North Yorkshire Council
Executive
17 June 2025
Schools Condition Capital Programme 2025-26
Report of the Corporate Director Children and Young People’s Service.
1.0 PURPOSE OF REPORT
1.1 This report seeks the Executive’s approval for recommendations made in respect of the Schools Capital Programme 2025-26.
2.0 SUMMARY
2.1 In March 2025 the Department for Education (DfE) confirmed a provisional School Condition Allocation (SCA) of £7,446 million to the Council, as the responsible body for Community, Foundation and Voluntary Controlled schools in the county, for the financial year 2025-26.
2.2 On 27 May the DfE confirmed the final SCA to be £7,030 million, advising that the reduction had arisen after a further consideration of the latest condition data that was available to them. Notwithstanding the reduction from the provisional allocation, this is an increase on the allocation of £5,883 million received for the financial year 2024-25.
2.3 As of 1 April 2025 there were 182 maintained schools in North Yorkshire, 162 of which were either Community or Voluntary Controlled Schools. Those schools have a significant total investment requirement which includes, but is not limited to, the condition of their buildings. The investment requirement associated with backlog maintenance alone is estimated to be approximately £20.6 million and further planned maintenance requirements of approximately £62.3 million have been identified as being required within the next 5 years.
2.4 This report proposes a programme of investment that has been developed in accordance with the DfE’s guidance for the use of SCA and which will address the priority condition and property compliance needs in the school’s estate.
2.5 A draft of this report, reflecting the provisional SCA, (excluding the private appendix B) was reported to the Schools’ Forum at its meeting on 15 May.
3.0 BACKGROUND
3.1 The SCA of £7,030 million was confirmed on 27 May, following the notification of a provisional SCA of £7,446 million on 27 March. The allocation is made to the Local Authority as the responsible body for Community, Foundation and Voluntary Controlled Schools in North Yorkshire. Voluntary Aided schools and academies receive separate allocations.
3.2 The final allocation reflects the information held by the DfE in respect of Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools in North Yorkshire as at 1 April 2025. No projects have been included in the proposed 2025/26 programme for any schools that were expected to convert by 31 March 2025 (including those where conversion has been delayed). It is again proposed that where projects have been included in the programme, but schools later become an academy, a judgement will be made about whether the scheme should proceed or not. This will take account of the nature and value of the project, the stage of design development reached and the extent to which the project will extend beyond the date of conversion. This reflects the policy that schools convert to academy status in their existing condition.
3.3 Guidance produced by the DfE and which is provided with the allocation notes that SCA is intended to be used for the improvement of the condition of school buildings and grounds, prioritising safety and keeping buildings operational.
3.4 The allocation is 100% grant funded. There is no time limit in respect of the proposed expenditure, and the funding can be carried forward if it remains unspent at the end of the financial year. The table below compares the allocations over the last 3 years: -
|
|
2023/24 |
2024/25 |
2025/26 |
|
LA School Condition Allocation |
£6,044,988 |
£5,883,316 |
£7,029,777 |
|
Devolved Formula Capital (LA Schools) |
£1,242,978 |
£1,211,907 |
£1,049,061 |
3.5 Capital allocations made since 2021/22 have been informed by the DfE’s data that was collected in respect of all schools nationally during 2019 via a Programme called the ‘Condition Data Collection’. Although the next DfE programme of condition data collection is not expected to complete until 2026 the allocations made for 2025-26 partially reflect the data arising from that programme and will continue to do so as it is completed.
3.6 Annual allocations are usually adjusted to reflect the number of academy conversions and therefore the reducing pupil numbers in the maintained sector. It is difficult to estimate the scale and speed of academy conversions and therefore the potential level of reduction year on year.
