes, including:

-      procuring and appointing appropriate project management resources and building contractors in accordance with the Council's Contract Procedure Rules and applicable legislation, in consultation with Procurement and Legal Services;

-      entering into contracts for external project management services, where required, building contractors and associated suppliers, including for the purchase of any necessary classroom infrastructure (for example furniture, fittings, equipment and IT), as approved by Legal Services;

-      monitoring expenditure to ensure it remained within the approved funding parameters set out in this decision paper;

-      where an academy elected to undertake scheme works independently and following completion of any required statutory consultations and approvals, agreeing funding and expenditure arrangements through legal agreements approved by Legal Services.