TO:     Executive Member, Children, Young People and Learning

DATE: 14 June 2022

Disposal of Ascot Heath Caretaker’s Bungalow

Executive Director: People

1          Purpose of decision

1.1 For CMT to approve the disposal of the caretaker’s bungalow at Ascot Heath School and allocation of the resultant capital receipt.

2          Recommendation

2.1       To approve disposal of the caretaker’s bungalow at Ascot Heath school, for the governing body of the school to retain the full net receipts which would be swapped with the council for revenue funds to part repay the school’s accumulated revenue deficit.

3          Reasons for recommendation

3.1       The building was vacated in 2019 and in December 2019 the school governing body formally declared the building to be surplus to its requirements and requested the Council to dispose of the property.

3.2       On 07-April 2020 the People Directorate DMT declared the bungalow surplus to requirements subject to the capital receipt being used to pay off the school’s debt to the Council.

3.3       Asset Management Board approval to dispose was received on 7 May 2020.

4          Alternative options considered

4.1       Providing accommodation for an on-site caretaker is an option, however the Governing Body have indicated that as part of their cost saving initiatives they have decided not to employ an on-site caretaker. They feel this role can be accomplished by someone not living on site, following the precedent set by other local schools.

4.2       Alternative non-school residential use is not possible without construction of a new access route to the bungalow from Rhododendron Walk to enable the bungalow to have its own separate access for safeguarding reasons.

5          Supporting information

The Caretakers Bungalow

5.1       Is detached and located within the curtilage of Ascot Heath Primary School with shared access through the school site onto Rhododendron Walk. The bungalow has three bedrooms a garage, front and back gardens and is in reasonably good condition.

5.2       The bungalow has its own dedicated gas electricity and water connections.

Disposal Land

5.3       The proposed disposal land is outlined in red on the site plan attached as APPENDIX A.

Financial considerations

5.4       The Governing Body declared the building to be surplus to the school’s requirements and available for disposal subject to retention of the net receipt. Ascot Heath Primary school is operating under a deficit budget, primarily because of a past fall in pupil numbers in the now closed Junior School. Alongside endeavours to raise standards in the above-mentioned junior school, which resulted in the newly amalgamated school requiring approval to £330k budget deficit.

5.5       The school amalgamation has afforded the school the opportunity to review its cost base and progress has been made to move the school to an affordable annual spend level. However, addressing the accumulated deficit will be a challenge over the medium term.

5.6       The intention would be to swap the capital receipt from the sale of the bungalow with the council for revenue funding which could then be used to pay back a share of the accumulated deficit. This follows a similar agreement with Easthampstead Park Secondary school with the sale of the Mendeleev building in 2020. Provision to complete the necessary capital / revenue funding swap has been established with the creation of an earmarked reserve. If agreed, this would be the final such capital / revenue funding swap that would be agreed with a school.

5.7       Taking account of this information, on 7 May 2020, the Asset Management Group agreed that should a sale be completed. The Corporate Management Team subsequently agreed this approach with the full net receipt after swapping for revenue funding to be retained by the school, to part repay the school’s accumulated revenue budget deficit.

Approval to Dispose

5.8       Approval to dispose is sought subject to the capital receipt being sufficient to meet all of the costs associated with the disposal and securing all of the necessary external approvals. It is not possible to estimate what all of these costs will be, or whether these approvals can be obtained without further work on each area, but permission is being sought to approve the disposal subject to the following:

a) Creation of a separate Access: For safeguarding reasons it is important that the property be sold with a separate access. i.e., not accessed through the school site, and that it be physically fenced off from the school. This will entail moving the school gates back into the site to a position that will allow the purchasers to have their own access to the bungalow without having to come through the school gates. This area of land is marked on brown on the site plan attached as APPENDIX A.

b) Secretary of State approval: Since the property forms part of the site of Ascot Heath Primary School and has recently been used for educational use the approval of the Secretary of State (SoS) will be required to dispose. The SoS will be likely to approve providing the school will benefit from the capital receipt.

c) Disposal fees, including property and legal (conveyancing).

d) Confirmation from the Oxford CE Diocese that they have no objection to the disposal and no pecuniary interest in the capital receipt.

Current position

5.9       Since the original referral to Asset Management Group, work has been undertaken to move to a position where a sale can be completed. An informal agreement has been reached with Crown Estates on removal of the restrictive covenants which allows for an estimate of likely net receipts from a sale to be calculated.

5.10     Subject to market forces, the overall gross capital receipt has been estimated by the council’s Property Team as being in the region of £350k. To be deducted from this amount will be the consideration for a Deed of Variation to allow the school bungalow to be sold on the open market for residential use at around £90k, with a further £6k cost of professional services used by the Crown Estate, £20k to complete necessary safeguarding fencing and access works, plus around a further £20k of fees for internal BFC staff and estate agents. This indicates a net receipt of £214k.

6.         Consultation and other considerations

Legal Advice

6.1       The legal issues affecting this transaction are dealt with in the body of the report.

Executive Director of Resources: Finance

6.2       The anticipated financial implications are set out in the supporting information. This will be the final school scheme where a capital; / revenue funding swap will be considered.

Other Consultation Responses

6.3       The Headteacher and Governing Body of Ascot Heath Primary School were consulted at meetings and in discussions and in December 2019 the school Governing Body declared the building to be surplus to the school’s requirements and requested the Council to dispose.

Equalities Impact Assessment

6.4       n/a

Strategic Risk Management Issues

6.5       Risks are set out on the table below:

ISSUE	RISK	COMMENT
Secretary of State permission	LOW	It is thought that the SoS will be likely to approve disposal providing the school benefits
Covenant Risk	LOW	Terms for the lifting of the covenant for school use have been agreed
Market Risk	LOW	The property is expected to be attractive in the marketplace.
Finance Risk	LOW	The gross capital receipt is estimated to be sufficient to cover the disposal cost and still leave a significant sum to benefit the school.

Climate Change Implications

6.7       None

Health & Wellbeing Considerations

6.8       None

Background Papers

Governing Body Minutes for disposal December 2019

Contact for further information

Cheryl Eyre                 Assistant Director, Education & Learning      

01344 354192             cheryl.eyre@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

Paul Clark                   Finance Business Partner

01344 354054             paul.clark@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

APPENDIX A - ASCOT HEATH CARETAKERS BUNGALOW SITE PLAN