The table below shows the number of academy conversions completed during recent years and the current estimate for the further conversions that are currently anticipated for during the financial year 2025-26.
|
|
Voluntary conversions |
Sponsored conversions (directed cases) |
|
2017/18 |
27 |
2 |
|
2018/19 |
13 |
5 |
|
2019/20 |
12 |
5 |
|
2020/21 |
12 |
3 |
|
2021/22 |
3 |
5 |
|
2022/23 |
10 |
2 |
|
2023/24 |
8 |
0 |
|
2024/25 |
16 |
3 |
|
2025/26 |
1 |
1 |
3.8 The Council is the responsible body for asset management purposes for the 162 Community, Foundation and Voluntary Controlled schools.
|
January 2025 Full-time and part-time pupils |
Maintained C, VC & Foundation |
Maintained VA |
Academies, free schools and UTC |
Total Pupils |
|
Nursery |
1006 |
70 |
1317 |
2393 |
|
Primary - KS1 & KS2 |
18489 |
1741 |
20716 |
40946 |
|
Secondary – KS3 & KS4 |
7748 |
631 |
23615 |
31994 |
|
Sixth Form – KS5 |
810 |
187 |
3532 |
4529 |
|
Special & PRU |
585 |
0 |
803 |
1388
|
|
Total Pupils |
28638 |
2629 |
49983 |
81250 |
4.0 CAPITAL PLAN 2025-26
4.1 The capital programme historically includes an amount of general contingency which has been utilised to meet costs arising from high tenders, and to respond to emerging condition issues. The general contingency in the 2024-25 programme has been partially utilised to meet additional costs that have arisen from individual schemes and overspends from previous programmes. Carry forwards from individual programme budgets are shown at Appendix A. The unallocated proportion has increased due to the closedown of individual project budgets following scheme completion, and re-profiling of funding over the financial year.
5.0 PRIORITIES FOR INVESTMENT
5.1 On 19 April 2022 the former NYCC Executive approved the School Estate Strategy following consultation with councillors and North Yorkshire schools. The strategy documents are aligned to the DfE recommended approach known as Good Estate Management for Schools (GEMS) Good estate management for schools - Guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The approved strategy replaced earlier Council statements on priorities that pre-dated the GEMS guidance.
5.2 The 2025/26 capital programme will be based on the priorities contained within the 2022 School Estate Management strategy document which are:
· Maintain school place sufficiency – provide additional school places as the need arises
· Ensure the safety and security of all school estate users – supporting schools with their delegated responsibility for health and safety
· Maintain the school estate - invest in capital maintenance to ensure that facilities remain fit-for-purpose
· Modernise and improve school estate facilities - help young people achieve by ensuring their accommodation is to modern standards
· Improve SEND provision - addressing the needs identified in the SEND Strategic Plan
· Sustain and improve schools through re-organisation of provision where appropriate
· Improve Accessibility where appropriate – support investment in facilities to enable access by children with medical or mobility needs
· Contribute to the Council’s target of achieving net carbon neutrality by 2030, or as near to that date as possible.
6.0 PROPOSED SCHOOLS CONDITION CAPITAL PROGRAMME 2025-26
6.1 Appendix A provides a proposed Capital Programme for 2025/26. The following sections of the report provide the rationale for each element of the programme. For reasons of commercial sensitivity individual project budgets are not published.
General Compliance and Health and Safety issues
6.2 The Council continues to help schools with issues around the health, safety and welfare of pupils and general property compliance. These issues include, but are not limited to, boundary and internal security issues that may have an impact upon the safeguarding of children. Schools often have insufficient funding to address these issues themselves and look to the local authority for support. The costs of such adaptations can be significant. A number of such schemes have been successfully undertaken over recent years. It is once again proposed that any further urgent schemes should be supported in-year from compliance sums.
6.3 It is proposed that an allocation of £400k should be included within the programme for compliance and health and safety related projects in 2025-26.
Capital Planned Maintenance
6.4 The total maintenance backlog in schools across the County continues to be significant despite the ongoing programme of planned capital work. It is therefore important that investment continues to be made in maintaining and preventing further deterioration in the fabric of school buildings. The total backlog is estimated to be approximately £20.6 million.
6.5 This figure is a conservative estimate and only reflects the expected costs for the repair or replacement of individual elements and does not include provision for any associated costs including, for example, asbestos removal or the provision of temporary accommodation during the works. The actual cost of addressing the identified backlog would, therefore, be in significantly in excess of £20.6m.
6.6 In addition to the requirements associated with the maintenance backlog further planned maintenance investment requirements of approximately £62.3 million have been identified as being required to address the condition of school buildings within the next 5 years.
