PRESS RELEASE
19th April 2016
PR 160419 R1
NEW SECONDARY SCHOOL – MORE MONEY NEEDED FROM TAX PAYERS PURSES?
On Monday, Herts County Council (HCC) Cabinet heard an urgent request to contribute funds to the
build of the proposed fourth secondary school in Harpenden. Two and a half years ago, HCC brought
forward an urgent proposal to buy land for the school in such haste that it apparently did not have
the time to consult residents. Recently HCC announced it had received a request from the EFA (the
central government body responsible for establishing new Free Schools) for a contribution to
provide funding for the school build.
This latest request however was even more urgent than in 2013, bypassing most of the normal
assessment processes. In doing so, HCC of course excluded any opportunity for residents and voters
to be involved. In 2013, when residents formally complained about lack of consultation, they found
HCC had also circumvented consultation when it had first drawn up plans for the site in 2010.
Should residents be surprised? Unfortunately not, despite many views expressed elsewhere in the 6
years this has been in the making, the pattern is all too familiar. Herts County Council has studiously
avoided any formal consultation which would oblige it to take the views of interested parties into
account, and it remains alien to HCC culture to be open with residents. This week, matters were so
urgent that special provisions were needed to rush through a decision at a Cabinet Meeting, urgency
based on an assertion that the EFA wants an answer by Friday (22nd April). Those following school
project progress might raise an eyebrow or two at the surprise revelation. Wasn’t this the same
County Council who 14 months ago published a set of reports, stating that the sole reason for
publication was to give those reports to the EFA in support of the Trust’s application? One of the
reports in the pack was very specific. It estimated costs at £60-65m, approximately £30m more than
the EFA typically provides for such projects. Has it taken over 12 months for the EFA penny to drop
that this is an excessively over-priced option?
HCC offered no explanation as to why the matter had only come to light at such short notice, nor
what the compelling reasons were for a decision to be taken so quickly, so RSRP formally challenged
this on Thursday 14th April. When HCC continued to show no inclination (in its initial response) to
explain the urgency or provide details of the nature of the financial commitment, RSRP further
challenged the lack of justification on Monday 18th April. HCC did eventually agree to explain the
urgency and source of funds at their Cabinet Meeting on Monday 18th April (where the urgent school
item was tabled). In response to residents’ challenges, HCC stated that the urgency arose because
the EFA made a request on April 7th for HCC’s to confirm its commitment to fund school build costs
no later than 22nd April. HCC added it had asked for a deferral but had been refused by the EFA. It
also stated that Council Officers had been “negotiating” with the EFA for what it described as a
considerable period of time, so it is a mystery why this (request) should come as a surprise. It is also
a mystery why there is such urgency when, as recently as February, the Trust and Council jointly
presented a programme which does not see any build works until summer 2017. Why a decision
now? The Council has indicated this is an internal need within EFA, but the key signing-off decision
date is not until after the Trust’s consultation – scheduled for April 2017.
The mystery deepens when considering the funds. Herts County Council has indicated that these will
come from Schools Capital Basic Needs Funding, but has provided no details on scale of either cost
or whether this means funds are being diverted from other projects in the County. What is clear
however is that the general principles of setting up a Free School were that any school would be
independent of former Local Education Authority, with EFA funding development centrally. The
Harpenden Secondary School was the first in which Central Government required a Local Authority
to purchase land (a cost normally borne by EFA when a site has to be acquired). Coincidentally, the
land cost was not present in HCC’s consultant’s estimates that were published before the EFA had
sanctioned the school.
Herts County Council already has £7.5m earmarked for this unusual land expense (shared between
Harpenden and sister project at Croxley Green). Original estimates appear to have been one quarter
of this amount – and yes the Council hid behind “confidentiality” when it made its initial
announcement of that ‘unexpected’ allocation of public monies. However should residents be more
concerned about this latest allocation (which HCC has again declared confidential) or the resolution
that called for authority to be given a County Officer to decide a final amount?
So ratepayers are left to decide what the Council has committed to on their behalf, and what the
consequences may be for them. A shortfall of £30m on the table, coupled with a history of gross
underestimation of (land acquisition) costs. Then there is a 1.99% HCC Council Tax rise this year
designed to raise £10m extra. The prospects are not bright, but doubtless the Council have their
plans on how to cover the £30m and will tell us what we need to know, when we need to know it –
but only at the last minute when we can’t question whether they have any idea about what they are
doing.
Key concerns however still remain, and remain unanswered. The Council’s decision making
processes have so far identified and promoted a site which has serious practical flaws. It is estimated
to cost in the order of £15m more than other sites (sites more suited to where the school place
needs are), some of which they identified and rejected on questionable grounds. Many have
questioned the need for places, and more particularly how long the need lasts and where the long
term residual need for secondary places is.
On the same day as making an open-ended commitment to fund a school project, HCC also
published the Primary Allocation Statistics for September 2016 entry. Preliminary analysis of these
show that applications numbers from Harpenden are 9% down on the previous year at 454, the two
larger villages in the area are also reduced, Redbourn by a similar percentage at 74 applicants, while
Wheathampstead had a smaller reduction and continues to have over 100 applicants – more than
half a secondary school worth of future transferees.
What is surprising is that, for once, the number of applicants for Harpenden broadly matches HCC’s
forecast of demand. That forecast, however, predicts a further drop over the next 2 years of 100
applicants – essentially signalling a reduction of 150 applicants (or a whole secondary school entry
cohort) from Harpenden Town within a decade. Despite sceptical views of HCC’s planning ability
raised by Parents Groups long before the foundation of RSRP it is now clear that the peak of demand
has passed. Even at its maximum there are insufficient applicants to fill 3 schools from pupils who
live in Harpenden Town (that peak is less than 500); the need is, and always has been, with the
pupils who live in the surrounding villages. HCC seeks solely to direct these pupils to Harpenden,
even though the prospect is that (by the time a fourth school may be fully operational), half the
pupils attending schools in Harpenden town will travel in to town for their education. With the
falling in-area demand, the potential is then for this fourth school to take pupils from outside the
planning area, leading to even longer school journeys and more road traffic.
One of RSRP’s core contentions has always been that a school should be built where it best serves
the need, and the evidence continues to mount that the most sustainable place for that is
Wheathampstead, where the greatest need is.
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About
Right School Right Place is a group made up of concerned residents in the wider Harpenden Schools
Planning Area who support the need for a new district school but believe that Hertfordshire County
Council is proceeding with a rushed and undemocratic decision to develop a school site in Batford.
This is despite clear evidence that this highly prominent site is highly unsuited to this use, resulting in
urban sprawl and coalescence between Harpenden and Wheathampstead and irreparable harm to
the Green Belt in this Landscape Conservation Area (33). http://www.rsrp.co.uk/. RSRP are
committed to delivering impartial information on the new school debate.
Press contacts are:
Hillary Taylor: 07939 478 466