FOI Request - Education Provision in Buckie
Request 101002811761
School Roll Forecasts
1. Provide a copy of the Council’s most recent school roll forecasts for Cluny Primary School and Buckie High School. Please include details of the assumptions adopted, including pupil generation rates (Child per House Ratios) from new housing development and the number of new homes included.
Note: If the latest available school roll projection is the Council’s 2019 based forecasts, as published August 2020 online, please clarify the assumptions noted above for these forecasts.
Existing School Plans
2. Provide a copy of the following (if available) for Cluny Primary School and Buckie High School:
a) Existing floor plans;
b) Site plans; and
c) Accommodation schedule.
If it is known that any of the information provided is not up-to-date, please provide an explanation of any differences with the current configuration of the relevant school(s).
Supplementary Guidance: Developer Obligations (2020)
3. Provide an explanation and any supporting information to justify how the contribution ratio based on different sizes of residential units on page 11 of the Supplementary Guidance has been calculated.
4. Page 12 of the Supplementary Guidance states that the Pupil Product Ratio has been …tested and proven to be reasonable in Moray. Please provide an explanation and any supporting information to justify this statement.
5. Provide an explanation of whether denominational schooling is considered in the Council’s Pupil Product Ratios set out on page 12 of the Supplementary Guidance and how the Council takes denominational attendance into account when calculating financial contributions towards education provision.
6. Provide an explanation and any supporting information to clarify how the costs in the table on page 13 of the Supplementary Guidance have been calculated.
Update on Infrastructure Actions in Buckie
7. The Supplementary Guidance and Moray Local Development Plan (2020) set out a requirement towards financial contributions towards a new primary school in Buckie from several allocated sites. Clarify the following in relation to this requirement:
a) Whether the Council still intends to deliver a new primary school;
b) The scale of new primary school;
c) The total estimated cost;
d) The expected opening date; and
e) The expected catchment area.
8. The Supplementary Guidance and Moray Local Development Plan (LDP) (2020) set out a requirement towards financial contributions towards an expansion of secondary school provision in Buckie from several allocated sites. Clarify the following in relation to this requirement:
a) Whether the Council still intends to deliver an extension to Buckie High School;
b) The scale of extension;
c) The total estimated cost; and
d) The expected opening date.
9. The Moray LDP (2020) Buckie Infrastructure Map notes …Potential for joint campus for primary, secondary and nursery provision. Confirm whether the Council intends to progress with this infrastructure action and how this relates to the infrastructure actions noted in Questions 7 and 8 above. If relevant, confirm the scale, cost and timescale for this infrastructure action.
Response 24-06-2021
1. The requested information is published on the Council website and is therefore exempt under section 25 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 'information otherwise accessible'. for ease of reference please find a link to the web page here.
2. Please find location maps attached here. In accordance with section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 we can confirm that no other current information is held.
3. It was considered that seeking the same level of developer obligations towards different size of residential units were unreasonable and therefore the calculations are based on the number of bedrooms a residential unit has. A 3 bedroom residential unit is used as a `standard sized residential unit` (SRUE). From that, SRUE has been determined to a 1 bed, 2 bed, 4 bed, 5 bed and 6 bed residential unit and these are being used as a basis for the calculation to ensure that the required developer obligations are proportionate and reasonable to the size of the proposed residential unit.
4. Recent large developments of 100 residential units or more within Moray have been taken, and the number of pupils attending local schools from these developments were counted by using the number of pupils attending schools by postcode. In some developments, the pupil product ratio was higher than 0.3 and 0.15, but in certain developments, these ratios were smaller. When the findings were averaged, the pupil product ratio across Moray resulted in 0.3 for primary schools and 0.15 for secondary schools, which is in line with the ratios the Council has been using in the Developer Obligations Supplementary Guidance.
These findings were reported to the Moray Council Emergency Cabinet on 14 May 2020 as Appendix III of the Developer Obligations Supplementary Guidance committee report and can be found here.
5. The School Roll Forecast lists all schools within Moray, including denominational schools and therefore these pupils attending denomination schools are not counted towards non-denomination schools. All residential units are zoned to non-denominational primary schools and developer obligations are sought towards these schools; developer obligations are not sought towards denominational schools. The pupil product ratios set out in the Supplementary Guidance are not affected by the number of pupils attending denomination schools.
6. All of the costs set out on page 13 of the Supplementary Guidance are based on recent school projects that were delivered by Moray Council.
7+8+9. The School Roll Forecast 2020 sets out that Cluny Primary School is currently operating at 81% physical capacity and Buckie High School is expected to reach 90% capacity in 2023, which are the trigger points for seeking developer obligations. With the continuous development in Buckie, mainly at the south of Buckie, which is all zoned to Cluny Primary School, the need to create additional capacity within Cluny Primary School and Buckie High School is evident. Moray Council Education Services work closely with Strategic Planning and Development and were involved within the preparation of the Local Development Plan 2020, Delivery Programme and the Developer Obligations Supplementary Guidance to identify mitigation measures at both educational facilities to create additional capacity to accommodate the pupils generated by these new developments. As set out in the Delivery Programme, a long term sustainable School Estate Strategy is being prepared by Education Services to provide further details. In the meantime, as it has been identified by the Council and set out in the Supplementary Guidance, a new primary school and an extension at Buckie High School are required, therefore developer obligations are being sought towards these mitigation measures.