The Infrastructure Delivery Team deliver the council's capital programme by administering and project managing the spend of capital budgets on a wide range of infrastructure including schools, highways and waste.
The team also owns and manages the Landlords Consent process where schools are required to achieve Essex County Council (ECC) approval, prior to completing alterations to ECC properties.
In the first instance, we recommend you consult the following documentation which provides an explanation of the Landlord Consent Process:
Capital Funding
The extent to which priorities can be met depends on maximising the funds available. An important part of the team's work relates to the overall management of the Local Authority's (LA) capital finances. These activities, include but are not limited to, the following:
For any queries regarding the Capital Funding section, please email infrastructure.delivery@essex.gov.uk. Please ensure you include the appropriate name in the subject depending on your query:
Jane Lewis or Donna Cooknell - for devolved formula capital and community, voluntary controlled, and foundation schools Landlord Consent queries.
Robert Greenwold - for Landlord Consent queries not related to Devolved Formula Capital Grant projects, including non-DFC applications at maintained schools, and Academies Applications.
School Property and Capital Maintenance
Working with schools and consultants, the Infrastructure Delivery Team uses building surveys to prioritise and deliver the annual school building capital maintenance programme. School condition surveys were last undertaken in 2013/14 by MITIE Compliance and are available to schools. Please note these surveys are currently being updated.
Information about school property and maintenance can be found in the School Property Handbook
ECC is only responsible for funding school capital maintenance. This is maintenance that, as a rule, would cost more than £10,000 (though there are some exceptions). ECC Infrastructure Delivery is in a partnership with Mitie to run annual capital maintenance programmes. Schools are able to report capital maintenance issues directly to Mitie by calling 01245 435517 or emailing: ecc.helpdesk@mitie.com. Schools are responsible for revenue maintenance which, as a rule, is defined as that costing less than £10,000. Again, there are some exceptions.
Schools need to strongly consider retaining the services of and developing a relationship with Property Consultants. These companies will often be happy to work with schools to identify revenue and capital maintenance issues. If capital investment is required, property consultants are often well placed to communicate this to ECC. Please refer to the Schools Property Handbook .
Please address all enquiries to ecc.helpdesk@mitie.com.
The aim of the capital maintenance programme is to ensure that the Local Authority discharges its responsibility to carry out major maintenance in order to maintain school buildings to a reasonable condition. ECC has always sought contributions from schools towards the cost of their capital maintenance projects. However, the level of school contributions has not changed significantly since the 1990s, and these no longer reflect current building costs.
To address this, the Schools' Forum has ratified a standard school contribution for all maintenance projects of £40 per pupil. This is subject to the following:
- Only schools in that year's planned maintenance programme contribute
- The Head will be required to agree to the contribution before work begins
- Schools can make their contributions from either Formula Capital or Revenue budgets
- The contribution will be taken once the work starts on site
- Schools may appeal if there is reason to believe the contribution is unfair
- Only one contribution per school, per year, no matter how many ECC funded maintenance projects are undertaken at the school
- Contributions help ensure the School Capital Maintenance Budget levels are sustained each year
Schools will be notified as early as possible if they are included in an annual planned maintenance programme - certainly by the end of June. Schools are advised to budget £40 per pupil in case of inclusion. Following publication of the programme each year, that money can, of course, be uncommitted if not needed for a contribution. Lack of maintenance by the school , which results in a maintenance project to be undertaken may increase cost to £80 per pupil.
Project Management
The most tangible evidence of the team's work comes in the form of capital schemes to provide new and re-modelled facilities at schools. These are primarily ‘Basic Need’ schemes which are part of the Council’s approved capital programme. A small team of project managers works with schools and consultants to help develop schemes that meet the long term strategic planning needs of schools within the resources available. Their work ranges across the preparation of school development plans, initial feasibility studies, commissioning consultants and the management of project design teams to help ensure that schemes are managed and delivered to approved timescales and budgets.
Asbestos Surveys and Building Works
Please note that this section is only applicable to buildings constructed before the year 2000.
Where works are being undertaken at a school, the 'Control of Asbestos regulations 2012' (CAR) must be understood and adopted for all works being undertaken, to ensure they are carried out safely and to the current regulations. Asbestos exposure can lead to progressive Carcinogenic diseases if disturbed and inhaled. As a material it must be treated and disposed of appropriately by professionals who know how to and who are certified to do so.
A common misconception is that the building's Asbestos Management Plan (AMP), which must be kept on-site, will inform you of all the Asbestos contained within the building. This is incorrect, the AMP is a guide only. It will advise where suspected Asbestos may be located following the results of a visual inspection and its sole purpose is to aid with the day to running of the building, this does not include or allow for Construction works!
To obtain a full understanding of any remaining and unidentified asbestos in the building, a Refurbishment and Demolition (R&D) Survey must be undertaken. This is intrusive and will generally require small sections of the building to be removed and tested in Laboratory conditions. All layers of construction material below and including visible finished surfaces that will be affected by construction activity (e.g. drilling, sanding, hammering, or cutting) must be tested.
The R&D survey will determine if there is any Asbestos present and if any material will need to be removed or treated prior to construction works starting. You should allow suitable time and budgets for this survey to take place and consider the costs associated with any remedial work identified.
Asbestos must be handled/removed and tested by a certified member of UKAS, this should be checked when employing a certified testing company. It is the law to follow CAR regulations, which only exist to protect the building users from Asbestos exposure.
What is CAR 2012 and why does it exist? It is a Health and Safety Executive regulation introduced in 2012 to reduce deaths and serious illness as a result of Asbestos exposure. The regulations are set out to make aware the dangers of the material and how to best manage it.
Who are UKAS and how do they fit into this? They are a UK government appointed accreditation body who monitor and manage quality and integrity of organisations who operate within this field. A UKAS accredited contractor will need to be appointed to undertake the following tasks:
- AMP: Asbestos Management Plan surveying and drafting
- R&D: Refurbishment and Demolition surveying and testing
- Removals
- Encapsulation
- Treatment
- Disposal
- Certification
- Other where the above cannot be performed
To find a UKAS accredited contractor in your local area please use the link below:
Who's Accredited? - UKAS
For further information on the management of Asbestos, please refer to the Health and Safety Executive website, alternatively contact the Essex County Council Infrastructure and Delivery team on 0333 013 3402 for specific matters.
