Delay in Publication of Notices

Dear Colleague 

Reorganisation of Special Schools - Publication of Statutory Notices

I am writing to inform you of a change in our plans regarding the publication of Statutory Notices for the Special School reorganisation, to explain the reasons behind the change in our thinking and what happens next.

As you know, the Council Executive recently approved the proposals to close ten existing special schools in the district and establish six new ones co-located at mainstream schools.  The Executive at the time of their approval asked officers to proceed to publish Statutory Notices to begin formal consultation on these proposals.  We indicated to you in previous meetings that it was our intention to publish Statutory Notices on 23 April, with a view to them being considered finally by the School Organisation Committee towards the end of July.  We are no longer able to stick to this timetable and will be deferring the publication of Statutory Notices until early-autumn.

The reason for this is that, following a number of high level meetings with the DfES over the last six months concerning the Building Schools for the Future Programme, we have still been unable to secure from them a clear commitment to a timescale for a decision on Phase 2 of our Building Schools for the Future Programme, which includes the new secondary special schools.  Though the DfES is aware of the critical importance of this to us given our local reorganisation they have indicated that they are not in a position to confirm our funding arrangements until they have considered all of the Phase 2 proposals nationally.

It is not possible at this stage to be precise on exactly when we will get an answer from them. However we cannot be certain that it will be this side of the summer holidays.

The problem that this causes is that the School Organisation Committee cannot approve proposals unless they are satisfied that the Council has the capital resources in place to implement them.  This is not a problem for primary schools as the Council is funding their development itself, but it is a problem for the secondary schools.  Given the DfES’s reluctance to commit to a timescale for their decision, we do not feel that we can publish the notices at this stage and need to wait until we are clearer about the DfES timescale.

As national guidance recommends that we do not publish notices when the consultation period would run over the summer holidays, we can not now realistically publish Statutory Notices until September, when the funding position should be clearer. This therefore means that we will not have a final decision on the proposals until just before the Christmas break. 

In terms of implementation this adds another term’s delay into the process.  Given the timescale for procurement under Building Schools for the Future it also means that the new school buildings are unlikely to be commissioned and available before early 2007. 

The Council is very strongly of the view that the new schools can only realistically open once the new school buildings are available, this in effect means that we will almost certainly have to delay implementation of our proposals until the summer of 2007. This is a matter of real regret to us, as we wish to proceed as quickly as possible. 

In closing, can I reassure you that the Council remains absolutely committed to bringing about the reorganisation as soon as we possibly can, recognising the very real inadequacies of the buildings that many of  you work within at the moment.  We will continue to work closely with you and your colleagues through the Steering Group and its sub-groups to ensure that we plan and deliver a really high quality process and outcome for the pupils and staff we work with.

I will discuss these issues in more detail at the Steering Group meeting on 23 April, but in the meantime if you wish to discuss any aspect of this please do not hesitate to contact either myself of Phil Green.

I look forward to see you again soon.

Yours sincerely

Mark Carriline

Assistant Chief Executive (Education Community and Social Care)