Strategic Planning - Stage 2

Stakeholders involved

DfES
PFS
LA Members
LA Chief Officers
Children & Young Peoples Service Heads
School Governors, Head Teachers, Teachers & students
LA Property Teams
LA Planning & Highways Dept
LA Capital Finance Teams
S151 Officers

The Local Authority (LA) must present an area-wide vision for secondary school education; a vision that is developed and maintained in partnership with schools, dioceses and other relevant stakeholders. The education vision should be ambitious and farsighted enough to drive forward to the completion of the programme. LAs need to submit their education vision to PfS and the DfES for approval before going on to produce their SBC.The SBC combines the vision for education in an area with strategic asset planning. It co-ordinates the plans and aspirations of all users and providers of secondary education in the area with regards to BSF. The SBC helps to ensure that successive projects put forward by the LA meet the objectives of BSF, are properly scoped and affordable, and are implemented in a phased manner. This strategic planning is an important contributor to achieving value for money. Like the education vision, the SBC needs to be approved by PfS and the DfES.

From wave 4 onwards (January 2007), in order to reduce the length of the pre-procurement stages and to ensure closer integration of education strategies and school building proposals, LAs will have to submit a single document called the ''Strategy for Change'', in place of the separate education vision and SBC.In their Strategy for Change, LAs will be expected to set out their plans for delivering greater diversity of provision, choice and access as set out in the Government’s recent White Paper, Higher Standards, Better Schools for All and the current Education and Inspections Bill.

LA Resource requirements

Existing Resources
Children & Young Peoples Directorate Heads of Service
Executive Director
Members holding CYP portfolio
Head Teachers & Governors
FM & property services
Capital programme management teams
Planning & Highways Departments

Additional Resources

Project Director
Educational Consultants
Special Needs Consultants
Communications staff
Administrative & Support staff
Document controllers
ICT consultants
FM Specialists
Planning consultatnts
Cost analysts
Financial planner/PFI modellers
Programme Manager
Project Manager (s)

Deliverables

Analysis of need, cost, risks and expected outcomes
Drafting of Educational vision
Approval by LA stakeholders & Members
Approval of LA Educational Vision by DfES
Drafting of Strategy For Change
Financial modelling and needs gap analysis
Approval by LA stakeholders & Members (includes commitments to meet unfunded costs)
Approval of LA Strategy For Change by PFS & DfES

Next Stage

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