Decision details

The County Council has a statutory duty to provide sufficient school places for all children who need a place.

There is a need to reduce the number of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) moving from maintained schools and academies into costly out of county education provision.  Increasing provision for children and young people with SEND through the creation of additional places in Specialist Support Centres (SSCs) will assist with the aim of enabling children to attend school locally.

In December 2019 Cabinet approved the proposal to develop phase two of the project for opening additional Special Support Centres in accordance with capital governance processes (decision reference CAB03(19/20)). Following this the County Council’s Multi-Disciplinary Consultant, Faithful+Gould Ltd. (MDC) were appointed to undertake full feasibility studies for the shortlisted Phase 2 SSCs. For each location, a minimum of two options were considered and surveys were undertaken to inform cost estimates and the options appraisal.

This report seeks capital funds to progress designs for 6 of the Phase 2 SSC projects following conclusion of the feasibility phase and identification of the preferred option for each site.

The proposal will positively impact on the outcomes for children and young people with SEND and enable them to be educated locally. This is also a key objective of the County Council’s SEND and Inclusion Strategy 2019 - 2024.

The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills has approved:

(1)An allocation of £880,000 to develop the designs for 6 of the Phase 2 SSCs, providing 70 places, funded from the SEND capital allocation within the approved Capital Programme as detailed in paragraph 2.3 of the report, and

(2)That authority is delegated to the Director of Property and Assets to take the decisions related to individual budgets, procurement exercises and contract awards for the projects to be designed.

None