Issue - meetings

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)

The Cabinet Member for Education and Learning introduced the report explaining that the Freemantles School expansion project was one of the remaining Phase 1 SEND Capital Programme projects to be delivered that was approved by Cabinet in September 2019. The original brief to expand the school by 40 additional places for autistic children with severe or profound and multiple learning difficulties was increased in 2020 to 72 places and Cabinet subsequently approved an budget of approximately £10m in March 2021.The project would reduce the councils reliance on independent schools, reduce journey times between home and school for the children and young people, and ensure that the children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities who require specialist placements have their needs met in Surrey communities and schools.

The Leader highlighted that residents council tax would go towards the £140 million to deliver 2300 additional specialist places. Both SEND places and delivering extra care facilities were hugely important to the council. Will Forster welcomed the report and supported the project. He queried if the project was still achievable taking into account of issues in the construction industry with sourcing materials. The Cabinet Member for Education and Learning stated that the council was committed to the timescales highlighted in the report.

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)