RESOLVED

That Cabinet:

1.     notes the significant increase in demand for secondary school places flowing from primary schools, with an immediate need for at least an addition 300 year 7 places (10 forms of entry) required by September 2018.

2.     notes the limited options available for expansion of existing schools, and the need for a new secondary school in the Wimbledon area to complement deliverable expansions to the east of the borough. Following Secretary of State approval this would be delivered through the Harris Wimbledon School and so responsibility for identifying a site rests with the Department for Education under the Free School programme, but the council can facilitate this process.

3.     agrees that the council enters into a pre-construction agreement with Willmott Dixon for the expansion of Harris Morden, Harris Merton and St. Mark’s Academy under the SCAPE framework with clearly costed break-clauses at key stages to allow for the fact that:

(a)    It is not clear all projects will progress to construction so any scheme may stop after design Stage C

(b)    The timescales for implementing is not clear and the council may choose, after stage E, to instead follow a competitive tender route for construction if it is better value for money, especially if schemes are not implemented to similar timescales