Issue - meetings

The Director of Schools & Learning introduced the report and outlined the rationale for the report.

Officers explained that the school was required to utilise temporary accommodation facilities in order to continue to deliver its services, due to some classrooms being taken out of commission due to issues with Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) degrading on some buildings on site and rendering them unsafe for use.

Officers explained the long-term solution to the remediation of the building, that the Department of Education would re-imburse costs and that remedial work was expected to be completed in 2028.

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Families, pursuant to contract standing order 0.08, to:

1. Approved, pursuant to contract standing order (CSO) 18.02.2 and CSO 2.01(d), the extension of the rental period of the temporary accommodation contract at Park View School with Portakabin Ltd by 155 weeks at a total contract value set out in Part B of the report.
   
   

Reasons for decision

Following an inspection of teaching Block A at Park View School by an external structural engineer, Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) had been discovered forming part of the structural slab of the roof. On 14 April 2023, due to the risk of failure and collapse of this building element, it had been recommended that the top floor of the building, consisting of 14 classrooms and office space, be immediately vacated. It had been confirmed by the structural engineer that the other floors of the building could be safely used by students and staff. A curriculum and space analysis had been undertaken and it had been determined that the school required temporary accommodation including 13 classrooms, 1 shared office and 4 toilets until the structural issue could be remediated.

Interim teaching arrangements had initially been put in place at the school from Monday 17 April 2023. These had consisted of teaching many pupils in shared/communal spaces such as the sports gym. This had not been considered to be a sustainable solution and had been impacting the quality of teaching and learning. Additionally, the gym had been required to support GCSE exams from mid-May.

A Cabinet Member approval had been granted in May 2023 to award a contract to Portakabin Ltd to provide the required temporary accommodation by September 2023 for an 18-month hire period at Park View School.

Construction and installation of the temporary accommodation had been completed on programme in September 2023. A variation of the Cabinet approval had been granted by the Director of Schools and Learning in January 2025, which had included an extension of the rental period to June 2025 whilst a permanent solution to remediate the RAAC had been developed.

Agreement for funding of an approach for a permanent solution to remediate the RAAC had been received from the Department for Education (DfE) in May 2025, which on completion, would allow students to return to the main building. The permanent remediation solution had assumed students would continue to learn in these current temporary classrooms until the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12