Funding approved for 168 new school places in Suffolk for children with special educational needs
Young people will get the support at several specialist units planned at local schools
Last updated 13th Oct 2022
More young people with special educational needs in Suffolk are expected to get the support they need, as a council has agreed £10 million of funding for specialist units in schools.
Funding of for 168 places at specialist units for children with special educational needs and disabilities, most of which will be attached to mainstream schools, was agreed yesterday.
The unanimous vote of approval by Suffolk County Council’s cabinet yesterday will see £7 million from department for education funding spent on specialist units attached to schools, creating 126 places.
An extra £3 million to be covered by the council will be spent on three specialist units not attached to schools, which will provide 42 places in total.
The decision also approved a request for three free schools – two for children with severe learning difficulties and one school for those with autism spectrum disorder and complex social, emotional and mental health needs.
The cost for the free schools will be covered by department for education funding.
Most of the specialist units are expected to be opened by 2024 or 2025, and the free schools are expected to come later – with 2025 set as the earliest year possible for their opening.
These plans represent phase three of Suffolk County Council’s special educational needs and disabilities capital programme 2019, which aims to provide hundreds of new education placements for children needing extra support.
Phase one of the capital programme has created over 500 specialist unit places, with 825 in total expected to come from this phase before September 2024. Phase two was signed off in June 2022 and will create up to 73 new places at specialist units.
Phase one saw an overspend of £4.6 million and Cllr Rachel Hood, cabinet member for education, skills and special educational needs and disabilities, assured the cabinet that this phase would not see such an overspend.
According to the officer’s report on the funding approved yesterday, there has been an “unprecedented” rise in requests for specialist school placements in the last 12 to 18 months.
It is predicted that 550 additional places for young people with special educational needs and disabilities will be needed in Suffolk by 2025.
Yesterday’s meeting also saw the approval of a new site providing residential and shared care for young people with disabilities at Felixstowe.
A Lowestoft school for children with special educational needs was rated inadequate in all areas by Ofsted last month, with criticism directed at teachers’ frequent use of physical restraint on children with very complex needs.