Councillors and committees

Issue - meetings

Thomas Knyvett College, Ashford - Schools Basic Need Expansion Project

Meeting: 26/09/2017 - Cabinet (Item 150)

150 Thomas Knyvett College, Ashford - Schools Basic Need Expansion Project pdf icon PDF 146 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

That, subject to the agreement of the detailed financial information for the expansion, as set out in submitted Part 2 report, the business case for the provision of accommodation sufficient to enable two additional forms of entry (300 places) at Thomas Knyvett College be approved.

 

Reasons for decisions

 

The proposal supports the Authority’s statutory obligation to provide necessary school places to meet the needs of the population in Spelthorne Borough by providing Year 7 places when and where they are needed.

 

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Children and Education Select Committee and/or the Corporate Services Select Committee]

Minutes:

The item was introduced by the Cabinet Member for Education who stated that Schools Basic Need Funding was a success story for the Council which had received a good settlement from Central Government, funding which had been fought for by the Leader of the Council. The settlement had enabled SCC to provide a considerable number of school places over the previous four years keeping pace with demographic demand in the County.

 

In regard to Thomas Knyvett College, Mrs Lewis gave details of the project and stated that it would provide 300 additional places by utilising latent capacity within the school which would cope with population increases in the area over the next few years. The Cabinet Member further highlighted that Thomas Knyvett was rated ‘Good’ and stated that she was confident that the school would retain this rating while it was being adapted to provide these additional places.

 

The Cabinet Member for Adults asked Mrs Lewis to explain how the Council secures expansion to a school that sits within a Multi-Academy Trust. He was informed that expansion in academies is secured in the same way that it is at a Community School, through cooperation and partnership building. SCC can theoretically force a Community School to expand but in reality it doesn’t constitute a practicable solution in most circumstances.

 

 

RESOLVED:

 

That, subject to the agreement of the detailed financial information for the expansion, as set out in submitted Part 2 report, the business case for the provision of accommodation sufficient to enable two additional forms of entry (300 places) at Thomas Knyvett College be approved.

 

Reasons for decisions

 

The proposal supports the Authority’s statutory obligation to provide necessary school places to meet the needs of the population in Spelthorne Borough by providing Year 7 places when and where they are needed.