Decision details

RESOLVED:

1.    That Cabinet approves £15.159m SEND Capital funding against the Freemantles School Phase 1 Capital project.  This an uplift to the individual scheme budget allocation within the existing SEND Capital Programme funding envelope.

Reasons for Decisions:

The project will deliver 72 additional specialist school places and re-provide 54 current specialist school places for autistic children with severe or profound and multiple learning difficulties in Surrey from September 2023 onwards.

The scheme represents good value for money at a cost of £120k per pupil place. Equivalent annual independent sector placement costs for the 72 new places would be a minimum of £3.8m per year compared to £1.6m per year for maintained special school placements.

Investing in the Freemantles expansion project now generates the positive impact on outcomes for pupils with complex special educational needs and disabilities, as well as improving the council’s financial sustainability.

The Freemantles School expansion project is business critical to ensure Surrey County Council discharges its statutory duties under Section 3 of the Local Government Act 1999,Sections 13 and 14 of the Education Act 1996 and Part 27 Section 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014.

(The decisions on this item can be called-in by the Children, Families, Lifelong Learning and Culture Select Committee)