Proposed decision

 

To approve and adopt a new enforcement policy enabling Kent County Council (KCC) to take enforcement action against land owners to ensure highways users are not put at risk from non-compliance under relevant statutory provisions.

 

To approve and adopt a new street works enforcement policy enabling KCC to take relevant enforcement action up to and including prosecution against utility companies and other entities for non-compliance failures under relevant statutory provisions.

 

Reason for the decision

As the local Highway Authority, KCC has a statutory to ensure that the public can use and enjoy any highway for which they are responsible including any roadside waste which forms part of it.

 

KCC also has a statutory duty to coordinate the works of statutory utility companies.

 

Background

To meet these obligations, KCC needs to know about all the work happening on the road network. The work must be done in timely fashion with the safety and convenience of all road users in mind. The proposed polices will enable KCC to take enforcement action against landowners and utility companies when they break the law or act in a way that is non-compliant to the works orders. This is especially important when such violations affect the council's ability to manage and coordinate road works or when the work is done unsafely or disruptively.

 

How the proposed decision supports the KCC Strategic Statement

This proposal is aligned with the strategic statement and direction of the emerging 'Reforming Kent' agenda

 

·   to improve the quality the highways network and to reduce the delays caused by road works.

 

 

Proposed decision

The Deputy Leader to agree to:

 

1.    the disposal of Land at Former Spires Academy, Bredlands Lane, Westbere, Canterbury, CT2 0HD; and

 

2.    delegate authority to The Director of Infrastructure, in consultation with the Deputy Leader, to finalise the terms of the disposal and execution of all necessary or desirable documentation required to implement the above.

 

 

Reason for the decision

The property is surplus to the Council’s operational requirements and due to its projected value, a key decision will be required as per Kent County Council’s Constitution.

 

Background

The property which extends to approximately 1.36 hectares is currently vacant on the south-west side of Bredlands Lane. The site previously formed part of a larger plot of land, including the former Spires Academy school buildings which was situated immediately to the south of the site.

 

The south part of the site comprising the former school buildings was sold to Matthew Homes in 2017 and has since been redeveloped to provide 80 dwellings (ref: CA/13/02349). A new Spires Academy was built situated to the east of the site on the opposite side of Bredlands Lane and benefits from an enhanced playing field provision.

 

 

The Council intends to market the site, and it is expected that the level of receipt will be in excess of the delegated threshold and that a Key Decision is required.

 

A decision is therefore sought to authorise the disposal of the site and to delegate authority to the Director of Infrastructure to finalise the terms, subject to consultation with the relevant Cabinet Member.

 

Options (other options considered but discarded)

-          Reuse the site.

-          Continue to hold the site vacant in case of a future requirement.

-          Lease the site.

-          Disposal of the asset. This is the recommended option.

 

How the proposed decision supports the Council’s Strategic Statement

The proposed decision supports the Council’s Strategic Statement by raising capital for reinvestment to enable KCC to deliver improvements to visible community and infrastructure services, whilst also streamlining KCC’s property portfolio, contributing towards the reduction of KCCs’ debt burden and releasing monies back into front line services.

 

Proposed decision –The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills:

 

1. APPROVE the allocation of £1,200,000 (exclusive of VAT) from the Children’s, Young People and Education Basic Need Capital Budget to fund the work to increase the capacity at Ebbsfleet Green Primary School.

 

2. DELEGATE authority to the Director of Infrastructure, in consultation with the Head of Law and Director of Education and SEND to take relevant actions including but not limited to entering into relevant contracts or other legal agreements as required to implement the decision; and

 

3. AGREE for the Director of Infrastructure, to be the nominated Authority Representative within the relevant agreements, with authority to enter 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 for Education and Skills without requiring a new Record of Decision.

 

Reason for the decision

 

Kent County Council (KCC) as the Local Authority, has a statutory duty to ensure sufficient high quality school places are available, in the right places for all learners, while at the same time fulfilling our other responsibilities to raise education standards and promote parental preference. The County Council’s Commissioning Plan for Education Provision in Kent 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.

