Agenda item

Recommendations

 

It is recommended that the Executive gives approval for:

·       The grant to be declined at this time

·       Officers to request the DfE proceed with the delivery of the special school in Northallerton

·       Officers to inform the DfE that the council remains open to further dialogue on this issue once the full detail of national reforms are known and understood

Considered – A report of the Corporate Director of Children and Young People’s Service outlining the Department for Education’s review of previously approved free school schemes, and seeking direction on whether the Council should accept a £5.6m capital grant or request that the DfE continue with the previously approved proposal to deliver a new 120‑place special school in Northallerton for children with social, emotional and mental health needs.

 

The Executive Member for Education, Learning and Skills, Councillor Annabel Wilkinson, introduced the report. She summarised that the DfE had invited the Council to choose between two options:

·       Accepting a £5.6m grant to support alternative local SEND capital priorities; or

·       Proceeding with delivery of the new special school at the former Northallerton School site.

The report set out the risks and benefits of both options and it was recommended that the DfE be requested to continue with the delivery of the school, given rising demand and the benefits for children living in the north of the county as currently the council was dependent on independent schools a distance away.

 

Resolved (unanimously)

 

That the Executive gives approval for

 

1)    The grant to be declined at this time

 

2)    Officers to request the DfE proceed with the delivery of the special school in Northallerton

 

3)    Officers to inform the DfE that the council remains open to further dialogue on this issue once the full detail of national reforms are known and understood

 

Reasons for recommendations

 

The reasons for the recommendation were that on balance and consideration of all the benefits and risks set out in section 4 and 6 the special school would add a significant resource to the local educational offer.

 

Whilst there were benefits and risks to either option the council already had some resource available to it to increase SEN resource base capacity alongside the DfE delivering the school. Taking the grant does provide further capital resource, though presently it was not known what the timeline or traction will be for future reforms of the system and the impact on demand for special school places.

 

The Council could continue to roll out specialist places in mainstream schools with the resources already available. It was assumed further allocations will be forthcoming, however, the risk being that further HNPC allocations are reduced which would restrict the numbers that can be created.

 

Alternative options considered

 

The alternative option available to the council was to accept the £5.6m capital grant and forgo the delivery of the special school. This option would also present both potential benefits and risks.

 

Accepting the grant would provide additional flexibility to the council in providing specialist places. Combined with existing capital grants it would allow the council to be more ambitious with the roll out of mainstream SEN Resource Bases known locally as Targeted Mainstream Provisions and potentially create an opportunity to work with special schools and/or academy trust to provide smaller satellites of special schools.

 

High Needs Provision Capital Allocation guidance released in 2025 by the DfE had a strong steer towards local authorities using high needs capital to support mainstream schools in meeting the needs of children with SEND. It states “Whilst local authorities can determine how best to spend this funding to address local priorities, we want to work alongside them to achieve our shared ambition for better outcomes, better experiences for children and young people and their families, and a financially sustainable system” This is then followed by “We encourage local authorities to use this funding to set up resourced provisions or special educational needs units (SEN units) in mainstream schools to increase local capacity”

 

The combination of the wording in the latest HNPCA guidance and the general understanding that reforms are likely to focus on strengthening the mainstream school offer support this alternative option to accept the grant. However, the detail of the reforms has not yet been fully announced nor the timeline, and therefore it is not possible to assess what impact they will have within the system at this stage on lessening the demand for special school places.

 

The council had been informed that the grant on offer will not affect any future capital allocations for high needs provision and accepting it would also remove any risk of DfE decision making and value for money judgments which could ultimately see the school not being delivered.

 

Another benefit to the council would be that taking the grant would release the site to the council for alternative use in the future.

 

Whilst there are positive aspects to accepting the grant there are also identified risks which have led to the proposal to move ahead with the originally planned school. Thes risks include:

           

·       SEND reforms are not yet fully understood and the timeline for implementation will not be immediate.

·       Accepting the grant and expanding the roll out of other provisions will require additional capacity from the council in order to deliver any subsequent schemes

·       There are limited options to expand existing special school provision, and the grant is not sufficient to provide new special school facilities

·       Use of high-cost independent school places are unlikely to reduce in the near future

·       At present, due to the timeline given by the DfE, alternative options have only been able to be evaluated at a high level

 

Within the current capital programme the council has £6.9m still to be allocated. This will be the subject of a subsequent report to the Executive, following the conclusion of this matter. This allocation will continue to allow the council to deliver additional resource bases. Any future, as yet unconfirmed, HNPCA allocations would also allow the council to be more ambitious with regards to delivering more specialist places.