Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education & Windsor

To note the report and:

i)               Request that officers carry out a public consultation in Spring 2024 on proposals to be included within an updated Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) capital strategy.

ii)              Request a report back to Cabinet in May 2024, to provide the outcome of the consultation, cost estimates for the proposals and a recommended programme for capital investment.

AGREED: That Cabinet noted the report and:

i)               Requested that officers carried out a public consultation in Spring 2024 on proposals to be included within an updated Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) capital strategy and

ii)             Requested a report back to Cabinet in May 2024, to provide the outcome of the consultation, cost estimates for the proposals and a recommended programme for capital investment.

Councillor Tisi introduced the report to Cabinet and said that the borough had been allocated a grant of £3.700m from the high needs provision capital allocation, which could be used to fund new special educational needs and disability places. This would ensure that the best education possible could be given to the children of the borough, who particularly required this additional level of attention. She then outlined some key aspects that were being put forward within the report which included some new accommodation at the Berkshire College of Agriculture (BCA) and a resource base at Churchmead school, which would be a joint venture with Slough Borough Council. At Forest Bridge School, new accommodation was also being looked at to assist in expanding post-16 places. Finally, at Manor Green School a current building was being turned into a new learning space for around 16-20 students to be provided education for. The report essentially ensured that the borough’s young persons were successfully provided for, in accordance with their specific needs. She then noted that there was an appendix in part II that detailed the finances around this, however Cabinet agreed that they did not require to move into part II to discuss this separately.

 AGREED: That Cabinet noted the report and:

i)               Requested that officers carried out a public consultation in Spring 2024 on proposals to be included within an updated Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) capital strategy and

ii)             Requested a report back to Cabinet in May 2024, to provide the outcome of the consultation, cost estimates for the proposals and a recommended programme for capital investment.