 

This proposal to increase the capacity at Ebbsfleet Green Primary School has been developed because the Kent Commissioning Plans for 2024/28 and 2025/29 both indicated there would be a shortfall in Year R places for September 2024 and September 2025 in the Swanscombe and Ebbsfleet Planning Group (which includes the Ebbsfleet Garden City). Partly due to delays in the planned opening of the new primary school at Alkerden Church of England Academy.

 

To support KCC in mitigating against this shortfall, the Maritime Academy Trust and the school

agreed to admit bulge classes of 30 pupils for two years - increasing their Reception intake

from 60 to offer 90 places for September 2024 and September 2025. The school was able to

initially accommodate these additional classes, as the school is still growing following it’s

opening in 2020, and two classes were still unused. However, by September 2026, the school

will be full and therefore, additional classrooms are required to ensure the two bulge classes

can be safely accommodated.

 

Background

 

Dartford Borough’s population is increasing with more families moving into the area. Ebbsfleet Green Primary School was opened in direct response to the rapid expansion of the Ebbsfleet Garden City development - part of a large-scale project delivering thousands of new homes and community infrastructure. As a result of this rapid expansion and delays to the opening of the new primary school at Alkerden Church of England Academy, KCC needed additional Year R primary school places to manage the increase in demand for the September 2024 and September 2025 intakes. One strategy for providing additional Year R school places for these two years has been to expand existing successful and popular schools.

 

Ebbsfleet Green Primary School is a mixed-gender free school for children aged 3 to 11 years (Reception through Year 6, including a 26-place nursery). It opened in September 2020 and is part of the Maritime Academy Trust, which acts as its academy sponsor and admissions authority. The school offers a non-selective, inclusive education, and includes a 15-place Specialist Resource Provision (SRP) for pupils with autism spectrum disorder - The Woodlands.

 

Following an inspection that took place in March 2023, Ofsted deemed Ebbsfleet Green Primary School to be a ‘GOOD’ school.

 

The proposed scheme is to permanently install three additional classrooms along with appropriate ancillary space, to provide the school with sufficient space to safely accommodate the two additional bulge classes and create a second nursery class, providing much needed additional early years places in the locality.

 

As previously stated, the school also hosts a SRP and it is clear the complexity of needs in the school has increased considerably since the school first opened. Longer term (5-6 years), when the bulge classes have progressed through the school, the then free classrooms can be used as additional SEND intervention spaces. This could include a physical expansion of the SRP.

 

Options (other options considered but discarded)

 

KCC considered whether other primary schools in the Swanscombe and Ebbsfleet Planning Group had additional Year R capacity for September 2024 and September 2025. However, no additional capacity was available. Therefore, no other primary school in the local area could produce sufficient places to meet the demand in the timescales required.

 

Once Ebbsfleet Green Primary School had been selected as the school to accommodate the additional pupils, there were three possible options identified. The two options that were considered but discarded were:

• Permanently expand the school by one FE. This option was logistically and financially challenging due to the configuration and size of the school site. Additionally, as the primary provision at Alkerden Church of England Academy is due to open in September 2026, this option was dismissed.
• Increase the school’s capacity temporarily using leased modular accommodation for six years was not considered a feasible solution. It would impose significant additional strain on the Education Revenue Budget while delivering no long-term benefit. Even for a minimal setup - just two classrooms with toilets and no third classroom to provide essential flexible space for interventions, the cost would be £914,899. Given the high expense, lack of flexibility, and absence of lasting value, this option was dismissed. 

