Issue - meetings

RESOLVED:

1. That the strategy is agreed and the use of £11.5m of the total approved SEND Capital Funding of £79.6m be approved in principle for a programme of adaption and refurbishment of SCC owned assets and maintained schools in Phase 3 of the SEND capital programme to create 400 additional specialist school places in Surrey for September 2021.

2. That delegated authority to agree individual projects and resources is given to the Cabinet Member for All Age Learning and Cabinet Member for Resources, subject to a detailed business case for each scheme.

Reason for Decision:

Following the introduction of The Children and Families Act, 2014 and revised SEND Code of Practice in 2015, Surrey has seen the number of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) increase by between 11-18% each year, resulting in the projected demand for 5,100 specialist school places.

This significant increase in demand for specialist provision has led to a historic over reliance on the independent school sector. Surrey’s ambition is to ensure sufficient maintained placement availability for the cohort of children and young people who have SEND and need specialist placements. The recommended Phase 3 SEND capital investment completes the planning for sufficiency of specialist school places in the academic year 2021/22.  

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Children, Families, Lifelong Learning & Culture Select Committee]

The report was introduced by the Cabinet Member for All-Age Learning who explained that Surrey’s existing maintained specialist estate, which includes places in specialist centres and units in mainstream schools and special schools, had 3,477 places of which 98% were currently occupied. The current position was that 400 additional specialist school places were needed on top of those already planned for the beginning of September 2021. It was explained that the average unit cost was £53k per learner per annum for independent sector provision compared to the average cost of £23k per learner per annum for maintained specialist places. The report recommended the use of £11.5m of the total approved SEND Capital Funding of £79.6m for a programme of adaption and refurbishment of SCC owned assets and maintained schools in Phase 3 of the SEND capital programme.

The Cabinet Member then went onto update the Cabinet on the SEND offer. An inspection in 2016 highlighted five areas where services for children with special education needs and disabilities required improvement. A revisit by Ofsted, and the Care Quality Commission in May 2019 left one area of focus which was connected with the increasing rates of absence and exclusion for children and young people who had specialist requirements. As of December 2020, the Department of Education and National Health officials confirmed that the council had demonstrated clear and sustained progress and that there was no longer a need for them to continue any formal monitoring. 

RESOLVED:

1. That the strategy is agreed and the use of £11.5m of the total approved SEND Capital Funding of £79.6m be approved in principle for a programme of adaption and refurbishment of SCC owned assets and maintained schools in Phase 3 of the SEND capital programme to create 400 additional specialist school places in Surrey for September 2021.

2. That delegated authority to agree individual projects and resources is given to the Cabinet Member for All Age Learning and Cabinet Member for Resources, subject to a detailed business case for each scheme.

Reason for Decision:

Following the introduction of The Children and Families Act, 2014 and revised SEND Code of Practice in 2015, Surrey has seen the number of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) increase by between 11-18% each year, resulting in the projected demand for 5,100 specialist school places.

This significant increase in demand for specialist provision has led to a historic over reliance on the independent school sector. Surrey’s ambition is to ensure sufficient maintained placement availability for the cohort of children and young people who have SEND and need specialist placements. The recommended Phase 3 SEND capital investment completes the planning for sufficiency of specialist school places in the academic year 2021/22.  

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Children, Families, Lifelong Learning & Culture Select Committee]