School merger may cost £3m
Monday 17th November 2008, 11:50AM GMT.
Shropshire County Council may be forced to pay out up to £3 million of its own cash to create a new school in a village near Shrewsbury after a bid for government funding failed.
Recommendations to amalgamate the Oakland and Longmeadow Primary Schools in Bayston Hill will go before councillors at a meeting on Wednesday.
But extra funding bosses had hoped to secure for the project will not be given to the authority because the amalgamation did not “score highly enough on educational and social need”.
A proposal to use money from the county council capital receipts and prudential borrowing will now also be put to councillors at the meeting on Wednesday.
Liz Nicholson, director of children and young people’s services, said: “The Department for Children, Schools and Families has informed us that the bid for funding for the Bayston Hill amalgamation did not score highly enough on educational and social need.
“This is a problem we face in Shropshire when our schools are compared with others in more deprived areas. The council has around £8.45 million identified from the Government’s Primary Capital Programme for the amalgamation projects, if cabinet gives them the go-ahead. A further £2.99 million was applied for to support the removal of surplus places, but the council may not receive all of that sum.”
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The County Council need to drop it now. If they press ahead when their bosses in central government have said there is no educational or social need, then they are foolish. They have been told by the schools, the parents, the villagers, and now by central government, that nobody wants to merge the Bayston Hill schools.
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What a mess. The majority of residents do not want the amalgamation (results of the village poll), education will suffer, and now it seems that the Council can’t afford it’s own proposals. Why not save the tax payers money and leave the schools as they are – a win win situation. When they talk about capital reciepts they obviously mean selling the Oakland site for housing developement. With the state of the economy they cant even get that right!
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presumably the councillors will be surcharged and will pay for this
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Wasn’t the real reason for the money being declined by the DCSf, that the schools are Rural not Urban so do not qualify for the money. We do not wish the amalgamation to go ahead and think if the council have £3 m to spend it should be used to supply other facilities that Oakland and Longmeadow already have to other schools that haven’t got kitchen facilities etc.
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Do people of Shropshire really think that they can afford 3 Mill ? Vote out these usless councillers NOW !
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It is definatley about time that the council dropped this proposal. It seems that they have upset a village whilst not having the sufficient funding or backing from central Government to put into place their plans.The village of Bayston Hill has been divided over the plans for the last 12 months since proposal was made in Jan 08, it would be beneficial to all that both schools remain open and all proposals dropped.
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Julian
I don’t think HMG said there was no educational or social need to merge the schools, only that compared to other places Shropshire scores badly. Our relative need is just as great, but not when compared with more deprived areas
Thats why we keep getting lower grants than other places
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“it’s own cash” shurely shome mishtake here. for its own cash read “our” money. i say again presumably the councillors are paying the bill?
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Or could it be that the nimby’s in Bayston Hill have talked themselves (and the rest of Shropshire) out of the chance to grab some of Gordon’s investment pot?
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Under the ‘Primary Capital Programme’ HMG received capital funding submissions from close to 150 Authorities across the UK. Of those only 15 were not approved and Shropshire was one of them. This is not about other Counties having greater deprivation its about the Shropshire’s Primary school strategy and plans being shambolic. This has placed Shropshire CC in the bottom 10% due to a very poor and confused performance. I know its a bit old fashioned but shouldn’t some one responsible for the continue Primary strategy problems hold their hands up and go!
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Its not ‘Gordon’s Pot’ it’s tax payers money and it seem Shropshire was in a very small minority of Councils who could not prove they could spend tax payers money wisely. Nothing to do with Bayston Hill’s nimbys but a lot to do with a poor Council strategy.
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No strategy for school organisation beyond the Summer of 2009 = no pounds yet. Quite simple really, but I do have some sympathy with Cheapnis.
Oswestrian- the £8m+ is available to Shropshire, when a long term sustainable plan is in place.
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This plan needs to be dropped immediately purely on economic grounds. The idea was to save money by the amalgamation…..spending £3 million in the process sounds like the lunatics have taken over. Council tax in South Shropshire, Bishop’s Castle in particular, is very high for a mediocre service and there’s no way this cost should be added to the suffering public at this time of financial hardship and future uncertainty. Get a grip !!
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Paul,
Get a grip.
This funding has nothing to do with Council Tax.
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