Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

Tuesday, 20 September 2011

Building Schools for the Future (BSF)

On 21 July 2008 Cabinet agreed a Building Schools for the Future Strategy for Change Part One (SfC1) for submission to the Government which described in outline how the Authority intended to use BSF investment to transform educational opportunities for young people in the borough. This was approved by Government agencies in September 2008.

The second part of the Strategy for Change (SfC2) was now due for submission. This concentrated on those schools included in the first of the two BSF funding waves as follows; as well as the proposed Academies in Stockton and Thornaby:-

-Bishopsgarth School (11-16)- New Build/refurbishment/refresh
-Blakeston School (11-16) - Planned for closure
-The Norton School - Planned for closure
-Grangefield School (11-16) - New Build/refurbishment/refresh
-Ian Ramsey CE Vol. Aided  (11-16) - New Build/refurbishment/refresh
-Our Lady & St Bede's RC Voluntary Aided (11-16)
-Thornaby Community School (11-16) - Planned for closure
-Abbey Hill Community Special School (11-19) - Refresh
-Westlands Community Special School (7-16) - New Build/refurbishment/refresh
-The Bishopton Centre All Age Pupil Referral Unit - New Build/refurbishment/refresh

SfC2 included the outcomes of option appraisals to determine the nature of building work appropriate to each school site to support educational transformation within the BSF capital funding allocation.

Cabinet approved the final SfC2 for submission to Government for formal assessment with an Outline Business Case (OBC) to be submitted in July 2009. Some of the changes to schools described in SfC2 would require statutory consultation under the Education and Inspections Act 2006.  Consultation on a proposal to close Billingham Campus School and enlarge Northfield School has been completed and that proposal has been approved. Consultation on proposals to establish two Academies and to close Blakeston School, The Norton School and Thornaby Community School will begin when the timeline for Academy developments has been confirmed by Government agencies.

All of the actual building works associated with BSF will require planning approval. As a part of the planning process, consideration will be given to such matters as the need for, and adequacy of, environmental statements for each school including the impact upon transport. The Council's BSF team is currently preparing a range of transport and environmental assessments for evaluation, to ensure the adequacy of the planning applications.

For further details of the Council's Building for Schools proposals, please contact Kirsty Watt, 01642 524525. 

Review of Obesity

Cabinet was advised of the findings of a report produced by the Children and Young People Select Committee following its review of the problem of obesity within the Borough.

The Select Committee, in carrying out the review, had recognised the importance of the issues and had undertook to look at services currently available to assist the development of an obesity strategy for Stockton Borough.

The Committee therefore met with officers from Stockton-on-Tees Teaching Primary Care Trust as well as Council departments, Tees Active Limited, and GP representation whose work was identified as providing opportunities for limiting or arresting the likelihood of obesity rates rising in the future.

In particular, examination of the Healthy Schools agenda, Council catering, food outlets, sport provision in the borough, planning, transportation including walking and cycling opportunities especially to and from school, and GP referrals, occupied the committee members time.

Members noted that the PCT and Stockton Borough Council, had been visited by the Department of Health's Childhood Obesity National Support Team in September 2007 which provided recommendations to halt the year-on-year rise in obesity among children aged under 11 by 2010. Using this as a basis but widening the Committee's usual remit to include adults, Councillors were able to begin to investigate this issue.

The findings revealed that:-

-A high proportion of residents did not undertake any forms of exercise;

-Increasing numbers of young people that took part in the National Child Measurement Programme had been found to be overweight or obese;

-A change in food preparation and availability, which could include a higher proportion of fat, salt and sugars to be consumed than was advised for a healthy lifestyle, had led to an increase in levels of obesity;

-The increase in levels of obesity was likely to have an impact on public services which the Committee attempted to determine how prevention rather than cure could benefit not only individuals but also the use of Council and PCT budgets;

-In the Stockton PCT area, the estimated annual costs to the NHS of diseases related to overweight and obesity was calculated to be £51.9m in 2007, £53.9m in 2010, and £57.6m in 2015.

The Committee examined the issue of obesity as it affected all stages of an individual's life, from birth, to pre-school, school, and adult life including maternal health and structured its report on the Government's Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives documentation to assist the report's use by Council and PCT staff and its assimilation into current working practice.

The review highlighted many areas of good practice that was already being carried out in a variety of areas within the borough to help individuals tackle the problems of excess weight and their corresponding health issues.

