Six new special needs units will open in Somerset schools this September.
It's after a rise in demand on the council.
Six new special needs units will open in Somerset schools in the autumn – with others expected to follow in the near-future.
Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are usually educated in one of two contexts: either at specialist schools constructed by Somerset Council, or within mainstream schools in line with agreed education, health and care plans (EHCPs).
The council has faced numerous challenges on this front in recent years, with existing specialist schools operating at full capacity and the number of young people with EHCPs rising.
These issues have in turn led to higher transport costs to the council from transporting SEND children to specialist providers further afield, and to numerous complaints made by parents to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) when EHCPs are not reviewed in a timely fashion.
To address these problems, the council decided in March that 15 new SEND pupil units will be created within existing schools, allowing more SEND children to have a normal education.
The first six of these units are expected to open at the start of the new academic year in September – with studies under way to provide the remaining units within the coming 12 months.
The first six areas to get a SEN unit will be schools in Taunton, Bridgwater, Burnham-on-Sea, Watchet, Crewkerne and Dulverton.
Feasibility studies are also under way for another 12 schools, including sites in Bruton, Cheddar, Frome, Ilminster, Minehead, Wellington, Wincanton and Yeovil.
Each of the new units will deliver between six and eight SEND places – except for a planned unit at Maiden Beech Academy in Crewkerne (which will handle between eight and 16) and one in Upton Noble near Bruton (which will handle four to six pupils).
Additional schools may be added to the programme at a later date if finances allow.
Councillor Heather Shearer, portfolio holder for children, families and education, told the BBC: “Getting children into the right provision closer to home will be cheaper, but the best thing is that it will be better for them.
“They don’t then get stuck in a school miles and miles away from home, possibly not with their friends.”
As of March, more than 500 children and young people with EHCPs in Somerset were accessing education in independent settings, at “significant additional cost” to the council.
Amelia Walker, the council’s service director for education, stated at the time: “As a result of this demand, Somerset’s special schools are full to capacity, and some have exceeded their number of commissioned places in order to help meet the needs of children assessed as requiring specialist provision, or to accommodate children whose parents have successfully acquired places through the direction of tribunal.
“The council has not had the regulatory power to open new schools. In addition, the Department for Education has been unable to deliver new special schools to keep pace with the level of demand.
“This increase in demand and lack of available places has also had a negative effect on the council’s preferred ‘local first’ approach to school placements, leading to long commutes for children, some of whom travel past other special schools where their needs could have been met if spare places were available.”
These SEND units will be delivered through the ‘high needs provision capital allocation’ within the council’s capital budget, with just under £16.8m being available for these projects.
The council has not confirmed the specific costs of the SEND units, but said that their creation would save between £13.7m and £17.1m a year which would otherwise have been spent on transport costs and other measures.