 

How the proposed decision supports the Council’s Strategic Statement

 

This proposal is necessary for KCC to continue to deliver the statutory duty, in a cost-effective

way, in line with the guidelines described KCC’s strategic statement. It will help to maintain

KCC’s strategic role in supporting schools in Kent to deliver accessible, high-quality education

provision for all families by;

• Priority: Delivering Better Outcomes for Children and Young People - Access to Local Education: Expanding capacity ensures children can attend a good local school, reduces travel and supports wellbeing. Meeting Demand: Responds to demographic growth and housing developments, ensuring sufficient places for all primary-aged children.
• Priority: Tackling Inequalities and Improving Inclusion - Inclusive Mainstream Provision: Increasing capacity in mainstream schools supports KCC’s commitment to inclusion, reducing reliance on specialist placements and enabling children with SEND to learn alongside peers. Equity of Access: Prevents overcrowding and ensures fair access to high-quality education for all families.
• Priority: Sustainable and Efficient Use of Resources - Cost-Effective Growth: Expanding existing schools is more efficient than building new schools, aligning with KCC’s aim to manage resources responsibly. Environmental Sustainability: Maximises existing infrastructure and reduces the carbon footprint compared to new builds.
• Priority: Stronger Communities and Localism - Community Cohesion: Keeping children in local schools strengthens community identity and parental engagement, supporting KCC’s vision for resilient communities.

 

Financial Implications

 

Capital

 

The approved KCC procurement route for Ebbsfleet Green Primary School is a competitive tender process with preferred mobile contractors, delivered under a JCT Design and Build Contract 2016 (with KCC amendments). The appointed contractor will assume full design responsibility to provide a compliant solution.

 

This scheme will be managed by KCC and will be confirmed via a legally binding agreement between KCC and the Maritime Academy Trust. From feasibility studies, the cost for the whole scheme will be £1,294,245 (exclusive of VAT). However, it should be noted that figures from these studies represent high-level estimates, and the final tendered cost is expected to be less than £1,200,000 (exclusive of VAT). This reduction will include savings from value engineering the project.

 

The current cost-per-pupil benchmark for Primary Extension and Refurbishment is:

• KCC baseline: £20,698.57 per pupil
• DfE benchmark: £23,339.66 per pupil

 

Based on the high-level cost provided, this scheme equates to approximately £20,000 per pupil. However, as noted above, the final tendered cost is expected to be lower, and could even reduce to as little as £16,666.66 per pupil. KCC Project Managers will be undertaking continuous checks to keep project costs as low as possible.

 

Should the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills agree to progress the scheme; an agreement will be finalised and sealed with the Maritime Academy Trust. The agreement will set out the requirements on the school to maintain the accommodation.

 

An allowance of up to £2,500 per teaching space may be payable to Ebbsfleet Green Primary School; to outfit each new teaching room with appropriate ICT equipment, such as touch screens or projection equipment. This will be met from the overall Capital allocation for this scheme.

 

Capital Costs for mainstream provision are funded through the Basic Need Capital Programme, which is made up from a range of sources including the Basic Need Grant, Developer Contributions, Prudential Borrowing (originally agreed to fund shortfalls in historic schemes) and other specific grants (such as schools rebuild programme). The Basic Need Grant is the largest contributor to the programme and is provided by the DfE to support local authorities fulfil their statutory duty to ensure there are enough school places for children aged 5 to 16 in their area. The grant is allocated annually, based on Local Authorities’ own pupil forecasts and school capacity data, which they submit through the School Capacity Survey. The funding is primarily intended to support the creation of new school places - either by expanding existing schools or building new ones to meet projected demand.

 

The Education capital programme is continuously reviewed, with projects entering and leaving the programme regularly in response to demand and project completions. As at September 2025, the Basic Need programme for current and future schemes had a budget of circa £154m and the value of projects that are currently included in the programme is circa £110m (this included the potential cost of £1.2m for this project). The current balance of circa £44m will be used to meet the cost of any new schemes, alongside future DfE Basic Need Grant allocations, new developer contributions and other external grants. To ensure all schemes are prioritised appropriately and expenditure is controlled within available funding, any new scheme included in the programme, first needs to be considered and agreed by Education Asset Board, before being progressed through the formal governance processes. 

