8 Labour councillors on Wirral Council vote to close Lyndale School from 31st August 2016

8 Labour councillors on Wirral Council vote to close Lyndale School from 31st August 2016

8 Labour councillors on Wirral Council vote to close Lyndale School from 31st August 2016

                                                 

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Yesterday (17th December 2014) Wirral Council’s Cabinet decided to close Lyndale School in Eastham on 31st August 2016. You can watch video of how the decision was reached in the above video, the item on Lyndale School starts at 50 seconds into the meeting. Two of the Cabinet (Cllr Stuart Whittingham and Cllr Chris Meaden) were absent at the Cabinet meeting when it was made.

The councillor who proposed closure of the Lyndale School was Cllr Tony Smith (Cabinet Member for Children and Family Services). This was seconded by Cllr Ann McLachlan (Cabinet Member for Governance, Commissioning and Improvement).

The vote was as follows:

In favour of closing the Lyndale School from 31/8/16

Cllr Phil Davies (Labour, Birkenhead & Tranmere)

Cabinet 17th December 2014 vote on Lyndale School L to R Shirley Hudsepth Surjit Tour Cllr Phil Davies Graham Burgess
Cabinet 17th December 2014 vote on Lyndale School L to R Shirley Hudsepth Surjit Tour Cllr Phil Davies Graham Burgess

Cllr Ann McLachlan (Labour, Bidston & St James) * Note Seconder of motion
Cllr George Davies (Labour, Claughton)
Cllr Tony Smith (Labour, Upton) * Note Proposer of motion

Cabinet 17th December 2014 vote on Lyndale School closure L to R Cllr Tony Smith Cllr George Davies Cllr Ann McLachlan
Cabinet 17th December 2014 vote on Lyndale School closure L to R Cllr Tony Smith Cllr George Davies Cllr Ann McLachlan

Cllr Adrian Jones (Labour, Seacombe)
Cllr Chris Jones (Labour, Seacombe)
Cllr Pat Hackett (Labour, New Brighton)
Cllr Bernie Mooney (Labour, Liscard)

Cabinet 17th December 2014 vote on Lyndale School closure L to R Cllr Bernie Mooney Cllr Pat Hackett Cllr Chris Jones Cllr Adrian Jones
Cabinet 17th December 2014 vote on Lyndale School closure L to R Cllr Bernie Mooney Cllr Pat Hackett Cllr Chris Jones Cllr Adrian Jones

Total 8

Voting Against closing the Lyndale School from 31/8/16

Total 0

Abstentions

Total 0

Therefore with eight votes for, none against and no abstentions, the motion was agreed.

It is possible that at some future point six (or more) councillors will request a call in of this decision. However the Coordinating Committee would decide such a call in and is now short of the two parent governor representatives required to hear a call in on such a matter, you can read this blog post about the questions I asked of Cllr Tony Smith earlier in the week about that.

The Coordinating Committee has 9 Labour councillors, 5 Conservative councillors, 1 Lib Dem, 2 parent governor representatives (although both positions are now vacant) as well as a representative of the Catholic Diocese. It should also have a representative from the Anglican Diocese of Shrewsbury, however the Anglicans have (to my knowledge) not chosen someone yet. That’s a committee of 19 people. However three positions are vacant.

Those associated with the Lyndale School will probably be asking their legal advisers to send a Letter before Claim in this format to Wirral Council’s Cabinet and Wirral Council’s legal department in the near future. Once Wirral Council has received such a letter, they usually have 14 days to respond to such a letter. If the response is not to the proposed Claimant/s’s satisfaction it is highly likely that a case will be filed promptly with the Administrative Court (part of the Royal Courts of Justice) requesting permission for judicial review of the decision to close the school.

If decision on permission for judicial review was granted by a High Court Judge, then it would proceed to a hearing. A decision on permission (if the case was filed in January 2015) would be expected within around three months. If permission is given, a decision on this matter by the court would be expected to be decided within a year (that is if the case if filed in January 2015 by around January 2016 or possibly sooner but certainly before 31st August 2016).

