School to get 150 new places

A £4 million expansion project for at a school in north Birmingham has been given the green light.

At a meeting this week, the city council's cabinet approved project costs for extension works at St Edmund Campion Catholic School in Erdington.

A council report, published ahead of the meeting, said the plans would allow the secondary school to permanently expand from 186 to 216 pupils per year group – providing an extra 150 places overall.

It said the works would also help the council meet its obligations to provide enough local pupil places.

"Our forecasts [for the north of the city] indicate an ongoing increase in demand and an ongoing sufficiency need for these places at St Edmund Campion," it said.

"We need to continue to explore more schemes to ensure permanent places."

Mick Brown, cabinet member for Children, Young People and Families, said the extension works would be funded by a Basic Needs grant.

He also confirmed there was no cost to the general fund because of the project.

A report said the option of the school funding the project themselves was rejected.

"The school does not have significant funding for this work and is proposing to take on additional pupils at the request of Birmingham City Council," it said.

"Any cost overruns, should they occur, will not be the responsibility of the school, as this is a Basic Needs project required by the council to provide additional pupil places," the report added.

"Should it become apparent during the project that an overspend is likely to occur, a request for additional capital funding from the Basic Needs grant would need to be made."

Cabinet approved the project costs, full business case and grant up to the sum of £4,025,612.

The school is still waiting for confirmation from the Department for Education's Regions Group on the additional pupil numbers, with the grant subject to this approval.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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