To inform Cabinet of the outcome of the consultation on the proposal to make a regulated alteration to Mynydd Cynffig Primary School, by enlarging and relocating the school, to a remodelled school building and new provision on the current Cynffig Comprehensive school site, East Avenue, Kenfig Hill, Bridgend with effect from 1st September 2018 and to present to Cabinet the findings of the consultation in a draft consultation report and seek approval to publish the report.

The Head of Education and Early Help presented a report which informed Cabinet of the outcome of the consultation on the proposal to make a regulated alteration to Mynydd Cynffig Primary School, by enlarging and relocating the school, to a remodelled school building and new provision on the current Cynffig Comprehensive school site, East Avenue, Kenfig Hill, Bridgend. The report also attached at Appendix A the findings of the consultation in the form of a draft consultation report.

She advised that consultation was carried out between 4^th October and 22^nd November 2016 in accordance with the statutory ‘School Organisation Code’.

The Head of Education and Early Help stated that during the course of the consultation process, considerable representations were made in respect of the proposal to relocate the primary school to the comprehensive school site.

She added that as Cabinet would be aware, a feasibility study was undertaken in 2011 to establish the most suitable site for the primary school. That study considered the establishment of primary provision on the Infant, Junior and Comprehensive School sites, the outcome of which determined that the preferred site was that of the Junior School.

Notwithstanding the above, the Corporate Director Education and Transformation requested further feasibility work be undertaken to build on the previous study to explore the potential of remodelling Cynffig Comprehensive, in order to accommodate Mynydd Cynffig Primary School at that location.

The Head of Education and Early Help, advised that at the time of proposing the option of relocating the primary school to the comprehensive school site, the local authority (LA) had identified that there was considerable pressure on the LA’s budget as a result of the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy.

The LA had also expressed concern that as there was a large number of unfunded surplus places at the comprehensive school and together with the likely increased pressure on school budgets, this could mean that the school could potentially be unviable moving forward.

She explained that the potential risk of closure of a comprehensive school would not be something that would be desirable given the impact on the school, school staff, the governing body, pupils and wider community.

The main mitigation in respect of this risk was identified as to use the surplus space at Cynffig Comprehensive School to the benefit of the Mynydd Cynffig Primary school.  This has been the most viable site to consolidate and move to, and given the close proximity of the comprehensive school to the primary school sites, this was seen as the ideal solution.

The Head of Education and Early Help, advised that the outcome of the feasibility study to relocate the primary provision to the comprehensive site was reported to Cabinet on 5^th July 2016 and Cabinet determined that the comprehensive site was now the preferred site to be taken forward.

Nevertheless, the recent public consultation had evoked strong opposition with a petition against the current proposal, and has further identified a counter proposal for a new two form entry primary school on the existing Junior site.  The counter proposal, petitions and completed proformas were contained in Appendix 9 to the report.

The Head of Education and Early Help, explained that an Equality Impact Assessment has been carried out as part of the consultation stage and has been further informed by responses to the consultation papers. The assessment has concluded that there is a negative impact on the duties of the Council in respect of age. Mitigation has been considered and a plan will be actioned should the proposal proceed. (Appendix 6 to the report refers).

The Cabinet Member Education and Regeneration advised that the benefits of the reports proposals that would be available for children aged 3 – 19 had obviously not been appreciated by certain respondents to the consultation. The proposals of the Authority also safeguarded the comprehensive school which was presently undersubscribed.

The Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help referred to page 90 of the report and paragraph 4.12, where it stated that Cabinet should consider whether the Junior site study should be reviewed. In respect of this, he added that the Council had previously ascertained the most favourable location and design for the school, yet it now faced the scenario of a Counter proposal opposing this.

He also referred to page 85 of the report and paragraph 4.13 where it stated that the outcome of the feasibility study of the Junior site indicated that the allotments would need to be relocated, considerable re-grading may be required to achieve suitable external terraces and the required amount of accommodation at ground level may not be achievable. This part of the report also made reference to highways observations which expressed concerns regarding the suitability of the site from a highway safety perspective. The Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help emphasised that considerable work had gone into the consultation, yet a Counter notice had been made to place the new school in a location that was not as favourable as the Cynffig Comprehensive school site.

The Head of Education and Early Help advised that it was incumbent upon the local authority to consider the Counter notice, and that a significant problem was that the original proposal which had previously been put out to consultation had not subsequently been implemented, and this had led to the latest response from the public with regard to the remodelled school being placed at the Junior school site.

The Cabinet Member Wellbeing and Future Generations advised that the Counter notice should be considered, as if it was not, the local authority would be required to re-serve notice of its intentions.

The Corporate Director – Operational and Partnership Services and Monitoring Officer, concurred with this, adding that if the Council agreed to consider the Counter proposal it could then make a balanced decision taking into consideration all the evidence in respect of the various options that had been put forward and were available.

The Deputy Leader added that any decision eventually made in respect of the remodelled school and its location, should be based on the best possible education outcomes for pupils who are to be taught at the school.  

RESOLVED:                        That Cabinet:

• Considered the outcome of the consultation with all parties as detailed in the Consultation report and Appendices attached to the main report
• Approved the draft Consultation report for publication
• Considered the counter proposal submitted via the consultation, to develop the Junior site as an alternative scheme, and sanction a re-evaluation of both current junior and comprehensive school sites. The outcome of this re-evaluation will be reported back to Cabinet in a future report for its consideration.

Gave approval to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment to fully understand the impact of the proximity of the civic amenity site and cement works