Decision details

This proposal will help to secure our ambition “to ensure that Kent’s young people have access to the education, work and skills opportunities necessary to support Kent business to grow and be increasingly competitive in the national and international economy” as set out in ‘Increasing Opportunities, Improving Outcomes: Kent County Council’s Strategic Statement (2015 2020)’.

The Commissioning Plan for Education Provision in Kent 2015-2019 sets out how we will carry out our responsibility for ensuring there are sufficient places of high quality, in the right places, for all learners and this proposal  supports that aim. 

The ‘Strategy for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and who are Disabled’ (SEND Strategy) “has a priority to create at least 275 additional places for ASD and BESN”

Financial Implications:  Any costs to this project will be outlined in the report that will be considered by the Education and Young People’s Services Cabinet Committee.

Legal Implications: Any legal implications will be identified in the report to the Cabinet Member for Education and Health Reform before he takes his decision to issue a statutory public notice.

Equality Implications:  An Equality Impact Assessment will be produced before the start of the consultation process and will be accessible on line via the following link: www.kent.gov.uk/schoolconsultations.

The Cabinet Member for Education and Health Reform endorsed the  decision to:

a)         Authorise the Corporate Director - Education and Young People's Services to issue Public Notice to:

·         Change the age range of the school from 11-19 years to 8-19 years

·         Increase the designated number of the school from 66 to 80

·         Change the residential placements from fortnightly to weekly boarding, Monday to Thursday, term time only.  The maximum number of residential places will be 30.

b)         Allocate funding from the Education and Young People’s Service Capital budget for the accommodation works.  Members will be informed of the estimated cost at the meeting;

c)         Authorise the Director of Infrastructure in consultation with the General Counsel (Interim) to enter into any necessary contracts/ agreements on behalf of the County Council; and

d)         Authorise the Director of Infrastructure to be the nominated Authority Representative within the relevant agreements and to enter into variations as envisaged under the contracts. Variations to contract value to be no more than 10% above the capital funding agreed by the Cabinet Member without requiring a new Record of Decision.

Should objections, not already considered by the Cabinet Member when taking this decision, be received during the public notice period a separate decision will be required in order to continue the proposal in order to allow for proper consideration of the points raised.