Decision details

Proposed decision – The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills is asked to:

a)     Authorise the allocation of £2,545,790.41 from the High Needs Provision Capital Allocation budget to fund the permanent expansion of Snowfields Academy, by increasing the Designated Number from 280 to 340 places from September 2024.

b)     Authorise the Director of Infrastructure, Strategic and Corporate Services in consultation with the General Counsel and Director of Education to enter into any necessary contracts/ agreements on behalf of the County Council with the Leigh Academies Trust.

c)     Authorise the Director of Infrastructure, Strategic and Corporate Services to be the nominated Authority Representative within the relevant agreements and to enter into variations as envisaged under the contracts.

AND IN THE EVENT OF:

d)     any decision being taken by any party that prevents the Leigh Academies Trust’s proposal for the new secondary school on the Minister site proceeding to completion suspend the authorisation at a) above.

Reason for Decision:

Kent County Council (KCC), as the Local Authority (LA), has a statutory duty to ensure sufficient school places are available.  The County Council’s Commissioning Plan for Education Provision in Kent (KCP) is a five-year rolling plan which is updated annually. It sets out KCC’s future plans as Strategic Commissioner of Education Provision across all types and phases of education in Kent.  A copy of the plan can be viewed from this link:

Commissioning Plan for Education Provision - Kent County Council

The LA is responsible for issuing and maintaining Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) for children and young people between the ages of 0-25 years.  As of January 2023, this totalled 18,930 children and young people with an EHCP in Kent.  This is an increase of 1,197 (6.8%) since January 2022. In England, the number of children and young people with EHC plans increased to 517,000, in January 2023, up by 9% from 2022. The number of EHCPs have increased each year since 2010. Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) remains the most common primary need type with 42.7% of children and young people with an EHCP (0-25 years) having ASD identified as their primary need.  This is an increase from 41.2% on January 2020.

Background

Leigh Academies Trust (LAT) is taking part in the consultation on the closure of Oasis Academy Isle of Sheppey and the S10 process for the opening of two new secondary schools: Leigh Academy Minster on the existing Oasis Academy Isle of Sheppey (Minster campus) and EKC Schools Trust Sheppey Secondary (Sheerness site). As part of Leigh Academy Trust’s proposal for the new secondary school on the Minister site, it is proposed to establish a satellite of Snowfields for up to 60 students in separate bespoke accommodation on the mainstream school site for September 2024, however the establishment of the satellite may be delayed to September 2025 due to when the refurbishments are able to start on site and complexity of the refurbishments.

LAT has undertaken a consultation on the establishment of the satellite of Snowfields from 6 November 2023 to 4 December 2023 and the outcome of the consultation will be included in the report to the Children, Young People’s and Education Cabinet Committee on 16 January 2024.

The 60 place satellite of Snowfields will help to address the numbers of children and young people with an EHCP who require a specialist place, travelling off the Island to access an appropriate education. Snowfields (Cranbrook) already takes 17 children from the Isle of Sheppey. More than 160 children (primary and secondary with ASD/ PSCN /Speech Language and Communication needs) currently travel off the Island for their specialist provision. This is displacing children who are new to the areas where the special schools are sited further afield to access their education.

Options:

Snowfields Academy has a local cohort of children from the Maidstone area, but also admits pupils from a wider area across the county.  There is currently no special needs provision on the Isle of Sheppey for pupils with an EHCP for ASD and therefore pupils are travelling off the Island to access a specialist place for their education. The provision of additional places on the Isle of Sheppey will reduce the travelling distances and times for future cohorts of pupils on Sheppey and provide much needed additional SEND provision.

How the proposed decision meets the objectives of ‘Framing Kent’s Future – Our Council Strategy (2022-2026):

This proposal will help to support Framing Kent’s Future – Our Council Strategy (2022-2026) Priority 1 - Levelling up. ‘To maintain KCC’s strategic role in supporting schools in Kent to deliver accessible, high quality education provision for all families.’

How the proposed decision supports Securing Kent’s Future:

This proposal helps to meet the targets set out within KCC’s Safety Valve Programme, providing additional maintained special school capacity that will support a reduction in placements within the higher-cost independent and non-maintained special school sector. It also provides specialist capacity on the Isle of Sheppey, reducing the numbers of children having to travel off the Island for their provision, thereby improving the experience of the young people and reducing the costs to the SEN transport budget.

The proposal also supports KCC’s SEND Strategy 2021-2024. The aim of the SEND strategy is to improve the educational, health and emotional wellbeing outcomes for all of Kent's children and young people with special educational needs and those who are disabled.

Financial Implications

Capital

The project will ensure the satellite has its own dedicated accommodation of 5 classrooms and additional intervention spaces and dining facilities. The capital costs and total budget for the refurbishment will be £2,545,790.41. The £2,545,790.41 will be funded through the High Needs Capital budget and would be subject to a Funding Agreement being put in place with the Academy Trust. The current total High Needs budget for 23-24 to 25-26 is £40.5m.

Revenue

As per KCC policy a total of £6,000 per newly provided learning space will be provided to the school from the DSG revenue budget.

The anticipated revenue budget for the 60 places at the satellite at Leigh Academy Minster on the existing Oasis Academy Isle of Sheppey (Minster campus) will be based on the ASD need type rate which is currently £20,065.

The cost of 60 places on the ASD rate per year would be £1,203.900.

The average cost of an independent special school place in the county is £41,448. 60. 60 places at the average independent rate would cost £2,486,916 per year.

As Cabinet Member for Education and Skills I agree to:

a)       Authorise the allocation of £2,545,790.41 from the High Needs Provision Capital Allocation budget to fund the permanent expansion of Snowfields Academy, by establishing a satellite of Snowfields on the Isle of Sheppey and increasing the Designated Number from 280 to 340 places from September 2024.

b)       Authorise the Director of Infrastructure, Strategic and Corporate Services in consultation with the General Counsel and Director of Education to enter into any necessary contracts/ agreements on behalf of the County Council with the Leigh Academies Trust.

c)       Authorise the Director of Infrastructure, Strategic and Corporate Services to be the nominated Authority Representative within the relevant agreements and to enter into variations as envisaged under the contracts.

AND IN THE EVENT OF:

d)       any decision being taken by any party that prevents the Leigh Academies Trust’s proposal for the new secondary school on the Minister site proceeding to completion suspend the authorisation at a) above.