QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
THE ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
Strand London WC2 |
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B e f o r e :
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THE QUEEN ON THE APPLICATION OF BRADSHAW | (APPLICANT) | |
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OFFICE OF THE SCHOOLS ADJUDICATOR | (RESPONDENT) |
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Smith Bernal Wordwave Limited
190 Fleet Street London EC4A 2AG
Tel No: 020 7404 1400 Fax No: 020 7831 8838
(Official Shorthand Writers to the Court)
CLIVE SELDON (instructed by Treasury Solicitors) appeared on behalf of the DEFENDANT
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"When deciding whether or not to give any approval under this paragraph the committee shall have regard to
"(a) Any guidance given from time to time by the Secretary of State; and
"(b) The school organisation plan for the committee's area;
"And the committee shall not give any such approval unless they are satisfied that adequate financial resources will be available to enable the proposals to be implemented."
"33. The Decision Maker must be satisfied that any capital required to implement the proposals will be available. Normally this will be some form of written confirmation from the source of funding on which the promoters rely. In the case of a Local Education Authority, this may be from an authorised officer within the authority.
"34. ... Proposals may NOT be approved conditional upon availability of capital from sales or otherwise (although they may be approved conditional upon the entering into of a Private Finance Initiative transaction).
"35. Implementation of proposals may depend on the disposal of land previously used for the purposes of a county or community school, perhaps because of capital receipts. Those bringing forward proposals and the Decision Maker should therefore assure themselves that any necessary consent for disposal of the land under paragraph 2 of Schedule 35A to the Education Act 1996 has been received from the Secretary of State. Consent is also necessary for the disposal by foundation or voluntary schools of any publicly funded land and buildings under Schedule 22 of the SSFA 1998.
"36. The prior agreement of the Secretary of State will also be needed where it is proposed that capital should be raised from the disposal of school playing fields (details are given in DfES Guidance 0580/2001 "The Protection of School Playing Fields and Land for City Academies" published in July 2001). Proposals dependent on disposal of land for their implementation may not receive full approval until consent for their disposal has been received."
"4. As required by paragraph 3(7) of Schedule 6 to the Act, I have considered the proposal afresh. I have had full regard to the guidance given by the Secretary of State and to the School Organisation Plan for the area as required by paragraph 3(4) of Schedule 6 to the Act..."
"26. The Schools Group of the Committee expressed concern in two areas of capital funding. The first was a view that consideration should not be given to capital work at Hindley High School outside the context of the BSF bid. Secondly, they were concerned about the security of the capital funding. BSF is a long term bidding programme and it would not seem appropriate to wait on that bid before pursuing a policy which the council supported. At the meeting I attended the Council made a clear commitment to make capital funding for this project available and indicated that it was not dependent on the sale of school sites."
"Ring-fence the proceeds from the sale of the following schools: Atherton Two Porches; Hindley Tanfield; Standish Mere Oaks or Woodfield;
"Give permission to use future capital receipts from the sale of schools that may close over the coming years due to the impact of falling numbers;
"Include the estimated proceeds of sale in the capital programme for 2004/2005;
"Release the estimated proceeds of sale from the school sites in advance of any sale."
"2.1 Funding is necessary to make adaptations and improvements to the schools sited at Montrose, Green Hall and Brookfield to allow increased access for pupils. The estimated cost of these adaptations amounts to £2,153,760. In addition, there will be costs involved in the demolition of Mere Oaks, Tanfield and Two Porches, which could cost an estimated £120,000 -- this is based on previous demolition costs.
"2.2 Further funding is required for the adaptations needed at Hindley Community High School and to meet the shortfall at the new Hindley Resourced Primary School which will have on site a hydro-therapy pool. The cost of this amounts to £2,046,510.
"2.3 Additional funding will be needed to include an observation and assessment unit at the proposed new Wigan West School. The estimated cost for this is £300,000."
"3.1 To ring-fence the proceeds of sale from the following sites: Two Porches School (£150,000), Tanfield School (£250,000), Mere Oaks School (£2,500,000), or Woodfield School (£2,000,000).
"3.1.1 The Director of Land and Property has stated that the valuations are based on the knowledge of land transactions elsewhere within the Borough. They should be viewed as reasonable estimates of the likely capital value of each sale.
"3.2 To utilise capital receipts, released from the future sales of mainstream schools which may be closed as a result of falling rolls, to fund the difference between the estimated costs and estimated receipts.
"3.3 Include the estimated proceeds of sale in the capital programme for 2004/2005.
"3.4 Release the estimated proceeds of sale from the school sites in advance of any sale."
"4.1 Implementation of the proposed changes involves spending capital monies that are estimated to be in excess of the capital resources to be generated from the disposal of surplus special school sites. The capital expenditure would also be incurred in advance of the sale proceeds becoming available and therefore there would be a requirement for bridging funds.
"4.2 The content of this report has been shared with the Director of Finance and IT."
"1. That the report now submitted be accepted.
"2. That the proceeds from the sale of Atherton Two Porches, Hindley Tanfield and Standish Mere Oaks or Woodfield Schools be ring-fenced for this purpose.
"3. That future capital receipts from the sale of mainstream schools that may close over the coming years due to the impact of falling numbers be allocated to meet the shortfall detailed in the report.
"4. That the estimated proceeds of sale from the three Special Schools to be included in the Capital Programme for 2004/2005.
"5. That the estimated proceeds of sale from the Special Schools sites and the potential receipts from the sale of mainstream Schools that may close be released in advance of any sale for this purpose."
"6.25 A Walton clarified that a report had gone through Cabinet, a copy of which was in the prescribed information, which had the approval of members that any shortfalls to deliver the special needs proposals would be underwritten by the Council. This would be in the form of an interest-free loan, paid back from the capital receipts from the sale of sites as a result of any primary school closures or single sitings. The release of some sites would be inevitable given that the birth rate is set to fall further.
"6.26 She also stressed that the scheme had been fully costed with help from SEN colleagues and architects."
"To commit potential future capital receipts to open ended building development proposals that have not been agreed or costed appears highly questionable. In the first instance because no schools have yet been identified for closure, the amount of capital receipt that may be obtained is unknown. Secondly, capital receipts of this type should perhaps be considered in the context of potential improvements for all schools. To commit future funding sources to an unknown project cost at one school may well have a disproportionate detrimental effect on other schools in the Borough.
"Even if the principle of committing funding generated by the sale of future closing primary schools is accepted, a further issue arises concerning the potential value of these unidentified sites. School playing fields are now protected by legislation, consequently, potentially leaving only the building and playground (other than that used for organised games) as the saleable part of the site. It may take the closure of a significant number of primary schools to fund the eventual capital cost of these proposals."
(Pause)