Two newspapers that cover the Wirral area have also written pieces about this decision which you may be interested in reading:

Heartbreak for parents as Wirral Council’s cabinet vote unanimously to close Lyndale (Wirral Globe) by Emma Rigby

Wirral council under fire after rubber-stamping decision to shut Lyndale special school (Liverpool Echo) by Liam Murphy

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How did Councillor Tony Smith answer 2 questions about the Cabinet decision on closure of Lyndale School?

How did Councillor Tony Smith answer 2 questions about the Cabinet decision on closure of Lyndale School?

How did Councillor Tony Smith answer 2 questions about the Cabinet decision on closure of Lyndale School?

                                            

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Council (Wirral Council) 15th December 2014

Council 15th December 2014 Agenda item 4 Public Question Time John Brace asks a question of Cllr Tony Smith on Lyndale School
Council 15th December 2014 Agenda item 4 Public Question Time John Brace asks a question of Cllr Tony Smith on Lyndale School

In light of the fact that Wirral Council’s Cabinet meets tonight to make a decision about Lyndale School (amongst other matters), I thought this transcript of the public question time that includes two questions I asked Cllr Tony Smith about the upcoming decision on Lyndale School at the public meeting of Council on Monday 15th December might be of interest to some people. It starts at 31:46 in the video above.

The first question is a written question from Mr John Brace to Cllr Tony Smith (Cabinet Member for Children and Family Services) submitted on the 4th December 2014. The second is one Cllr Tony Smith doesn’t get advance warning of until he heard it on Monday evening.

JOHN BRACE: Wirral Council recently had a four-week consultation on the closure of the Lyndale School in Eastham and there will be a special Cabinet meeting later this month on the 17th December 2014.

Can you please answer:

(a) how many responses were received by Wirral Council to the latest four-week consultation on closure of the Lyndale School,
(b) whether the text of the responses to the latest four-week consultation will be published in full (rather than a summary in a Cabinet report) and if so when,
(c) whether all Cabinet Members making a decision on the 17th December 2014 will in advance of making a decision at the meeting of the 17th December 2014 have read all the written consultation responses to the four week consultation on closure prior to making their decision on the 17th December 2014

and

(d) whether all Cabinet Members making a decision on the 17th December 2014 will in advance of making a decision at the meeting of the 17th December 2014 have read the statutory guidance for decision makers on this matter issued earlier this year by the government which is available online?

Thank you.

CLLR TONY SMITH: Thank you Mr. Brace, thank you Mr Brace.

Errm, right on question a, errm in accordance with statutory guidance there was a four-week consultation period and during that time any person could make comments or objections to the proposal to close the school, to close the school and there are twenty-one representations received.

Six from the Lyndale School, one from Stanley School and fourteen others who were mainly Members, twenty were received by email and one letter was received.

So question b, errm an acknowledgement has been given to all those who made representations. The whole set of redacted copies of the representations has been provided as appendix 4 to the Cabinet report and a full set of unredacted copies has been provided to members of the Cabinet prior to their meeting on the 17th December to inform the decision-making. The unredacted copies have been sent to Cabinet Members on a disc.

Err question c, all, as I said earlier, every Member of the Cabinet have received a disc, which contains copies of the representations, that are unredacted and which will be read prior to their meeting on the 17th December and the question d, yes is the answer.

The full guidance produced by the Department for Education, in December, or the Department for Education in 2014 called School Organisation for Maintained Schools: Guidance for proposals and decision makers has been provided at appendix 3 of the Cabinet report. The Cabinet, as the decision-maker, will have regard to the factors it will need to take into account and this is outlined in paragraph 4 onwards in the Cabinet report.

JOHN BRACE: Thank you.

MAYOR OF WIRRAL: OK, err we normally ask if you if you want a supplementary question? Have you got one? OK?

