Issue details

The County Council has a statutory duty to provide sufficient school places for all children who need a place.  This is normally secured through Basic Need expansion works initiated and delivered by the County Council.  Where the opportunity exists for delivery by other bodies such as the Department for Education (DfE) and/or developers the County Council has always considered the project on its individual merits.

The DfE announced in July 2022 that Holy Trinity CE Secondary School, Crawley was one of the 500 schools chosen by the DfE to be part of its Priority Schools Rebuilding Programme.  The school is currently a 7 form entry (7FE) (210 pupils per year of intake) school and the opportunity to secure a 1FE expansion (30 pupils extra per year of entry) through a contribution towards a DfE delivered capital project will enable the County Council to meet some of the growth of secondary school places in Crawley.

The DfE have advised that the indicative cost of increasing the school from 7FE to 8FE is £3.5m plus VAT.  The VAT will be paid and reclaimed in accordance with the County Council process on VAT.  The figure is an estimate only and the total cost of the additional works, and therefore the contribution, may be higher or lower than this estimate.  The DfE will invoice only once the final cost for the additional works has been confirmed, and the Council will then pay this amount (whether it is more or less than the original estimate) in accordance with the agreement with the DfE.

Approval is required for the allocation of £3.5m plus VAT of funding from the Capital Programme to provide the DfE with the necessary contribution to enable the increased accommodation to be provided at Holy Trinity CE Secondary School as part of the Priority Schools Rebuilding Programme project that is being managed and delivered by the DfE.