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 and these were reported to Cabinet in the paper ‘Capital Investment to Increase Special Educational Needs Capacity’ on 22 April 2020. 

Processes for changes to maintained schools are prescribed by the Department for Education. This report provides details of such changes for three maintained community schools. The request to implement these changes is being made with the support of all three schools involved with the changes.

RESOLVED that:-

(a)           the changes proposed for the following schools are agreed:

i.               Winchelsea Special School

ii.             Linwood Special School

iii.            Somerford Primary School

(b)           in the case of Somerford Primary School that approval be given to apply to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator to vary the admission arrangements from September 2021  

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holder: Children and Families

Reason

To enable the creation of additional capacity within BCP Council maintained schools to meet the assessed educational needs of children and young people and reduce pressure on the High Needs Budget.

The Council are the authority for approving these significant changes to maintained schools.

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 'K' 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, and that local provision to meet these needs is of high quality, but capacity has not been expanded sufficiently to meet this additional demand.  

Further to this Cabinet were informed 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.

In respect of this Cabinet were informed that in partnership with the BCP community of schools, a range of proposals had been developed to increase capacity and create new provision to meet the needs of these pupils and these were reported to Cabinet in the paper ‘Capital Investment to Increase Special Educational Needs Capacity’ on 22 April 2020.  And that processes for changes to maintained schools are prescribed by the Department for Education.

In concluding the Portfolio Holder highlighted that this report provided details of such changes for three maintained community schools, and that the request to implement these changes is being made with the support of all three schools involved with the changes.

RESOLVED that:-

a.            the changes proposed for the following schools are agreed:

i.             Winchelsea Special School

ii.            Linwood Special School

iii.          Somerford Primary School

b.            in the case of Somerford Primary School that approval be given to apply to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator to vary the admission arrangements from September 2021  

Voting: Unanimous

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 and these were reported to Cabinet in the paper ‘Capital Investment to Increase Special Educational Needs Capacity’ on 22 April 2020. 

Processes for changes to maintained schools are prescribed by the Department for Education. This report provides details of such changes for three maintained community schools. The request to implement these changes is being made with the support of all three schools involved with the changes.

The Service Director, Community Learning and Commissioning presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'D’ to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

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.  Local provision to meet these needs was of high quality, but capacity had not been expanded sufficiently to meet this additional demand.   As a result, increased use had to be made of local Independent and Non-Maintained special schools which were comparatively expensive and often located outside of the BCP area.  The result of this had been significant pressure on the school Transport budgets. In partnership with the BCP community of schools, a range of proposals had been developed to increase capacity and create new provision to meet the needs of these pupils and these were reported to Cabinet in the paper ‘Capital Investment to Increase Special Educational Needs Capacity’ on 22 April 2020. 

Processes for changes to maintained schools were prescribed by the Department for Education. This report provided details of such changes for three maintained community schools. The request to implement these changes was being made with the support of all three schools involved with the changes.

The Committee discussed the Report and comments were made, including:

• In response to a query regarding how the changes were being funded, the Committee was advised that the additional costs of places would be met through the Dedicated Schools Grant
• The Committee was advised that the increase in places was for current known numbers, particularly in the secondary school provision, but that it was a multi year programme with more options and places required in the future.

The Chairman summarised that the Committee was in favour of report and that the financial implications and numbers of children currently known were discussed.

RECOMMENDED that Cabinet approve:

(a)           The changes proposed for the following schools are agreed

i.               Winchelsea Special School

ii.             Linwood Special School

iii.            Somerford Primary School

(b)           In the case of Somerford Primary School that approval be given to apply to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator to vary the admission arrangements from September 2021