Agenda item

To consider a report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development outlining the requests for scrutiny and attaching a report from the Director of City Development which sets out the general procedures and processes that apply when school buildings and land are declared surplus to requirements.

The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted a report outlining the requests for scrutiny made by Councillor Jane Dowson and Councillor David Morton regarding the former Miles Hill School and Royal Park School respectively.  Attached to the report was a report from the Director of City Development which set out the general procedures and processes, including consultation, that applied when school buildings and land were declared surplus to requirements.

Councillors Dowson and Morton attended the meeting to detail to the Board the reasons for their particular requests for scrutiny.

Paul Brook, Chief Asset Management Officer, City Development, Martin Farrington, Head of Asset Management, City Development, and George Turnbull, Resources Team Leader, Education Leeds were in attendance to respond to questions from the Board.

Councillor Dowson advised the Board that her main concerns were whether the “Narrowing the Gap" agenda had been taken seriously into consideration when reviewing the fate of the former Miles Hill School building, which had now been demolished. The building was situated in an area of acute deprivation, and she was of the view that the whole process of consultation that took place when any school building closed needed to be reviewed.

Councillor Morton wanted to know what lessons could be learned from the redevelopment of the former Royal Park School site which had taken four years from the Executive Board decision to retain the building in 2003 to the present scheme. The original aspirations for community use of the building had not been fully realised and it was now substantially a commercially based scheme. He thought delays in implementation and rising refurbishment costs had contributed to this change in emphasis.

Councillor Hussain also attended the meeting to add his concerns regarding the disposal of Royal Park School, particularly with regard to lack of consultation within the local community.

Officers agreed that both schools were in areas of deprivation. It was reported that whilst the Miles Hill School had been demolished, a decision on whether to dispose of the site had been deferred pending submission of a report by Area Management on possible community uses. With regard to the former Royal Park School, officers briefly explained the background of events leading to the present scheme. Paul Brook explained the pressures that Asset Management were under to achieve capital receipts and the fact that only service departments consulted with the public and acted as the “sponsoring department”.

The Board, after lengthy questioning of officers, agreed that consultation processes as applied when school buildings and land were declared surplus to requirement should be scrutinised by joining this issue with Item 11 on the Agenda – Inquiry to Review Consultation Processes in the City Development Department  - (Minute No. 52 refers).

RESOLVED –

(a)  That Councillors Dowson, Morton and Hussain be thanked for bringing

this matter to the attention of the Board

(b)  That  the Board scrutinise the consultation processes that are

undertaken when school buildings and land are declared surplus to requirements, using this as a case study within the Inquiry to be held on Reviewing Consultation Processes in the City Development Department (Minute 52 refers).

(Note1: Councillor Lobley declared a personal interest in this item as Chair of North East (Inner) Area Committee.)

(Note2: Councillors R Procter and Taggart joined the meeting at 10.45am and 11.10am respectively during the consideration of this item.)