Cabinet considered development of a Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Capital Strategy.

The Leader of the Council explained that the council had been allocated £3.7m of grant from the High Needs Provision Capital Allocation (HNPCA), which could be used to fund new Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) places and Alternative Provision (AP). In addition, the government had announced a new wave of SEND and AP free schools nationally and was inviting bids from interested parties.

It was proposed that a SEND and AP Capital Strategy be developed to draw these capital plans together, based on a number of proposals that would go out to public consultation first. These proposals included up to four new Resource Bases attached to mainstream schools, and a new early years hub to work with children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) as a primary need.

The recommendations in the report would help the borough achieve its corporate objective of ‘Thriving Communities’ by making it easier for children and young people to achieve their ambitions and fulfil their potential. The proposed capital strategy would also help provide quality infrastructure for children and young people, meeting the corporate objective of ‘Inspiring Places’

The Executive Director of People Services highlighted that if the council was successful in the free school bid, additional capital would be required.

Councillor Baldwin welcomed the additional funding in this area. He requested reassurance that the finding would be deployed in a way that enabled SEND to be delivered in the schools the children were already attending.

The Executive Director of People Services responded that the proposal was for capital expenditure to create more spaces. The intention was to develop resource bases in existing state funded schools. Whilst capital enabled the council to build locations, the revenue came from the DSG. There was a need to make every pound work for best value. There was a need to ensure all schools and parents were covered in the consultation. Engagement was already good with parents of children with complex needs, but greater engagement was needed for parents of children with moderate needs.

Councillor Stimson commented that at a recent Schools Forum meeting there had been a real cry for the type of provision proposed, so she was pleased the report had come forward.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Cabinet notes the report and:

i) Requests that officers carry out a public consultation in Autumn 2022 on proposals to be included within a new Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) capital strategy.

ii) Requests a report back to Cabinet in January 2023, to provide the outcome of the consultation, cost estimates for the proposals and a recommended programme for capital investment.

iii) Requests that officers review the need for new Alternative Provision in the borough and, if needed, proceed with the creation of a partnership locally with the aim of submitting an application for a new Alternative Provision free school serving the borough.

iv) Requests that officers prepare a full application for a new special free school on the AL21 West of Windsor site.

v) Recommends a new, £100,000, budget to full Council for feasibility and initial design works on the proposals to be included within the SEND and AP Capital Strategy, funded by the High Needs Provision Capital Allocation.

vi) Approves a virement of uncommitted grant funding from the Special Provision Capital Fund to support increased capital costs of the new SEN Unit at South Ascot Village Primary School, as set out in Appendix C (Part II).