JOHN BRACE: Thank you Councillor Tony Smith for answering my first question. I do have a supplementary.

Earlier this year, a further decision about Lyndale School was made by Cabinet on the 16th January. This decision was called in.

The Coordinating Committee couldn’t decide on the call in until Council in February had added two parent governors with voting rights to the Committee.

That was because it was a legal requirement to have at least two parent governors with voting rights on the committee.

Now regulation 7(5) and 7(6) of the Parent Governor Representatives (England) Regulations [2001] state that parent governors representatives cease to be qualified if they fail to attend a meeting for six months and also fail to send an apology.

Now, the Coordinating Committee has met many times over the last six months and I’ve not seen either one of the two parent governors at any public meeting, nor have the minutes reflected that they sent their apologies.

Therefore it seems logical to conclude that it doesn’t have the required two parent governor representatives.

As any decision on the future of Lyndale School could be called in, to the Coordinating Committee, how do you propose as Cabinet Member including the voice of parent governors in the current decision and to remedy that situation?

CLLR TONY SMITH: OK, thank you Mr. Brace. I think errm I will probably have to give you a written report on that regarding the detail of your question. I’ll give you a written report.

JOHN BRACE: OK, thank you.

MAYOR OF WIRRAL: OK, thank you Mr. Brace. That was the only public question that we had to deal with. I’m moving on to item 5, which is Leader’s, Executive Member’s and Chair’s reports.

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Will Wirral Council's Cabinet decide to close Lyndale School on the 31st August 2016?

Will Wirral Council’s Cabinet decide to close Lyndale School on the 31st August 2016?

Will Wirral Council’s Cabinet decide to close Lyndale School on the 31st August 2016?

                                                                

Councillor Tony Smith at the Special Cabinet Meeting of 4th September 2014 to discuss Lyndale School L to R Cllr Stuart Whittingham, Cllr Tony Smith, Cllr Bernie Mooney, Lyndzay Roberts
Councillor Tony Smith at the Special Cabinet Meeting of 4th September 2014 to discuss Lyndale School L to R Cllr Stuart Whittingham, Cllr Tony Smith, Cllr Bernie Mooney, Lyndzay Roberts

One of the things I’ve mulled over the past few days are the papers published for the special Cabinet meeting on Thursday 17th December. Due to the volume of paperwork to do with this item, this small piece can’t do justice to the matter so I suggest you read the paperwork for that agenda item on Wirral Council’s website in full.

Sadly for Tranmere Rover’s fans (issues to do with the training ground are agenda item 4) it is agenda item 3 (Report Detailing the Outcome of the Representation Period about the Proposed Closure of The Lyndale School) and its six appendices that is the subject of this piece.

The whole matter is also connected to this Freedom of Information Act request I made on the 20th November 2014 for the consultation responses (refused yesterday on s.21 grounds as redacted consultation responses (99 A4 pages of them) were published as part of the Cabinet papers here).

I will probably request an internal review of the Freedom of Information Act request later today as Wirral Council (due to the redactions) have not supplied me with the consultation responses as much information is missing and they haven’t given a reason under the Freedom of Information Act legislation as to why.

I also have put in a request for a question to Cllr Tony Smith at next Monday’s Council meeting (to which I’ll get a supplementary question), the question (that I emailed in on the 4th December 2014) is this:

This is my question for the Council meeting on the 15th December 2014 to Cllr Tony Smith (Cabinet Member for Children and Family Services).

——————————————————————————————————-
Wirral Council recently had a four-week consultation on the closure of the Lyndale School in Eastham and there will be a special Cabinet meeting later this month on the 17th December 2014.

