An underspend from Caerphilly County Borough Council’s 21st Century Schools Programme could be spent on a refurbishment at Trinity Fields School, Ystrad Mynach.
The local authority’s cabinet members have been asked to consider a proposal that would see £940,000 made available.
The funding would provide updates to school facilities, enabling it to continue to meet the changing needs of the current and future school population.
Several priority areas have been identified and proposed for possible investment as a result of consultations involving officers throughout the local authority and school based staff.
These include the installation of new ‘through room’ hoist systems to directly link classroom and bathroom areas, the adaptation of toilet facilities, the relocation of the pupil kitchen area and improvements to the school’s hydrotherapy pool and outdoor learning area.
Trinity Fields School has also recently benefited from two additional classrooms from Caerphilly County Borough Council through capital investment. This has enabled the accommodation of increasing pupil numbers requiring specialist educational provision.
The areas suggested will be prioritised following a calculation of the underspend. They will also be subject to a full business case being compiled and submitted to the Welsh Government for consideration.
Cllr Philippa Marsden, Cabinet Member for Education and Achievement, said: “The projected underspend has enabled the local authority to set out proposals for alternative usage and I welcome the suggested refurbishment within Trinity Fields School. The improvements would make a tremendous difference to pupils within the school including increased independent living skills and easier accessibility for pupils with mobility issues”.
The 21st Century Schools Project is funded jointly between Caerphilly County Borough Council and the Welsh Government.
A massive underspend – shows yet again the poor management within Caerphilly Council.
It’s good to see it being spent on Trinity Fields refurbishment, but this large amount of money should have been utilised throughout the financial year.
It’s poor management because it’s managers who show they have “saved” this large amount of unspent money think it’s a feather in their cap – when in fact good management would have been to spend the majority of it on projects that needed the funding throughput the financial term.