What happens next?
The proposed disposals are part of a long-term plan for the College and will not happen quickly. There is a lengthy statutory process that the College must undertake when considering disposing of any land and this process includes first seeking approval from the Secretary of State for Education.
Once collated the feedback from this consultation will be shared with the Secretary of State and used to inform their decision on the proposed disposals.
The current consultation is the first step in the process and the feedback received from this consultation will be important in developing and refining the proposals. An indicative outline of the steps and timings is provided below:
June/July 2021 | Consultation period |
26th July 2021 | Closing date for responses |
July/Aug 2021 | Refinement of Plans and options |
September 2021 | Submit an application to the Secretary of State for disposal |
Autumn Term 2021 | Publish results of the consultation |
Spring 2022 | Implementation beginning with the marketing and sale of sites to release capital funding |
Spring/Summer 2023 | Improvement and building works on school site |
Autumn 2024 | Expected completion |
Please note: from Spring 2022 all the dates above are contingent on the Secretary of State approving the plans, they are provided to give you an idea of when we expect works to be completed and buildings to be ready.
The process we are consulting on is to support the application to approve the disposal of the identified assets by the Secretary of State. Assuming we are successful with this application the next steps of the process will be to sell the land, at this point if any of the proposed developments require it they will need to go through the statutory planning approval process.
If any proposals require planning approval you will, of course, have a chance to comment on these as you would with any planning application. As a College, we will keep you informed of any opportunities to comment on any proposals put forward.