To ask the Minister of Education to detail (i) the schools in North Antrim that are awaiting the beginning or completion of capital projects, including new builds; (ii) the progress, status and expected completion date of each of these capital build projects; and (iii) the current ranking for the prioritisation of the completion of outstanding capital works for schools in North Antrim.

Five schools in North Antrim have been announced under the Major Capital Works Programme, two schools have been announced under the Fresh Start Agreement and two schools have been announced under the School Enhancement Programme. Twenty-seven schools have minor works schemes which are in various stages of planning.

The status of these capital projects is as follows:

Major Capital Programme

Mary Queen of Peace Primary School was announced to advance in planning in January 2013. Planning approval for the new school build was granted in April 2021. Outline agreement for land purchase has very recently been agreed, however acquisition of the site cannot be progressed at this time due to the current capital budget position. Procurement of the Building Contractor has also been paused at this time again due to the current capital budget position.

Cullybackey College was announced to advance in planning in June 2014.

An Integrated Consultant Team has been appointed for the project and the initial technical feasibility report to explore options to provide replacement accommodation has been completed. The Education Authority has also completed a Business Case, which is currently with Departmental economists for review, and it is anticipated that the Business Case will be submitted to the Department of Finance for consideration in the coming weeks.

Dunclug High School was announced to advance in planning in June 2014.

This project was at an advanced stage of design (RIBA Stage 4 -Technical Design) when the appointed Integrated Supply Team formally withdrew from their contract on 23 January 2022. A decision was taken at that time to convert the project from a Design and Construct contract to Traditional Design. As a result a new Integrated Consultancy Team was appointed on 8 November 2023, who revisited the RIBA Stage 4 report to update costs and include two additional Special Educational Needs (SEN) classrooms which had received approval since the announcement of the project. It is anticipated that the revised Stage 4 report will be submitted to my Department for review in July 2024. Due to the increase in both project scope and costs, a business case addendum will be prepared for Department of Finance approval.

Ballymena Academy and Cambridge House Grammar School were two of twenty-eight schools announced to advance in planning in March 2022. All twenty-eight projects were paused in April 2023, due to the capital budget position. In my Statement to the Assembly on 13 February I advised that I had taken the decision to re-start seven of the twenty-eight projects, unfortunately Ballymena Academy and Cambridge House Grammar School were not included in the seven projects to progress at this time.

Fresh Start Agreement

Slemish College has business case approval for an 880 pupil post primary school new build school on Ballee Road West, Ballymena. The project is currently in the final stages of design with construction programmed to commence in late 2024 and complete in early 2027.

Ballycastle Shared Education Campus involves a new shared education campus for Ballycastle High School and Cross and Passion College, Ballycastle. A business case has been approved for the new shared school campus building and sports facilities for 1180 pupils on the existing school sites. The design and build contractor is currently finalising the design with construction programmed to commence in spring 2024 and complete in mid-2027.

School Enhancement Programme

Carniny Primary School was announced in May 2018. The proposed project involves extensions and reconfiguration to replace temporary mobile accommodation and address accommodation deficiencies. Planning approval has been received and the design has been developed to construction pre-tender estimate stage.

St Louis’ Grammar School was announced in January 2020. The proposed project involves the demolition of the existing school meals accommodation and replacement with a new standalone building; the replacement of single glazed windows in the main three-storey block; a 4G pitch and the provision of car parking. The project is currently at RIBA Stage 2 (Concept Design).

Minor Works Programme

There are twenty-seven minor works schemes either on site or in various stages of planning, these are detailed in the table below.

Due to the current capital budget position Major Capital and School Enhancement Programme projects currently in the design stages will continue to RIBA Stage 4 (Technical Design and Pre-Tender Estimate), however projects will not be permitted to progress to the construction stage.

The two projects announced under the Major Capital Programme in March 2022 cannot be progressed to appoint an Integrated Consultant Team at this time.

It is not possible to provide a timeline for delivery for Minor Works schemes not currently on site as they will be prioritised for delivery in line with available budget and other schemes on the minor works programme when they have progressed to a stage when they are ready to go to tender.

Should additional capital funding become available all projects will be reviewed and prioritized for delivery.

As I have advised on a number of occasions I will be bidding for additional capital funding to enable progression of these much needed capital projects to progress.