 

Revenue

 

Should the scheme not proceed through to completion, any costs incurred at the time of cessation would become abortive costs and are likely to be recharged to Revenue. This would be reported through the regular financial monitoring reports to Cabinet. This will be a cost to the General Fund.

 

As the scheme progresses, £6,000 per newly provided learning space, would be provided towards the cost of furniture and equipment, such as tables, desks, chairs, cabinets and learning resources. This will be funded from the Dedicated Schools Grant Growth Fund.

 

Ebbsfleet Green Primary School will appoint additional staff as required; utilising revenue funding allocated through the Schools Funding Formula for these additional students.

 

Legal Implications  

 

KCC, as the Local Authority, has a statutory duty to ensure sufficient school places are available. This duty applies to mainstream settings, as well as SEND provision. The County Council’s Commissioning Plan for Education Provision in Kent 2025-29 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.

 

Under the Children and Families Act 2014 KCC has a duty ‘to support the child and his or her parent, or the young person, in order to facilitate the development of the child or young person and to help him or her achieve the best possible educational and other outcomes’. By ensuring we have appropriate provision as locally as possible, we are delivering on our obligation in accordance with this legislation.

 

Local Authorities need to deliver their statutory duties and be aware of non-statutory guidance

and advice, which relate to children and young people. These include are:

• Department for Education - Making significant changes to an academy 2025: non-statutory guidance on collaborative school place planning and making organisational changes to academies.
• Sufficiency Duties: KCC is under a statutory duty to contribute towards the spiritual, moral, mental and physical development of the community by securing that efficient primary education and secondary education are available to meet the needs of the population of their area: section 13 of the Education Act 1996 (“the 1996 Act”).
• KCC must ensure that its education functions are exercised by the authority with a view to promoting high standards, ensuring fair access to opportunity for education and training, and promoting the fulfilment of learning potential by every person under the age of 20 and those over the age of 20 and for whom an EHC Plan is maintained: section 13A. By section 14, KCC must secure that sufficient schools for providing primary and secondary education are available for their area, defined as being sufficient in number, character and equipment to provide for all pupils the opportunity of appropriate education.
• KCC, when carrying out its functions must have “due regard” to the provisions of section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, known as the ‘public sector equality duty’.

 

Planning permission will be required for the new accommodation to enable the expansion of the school’s accommodation. As part of the agreement, KCC will be responsible for gaining the appropriate planning consent.

 

The Director of Infrastructure in consultation with the Director of Education will be overseeing the scheme to ensure public funds are utilised appropriately.       

 

Proposed decision

 

To permanently remove the specialist resourced provision for pupils with speech and language needs at River Primary School, following statutory consultation and representation.

 

Reason for the decision

The specialist resource provision (SRP) at River Primary School is designated to meet speech and language needs (S&LN). The number of pupils for whom the SRP at River Primary School has been deemed appropriate has fallen significantly. Currently there are only 4 pupils accessing the SRP and all will move on to secondary school within the next two years.

 

Background – Provide brief additional context

 

In order to meet the changing needs of pupils, SRPs now need to provide for pupils who may have wider communication needs in addition to purely speech and language. This may include Speech Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Whilst the number of pupils supported by River’s SRP has fallen, the number supported by the SRP at Whitfield Aspen School has grown significantly (by over 100 places since 2015). This is because it has the existing resources and expertise to support pupils with multiple need types including SLCN and ASD.

 

Additionally, as there is no primary SRP provision in Deal and Walmer, we are looking to address this by supporting a proposal to create a 14 place primary SRP at The Downs CE Primary School in Walmer. This is expected to open in September 2026, supporting pupils with ASD and SLCN. The proposal to open this new provision in Walmer is part of Kent’s wider SEND strategy and is linked to Key Decision 25/00085.

 

An SRP in Deal/Walmer would reduce the distances that residents in Deal, Walmer, Sandwich and the surrounding villages have to travel to secure specialist provision. 

