The role of the School Asset Support Team is focussed upon serving Children’s Services overseeing the sufficiency, suitability and condition requirements of Solihull school’s estate.

The team is part of Strategic Land and Property, located within the Resources Directorate and works corporately to ensure that all school premises are fit for purpose. In that regard the Team’s mission is to:

Keep education vision at the heart of school asset development.

The team works closely with all key stakeholders, across a range of Responsible Bodies to deliver programmes and projects across the borough. Supported by professional and technical colleagues within the wider Strategic Land and Property Team, we also draw upon expertise from other areas of the Council to ensure a comprehensive service. Property Services, planners, Claude etc…

Irrespective of Responsible Body status, we offer all schools and other educational establishments support and guidance on a range of asset and property related issues.

· Childrens Services Capital Programme

The Children’s Services Capital Programme focusses on delivering projects to ensure the Council meets its statutory duty for provision of sufficient school places This incorporates both mainstream, high needs and early years provision and implements investment including from government capital allocations and developer contributions.

In improving the condition of the school estate through planned maintenance, long term improvement or new build schemes, we are fundamentally addressing priorities, including backlog items, determined from our rolling programme of local stock condition surveys and asset management data.

Appraising the suitability of the school estate continues to be about ensuring our school premises are fit for purpose to support the effective delivery of teaching and learning and the drive to raise education standards. Asset management planning with individual schools continues to enable suitability issues to be identified and where possible addressed, often in works that are complementary to other projects focused upon places and condition. This can also be through the Landlord Approval process where schools have proposed using their own funding, given the priority they attach to such schemes.

· PFI Contract management

o Management of the PFI arrangement that underpins three of the four schools build as part of the Building Schools for the Future programme (Smith’s Wood Sports College, Park Hall Academy and Castlewood).

o Ongoing liaison between these schools and the PFI contractor (BAM PPP) to ensure that service standards are to the required level and that the arrangement continues to represent value for money.

· Academy Conversions

o Increasingly schools are planning conversions to academy status and the team provides property advice and support throughout this complex process.

o Once academised, as Landlord, the team retains a significant interest in the estate ensuring the terms of the Academy Lease are met and can offer Trusts guidance in the overall management of the estate. FEE OPPORTUNITY

· Landlord Approvals

o Solihull MBC holds overall Landlord responsibility for all assets including Schools and Academies and in order to ensure we have the most up to date information on our assets we must be informed, and give consent to, all works which alter the structure or fabric of the premise and administer the Landlord Approval process.

o The team provides advice and guidance through this process and more information can be found: LINK TO LANDLORD DOCS

· Asset Management Planning

o The Solihull School’s Asset Management Plan provides an overarching strategy for the whole estate and can be read here: Link to AMP when ready

o Individual School Asset Management and Development Plans place each school’s vision at the heart of their future development plans, considering school’s estates, building, suitability and sufficiency information in one key document.

o Commitment to update and review with maintained schools regularly to keep all information and plans current and relevant.

o OFFER THIS FEE SERVICE TO NON MAINTAINED??