Issue - meetings

RESOLVED:

1.    That Cabinet agrees the use of £100.2m of the total approved SEND Capital budget of £202m for 2022/23 to 2027/28 against twenty SEND Capital Programme projects with confirmed viable schemes, locations, and costs. These are part of the four capital strategies previously approved by Cabinet between 2019-2022.

2.    That Cabinet approves procurement of the supply chain for the delivery of all associated services required, in accordance with the Council’s Procurement and Contract Standing Orders.

3.    That Cabinet agrees that the Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Resources, and the Director of Land and Property are authorised to award contracts, up to +10% of the budgetary tolerance level for individual projects and within the overall £202m funding envelope for 2022/23 to 2027/28 that has already been agreed.

Reasons for Decisions:

·                Investing in the Capital Programme’s 2023/24 delivery tranche will generate a positive impact on outcomes for children with complex special educational needs and disabilities, as well as improving the Council’s financial sustainability.

·                The committed expansion projects are business critical to ensure Surrey County Council (the Council) discharges its statutory duties under Section 3 of the Local Government Act 1999, Sections 13 and 14 of the Education Act 1996 and Part 27 Section 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014.

·                The confirmed budgets against each of the 20 projects in the Capital Programme’s 2023/24 delivery tranche are above the current threshold for £1m. Cabinet’s delegated authority is required to enable the Cabinet Members for Property and Waste, Education and Lifelong Learning and Finance and Resources to approve contracts and allocate resources from the approved Capital budget for the programme to individual projects following Capital Programme Panel (CPP) approval of business cases.

·                To that end, agreement is sought to use defined resources to enable project progression against the Procurement Forward Plan, so that contracts can be awarded in time to facilitate target delivery timescales for 2023 and 2024.

(The decisions on this item can be called-in by the Children, Families, Lifelong Learning & Culture Select Committee)

The report was introduced by the Cabinet Member for Education and Learning who explained that the report was seeking Cabinet approval for the use of £100m for future SEND capital funding as set out in the medium term financial strategy. This represented capital investment for 20 projects with viable schemes, established locations and confirmed costs. The project would create in the region of 700 additional state maintained specialist school places in Surrey with delivery from September 2023 onwards. This would mean that Surrey children with additional needs and disabilities who need to go to specialist schools can be educated closer to home and rooted in their own communities. The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources explained that when looking at the cost of the project over its lifetime the annual cost of the scheme would be under £2500 per pupil. The report was welcomed by Members. The positive work being undertaken between the SEND team and the land and property team was recognised.

RESOLVED:

1.    That Cabinet agrees the use of £100.2m of the total approved SEND Capital budget of £202m for 2022/23 to 2027/28 against twenty SEND Capital Programme projects with confirmed viable schemes, locations, and costs. These are part of the four capital strategies previously approved by Cabinet between 2019-2022.

2.    That Cabinet approves procurement of the supply chain for the delivery of all associated services required, in accordance with the Council’s Procurement and Contract Standing Orders.

3.    That Cabinet agrees that the Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Resources, and the Director of Land and Property are authorised to award contracts, up to +10% of the budgetary tolerance level for individual projects and within the overall £202m funding envelope for 2022/23 to 2027/28 that has already been agreed.

Reasons for Decisions:

·                Investing in the Capital Programme’s 2023/24 delivery tranche will generate a positive impact on outcomes for children with complex special educational needs and disabilities, as well as improving the Council’s financial sustainability.

·                The committed expansion projects are business critical to ensure Surrey County Council (the Council) discharges its statutory duties under Section 3 of the Local Government Act 1999, Sections 13 and 14 of the Education Act 1996 and Part 27 Section 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014.

·                The confirmed budgets against each of the 20 projects in the Capital Programme’s 2023/24 delivery tranche are above the current threshold for £1m. Cabinet’s delegated authority is required to enable the Cabinet Members for Property and Waste, Education and Lifelong Learning and Finance and Resources to approve contracts and allocate resources from the approved Capital budget for the programme to individual projects following Capital Programme Panel (CPP) approval of business cases.

·                To that end, agreement is sought to use defined resources to enable project progression against the Procurement Forward Plan, so that contracts can be awarded in time to facilitate target delivery timescales for 2023 and 2024.

(The decisions on this item can be called-in by the Children, Families, Lifelong Learning & Culture Select Committee)