6.7 The low value of annually allocated DFC impacts on the level of funding available from schools to contribute towards the Capital Planned Maintenance Programme which addresses structural issues such as roof and window replacements, mechanical and electrical upgrades etc. With the previous agreement of the Schools Forum, projects are now only to be included in the programme on the understanding that schools will contribute all of their available DFC in that financial year. In some cases, this means that schools will be asked to fully fund maintenance projects that have been identified through condition surveys as a high priority rather than other projects. On this basis, an assumption has been made that £150k will be contributed by schools to the Capital Planned Maintenance budget in 2025/26.
6.8 A Planned Maintenance budget of £5,676 million (including fees and contingency) is proposed for schools in 2025-26. This includes provision of £1.5 million to meet the costs associated with addressing elemental failure that occurs during the course of the year and that requires to be addressed in order to ensure the health and safety of pupils and staff, or that the relevant schools are able to remain operational.
6.9 An initial programme has been developed taking account of the highest priority condition items, as identified through the annual condition survey and discussions with schools. Additional priority projects will be identified and reviewed, potentially for delivery during 2026-27.
6.10 Appendix B (not for publication) provides a list of the proposed schemes for inclusion in the 2025-26 Programme. Advance planning has been undertaken in respect of this element of the programme to ensure that the work can be commissioned and delivered in a timely fashion.
Glazing Regulations
6.11 Provision of £150,000 is proposed to meet the cost of specialist glazing surveys within all schools to determine the extent of works required to ensure compliance with the Glazing Regulations. It is expected that the funding of any required works will be considered in the 2026-27 Programme.
Asbestos Management
6.12 Provision of £250,000 is proposed to meet the cost of any asbestos abatement works that are required arising from a programme of asbestos management surveys that are being undertaken, or which are required during the course of any projects being undertaken as a part of this programme.
Accessibility Related Works
6.13 The Council continues to make provision for some accessibility work in the programme to address the needs of individual children and for any significant access related work that emerges from other developments. It is proposed to set aside a sum of £170,000 from the 2025-26 allocation for such projects.
School Modernisation and Support for Strategic Priorities
6.14 Arising from the Executive’s decision on 20 June 2023 to cease to maintain Eskdale School with effect from 31 August 2024 officers have continued to work with the leadership of Whitby School to identify priority works required arising from the amalgamation of the schools and consolidation onto 2 of the previous 3 sites. It is proposed that £200,000 be allocated to meet the costs of identified works.
6.15 Following a recent inspection of school kitchens, it is proposed to undertake some expansion and refurbishment work to bring the highest priority school kitchens up to modern standards and to enable them to cater for an increase in the number of school meals being provided. A budget allocation of £450,000 has been included within the 2025/26 capital programme to progress two of these schemes that have already had advanced feasibility work undertaken to provide better cost certainty.
6.16 In addition it is proposed to allocate £757,000 to meet the cost of essential drainage work at two primary schools, the first is because of a non-compliant system, and the second is due to repeated flooding of school buildings. Some initial survey work has already been undertaken on both sites but further investigations will be required to establish a higher level of cost certainty.
6.17 Appendix B (not for publication) provides a list of the proposed schemes for inclusion in the 2025-26 Programme.
Strategic Support for Capital Delivery
6.18 The proposed programme includes provision to support the delivery and monitoring of the programme of works that are described in this report via the council’s delivery arrangements. This provision amounts to £67,596, which amounts to the equivalent of a Band N post.
General Contingency
6.19 It is necessary to retain an element of general contingency within the programme. This is to ensure that funding is available where unforeseen additional costs arise as schemes develop through feasibility and into detailed design and procurement. There is an element of contingency included within the proposed Capital Planned Maintenance Programme to meet unforeseen emergency work which emerges during the year relating to asbestos or other urgent and unplanned infrastructure requirements. The general programme contingency will address any additional costs associated with 2024-25 schemes yet to be completed, as well as those in the proposed 2025-26 programme.
6.20 It is proposed that a contingency of £583,221 should be retained. The original proposal was for a contingency sum of £1 million to be retained but this figure has been reduced in line with the reduction in the capital allocation referenced at 2.2 and 3.1 above.
6.21 Further consideration will be given during 2026-27 to the requirement for, and extent of, a general contingency to be maintained within the capital programme.
