Mr. Hubert Loftus:

The working assumption before one looks at the process of identifying a site and working that through is that we have agreed there is a requirement for a new school. We will take that as a given. We always try to look and see if there are opportunities on existing school sites or to otherwise provide this campus site solution for a new school. Can other State-owned sites be looked at? Our process also involves the reservation of sites as part of the county development plans, local development plans and working through that. We are conscious that where there is a need for a school or schools, it is typically quite urgent and has to be delivered. You will never get the perfect site. There will always be challenges in delivering a site. It is about working to manage that and the trade-offs involved to enable the school project to be progressed as quickly as possible.

It is a question of working to manage that, including the trade-offs involved, in order to enable the school project to progress as quickly as possible. There can be many variables in new school projects, but two key variables impact on the delivery of a project. The first is the site, as nothing can be done without a site. The second is planning permission. Our site acquisition team typically works closely with local authorities and we have memorandums of understanding, MOUs, with them about helping to identify and develop sites for us.