(a)

following the review of capital allocations by Partnership for Schools (PfS), at the request of the Department for Education, capital allocations of £11.5m for All Saints Academy, Plymouth and £9.5m for Marine Academy, Plymouth had been  approved in May 2011;

(b)

PfS had indicated that the funding allocated was reliant on the procurement being through the Academies Framework administered by PfS, and managed through the Council;

(c)

as the Academies were separate organisations to Plymouth City Council, there was no financial advantage to the Council in acting as the procurement agents, however the wider benefit to the city that such an investment would bring, was significant; 

(d)

the condition liability of the schools fell to the Academies and the government so there was no direct reduction of liability from this investment.  The capital investment would improve the school environments and bring up, to current legislation, the building fabric;

(e)

the City Council was a co- sponsor of these Academies which means that it retained an influence and a responsibility to support these organisations as partners, in the important objective of serving some of the most disadvantaged communities in the city;

(f)

the Council had been fully involved in making the case to Government that these schools needed capital investment to resolve long standing condition issues and to modernise their environment;

(g)

both the All Saints and Marine Academies had achieved substantial gains in attainment since becoming Academies but there remained much more to be achieved;

(h)

the Council was recommended to support these projects by acting as the responsible body in the capital delivery and to therefore secure this investment for the city.