The school holidays are a great time to make updates to the school estate – with no pupils on site, it’s easier to bring in tradespeople to carry out any maintenance or construction work without disrupting learning and play – but what do school business managers need to take into account when they are planning on making updates to their school estate?
The DfE has guidance on its website to help you manage your estate strategically. Having a strategic approach with the right plans and documents in place will make sure the estate supports your education needs and goals. It’s most effective when:
it involves the whole organisation;
it’s co-ordinated and integrated with your business planning processes.
Strategic estate management will help you to:
make decisions supported by evidence;
use your resources efficiently;
maximise the estate’s value.
You should understand how the estate can support your educational goals and vision. This will make sure you are aware of:
any shortfalls, or surplus provision, in your school(s) and in the wider area – assessed through an evidence-based identification of need;
what you need to spend on the estate to meet your needs – reflecting an assessment of condition and what is needed to make it safe;
what changes you need to make to the estate, and when – reflecting an assessment of any works required and how these need to be prioritised.
Developing an estate vision
The estate vision should be a high-level statement aligned with your educational vision. It will take account of your educational and local community needs. It provides the direction for the estate and sets out what needs to happen in the estate in the medium-to-long term. It will make sure that:
the estate can meet your organisation’s current and future education needs;
school places reflect demand and the need for choice and diversity in your area.
In schools supported by a charitable trust the estate vision must align with the trustees of the school’s educational vision; in schools with a religious character, it must also align with the vision of the diocesan bishop or diocesan board of education.
Developing an estate strategy
An estate strategy sets out what you need to do with the estate in order to achieve the estate vision. It’s a three-to-five-year medium to long term strategy and will:
help you understand what you need from the estate;
set out potential options to achieve your needs;
identify issues that will need further consideration;
provide a framework for property-related decision-making;
set out specific outcomes and timescales.
You may identify a range of potential options to achieve the strategic aims. The estate strategy will not analyse the options in detail, but you must make sure that the options you choose are realistic and achievable. The options identified should be considered in detail at a later stage, through a formal option appraisal process.
Producing an estate strategy
When producing the estate strategy you should think about all options for achieving the estate vision, considering how realistic each one is.
Financial issues
What is a realistic budget?
What are the financial constraints?
Is the budget time-limited?
Are there separate funding streams that can be brought together to support common goals?
Educational issues
Will there be an impact on existing school operations?
Will you lose existing facilities?
Will changes to layout cause problems?
Do the changes reflect the current and future needs of the curriculum?
Legal and land title issues
Is land ownership clear?
Are there any restrictions to the title?
Is any additional land required?
What approvals or consents are needed?
Community expectations
Will the local community benefit?
Will they support your plans?
Are their expectations clearly articulated?
Do your plans support wider educational need in the area?
Once produced, you should:
test the strategy and preferred options to make sure it’s practical, affordable and effective;
link it to your school’s financial planning and available budgets.
You should discard any options that cannot be realistically achieved and review the strategy against your educational vision once a year; this will make sure it reflects any changes in priorities.
Creating an asset management plan
An asset management plan is a short-to-medium term plan which should reference all land and buildings (assets) in the estate and detail and prioritise what actions you need to take to fulfil the estate strategy. A good asset management plan will:
set out how building work and maintenance will be prioritised;
identify all policies and procedures related to the estate;
describe the decision-making arrangements, reporting structures and responsibilities;
make sure that activities have a specific purpose – for example, making sure that all operational activities are undertaken to achieve a known outcome, and do not waste resources;
ensure effective co-ordination and management of all estates activities;
bring together all land and buildings-related data.
The importance of an asset management plan
Your asset management plan will help you:
make decisions based on an understanding of the current condition and performance of the estate;
protect the occupants of the school;
reduce and prioritise maintenance need;
control running costs;
make sure unplanned urgent works are responded to effectively;
efficiently source and procure property and construction-related services;
provide a good fit between education requirements and the property from which it’s provided;
provide good accommodation for all the users of the school;
make sure appropriate health and safety management arrangements are put in place for project delivery;
optimise the use of properties in the estate.
You will always have competing demands on your resources; your asset management plan is an important tool in making sure you use them as efficiently as possible. It will help you balance what you:
want to achieve in your estate vision;
need to achieve to meet statutory and educational objectives.
This will make sure you prioritise works to ensure your estate is safe for all users.
Understanding what works are required will help you identify what resources you need to provide a planned and structured estate management service.
What to consider
Your asset management plan will be informed and shaped by a number of factors, including:
your organisation – such as governance, budgeting, property performance and data management and procurement policies;
safety – such as health and safety legislation and buildings-related statutory compliance;
land and buildings issues – more technical factors such as condition, maintenance, suitability, sufficiency and tenure.
You will need to take all these factors into consideration when you produce your asset management plan. You should work with your business resource planning colleagues. You will need to understand:
what information and data is held about the land and buildings in the estate;
how performance of the estate is measured and managed;
what the priorities are over the period of the asset management plan;
what resources are available;
who is responsible for the different property functions, and how issues are reported;
your governance arrangements, and how decisions are made on estate matters;
your policies for managing the land and buildings in the estate.
Maintenance
Maintenance of the estate will be an important element of your asset management plan. You should aim to plan as much maintenance work as you can, rather than carrying out works reactively.
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