The Corporate Director – Education and Family Support and Interim Head of Finance and S151 Officer submitted a joint report, the purpose of which, was to update Cabinet with regards to the outcome of Welsh Government’s review of the Mutual Investment Model (MIM) Band B funding mechanism, and to also seek Cabinet approval to pursue Option 3, for the financial delivery of Band B of the School Modernisation Programme, prior to submission to Council.

By way of background to the main provisions of the report, the Corporate Director – Education and Family Support advised that the School Modernisation Programme was established to deliver on several objectives including:-

·         developing first-class learning environments;

·         locating the right number of schools, of a viable size, in the best places to serve their communities;

·         making schools an integral part of the life and learning of their  communities;

·          reducing surplus places and achieving best value for money; and

      make schools more efficient and sustainable.

He continued by confirming that at its meeting on 31 January 2018, Council approved in principle the financial commitment required for Band B of the School Modernisation Programme.  The approval would be subject to sufficient resources being identified and allocated to meet the match funding commitment. The overall programme was estimated to be in the region of £68.2m, of which approximately £43.2m was anticipated to be capital funded (circa £23m funded by Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC)), the balance proposed to be funded through the Welsh Government Mutual Investment Model (MIM).

Since the approval and subsequent introduction of the Strategic Review Overarching Board in May 2016, Welsh Government had reviewed the schemes that have been proposed for its Mutual Investment Model (MIM), and this review assessed:-

1. The feasibility of delivering the individual schools as MIM projects.
2. The practicalities associated with grouping the schools together by region and capital value; and
3. The optimal procurement route

The Corporate Director – Education and Family Support then referred to paragraph 4.6 of the report, which identified certain new builds as ideal facilities for MIM delivery.

He continued by advising that Welsh Government had stated that it was not value for money to include small or very complex schemes through a MIM. Consequently, Bridgend Special School was now deemed unsuitable for delivery under this funding model. This was purely a Welsh Government decision based on a recent review. In light of this decision, the funding approach to BCBC’s Band B schemes needs to be re-considered in order to reach a decision on the way forward.

Projects progressed via the MIM are subject to a number of differences compared to schemes undertaken via the capital grant route, including the procurement process and the intervention rates. A direct comparison of each route was provided in Table 1 of the report.

The report then gave some financial implications, after which the Corporate Director – Education and Family Support stated that Officers had spoken to Welsh Government officials about potential options available following the removal of special school builds from the MIM procurement route. These which totalled four, were expanded upon in the next sections of the report and he gave a resume of each of these for the benefit of Members.

The Cabinet Member – Education and Regeneration confirmed that Cabinet had looked at all the options contained in the report and the advantages and disadvantages of these, and it had been recommended that Option 3 be pursued as this was considered the most balanced option and allowed for more flexibility in respect of issues such as building design etc.

The Leader added that the Option so chosen, would also would also assist in meeting higher pupil intervention rates, particularly as local authorities had struggled to identify capital contributions to match fund Welsh contributions for the construction of new school facilities in Band A and will find it more difficult in Band B.

He finally requested that Cabinet receives a further on this matter, in due course.

RESOLVED:                  That Cabinet:

(1)           Noted the outcome of Welsh Government’s review of the Mutual   Investment Model (MIM) Band B funding mechanism.

(2)           Discontinued with the original approach to funding Band B of the School Modernisation Programme.

(3)           Gave approval to pursue Option 3 for the financial delivery of Band B, subject to sufficient resources being identified and allocated to meet the match-funding commitment.

Gave approval for a report to be submitted to Council to amend the capital programme to reflect the above.