Decision

The Interim Director of Capital Programmes has approved that Portakabin Ltd (Company Number 00685303) be directly awarded a contract to the value of £300,058 via the NHS Shared Business Services Framework; Modular Buildings, Lot 4 Education modular hire and lease for:

a. Undertaking the installation of a temporary modular building with a classroom, meeting room and toilets, plus all groundworks, at Meadowside School, Poool Lane, Birkenhead, Wirral, CH49 5LA; and

b. Hire of the building for 3 years for a 156 week term.

Reasons for the decision

A detailed Specification of requirements has been received from Meadowside Special School, Pool Lane, Woodchurch
CH49 5LA, to accommodate the increase in pupil numbers accessing the school’s specialist provision for the 2026/27 school year.
An additional 10 pupil places have been allocated by the Council.
SEND pupil sufficiency planning work has illustrated that there is a need for such additional capacity at Meadowside School to meet the needs of Wirral children preventing the need for more costly out of area placements.
In this instance a direct award to Portakabin Limited via the NHS SBS Framework; Modular Buildings, Lot 4 Education modular hire and lease, will be awarded to Portakabin Ltd and will be underpinned by a formal contract which will be drawn up by the Council’s legal team in due course.

Alternative options considered

A number of design options have been explored to create the additional pupil accommodation required by the school. This has included exploring capacity in other SEND bases in mainstream schools, internal alterations at the school site and traditional build solutions.
Given the very limited space on the school site and the urgent need to provide of accommodation for the 10 pupils arriving in September 2026 the proposed mobile classroom solution was the most advantageous.
The school could not accommodate the increase in pupil numbers within the existing building. The option of not proceeding with the temporary classroom project would mean that teaching accommodation would not meet Department for Education guidelines and might incur looking at out of borough education solutions.
Out of Borough solutions to place pupils with SEND are often not appropriate and have significant financial implications. The project option presented equates to circa £18,750.00 per pupil whilst to educate out of Borough would be an additional £50,000.00 per pupil.