Can you please answer:

(a) how many responses were received by Wirral Council to the latest four-week consultation on closure of the Lyndale School,
(b) whether the text of the responses to the latest four-week consultation will be published in full (rather than a summary in a Cabinet report) and if so when,
(c) whether all Cabinet Members making a decision on the 17th December 2014 will in advance of making a decision at the meeting of the 17th December 2014 have read all the written consultation responses to the four-week consultation on closure prior to making their decision on the 17th December 2014

and

(d) whether all Cabinet Members making a decision on the 17th December 2014 will in advance of making a decision at the meeting of the 17th December 2014 have read the statutory guidance for decision makers on this matter issued earlier this year by the government which is available online?

——————————————————————————————————-

Obviously parts (a) and (b) have been answered by the Cabinet papers being published. Hopefully in answer to (c) he will give the answer that he and the other Cabinet Members will find the time between now and the Cabinet meeting on Thursday evening to read the 99 pages of consultation responses and in answer to (d) the 76 pages of statutory guidance.

The current recommendation from officers is that the school is not closed on the 31st December 2015, but is closed on the 31st August 2016 instead.

There are many matters I could write here about the decision to be made, however I will make these points. If I remember correctly Wirral Council’s constitution in Article 13 (principles of decision-making) specifically Article 13.2 states that when reaching decisions councillors (bear in mind Council here also means decisions made by Wirral Council’s Cabinet) that:

“All decisions of the Council will be made in accordance with the following principles:

(a) proportionality (i.e. the action must be proportionate to the desired outcome);
(b) due consultation and the consideration of professional advice from officers;
(c) respect for human rights;
(d) a presumption in favour of openness;
(e) clarity of aims and desired outcomes; and
(f) Wednesbury reasonableness (i.e. the decision must not be so unreasonable that no reasonable Council could have reached it, having taken into account all relevant considerations, and having ignored irrelevant considerations). ”

Some interesting points I wish to make here, only the professional advice from officers needs to be considered. If officers are for example giving amateurish (not professional) advice or have flat out got things wrong it doesn’t need to be factored into the decision.

The consultation responses have been redacted heavily but the advice of officers hasn’t.

What are the clear aims of closing down the Lyndale School (on whatever date)?

Bearing in mind they have a legal duty, that is they must pay regard to the statutory guidance at all stages of the decision-making process on closing the school (for example at the earlier Cabinet meetings, the Council meeting, the Coordinating Committee meetings) as the statutory guidance (published in January 2014 and presumably there was earlier guidance before this) hasn’t been included on the agenda until now can that actually be proved for the earlier decisions that led to this?

Have all the human rights considerations been properly considered? There are matters beyond what I’ve written here that I may bring up in my supplementary question on Monday evening.

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38 more pages of the Wirral Schools Services Limited private finance initiative (PFI) contract with Wirral Council

38 more pages of the Wirral Schools Services Limited private finance initiative (PFI) contract with Wirral Council

38 more pages of the Wirral Schools Services Limited private finance initiative (PFI) contract with Wirral Council

                                          

I posted the first 17 pages of Wirral Council’s contract with Wirral Schools Services Limited, followed by the next six pages of the contract last month. This took it to the definitions as far as “benchmarking”.

At the weekend I scanned in the rest of the pages that define terms used in the contract (which come to a further 38 pages). This is from page 7 onwards. The next page after that deals with third-party rights.

The Wirral Schools Forum meets tomorrow evening to discuss where to find the £2.3 million of savings to its budget to pay for it. This is not because the price of the contract is going up considerably year on year, but because Wirral Council have decided to stop making a £2.3 million contribution to it each year. In total the annual contract payments are ~£11 million a year. Wirral Council receive an annual grant of £5.472 million towards this and a further £2.972 million from schools for the services under the contract (such as cleaning, caretaking et cetera). This leaves £2.586 million that in earlier years Wirral Council has paid, but next year has decided to cut its contribution by £2.3 million on top of a further £600,000 reduction this year.

It looks like (although it’s not confirmed yet), according to the papers for tomorrow evening’s Wirral Schools Forum (agenda item 3 PFI and Central Budget Review – Verbal Update (Previous report from 8th October attached)) that at least £1 million of this £2.3 million saving will come out of cuts to SEN Top ups/independent school fees (£600,000), statements (£200,000) and support for SEN (£200,000). None of the schools covered by the PFI contract are special schools.

