ONE STEP CLOSER TO DALBEATTIE LEARNING CAMPUS

At a special meeting of the Council’s Education Committee on 31 August, Councillors agreed unanimously to proceed to Financial Close on the Dalbeattie Learning Campus. This will mean all conditions will have been satisfied on all project-related transactions, development of technical design, market testing, financial modelling and cost predictions. This agreement means that the commencement of works on the new shared campus for Dalbeattie’s new High School, Primary School and Nursery is one step closer.
The vision for the Dalbeattie Learning Campus is to create a flexible, modern, inclusive and sustainable campus for the community of Dalbeattie which will support attainment, achievement and participation for our children and young people and also provide wider access for the whole community.
The Schools for the Future team has engaged with a wide range of user groups to ensure that the designs for the Dalbeattie Learning Campus will meet the wider communities’ needs and aspirations. The main halls, teaching spaces and sports facilities will be available to community groups, clubs and organisations, enabling the asset to be used far beyond school core hours. In addition to the proposed new schools, the project will include a range of sports facilities, community learning facilities and space for visiting services.
The Dalbeattie Learning Campus project is being delivered under a Design, Build, Finance and Maintain (DBFM) Project Agreement. The total value of the DBFM contract for the projects is being fully funded through Scottish Government monies under a ‘group funding’ approach, whereby funding is awarded to 3 projects which are grouped together to support one large umbrella project, in order to simplify project and contract financing. The group funding for the Dalbeattie Learning Campus consists of the following elements:
• Dalbeattie Learning Campus Funding Award £7.473 Million
• Maxwelltown High School Funding Award £8.440 Million
• St Joseph’s College Funding Award £8.346 Million
• Funding Allowance for Public Sector Advisors £0.200 Million
This amounts to a total Dalbeattie Learning Campus DBFM Contract Value of £24.459 Million.
At each key stage of the project a formal review is undertaken by Scottish Futures Trust in order to ensure that the project can proceed to the next stage. Two reviews have now been carried out and Scottish Futures Trust has now confirmed that the recommendations resulting from these reviews have been satisfactorily carried out. The project has also been benchmarked against data provided by the Trust, and they were satisfied that it demonstrates value for money.
At today’s meeting Members were asked to take into account the announcement by the Scottish Government (7 August 2015) regarding the Aberdeen Bypass project and concerns raised in relation to this by the Office of National Statistics regarding accounting measures. In order to pre-empt any possible delays from the Scottish Government, which would be out of the Council’s control, Dumfries and Galloway Council will now take the process as far as they can go in order to be able to start on site as soon as the Scottish Government gives the go-ahead. The Council proposes to adopt the governance approach used by the previous Schools PPP financial close which faced similar complex challenges. The appropriate school parent councils have been informed of this development and Dumfries and Galloway Council will continue to engage and work with schools, parents and the community and keep them notified of any amendments to the project timeline.
Members today agreed that, following completion of the Hub Stages 1 and 2, and the development of the required contractual documentation, the Dalbeattie Learning Campus project can still now proceed to Financial Close. A follow up report on this matter will be presented to the Education Committee on 17th September 2015.
Chair of the Education Committee, Cllr Jeff Leaver, said “It is a priority of this Council to provide the best start in life for all our children and that means having schools fit for the 21st century. This agreement by the Education Committee marks another important step for us in delivering the new Dalbeattie Learning Campus. The Council has now fulfilled our obligations and we are ready to start the construction of this exciting project. The ball is now very much in the Scottish Government’s court. We hope they will be able to resolve their funding issues as quickly as possible to ensure we are still on target for the successful completion on time of this ambitious project for the people Dalbeattie. The local community deserves nothing less”.