Decision details

Approval to go out to public consultation on residential changes.

To approve public consultation on proposals to

• change the designation of Brompton Hall School from boys only to co-educational
• to phase out and cease residential provision at Brompton Hall School.

The LA has a statutory responsibility under the Children and Families Act 2014 to keep its special educational provision under review, to ensure sufficiency in placements to meet the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and / or disabilities (SEND). Under the same Act the local authority also has responsibility for ensuring that the needs of children and young people with SEND are suitably assessed and that needs are met.

Brompton Hall is one of two maintained special schools in North Yorkshire which offer 4 night per week residential provision. It provides day, extended day and residential provision for children and young people aged 8 – 16 with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs. The school’s current designation is as a single sex, boys school.

The last three years have seen a steady decline in demand for residential placements, from 38 to 29. The forecast for the next three years, with placements based on assessed care and educational needs, indicates a sharp decrease which will have significant implications for the viability of the school budget.

Consideration was made of both continuing the current residential offer at Brompton Hall and ceasing residential provision at the school. Having undertaken a detailed review of current and future demand and assessed the provision requirements going forward, it is felt that option 2 (Cease residential provision, phasing out as current pupils reach the end of a key stage, with no further commissioned places from Sept 2023) is the mostly likely option to:

• Ensure Brompton Hall remains financially viable.
• Contribute to achieving the council’s vision to enable young people to live in a family environment wherever possible.
• Provide an equitable offer of education to support SEMH needs for boys, girls and those who identify as non-binary.

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