Agenda and decisions

Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Lifelong Learning Decisions - Tuesday, 22 April 2025 11.30 am

Venue: Council Chamber, Surrey County Council, Woodhatch Place,11 Cockshot Hill, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 8EF. View directions

Contact: Toby Nash  Email: toby.nash@surreycc.gov.uk

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Items
No. Item

1.

Declarations of Interest

    To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests from Members in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.

    Notes:

    ·Members are reminded that they must not participate in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest

    ·As well as an interest of the Member, this includes any interest, of which the Member is aware, that relates to the Member’s spouse or civil partner (or any person with whom the Member is living as a spouse or civil partner)

    ·Members with a significant personal interest may participate in the discussion and vote on that matter unless that interest could be reasonably regarded as prejudicial

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2.

Procedural Matters

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2a

Members' Questions

    The deadline for Members’ questions is 12pm four working days before the meeting (14 April 2025).

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2b

Public Questions

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    The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting (15 April 2025).

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2c

Petitions

    The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received.

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3.

SEND Capital Programme: Hopescourt School pdf icon PDF 194 KB

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    Cabinet Member approval is sought for use of £29.49m of the approved SEND Capital Funding of £109.86m for 2025/26-2028/29 for final confirmed costs for Hopescourt School in Walton on Thames, committed under the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Capital Programme.

    This figure presents a £3.2m increase to the project budget of £26.25m approved by Surrey County Council’s Cabinet on 25 June 2024 to £29.49m driven by prolongation, inflationary increases, and necessary extension of arrangements at Hopescourt School’s temporary site in West Molesey resulting from eight-month Environment Agency delays increasing costs to conclude project delivery. The additional costs can be managed through alternative solutions which are affordable within the approved budget allocations for SEND capital, and without reducing overall programme scope to increase capacity in the maintained specialist education estate. 

    The capital investment is for Hopescourt School’s construction project where a viable scheme, location, planning approval, costs and legal agreements have been confirmed. The new school’s permanent facilities, procured via the Southern Construction Framework and constructed by Willmott Dixon, will cater for up to 200 autistic pupils and pupils with communication and interaction needs, aged 4-19 years when the school reaches capacity in 2029. Contract start on site on Waterside Drive in Walton-on-Thames commenced on 4 October 2024 and is progressing well. 

    Hopescourt School will continue to use the West Molesey site temporarily until their new school is ready in late March 2026. In September 2025, 22 new secondary aged pupils will start attending the school. To accommodate them, we are extending the existing facilities for the 77 pupils currently on the school’s roll over the Easter Holiday period. This will provide enough space until the permanent school building in Walton-on-Thames completes in Spring 2026.

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    Decision:

    The Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Lifelong Learning:

    1.  Agreed the use of £29.49m of the total approved existing SEND Capital budget of £109.86m for 2025/26 to 2028/29 for the confirmed final costs for Hopescourt School, Walton on Thames.