7.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
7.1 As noted within the report above the SCA is funding awarded for capital investment in maintaining and improving the condition of the school estate.
7.2 Assurance is required to be provided as part of the annual capital grant monitoring process to confirm that the funding has been used for capital purposes.
7.3 Monitoring of the programme and expenditure is undertaken via departmental monitoring arrangements and reported via the capital monitoring arrangements.
7.4 As noted in Section 6, above, the programme that is recommended includes a contingency of £583,221.
8.0 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
8.1 Councils have a statutory duty under the Education Act 1996 to ensure the provision of sufficient school places in safe and well-maintained buildings. This means they must prioritise addressing high-priority building condition issues to comply with legal requirements. When determining the Capital Investment Programme, councils must adhere to the Prudential Code established under the Local Government Act 2003. This ensures that capital expenditure plans are affordable, prudent, and sustainable.
8.2 All contracts related to the capital projects must be competitively procured in accordance with the council's Contract Procedure Rules and public procurement law. This includes ensuring transparency, fairness, and value for money in the procurement process.
8.3 Councils must follow their financial regulations and any authorisations in place when approving and adjusting the programme. This includes obtaining necessary approvals from relevant officers and committees.
8.4 Councils need to manage risks associated with the programme, such as unforeseen Priority 1 works that may arise during the delivery of the programme. Contingency plans should be in place to address these risks effectively.
8.5 These legal implications ensure that the Schools Condition Capital Programme is implemented in a manner that is compliant with statutory requirements, financially prudent, and transparent.
9.0 EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS
9.1 There are no equalities implications arising from this report.
10.0 CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS
10.1 The estate of Community and Voluntary Schools represents an important element within the council’s overall carbon reduction plan. However, arising from the limited capital available to address the investment requirements associated with the estate, it is not possible to prioritise works solely because of carbon reduction.
10.2 The programme that is proposed will, however, have a positive impact upon carbon reduction issues, including in respect of the reduction of carbon emissions. All works that are to be undertaken will be done so in accordance with Building Regulations, and with regard to the November 2022 DfE School Output Specification on sustainability, which provide for high standards in respect of energy efficiency. As a result, much of the work via the planned maintenance programme (e.g. roof, window and boiler replacements) will have a positive impact upon carbon emissions, in addition to addressing essential backlog maintenance.
11.0 HUMAN RESOURCES IMPLICATIONS
11.1 There are no human resources implications arising from this report.
12.0 REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
12.1 The programme recommended in this report has been proposed in accordance with the DfE’s guidance for the use of the School Condition Allocation and has been designed to address priority condition, compliance and operational issues within the school estate.
12.2 The programme includes a specific provision to meet the costs associated with significant failures or compliance issues that arise during the course of the year, and a general contingency sum to meet additional unforeseen costs associated with the provisions and schemes identified within the overall programme.
|
13.0 |
RECOMMENDATIONS
The Executive are recommended to: -
|
|
|
i) Approve the proposed Schools Capital Programme for 2025-26 as summarised in Appendix A
ii) Approve the detailed Programme, including the Planned Capital Maintenance Programme, for 2025-26 as set out in Appendix B
iii) Agree the continuation of the approach for dealing with any schools that convert to Academy status following the approval of the Programme as laid out in paragraph 3.2
|
|
|
|
APPENDICES:
Appendix A – Schools Capital Programme 2025-26
Appendix B – Planned Capital Maintenance Programme 2025-26 - Private
BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS:
Condition methodology and spend guidance. DfE, March 2025
Sir Stuart Carlton
Corporate Director – Children and Young Peoples Service
County Hall
Northallerton
28 April 2025
Report Author – Jon Holden, Head of Strategic Planning
Presenter of Report – Jon Holden, Head of Strategic Planning
Note: Members are invited to contact the author in advance of the meeting with any detailed queries or questions.
PLEASE ALSO NOTE THAT IF ANY REPORTS / APPENDICES INCLUDE SIGNATURES THESE MUST BE REMOVED / DELETED PRIOR TO SENDING REPORTS / APPENDICES TO DEMOCRATIC SERVICES. Appendices should include an Equality Impact Assessment and a Climate Impact Assessment where appropriate