Agenda item

Annual Review of the School Place Planning Strategy 2022-27

Minutes:

Background:

The report set out the annual review of progress against the School Place Planning Strategy. It showed areas of emerging demand and made recommendations to ensure that sufficient school places would be available.

The Council had a statutory duty to provide sufficient school places. The Strategy described the principles, methods, and challenges of this duty.

The proposals in the annual review followed the School Place Planning Strategy Principles. They also supported the Council Plan sub-priority to “Ensure all children and young people access a high-quality, inclusive education.”

It was noted that ensuring the right school for the right child was a challenge that required the correct resources in place. The Plan showed that while there was more to do, good progress was being made.

Decision *number:*	Decision:
118/2026	The Cabinet approved the reallocation of the £612,713 underspend from the Rivermead project to the Danecourt Secondary project, as set out in paragraph 9.8 of the report.
119/2026	The Cabinet recommended to Council the addition of £5 million from the 2026/27 High Needs Capital Allocation to the Danecourt secondary project, as set out in paragraph 9.4 of the report.
120/2026	The Cabinet recommended to Council the addition of £400,000 from the 2026/27 High Needs Capital Allocation to the All Saints Special Resourced Provision project, as set out in paragraph 9.9 of the report.
121/2026	The Cabinet recommended to Council the addition of the St Margaret’s Infants Special Resourced Provision project to the Education Capital Programme, and £220,000 from the 2026/27 High Needs Capital Allocation to this project, and approved the commencement of design and tender process, as set out in paragraph 9.10 of the report.
122/2026	The Cabinet approved the allocation from the High Needs Capital Allocation grant of £60,000 to the Napier Primary Special Resourced Provision project, as set out in paragraph 9.12 of the report.
123/2026	The Cabinet approved the allocation from the High Needs Capital Allocation grant of £40,000 to the St Margarets Junior Special Resourced Provision project, as set out in paragraph 9.12 of the report.
124/2026	The Cabinet recommended to Council the addition of the Riverside Primary phased expansion project to the Education Capital Programme, and the allocation of £1,621,988.52 s106 towards this project, and approved the commencement of design and tender process, as set out in paragraph 7.8 of the report.
125/2026	The Cabinet recommend to Council the allocation of £42,500 additional s106 funding to The Beeches free school project on the Rowans site for play equipment and outreach cabin project, as set out in paragraph 10.2 of the report.
126/2026	The Cabinet approved the allocation of £5,811.33 s106 funding to Greenvale Primary for additional furniture to facilitate the transition from an infant to primary school, as set out in paragraph 7.12 of the report.
127/2026	The Cabinet approved the addition of the Howard 3G pitch project to the Education Capital Programme, and the allocation of a £150,000 s106 funding contribution, as set out in paragraph 8.5 of the report.
	The Cabinet noted the progress made, which had ensured the Council had met its duty, and sufficient school places were available.

Reasons:

Approving the recommendations in section 1 of the report will ensure that the Council meets its statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, and the most effective and appropriate use of public funds.

Supporting documents: