Education Committee - 07/12/2009

At a MEETING of the EDUCATION COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 7th December, 2009.

Present:-

Lord Provost John R LETFORD

Depute Lord Provost Ian BORTHWICK

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Councillor Elizabeth F FORDYCE, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 23rd November, 2009 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I TENDERS RECEIVED

There was submitted Report No 603-2009 from the City Architectural Services Officer detailing tenders received and requesting a decision thereon:-

(i) KINGSPARK SCHOOL - LOOSE FURNITURE AND EQUIPMENT

The Committee agreed to accept the lowest offer by KM Furniture Ltd, Chesterfield for 167,355.02 together with the undernoted allowances:-

Making a total expenditure of 248,355.02.

II EDUCATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 1980 - APPEAL COMMITTEE

There was submitted Agenda Note AN251-2009 informing the Committee that it had been necessary to seek nominations for additional chairpersons to chair the Appeal Committee.

The Depute Chief Executive (Support Services) advised that the undernoted persons were recommended for appointment with immediate effect for the remainder of the lifetime of the present Council:-

Mrs Anne Wilson (former Director of Education)

Mr Grant Simmons (former Parent Council member on the Appeal Committee)

The Committee approved the above.

III SCHOOL TERMS AND HOLIDAYS 2010/2011

There was submitted Report No 604-2009 by the Director of Education relative to the above.

The Committee approved the scheme of school terms and holidays for session 2010/2011 (Appendix 1) as detailed in the report.

IV HARRIS ACADEMY

Councillor Black declared a non-financial interest by virtue of having a child who attends Harris Academy.

There was submitted Agenda Note AN250-2009 informing the Committee that the Scottish Government had published in September 2009 the names of the first 14 secondary schools to benefit from funding from the Schools Investment Programme. Harris Academy was one of those 14 schools and this announcement had been warmly welcomed by Dundee City Council.

Scottish Futures Trust had been appointed to manage and co-ordinate the programme. In principle, SFT would commit two-thirds of the total cost of an agreed project, and would expect the local authority to provide the balance. Any authority wishing to go beyond the agreed scope of a project would have to fund that extended work in full. As a rough indicator of funding levels, for a school of this size, part funding could be made available for a project to the value of 27m.

Representatives of SFT made a brief preliminary visit to the school on 26th October, 2009 and then met officers of the Council. Following that meeting, it was agreed that, owing now to the involvement of SFT and the commitment to assisted funding, it would be prudent to re-visit the feasibility study on Harris Academy which reported in March 2009, and explore the possibility of extending the scope of the original proposed project.

Accordingly, the Education Capital Projects Director would convene a management group to review the original feasibility study and, if appropriate, make further recommendations. The review would be comprehensive, including a review of the options appraised.

In due course, the Director of Education would report on the outcome of the review, and, following the good practice established with the PPP Project, seek approval to establish a Project Board for Harris Academy.

The Council's share of the capital costs of Harris Academy would require to be included in the next review of the Capital Plan in February 2010.

The Committee noted the above.

Elizabeth F FORDYCE, Convener.

APPENDIX 1

IN-SERVICE CLOSURE DAYS: 2010/2011

Note that all six closure days are citywide days