Cabinet was therefore happy to approve some 40 Recommendations put forward as part of this Council's and the PCT's proposed strategy for tackling the problem of obesity within the Borough. Further details of each of the recommendations can be found at (www.stockton.gov.uk/yourcouncil/egenda/) featuring the meeting of Cabinet on the 5th February 2009.

Preston Park & Hall Redevelopment

Preston Park is the biggest recreational park in the Tees Valley, and the largest and most visited facility in Stockton Borough.  The Park & Hall was the most visited facility in Teesside throughout the 80's and early 90's, a position the Council believes we can regain. However, Cabinet was advised that the attractions were now generally run down.  

The Stockton Museum Strategy 2005 set the objective of establishing a master plan for the redevelopment of the Park & Hall.  The master plan has been produced through lengthy and widespread consultation and was approved by Cabinet in June 2007 as a basis for major funding applications.

The Council was unsuccessful in its application for funding from the BIG Lottery Parks For People scheme for improvements to the Park, but was successful in securing an offer of £3.58million from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for works to the Hall.

The Grade 2 listed Hall needs over £1million of renovation work, plus new toilets and a lift to comply with DDA requirements. The period street will be improved with a new education area and an accessible store to help people see the thousands of collections items that are not on permanent display. Works in the Main building will also make it easier for us to use the Ballroom for a wider range of functions.  All of these works will be included in the first phase of development.

Works to the Park which are deliverable in the first phase of the redevelopment, due for completion by Spring 2012, included:-

-Yarm Road Entrance improvements for safer traffic flow;
-Improved drainage to the main field;
-Refurbishment of the toilets;
-Service access road improvements from Preston Lane;
-Improved access to the river.

It was also hoped that sources of funding would also be obtained in the near future to secure the provision of a skate area and off-road cycle track (facilities for young people regularly requested in the MORI and residents' surveys undertaken by the Council); as well as heritage projects celebrating the 1825 Stockton to Darlington Railway line and a Victorian Kitchen Garden.

For further information, visit Preston Hall and Museum, or to find out more about its proposed redevelopment, contact Reuben Kench , Head of Culture & Leisure, tel. 01642 527040.


Improving Access to Council Services through Community Access Points"

Cabinet noted customer reaction to the Ingleby Barwick Community Access Point, which had been launched on the 11th January 2008, as the first of a proposed borough-wide network of locations that would operate on a part-time basis and would provide customers with the opportunity to interact with the Council on a face-to-face basis at locations and at times convenient to the customer.

The Access Point at Ingleby Barwick is provided within the Tesco store and the opening times are to be changed to once a month on the last Saturday of each month (from 10.00am to 1:00pm).  The staff will respond to specific requests for information, advice or Council services ; and will also promote forthcoming Council events or other topical issues relating to the Council or partner services; such as Adult Education courses, Stockton Riverside International Festival information, and information regarding electoral registration.  

Cabinet noted that a second Access Point was due to open within the Tesco store on Durham Road.  This will operate from 10:00am to 1:00pm on the first Friday morning of every month.

For further details about the Council's initiatives to respond to customer demand for access to Council services, contact Debbie Hurwood, Head of Customer Services & Taxation, tel. 01642 527014.

Council Budget 2009/10

Cabinet met on this date to give consideration to the final financial report that would be used by Council in determining the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for 2009/2010 onwards, as well as the level of Council Tax increase to be levied for this period.

In doing so, Members were advised that despite the severe economic recession the country is encountering, and the resultant increased demand for Council services, the Government Final Settlement grant for this Council for 2009/10 and 2010/11 remained the same as announced last year. Members were advised of the impact that the current global financial position was beginning to have on the resource requirements of services provided by the Council, as well as an anticipated shortfall predicted in the income expected to be realised from funds the Council had invested with banks and building societies.

Cabinet made a number of recommendations for the full Council to consider at its meeting to be held on the 25th February; whereupon it was agreed that a 2009/10 budget for Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council (inclusive of Parish Precepts £563,448) be set at £147,317,839; and that the Council Tax be increased by 4.3% to a level of £1197.58 at Band D (£798.39 Band A). Members also noted the precept set by Cleveland Fire Authority which equated to a Council Tax of £61.57 at Band D (£41.05 at Band A) however, details of the Police budget, precept and Council Tax was not expected to be confirmed until the meeting of Council on the 4th March 2009.

Further details regarding the Council's budget, visit www.stockton.gov.uk/yourcouncil/egenda/ to view the report considered at the meeting of Council on the 25th February 2009; or to discuss any of its content, contact Steve Winship on 01642 526366 or Paul Saunders on 01642 527010.