A NEW multi-million pound school in Oakdale may not open on time, warns a report which went before scrutiny panel members last night.

Members of Caerphilly council’s education select committee went over a cabinet report which was released shortly after their last meeting in July.

The new 900-place secondary school for Islwyn West, to be attended by pupils from the current Oakdale and Blackwood secondary schools, will be built on an area described as the Oakdale plateau and, along with a 50-place additional learning needs unit, is due to open in September 2016.

Consultants were due to start on the project in July and between now and October will check the in-house design and develop a cost plan, with the overall budget set at £18.5 million. A construction contractor is due to be appointed in mid-October and the construction contract could be signed by the middle of February, with building work starting in March.

But a review of the 21st Century Schools programme, which involves councils bidding for funding to improve schools and facilities, warns that the project runs the risk of not being finished on time.

Officers have been warning since the beginning of the project that the time-frame was tight. Caerphilly’s “to do” list includes determining the arrangements for the design of the new school at Oakdale and reviewing governance arrangements and project management responsibilities between the project board and interim governing body.

The review highlights “the need for urgency to ensure the project is delivered on time” and adds “there is recognition of the risk that the school may not be ready to open in September 2016”. Other challenges listed include the timing and delivery of the design and construction of the new school on a “tight site”; the need for design flexibility to initially provide extra capacity; determining a preferred option for the Blackwood school, andarrangements for the transition.