"This is devastating": £15m expansion at Surrey specialist school cancelled
Limpsfield Grange School, near Oxted, was due to expand its provision to help cover the shortfall of places in the county.
A Surrey school for girls with autism has shared the “devastating” news that its £15.3m expansion plans have been cancelled by Surrey County Council due to budget shortfalls.
Limpsfield Grange School, near Oxted, was due to increase its provision to help cover the shortfall of specialist places in the county.
The plans had already reached public consultation stage and construction on the additional 60 places, plus a further 40 sixth form spaces for those aged over 16, was set to begin in 2025 – to address the “long term sufficiency gap for additional specialist places across Surrey”, according to planning documents.
The county council said it did not expect the plans to be revised and that there were concerns as to whether the 125 new places could all be filled by pupils living in the county as currently about 30 per cent of places at Limpsfield Grange School are allocated to pupils who do not live in Surrey.
The school expects demand for specialist places for autistic girls across both secondary and post-16 ages to rise by of 67 percent by 2030 compared with 2021 levels.
The school’s headteacher, Sarah Wild, posted: “Sadly we have to announce that the proposed expansion of Limpsfield Grange School, to include a sixth form and places for additional students, has been cancelled by Surrey Council Council due to shortfalls in their budget.
“Naturally everyone at Limpsfield Grange is extremely disappointed.
“Limpsfield Grange would like to thank everyone who supported our expansion plans during the consultation process for their time, energy and commitment.”
Limpsfield Grange School is a school for autistic girls and provides specialist education for girls aged 11 to 16 years with a permanent capacity of 94 places.
Many students have additional needs including ADHD, speech language and communication needs, medical needs as well as other difficulties associated with autism.
The expansion had originally been signed off as demand for specialist provision in the south east of Surrey for secondary age pupils with ASD and co-occurring needs is high, the consultation papers read.
This demand has meant other specialist provision in the area already operates at or above capacity and the extra places at Limpsfield would have helped support families who have to travel further afield for their children to receive appropriate full-time education.
The project, part of Surrey County Council’s SEND Capital Programme, had been approved by the county’s cabinet on January 25, 2022.
The school posted the update to its website and Instagram feed prompting strong reactions.
One user wrote: “This is devastating…hopefully they will reconsider and see from this post how much their funding is needed.”
Another added: “Very disappointing, neurodiverse students deserve the same opportunities as their neurotypical peers.
All students have education, health and care plans that outline their needs and the provision they require.
The school believed its expansion was “essential” in providing quality education to more autistic girls, while the new sixth form would have enabled more autistic girls to complete post 16 education and successfully enter the job market.
The consultation papers read: “Many of our students at Limpsfield Grange have had an incomplete experience of primary school, often with very poor attendance due to their persistent levels of anxiety that affected their wellbeing.
“The curriculum at Limpsfield Grange addresses the gaps in students’ prior learning to build success in their secondary and tertiary education.”
Clare Curran, cabinet member for children, families and lifelong learning, said: “As is the case nationally, Surrey’s capital development continues to be impacted by construction industry market volatility. Increasing challenges around ongoing construction market instability were first identified in early Autumn 2023.
“High levels of inflation, coupled with continued unstable market conditions and new unfunded legislative liabilities specific to the construction sector, increasing need, more complex site constraints and fixed Government funding have affected costs from 2023/24 to 2027/28.
“Consequently, it is now costing more to deliver the remaining approved scopes of the SEND and Alternate Provision (AP) Capital Programmes within the remaining allocated budget totalling £189m for 2024/25 to 2027/28. These capital budgets are funded by borrowing, causing additional revenue pressure on the council.
“In total, the council’s total substantial investment of £260m will enable the construction of 2,404 permanent additional specialist places. In addition, existing specialist accommodation in schools equivalent to around 625 places which are no longer fit for purpose are being redeveloped to enable expansion between 2019/20 to 2027/28.
“Investment enables the council to expand the state-maintained specialist education estate by 74% overall to a capacity of just over 5,760 places for Surrey resident children with additional needs and disabilities by 2031/32.
“A fourth new 150 place Special Free School is to be funded and delivered by the Department for Education by 2028/29. This, in addition to four new 20 place specialist Resourced Provisions in maintained mainstream secondary schools and academies, will create an additional 230 places overall.
“We know how important it is to place a child in a setting that is appropriate for their educational needs, safety and wellbeing, and we are determined to create additional specialist provision to ensure the best possible outcomes for Surrey’s children.”