Below are the definitions (from page 7 onwards) and the next page after that deals with third-party rights. Wirral Council plan to publish the complete contract by 31st December 2014 under a new transparency regime (imposed by central government).

Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 7 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 7 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 8 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 8 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 9 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 9 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 10 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 10 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 11 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 11 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 12 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 12 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 13 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 13 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 14 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 14 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 15 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 15 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 16 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 16 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 17 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 17 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 18 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 18 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 19 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 19 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 20 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 20 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 21 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 21 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 22 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 22 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 23 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 23 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 24 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 24 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 25 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 25 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 26 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 26 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 27 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 27 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 28 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 28 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 29 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 29 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 30 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 30 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 31 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 31 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 32 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 32 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 33 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 33 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 34 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 34 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 35 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 35 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 36 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 36 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 37 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 37 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 38 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 38 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 39 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 39 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 40 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 40 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 41 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 41 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 42 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 42 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 43 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 43 definitions
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 44 1.3 Third Party Rights
Wirral Council Wirral Schools Services Limited PFI Contract page 44 1.3 Third Party Rights

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6 more pages of the Wirral Schools Services Limited contract with Wirral Council

6 more pages of the Wirral Schools Services Limited contract with Wirral Council

6 more pages of the Wirral Schools Services Limited contract with Wirral Council

                    

Continues from The first 17 pages of Wirral Council’s contract with Wirral Schools Services Limited. This is a further six pages in the same contract.

THIS AGREEMENT is made on 27 March 2001.

BETWEEN:

(1) WIRRAL BOROUGH COUNCIL of Town Hall, Brighton Street, Wallasey, Wirral, Merseyside, CH44 8ED (the “Authority”; and

(2) WIRRAL SCHOOLS SERVICES LIMITED a company incorporated under the laws of England and Wales with registered number 41156367 whose registered office is at Frogmore Park, Watton-at-Stone, Hertford SG14 3RU (“Project Co”).

BACKGROUND:

(A) By virtue of sections 13 and 14 of the Education Act 1996, the Authority as local education authority is under statutory duties to secure that efficient primary and secondary education are available to meet the needs of the population of its area and that sufficient schools for providing such education are available for its area.

(B) By virtue of section 16 of the Education Act 1996, the Authority as local education authority may, for the purposes of fulfilling the above duties, establish and maintain primary and secondary schools.

(C) By a notice dated 17 November 1998 in the Official Journal, the Authority invited expressions of interest from appropriately qualified tenderers for the provision of accommodation and related support services for eight secondary schools and one primary school in accordance with the Government’s Private Finance Initiative.

(D) Project Co has submitted a proposal which, as negotiated through the negotiated tender process, has been agreed to by the Authority.

(E) The Authority and Project Co have agreed to work together in a spirit of co-operation to achieve the objectives of the Project. The Authority and Project Co have agreed to carry out the Project on the terms and conditions set out in this Agreement.

(F) The Project is a private finance initiative project within the meaning of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996.

IT IS AGREED as follow:

RMLIB01 #659790 v14 03/04/2001 15:25

PART 1 – INTERPRETATION

1. DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATION

1.1 Definitions

In this Agreement (including the Background), the following terms shall, unless the contract otherwise requires, have the following meanings:

“1999 Act” means the Local Government Act 1999;

“Academic Year” means from the first day to the last day (excluding holidays) of the school year, such period not to be more than 195 days;

“Accommodation Actual Completion Date” means, in respect of the Accommodation Works at a Site, the date on which those Accommodation Works are Complete, being either the date stated in the certificate issued persuant to Clause 14.6 (Completion) or if this date is disputed in accordance with the Fast Track Resolution Procedure, the date determined under that procedure, as being the date upon which such certificate should have been issued;

