Dudley council's insecure finances threaten school plan

The school offers places for 70 pupils aged three to 14 at a site in Wordsley

Building a new special school should be deferred until finances "are secure", councillors in Dudley have been told.

Dudley council's financial viability is "at serious risk", says director of finance and legal Iain Newman, in a report over Pens Meadow School.

Previously, £15m plans to rebuild it on the former Pensnett High School site were given the go-ahead.

But councillors would have to approve overriding spending controls imposed since for the project to go ahead.

The school offers places for 70 pupils aged from three to 14 at Wordsley, Stourbridge, and 40 aged from 14 to 19 in Pensnett.

In 2022, a capital budget of £15.6m to replace the school was approved, on the basis this would be "partly funded by capital receipts from sale of land with the remainder financed from borrowing", Mr Newman said.

'Good Ofsted rating'

In one report ahead of a meeting later, it was recommended cabinet decides whether to approve an override to spending controls approved in October.

But in a supplementary document, Mr Newman has advised that in relation to the school scheme, cabinet should not override the controls.

He explained "the spending controls apply even where a budget has previously been approved".

Tenders had recently been received for the project and they were "£548,000 higher than the budget", Mr Newman said.

Pens Meadow was rated as good by watchdog Ofsted four years ago, he stated.