 

Kent’s Strategic Statement

 

The proposed decision supports KCC’s strategic statement as it is necessary for KCC to continue to deliver the statutory duty, in a cost-effective way.  It will help to maintain KCC’s strategic role in supporting schools in Kent to deliver accessible, high quality education provision for all families, particularly those with SEND.

 

Options (other options considered but discarded)

 

Option 1: to keep the SRP open for purely speech and language needs was not viable as insufficient pupils with this need are being identified to keep the provision viable.  The changing needs of pupils mean that SRPs now need to provide for pupils who may have wider communication needs in addition to purely speech and language.

 

Option 2: broadening the need type that the SRP can support, was considered and discarded as the accommodation and site constraints at River Primary School mean the premises do not lend themselves to supporting other need types.

 

 

Proposed decision –

As Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, I agree to give approval to progress the Sturry Link Road scheme through to delivery as indicated below and specifically I:

 

(a)  Give approval to progress the construction of the Sturry Link Road A28 roundabout and associated works utilising secured S106 funding in order to implement the planning permission for the scheme.

 

(b)  Subject to a successful Homes England bid, delegate to the Corporate Director of Finance the authority to accept Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land (BIL) funding from Homes England to deliver the A28 Sturry Link Road viaduct.

 

(c)  Confirm that other decisions in Record of Decision 18/00027 and 23/00066 remain extant.

 

(d)  Approval for any other further decisions required to allow the scheme to proceed through construction to be taken by the Corporate Director of Growth, Environment & Transport under the Officer Scheme of Delegations following prior consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport.

 

 

Reason for the decision

 

Following a report to Environment & Transport Cabinet Committee in May 2018, a Record of Decision 18/00027 gave a wide range of authorities to allow the Sturry Link Road scheme to proceed. A further Record of Decision 23/00066 provided authority to progress with the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) process to secure the land required for the scheme.

 

To deliver the scheme, the Council has secured funding through S106 agreements and government funding. To fully cover the cost of the viaduct, the Council are in discussions with Homes England regarding the provision of Brownfield, Infrastructures and Land (BIL) Fund towards the scheme, to reduce the financial risk to KCC. This funding, if agreed, will consist of both a grant to fully cover the existing funding gap, and also provide a recoverable grant to forward fund the S106 contributions to the scheme which are not yet banked. It is appropriate therefore, to seek a further key decision to accept this funding, but also to progress with the A28 roundabout construction in the meantime. 

 

The proposed decision is a key decision as it requires expenditure of more than £1m of secured funding.

 

Background – Provide brief additional context

 

The A28 Sturry Link Road is a critical infrastructure improvement, designed to alleviate severe congestion at the Sturry level crossing and improve journey reliability along the A28 corridor. This new infrastructure will mitigate the traffic impact of the delivery of over 6,000 homes at Sturry, Hersden and Herne Bay, while also indirectly enabling growth at other strategic land allocations identified in Canterbury City Council’s Local Plan. By providing additional network capacity, the Sturry Link Road underpins economic development and sustainable housing growth across East Kent.

 

The scheme will construct a 5-span viaduct over the River Stour and the Ashford–Ramsgate railway, linking from a new roundabout on the A28 in the south to the spine road being constructed as part of the Land at Sturry development in the north.

 

Planning permission was granted for the Sturry Link Road scheme on 7^th September 2021 and expires on 7^th September 2026. A Design and Build contract was awarded to Volker Fitzpatrick in February 2024. The detailed design is currently being finalised following a review via the Technical Approval Process and the approval of two non-material planning amendments to the scheme. There is a break clause between the detailed design and construction phase in the contract, should this be required.

 

The Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) and associated Side Roads Order (SRO) was confirmed by the Secretary of State on 19 February 2025 following a Public Inquiry in October 2024. Notices have been served, providing access to the required CPO land plots from February 2026.

 

The original programme was for commencement of the works in April 2025 however due to delays in the Land at Sturry site coming forward this has now been rescheduled for April2026, with pre-commencement works to begin in early 2026. Archaeological investigation works were completed in November 2025, with reporting to follow.