“Accommodation Completion Date” means, in relation to the Accommodation Works at a Site, the date set out in column (1) of the Schedule of Key Dates by which such Accommodation Works must be Complete;

“Accommodation Services” means the services described in the Accommodation Services Output Specifications;

“Accommodation Services Output Specifications” means the specifications contained in Schedule 5 (Accommodation Services) as may be amended by a Variation or otherwise in accordance with this Agreement;

“Accommodation Works” means the works listed in Schedule 3 Part 4A;

“Acquired Rights Directive” means Council Directive 77/187 EEC as amended;

“Act of Vandalism” means a wilful, deliberate or malicious act carried out by Authority staff or pupils, guests, visitors or other persons authorised by the Authority who are properly on the relevant Site which results in damage to the relevant Facility or Site or any Fixed and/or Moveable Equipment thereon;

“Actual Date of Completion” means:

RMLIB01 #659790 v14 03/04/2001 15:25

(a) in respect of the Initial Works at a Site, the date on which those Initial Works are Complete, being either the date stated in the certificate issued persuant to Clause 14.4 (Completion) or if this date is disputed in accordance with the Fast Track Resolution Procedure, the date determined under that procedure, as being the date upon which such certificates should have been issued; or

(b) in respect of any Variation Works, the date on which the Variation Works are Completed in accordance with the relevant Variation Report agreed or determined (as appropriate) pursuant to Clause 32 (Variations) and certified as such pursuant to Clause 14.4 (Completion);

“Adjudication” means the procedure set out in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12 (Dispute Resolution);

“Adjudicator” means an adjudicator appointed under paragraph 3 of Schedule 12 (Dispute Resolution);

“Affected Party” means a Party affected by the occurence of the events listed in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of the definition of Force Majeure;

“Agenda 21” means the action plan establishing a framework for law in the field of sustainable development known as “Agenda 21” adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992;

“Agent” means Societété Générale of SG House, 41 Tower Hill, London, EC3N 4SG and its successors and assigns;

“Alternative Scheme” means one or more pensions scheme(s) each of which is approved or capable of approval under Chapter 1 Part XIV of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 or the trustees of such a scheme as the case may be;

“Amended Plans” has the meaning given in Clause 32.12 (Plans);

“Ancillary Documents” means:

(a) the Shareholder’s Agreement;

(b) Project Co’s memorandum of association and articles of association;

(c) the D&B Contract;

(d) the Support Services Management Agreement;

RMLIB01 #659790 v14 03/04/2001 15:25

3

(e) the Direct Agreements;

(f) the D&B Contract Performance Guarantee; and

(g) the Support Services Management Agreement Performance Guarantee;

“Annual Debt Service Cover Ratio” or “ADSCR” whilst the Initial Funding Agreements are in force shall have the meaning given to Senior Debt Service Cover Ratio in the Initial Funding Agreements and thereafter means in respect of any period for which it falls to be calculated the ratio of A:B where:

A is the aggregate of Cash Available for Debt Service for that period; and

B is the Annual Debt Service Obligations for that period;

“Annual Maintenance Programme” means the Maintenance programme agreed or determined pursuant to Clause 19.3 (Annual Maintenance Programme);

“Annual Net Third Party Profit” means Gross Third Party Revenues earned in respect of third party use during a Year less the Third Part Costs incurred in respect of third party use during that Year;

“Annual Utility Services Consumption Targets” has the meaning given in paragraph 2.1 of Part 6 (Utility Services) of Schedule 4 (Payments);

“Appeal” means all or any of the following:

(a) an appeal to the Secretary of State in accordance with Section 78 of the Planning Acts against:

(i) a conditions attached to the Full Planning Permissions or Variation Planning Approvals and/or a refusal of a planning application for Planning Approvals and/or Variation Planning Approvals; or

(ii) non-determination of a planning application for Planning Approvals and/or Variation Planning Approvals; or

