This meeting will include discussion about proposed changes to the council's Children’s Services Capital Programme. The meeting report pack also contains a proposal about how the council maintains its school buildings.

Children's Services Capital Programme 2024/27- Mid year update

This item relates to the plan for investment in buildings and facilities for children's services over a three year period. The report asks the council to approve changes to the existing plan including:

• Reallocating the budget for Valley Primary School.
• Approving the Schools’ Maintenance Programme for 2025/26 and 2026/27.

This report presents a mid- year update to the Children’s Services Capital Programme for 2024/27.

The report says that the updated capital programme requires a total investment of £30,249m over 3 years. It lists the projects that the council has been working on, including:

• Expanding Cheswick Green Primary School.
• Building a new teaching block at St Peter’s Catholic School.
• Providing extra capacity at Langley School.
• Expanding Heart of England School.
• Discussions with Tudor Grange Academy Solihull about providing extra capacity to support bulge classes ¹ .
• Creating a new Alternative Provision building at the former Daylesford Infant school site for primary aged pupils who have been excluded.
• Moving The Cedars Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) Primary Alternative Provision from Yew Tree Primary to Langley Primary School.
• Building a two-storey extension to Reynalds Cross School.
• Working with the Department for Education to open a new 150-place free school, including investigating the potential for the council to deliver the school itself.
• Refurbishing a building at Meriden CE Primary School to be used as a children’s centre.
• The Family Hub Transformation Programme.
• Creating Children’s Homes in three properties transferred from the NHS.
• Reproviding youth facilities at Brackleys Way.

The report says that the withdrawal of the draft Local Plan in October 2024 had made planning for school places more difficult.

The withdrawal of the draft Local Plan, approved by Cabinet on 8th October, introduces a level of uncertainty to the planning of school places to meet future housing development.

The report also notes that a new School’s Asset Management Plan is being prepared for Summer 2025, and that government funding to help schools provide wraparound and early years childcare is being evaluated.

Expressions of interest have been received from schools and providers to expand their wraparound and/or early years offers and these are currently being evaluated to ensure they target the areas of highest need for places and are value for money.

Exclusion of the Public and Press

The report pack states that the meeting may be closed to the public for discussion about the Children's Services Capital Programme.

The meeting is likely not to be open to the public during discussion of the following items because the reports contain exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.