HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
EDUCATION AND SKILLS CABINET PANEL
WEDNESDAY, 13 MARCH 2013 AT 10.00 AM
THE FUTURE OF THE FORMER JUPITER DRIVE JMI PRIMARY SCHOOL SITE, HEMEL HEMPSTEAD
Joint report of the Director, Resources & Performance and Director, Education and Early Intervention
Authors: Peter Tiernan, Senior Estates Officer
01992 556208
Kate Leahy, Senior School Planning Officer
01992 555864
Executive Members: Rob Gordon, Leader of the Council and Executive Member Resources & Economic Well-Being
Frances Button, Executive Member Education & Skills
Local members:Ron Tindall (Hemel Hempstead St Pauls Division)
Andrew Williams (Hemel Hempstead East Division)
1. Purpose of report
1.1To consider the future of the former JupiterDriveJMIPrimary School, Hemel Hempstead.
2.Summary
2.1The former JupiterDriveJMIPrimary School has been closed and vacant since August 2008.
2.2This asset is retained in the County Council’s Corporately Managed Property (CMP) service.
2.3There is a forecast deficit of reception places of around 2 f.e. across the north east and east part of Hemel Hempstead from 2013/14.
2.4The Hertfordshire Community Free School Trust (HCFST) was commissioned by Hertfordshire County Council and has now submitted a bid to the Department for Education (DfE) to open a 2 f.e. FreeSchool in Hemel Hempstead from September 2014. This former school site, which is ideally placed to provide the required additional school places, has been identified as the preferred location to open this new school in the bid to the DfE.
3.Recommendations
3.1To meet the forecast demand for additional primary school places in this part of Hemel Hempstead, subject to conditional approval by the DfE to a bid by the HCFST, the Cabinet panel is asked to recommend to Cabinet that it;-
(i)resolve to make the site of the former Jupiter Drive JMI Primary School together with adjoining land known as the Highfield House Retained Land as shown on the plan at Appendix 1 available for use as an additional 2 form of entry primary school; and,
(ii)delegate the approval of the terms of such disposal to the Assistant Director, Property & Technology in consultation with the Executive Member for Resources and Economic Wellbeing.
4.Background
4.1Jupiter Drive JMI Primary was a 1 f.e. primary school that closed and became vacant following its amalgamation with BellgatePrimary School in August 2008.
4.2Hertfordshire County Council owns the freehold interest to this site which is located in the St Paul’s Division, a predominantly residential area, to the north east of Hemel Hempstead.
4.3The site comprises of a vacant school premises and accompanying playing fields. The former school is being merged with a small tract of County Council owned adjoining land known as the HighfieldHouseRetainedLand. The combined area of this site will be 1.84 hectares (5.55 acres).
4.4The former school premises comprises of one large building, part single, part two storey building with a flat roof back constructed in the early 1970’s.
4.5There is a predicted need for additional primary school capacity in this part of Hemel Hempstead. The former JupiterDriveJMIPrimary School offers potential to provide an additional 2 form of entry to assist addressing this forecast increased demand.
4.6If a new school were to be established on the former Jupiter Drive JMI Primary School site, in accordance with section 6 A of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, there would be an obligation on the Local Authority to seek proposals for the establishment of an Academy . A FreeSchool falls in to the definition of an “Academy”. There is a presumption that the additional school would be a FreeSchool or Academy. In this instance the HCFST rather than the County Council is seeking to establish a new school at this site.
Redevelopment issues at the former JupiterDriveJMIPrimary School site
4.7The former school site is subject to various planning constraints. The site is designated open land which seeks to preserve the function of the open space. There are Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) covering some of the specimen trees on this site. The nature of the trees is such that there may be roosting bats, and this would need to be clarified by an ecological survey. The site is also adjacent to Highfield House which is a Grade II listed building situated to the east and redevelopment proposals would therefore have to respect the setting of that building. Policies also exist which seek to ensure that potential use/development for social or community purposes, should be considered as sequentially preferable to residential development.
4.8In their Core Strategy consultation dated December 2010, Dacorum Borough Council noted that, the closed Hemel Primary Schools (the former Jupiter Drive JMI along with Barncroft and Martindale),;-
“… will either be reopened when the need arises, redevelopment to deliver new social and community facilities or redeveloped for housing purposes”.
[page 101, section 16.7 of Draft Core Strategy consultation]
4.9The need for new 2 f.e. primary schools is acknowledged at page 142 of the Draft Core Strategy consultation, specifically in East Hemel Hempstead. Representations made on behalf of Children’s Services by Hertfordshire Property explicitly identified the need for a new 2 f.e. primary school to serve the East Hemel Primary Planning Area.
Schools Expansions Programme
4.10On 14 May 2012, a report to Cabinet identified the need for new primary place provision in 2013/14 ( ). In certain cases it was acknowledged that new school provision was considered the most appropriate way of meeting forecast demand in an area. Cabinet noted that Hemel Hempstead was one of these areas where an additional school was recommended to provide an additional 2 f.e. from 2014/15. It was also noted that temporary measures were likely to be required to meet demand in 2013/14 whilst a bid for a new free school was submitted and considered by the DfE.
4.11Cabinet also considered the financial implications of new school provision and noted that there was unlikely to be sufficient resources from current grant funding available to the County Council.
4.12There are presently two broad routes to establish new schools. The first is through the sponsorship of a new school by an existing Academy (where the costs are expected to be met from the DfE capital grant to the County Council for Basic Need). The second is the FreeSchool route, where DfE currently holds some capital funding centrally. It is unlikely that there will be any new maintained schools in future.
