Issue - meetings

Surrey County Council (SCC) has consulted on a proposal to amalgamate Starhurst School and Chart Wood School from 1 September 2017 so that the south east area has one single school for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs (SEMH).  The consultation period was from 8 February to 8 March 2016 and there were three public meetings held during this time. The Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement approved the proposal in June 2016.  Following the decision, information was received that challenged the approach to the process used at the time.  To remedy the situation, new statutory notices were issued on 8 March 2017, displayed at each school and published in the local newspaper stating the intention to amalgamate the two schools, resulting in the closure of Starhurst and increasing the pupil numbers to 105 at Chart Wood, to locate to a single site from September 2019 and to reduce the number of residential places to 24 when the transfer to the new site is complete. 

The Leader of the Council is asked to review the proposal and comments received during the consultation and statutory notice periods as described in the associated Annexes and, on that basis, decide whether to approve the closure of Starhurst School, as an integral element of the proposed amalgamation with Chart Wood School, effective from September 2017.

This item was deferred until the Leader Decision meeting on 31 May 2017.