Decision details

This Single Member Decision seeks agreement for £500k capital funding to assist in increasing capacity for additional SEND places within a small number (four) mainstream schools in B&NES.

The Cabinet Member agrees with the approval for the Local Authority to utilise £500k to be spent on expanding existing provision within the area to increase placements for children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND).

The £500k identified in the capital program can utilised alongside an incoming grant from the DFE of £577k in April 2018 to deliver all projects. Providing an overall sum of over one million pounds to increase the numbers of SEND places in local schools and Colleges.

The creation of 107 additional local spaces will reduce the need for out of authority provision which is often 2 to 3 times as expensive as a local area placement and in some cases more than this. The savings that could be achieved by reducing our reliance on “Out of County” placements are significant & essential to managing the SEND placement budget going forward.

The Council has been aware of the mounting pressures that the increased demand for SEND placements presents. It is important to note that the growth of these pressures is replicated nationally, and is linked to changes to the cohort of young people that are now eligible for assessments in regard to their special educational needs.

Over the past two years we have explored a range of options that might assist to address these pressures. We continue to make amendments to other areas of assessment, finance and banding that all contribute to addressing pressures in conjunction with the proposals outlined in this paper.