(b) the reference of a planning application to the Secretary of State under Section 77 of the Planning Acts,

and the expression “to Appeal” shall be construed accordingly;

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4

“Approved Leased Equipment” means sanitary equipment, fire detection and prevention systems, telephone systems, photocopiers and vehicles;

“Arbitration” means the procedure set out in paragraph 4 of Schedule 12 (Dispute Resolution);

“Arbitrater” means an arbitrator appointed in accordance with paragraph 4 of Schedule 12 (Dispute Resolution);

“Asbestos” means any of the following minerals; crocidolite, amosite, chrysolite, fibrous actinolite, fibrous antthophyllite, fibrous tremolite and any mixture containing any of those minerals;

“Asset Register” means, with respect to each Facility, the asset register to be compiled by Project Co pursuant to Clause 22.18 (Asset Registers);

“Associated Company” means, in respect of a relevant company, a company which is a Subsidiary or a Holding Company of that relevant company or a company which is a Subsidiary of a Holding Company of that relevant company but not that relevant company itself and, in the case of Project Co, shall include each of the Consortium Members (the terms “Holding Company” and “Subsidiary” bearing the meanings defined in part XXXVI of the Companies Act 1985);

“Authority’s Confidential Information” has the meaning given in Clause 48.1 (The Authority’s Confidential Information);

“Authority’s D&B Contract Direct Agreement” means the direct agreement of the same date as this Agreement between the Authority, the D&B Contractor and Project Co;

“Authority’s Service Adviser” means the person appointed by the Authority (and notified to Project Co) to act pursuant to Clause 40 (Representatives);

“Authority’s Share” means the percentage figures in the fourth column of the table set out below corresponding to the amount of Cumulative Capital Expenditure at the relevant time, as shown in the first column of the table set out below:

Cumulative Capital Expenditure Project Co’s Share Cumulative Cost to Project Co Authority’s Share
£0 – £0.6 million 100% £600,000 0%
£0.6 – 1.2 million 75% £1,050,000 25%

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5

£1.2 – 1.8 million 50% £1,350,000 50%
£0.6 – 2.4 million 25% £1,500,000 75%
Over £2.4 million 0% £1,500,000 100%

“Authority’s Solicitors” means Rowe & Maw of 20 Black Friars Lane, London EC4V 6HD;

“Authority’s Support Services Management Direct Agreement” means the direct agreement of the same date as this Agreement between the Authority, the Support Services Manager and Project Co;

“Authority’s Works Adviser” means the person appointed by the Authority (and notified to Project Co) to act pursuant to Clause 40 (Representatives);

“Availability Deduction” has the meaning given in Part 1 (Definitions) of Schedule 4 (Payments);

“Base Case Financial Model” means the financial model as at the Effective Date setting out the basis on which the financing of the Project and the costs of and revenue from the Project have been calculated by Project Co (including the assumptions used, the cell logic network for the financial model software and any software and accompanying documentation necessary to operate the financial model) in the Agreed Form;

“Bebington” means Bebington High School;

“Bebington Asset Register” means the asset register to be compiled by Project Co pursuant to Clause 22.18 (Asset Registers);

“Bebington Headlease” means the lease between the Authority and Project Co substantially in the form set out in Part 1 (Bebington Headlease) of Schedule 1 (Land);

“Bebington Site” means the land identified in the Bebington Headlease and shown edged red on Plan B;

“Benchmarked Price” has the meaning given in paragraph 2.4 of Part 8 (Value for Money Testing) of Schedule 4 (Payments);

“Benchmarking” means subjecting a Support Service to the market price comparison procedure set out in Part 8 (Value for Money Testing) of Schedule 4 (Payments) with the aim of ensuring that the Support Service being tested is provided

RMLIB01 #659790 v14 03/04/2001 15:25

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Continues at 38 more pages of the Wirral Schools Services Limited private finance initiative (PFI) contract with Wirral Council.

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