Agenda, decisions and minutes
PDF 121 KBVenue: County Hall, Oxford OX1 1ND
Contact: Deborah Miller Tel: (01865) 815384; E-Mail: deborah.miller@oxfordshire.gov.uk
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Questions from County Councillors Any county councillor may, by giving notice to the Proper Officer by 9 am two working days before the meeting, ask a question on any matter in respect of the Cabinet Member’s delegated powers.
The number of questions which may be asked by any councillor at any one meeting is limited to two (or one question with notice and a supplementary question at the meeting) and the time for questions will be limited to 30 minutes in total. As with questions at Council, any questions which remain unanswered at the end of this item will receive a written response.
Questions submitted prior to the agenda being despatched are shown below and will be the subject of a response from the appropriate Cabinet Member or such other councillor or officer as is determined by the Cabinet Member, and shall not be the subject of further debate at this meeting. Questions received after the despatch of the agenda, but before the deadline, will be shown on the Schedule of Addenda circulated at the meeting, together with any written response which is available at that time. Minutes: Councillor Harrod received the following Question with Notice from Councillor Howson:
Do the standards apply to schools being built under the DfE Wave programme and if not, can developers challenge Oxfordshire standards that are in excess of government requirements even where we beleive our standards deliver a better learning environment for children in the primary and early years sector?
Answer:
The Oxfordshire space standards for Primary and Secondary Schools only apply to those schools procured by the County Council, this will include presumption free schools funded by developer contributions. The standards will not apply to schools procured directly by the Department for Education, for example wave Free Schools, UTC’s and Studio Schools.
The area recommended in the Oxfordshire standards for new school buildings is within the range of areas contained in the Department for Education guidance for new schools (known as Building Bulletins) and in many cases the Oxfordshire standards are towards the lower end of the range.
Developers can, and do, challenge the amount of contributions that the council seeks to secure towards building new schools, usually citing the viability of their developments as a reason why they should pay less. To date though the council has generally been successful in defending the amounts it has required and the adoption of the revised standards will further support the council’s position.
He then received the following Supplementary Question:
Are the Standards used by the DfE for free schools and other schools such as University Technical Colleges and Studio Schools procured by the DfE more or less generous than the Standards used by Oxfordshire County Council?
Answer
In general the DfE Standards would be less generous than Oxfordshire County Council Standards, although this varied from projext to project. |
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Forward Plan Ref: 2016/076 Contact: Kevin Griffin, Service Manager - School Organisation & Planning; Tel: (01865) 816457
Report by Director for Children’s Services (CMDED4)
The report proposes revisions to the County Council’s Primary and Secondary School space standards for the design and construction of new school buildings and subsequent amendments to policy documents.
The Cabinet Member for Education is RECOMMENDED to approve on behalf of Cabinet:
(a) adoption of the revised space standards for new Primary and Secondary Schools in Oxfordshire with increased provision for early years and SEN as shown in the following Annexes:
Annex A: OCC Building and Site Area Guidelines for Primary School Annex B: OCC Building and Site Area Guidelines for Secondary Schools Annex C: OCC Model Primary School Schedules of Accommodation.
(b) Delegation of approval of further amendments to these standards on an exceptions basis to the Director Environment and Economy in consultation with the Director Children, Education & Families. Additional documents: |