Pupil Place Planning and Capital Commissioning Manager

About the Role and our Ideal Candidate

Working to the Head of Pupil Based Commissioning the Pupil Place Planning Officer is a critical strategic role responsible for ensuring that every child within the local authority has access to a high-quality school place. You will balance the supply and demand of school places by analyzing demographic data, housing developments, and migration patterns to forecast future needs and commission new school builds or expansions.

The postholder will be expected to manage at least one team member, and will also be expected to ‘matrix manage’ across other areas including the admissions service within Cognus - the Council’s wholly owned Local Authority Trading Company where the majority of school support services are currently provided.

The post holder will have a particular focus on developing, and implementing the Sutton Primary and Secondary School Organisation Plans to ensure that the Council ensures a sufficiency of high-quality school school places in the Borough.

Role Duties

Apply professional judgement to interpret and apply policies and procedures to meet specific local or service needs.

Provide day to day management and professional supervision to staff to ensure operational plans and activities are delivered effectively.

Analyse customer needs and the provider market in order to provide data and evidence to inform commissioning and service design decisions for specific services.

Plan, design and procure specific services to ensure they deliver their intended outcomes for customers.

Work with specific organisations to deliver intended outcomes through collaborative working.

Lead small projects and implement changes and improvements within agreed cost, time and quality standards.

Where relevant, manage service level budgets and resources in order to support the delivery of intended outcomes and demonstrate value for money.

Budgetary accountabilities

Responsibility for coordinating Education Capital budgets. The balance within these budgets currently sits at approximately £10M and is part of the Council’s overall education capital budgets overseen by the Head of Pupil Based Commissioning (HoPBC).

Responsibility for monitoring capital maintenance, devolved formula, basic need and special provision capital funding budgets.

Specific accountabilities

1. Strategic Pupil Forecasting & Demand Management

Projection Modeling

Develop and maintain sophisticated pupil forecasting models for Early Years, Primary, Secondary, and SEND (Special Educational Needs) sectors.

Trend Analysis

Monitor and interpret birth data from the NHS, migration patterns, and internal school census data to predict future pressure points.

Sufficiency Reporting

Lead the production of the annual School Capacity (SCAP) statutory return for the Department for Education (DfE).

Housing Growth Assessment

Analyze local planning applications and the Local Plan to calculate the impact of new housing on school infrastructure.

Developing Managing Falling Rolls in Primary and Secondary Plans, including development of primary enhanced SEND provisions, and commissioned secondary inclusion bases.

Responsible for developing and maintaining the local school organisation plan and local estates management strategy.

Managing the ‘Managing falling rolls in primary school in Sutton programme board which is chaired by the Head of Pupil based commissioning’. This will include analysing admissions, place planning, housing development, and capacity data, and producing reports for the board to consider.

Developing a governance process, and developing reports for a future managing falling rolls in Secondary programme.

Identifying opportunities across the LA maintained, and academy estate, for repurposing accommodation as necessary to provide more SEND spaces/ other council priority uses.

Recommissioning provision to meet needs of Sutton population

2. Capital Programme Financial Oversight

Budget Monitoring

Maintain rigorous oversight of the Education Capital Programme budget (e.g., Basic Need Grant, School Condition Allocation, and High Needs Capital).

Financial Reporting

Provide monthly budget variance reports to Senior Leadership, identifying potential overspends or opportunities for re-allocation.

S106 & CIL Administration

Track and trigger the receipt of developer contributions (Section 106 and Community Infrastructure Levy), ensuring funds are spent within legal timeframes and on the correct projects.

Grant Bidding

Identify funding gaps and lead the preparation of external funding bids to central government for new school builds or major refurbishments.

3. School Organisation & Commissioning

Project Commissioning

Develop "Business Cases" for school expansions, closures, or new school competitions, ensuring they represent the best value for money.

Statutory Processes

Lead on the legal requirements for school organization changes, including the management of public consultations and statutory notices.

Academy Conversions

Advise on the capital implications and land transfer issues associated with schools converting to Academy status.

4. Risk Management & Compliance

Feasibility Oversight

Work with Property Services to ensure capital projects are technically feasible and align with Department for Education (DfE) building bulletins and specifications.

Contractor Liaison

Monitor the delivery of capital works to ensure they are completed on time for the start of the academic year, mitigating the risk of children being without a school place.

Audit Compliance

Maintain a clear "audit trail" for all capital expenditure to satisfy internal and external auditors.