Issue - meetings

The number of children and young people assessed as requiring a place at a specialist education provision in the BCP area has increased in recent years and this has increased expenditure on highneeds.

As part of the Council’s strategyto address growth and associated financial pressure, a programme of expansion of specialist school provision across the conurbation is being implemented to help provide local access to cost effective places and thereby to reduce the Council’s reliance on costly independent placements. For this to be successful the programme will need to provide additional places:

·        across the BCP area

·        Across reception to Post 16 year groups

·        Meet the profile of needs that we have an identified as a challenge in sufficiency of places.

Broadstone First School, an academy run by the Castleman Academy Trust, is one of theschemes in the expansion programme where there is excellent opportunity to provide additional resource base places forchildren with autism spectrum condition (ASC).

Detailed feasibility analysis shows that the academy would be capable of accommodating 20 SEND places from September 2024 provided modifications and extensions to the existing school buildings are undertaken.

Unless schemes such as this are implemented the Council will have no option other than to continue with expensive independent placements to meet its legal duty to provide specialist places.

The recommendation of this report therefore is to approve the budget detailed in Appendix 1 (Exempt) needed to grant fund the building works and related processes required for the creation of 20 SEND places at Broadstone First School.

The Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'F' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

Cabinet was advised that the number of children and young people assessed as requiring a place at a specialist education provision in the BCP area has increased in recent years and that this has increased expenditure on highneeds.

Cabinet was informed that as part of the Council’s strategyto address growth and associated financial pressure, a programme of expansion of specialist school provision across the conurbation is being implemented to help provide local access to cost effective places and thereby to reduce the Council’s reliance on costly independent placements.

Cabinet was advised that in order for this to be successful the programme will need to provide additional places:

·       across the BCP area

·       Across reception to Post 16 year groups

·     Meet the profile of needs that we have an identified as a challenge in sufficiency of places.

Cabinet was informed that Broadstone First School, an academy run by the Castleman Academy Trust, is one of theschemes in the expansion programme where there is excellent opportunity to provide additional resource base places forchildren with autism spectrum condition (ASC), and that detailed feasibility analysis shows that the academy would be capable of accommodating 20 SEND places from September 2024 provided modifications and extensions to the existing school buildings are undertaken.

Cabinet was advised that unless schemes such as this are implemented the Council will have no option other than to continue with expensive independent placements to meet its legal duty to provide specialist places.

Cabinet was informed that the recommendation of this report therefore was to approve the budget detailed in Appendix 1 (Exempt) which was needed to grant fund the building works and related processes required for the creation of 20 SEND places at Broadstone First School.

RECOMMENDED that Council approves the capital budget set out in Appendix 1 (Exempt), which is funded from DfE grant monies, to enable the construction works and related processes to be undertaken to create the facilities for 20 SEND places at Broadstone First School. 

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holder: Children and Young People

Reasons

1.               Approval of the 20 SEND places at Broadstone First School and the requisite budget for the relevant constructions works and processes will enable the Council to:

(a)    meet its legal duty to provide places for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)

(b)    meet its priority to expand the availability of specialist school places to:

                                 i.    provide local places for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)

                                ii.    to achieve savings as part of the Council’s High Needs Block Deficit Recovery plan.

                              iii.    to improve inclusion across mainstream provision as part of the Graduated Pathway Programme

2.              The provision of 20 SEND places at Broadstone First School will complement the SEND service being provided through the 23 SEND places already  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49