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.  Local provision to meet these needs is of high quality, but capacity has not been expanded sufficiently to meet this additional demand. 

As a result, increased use has had to be made of local Independent and Non-Maintained special schools which are comparatively expensive and often located outside of the BCP area.  The result of this has been significant pressure on the school Transport budgets.

In partnership with the BCP community of schools, a range of proposals have been developed to increase capacity and create new provision to meet the needs of these pupils.  These will both deliver savings and ensure appropriate provision is available to meet needs closer to where children and young people live.

This paper requests that funds are released to meet these costs.  Resources are available to support this investment from existing DfE ringfenced grant allocations for this purpose.

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

RESOLVED that:-

(a)    the proposals set out at Appendix 2 in order to create additional capacity to meet the assessed educational needs of children and young people in BCP be approved;

(b)    the allocation of £0.65m of SEND capital grant and £1.47m of Basic needs capital grant to support the delivery of these proposals be approved;

(c)    the allocation of £0.25m of SEND capital grant to allow feasibility work to be undertaken in support of future proposals to increase capacity be approved; and

(d)  it be noted that a longer-term Children’s Capital Strategy will be brought forward for Member approval in due course.

Voting: Nem. Con.

Portfolio Holder: Children and Families

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.  Local provision to meet these needs is of high quality, but capacity has not been expanded sufficiently to meet this additional demand. 

As a result, increased use has had to be made of local Independent and Non-Maintained special schools which are comparatively expensive and often located outside of the BCP area.  The result of this has been significant pressure on the school Transport budgets.

In partnership with the BCP community of schools, a range of proposals have been developed to increase capacity and create new provision to meet the needs of these pupils.  These will both deliver savings and ensure appropriate provision is available to meet needs closer to where children and young people live.

This paper requests that funds are released to meet these costs.  Resources are available to support this investment from existing DfE ringfenced grant allocations for this purpose.

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

Cabinet were advised that the number of children and young people assessed as requiring a place at a specialist education provision in the BCP area had increased in recent years. In relation to this Cabinet were advised that local provision to meet these needs is of high quality but that capacity had not been expanded sufficiently to meet this additional demand.

Further to this Cabinet were advised that as a result, increased use has had to be made of local Independent and Non-Maintained special schools which are comparatively expensive and often located outside of the BCP area.  The result of this has been significant pressure on the school Transport budgets.

Cabinet were advised that in partnership with the BCP community of schools, a range of proposals have been developed to increase capacity and create new provision to meet the needs of these pupils, and that these will both deliver savings and ensure appropriate provision is available to meet needs closer to where children and young people live.

Cabinet were informed that the report requested that funds are released to meet these costs, and that resources are available to support this investment from existing DfE ringfenced grant allocations for this purpose.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board addressed Cabinet advising that whilst there were no formal comments from the recent meeting of the Board that Members had recognised the work which had been carried out with secondary schools.

RESOLVED that:-

(a)    the proposals set out at Appendix 2 in order to create additional capacity to meet the assessed educational needs of children and young people in BCP be approved;

(b)    the allocation of £0.65m of SEND capital grant and £1.47m of Basic needs capital grant to support the delivery of these proposals be approved;

(c)    the allocation of £0.25m of SEND capital grant to allow feasibility work to be undertaken in support of future proposals to increase capacity be approved; and

(d)  it be noted that a longer-term Children’s Capital Strategy will be brought forward for Member approval in due course.

Voting: Nem. Con.

Portfolio Holder: Children and Families