4.13In March 2011, Cabinet agreed to support the establishment of a Free School Company, (the Hatfield Community Free School Trust (HCFST), now renamed the Hertfordshire Community Free School Trust) ( (Item 7), (Item 4).
4.14This Free School Company successfully received DfE approval and subsequently opened the HatfieldCommunityFreeSchool on the former NewBriarsSchool site in September 2012.
4.15On 14 May 2012, a summary of the strategy approved by Cabinet for achieving additional Free Schools included;-
(a)identifying and securing sites on which FreeSchool bids may be based; and,
(b)to seek to commission the HCFST to develop and secure agreement and funding for Free Schools where they are most needed.
4.16Cabinet approved the proposed primary expansion programme ( (Item 7), (Item 4). and authorised the commissioning of the HCSFT to develop proposals for three primary free schools in Watford, Hemel Hempstead and/or Stevenage.
4.17Applications to open two 2 f.e. primary schools in Watford and one 2 f.e. primary school in Hemel Hempstead in September 2014 were submitted to the DfE in December 2012. It is anticipated that the outcome of these applications will be known early in the summer term 2013.
4.18The benefit to the County Council of allocating the former Jupiter Drive JMI to enable the establishment of a new primary free school is the provision of additional primary places where they are needed with the potential for capital costs to be met by the Education Funding Agency.
5. Financial Implications
5.1There are various on-going costs to the County Council in retaining and managing the former JupiterDriveJMIPrimary Schoolsite. These include the cost of guarding the premises and maintenance costs associated with ensuring the fabric of the buildings is kept in repair ensuring that they are wind and watertight hence preventing rapid deterioration of the buildings.
5.2The disposal of the site of the former JupiterDriveJMIPrimary School, dependent on any alternative service use, could potentially provide a redevelopment opportunity which in turn could enable the County Council to generate and realise capital receipts. The County Council could allocate to hold land in advance for development, perhaps as a phased residential development, while it explores the potential and feasibility of a development scheme at this location.
5.3The capital accounting value of the former JupiterDriveJMIPrimary School in its current condition and including the land fronting Highfield House has been assessed by HCC’s retained property consultants Lambert Smith Hampton at £2.225M.
5.4Should the application to the DfE be successful, the former JupiterDriveJMIPrimary School would provide an additional school capacity to meet the predicted increased demand. The capital costs associated establishing the school would be expected to be borne by the Education Funding Agency (EFA).
5.5Using the former Jupiter Drive JMI Primary site to accommodate an additional 2 form of entry primary school represents excellent value for money compared with the anticipated cost to the County Council of acquiring an alternative suitable primary school site in Hemel Hempstead and constructing an additional school.
5.6The County Council could resolve to make the land and premises of the former JupiterDriveJMIPrimary School available to HCFST for an additional school on a long lease of 125-years at a peppercorn rent. The County Council would however forgo a potential capital receipt if it were to proceed with this proposal.
6.Risk Assessment
6.1 Under Schedule 13 of the Academies Act 2010, the Secretary of State can order the transfer of land held by a local authority where it ceases to be used for a maintained school at nil consideration. The County Council could be made to transfer this valuable asset to the Sponsors of an additional school at nil consideration. If this were to occur, HCC would forgo a potential significant capital receipt and loss of a significant asset.
6.2 The former JupiterDriveJMIPrimary School being a former maintained school is a County Council owned asset that is at risk of such a transfer.
7. Equality Implications
7.1 The Equality Act 2010 require the Council when exercising its functions to have due regard to the need to (a) eliminate discrimination, harassment,victimisation and other conduct prohibited under the Act; (b) advanceequality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protectedcharacteristic and persons who do not share it and (c) foster goodrelations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristicand persons who do not share it. The protected characteristics underthe Equality Act 2010 are: race, disability, gender reassignment, age, sexual orientation, sex, religion or belief, pregnancy & maternity and marriage & civil partnership.
7.2Members must be fully aware of, and have actively considered, the Council’s statutory obligations in relation to equalities. This will include paying close attention to any equalities impact assessment produced by officers.
7.3It is not anticipated that the proposal will affect people disproportionately with protected characteristics. The Free School Company are proposing policies, procedures and practice will be developed in partnership with local communities and will be built upon respect and ethical behaviour. It has been agreed that the School will abide by the Hertfordshire admissions criteria and will admit children with special educational needs, children in care, siblings and those living closest to the school in that order of priority. Care is also being taken to ensure that the School is marketed to all groups of parents and will target families:
(i)where there is a social and/or economic disadvantage;
(ii)where a child has special needs or disabilities;
(iii)from black or minority ethnic groups;
(iv)where there are children looked after.
8. Conclusions
8.1Provision of a new a 2 f.e. primary school at this location has been identified as the most appropriate way to meet the forecast deficit of primary places in this part of Hemel Hempstead.
8.2Subject to the DfE’s conditional approval, the County Council should resolve to allocate to make its land and premises at the former JupiterDriveJMIPrimary School available on terms to be agreed to enable the establishment of a new 2 f.e. free school by the Hertfordshire Community Free School Trust.
Background information
Cabinet report 14 May 2012, Schools Expansions Programme,
(Item 7)
Cabinet report 21 March 2011, School Expansions and AdditionalSchools, (Item 4)
Appendix 1
SITE PLAN - FormerJupiterDriveJMIPrimary School including HighfieldHouseRetainedLand
1
Jupiter Drive