 

Although the rescheduled programme reduced some financial risk to KCC by allowing time for further S106 contributions to be banked, it has resulted in an increase in the cost estimate for the scheme. The updated programme and spend profile to deliver the scheme still maintained a requirement on KCC for forward funding and also resulted in a funding gap. KCC have identified funding through a BIL funding grant from Homes England, which will cover the full funding gap and also cover the s106 contributions towards the infrastructure, meaning that KCC is no longer required to provide forward funding for the scheme. Full details of the finances are provided in the subsequent finance section.

 

The Homes England grant discussions are ongoing. Homes England with KCC are submitting a business case to MHCLG by the end of 2025. A decision is due early in 2026; however, a further legal agreement will be required between the parties prior to the award of funding.

To ensure that the scheme can progress without undue additional cost due to programme delays, it is vital that the planning permission is implemented prior to September 2026. This can be achieved through the construction of the A28 roundabout from April 2026 ahead of constructing the viaduct. KCC have already secured sufficient funding through s106 developer contributions to progress this element of the construction without further funding. Road space on the A28 at Sturry is severely limited. KCC have already booked the road space for the roundabout construction, and there is no road space available to delay this element of the programme closer to September 2026. The viaduct would then follow once the Homes England funding was confirmed and the grant agreement in place.

 

Options

Option 1 (recommended) – Approval to proceed with A28 Roundabout; Approval for delegation to accept BIL funding from Homes England

This option is recommended for the following reasons:

-      The project remains live and as such KCC will be able to implement the planning permission prior to September 2026.

-      The A28 roundabout is constructed within available booked road space and in line with published traffic management timescales.

-      The identified funding gap is fully covered by the proposed Homes England grant and there is a reduced need for forward funding from KCC.

 

It should be noted that this option, while recommended, has the following risks:

-      There is a possibility of programme slippage for the viaduct if the Homes England grant agreement is not agreed within a reasonable timescale. This will be mitigated by providing legal resource as required to expedite any action required by KCC. Discussions are taking place with Homes England to consider that any increased costs due to the delay of funding will also be covered by the BIL grant to further minimise risk to KCC. 

-      There is a risk that the funding from Homes England does not come forward, leaving a funding gap. However, this option still minimises financial risk, specifically the risk of abortive costs as an asset (the A28 roundabout) will be delivered regardless of the viaduct coming forwards. Further funding opportunities can then be explored during the ongoing construction of the roundabout.

 

Option 2 – Delay project but provide approval for delegation to accept BIL

While delaying the scheme may enable the programme to better align with the developer funded portion of the spine road, the option has the following significant drawbacks:

-      Planning permission could not be implemented prior to September 2026, meaning the planning would lapse. This would require a full resubmission to planning, causing further delays and additional approval requirements relating to Biodiversity Net Gain.

-      It is likely that a delay at this stage would either cause the loss of the main contractor or result in increased contractor costs of at least £4m which would be unfunded.

 

Option 3 – Delay project and not accept funding from Homes England

In addition to the consequences outlined in Option 2, this option would leave KCC open to a significant funding gap risk. KCC would also be required to forward fund the S106 contributions that have been identified but not yet banked to support the delivery of the infrastructure.

 

Option 4 – Cancel project

This option is not considered viable for the following reasons:

-      Cancelling the Sturry Link Road project would result in abortive costs of around £9m representing wasted investment in design, planning, and preparatory works. This figure includes the £6.5m spend to date, expected expenditure up to the point of decision, demobilisation costs and unavoidable costs associated with land acquisition.

-      The reputational damage to KCC would be significant and would harm the Council’s credibility with residents, developers and strategic partners.

-      The Canterbury City Council Local Plan relies on the Sturry Link Road to unlock housing growth, in particular for development sites with a limit on occupations without the link road. Other consented developments are able to build out regardless meaning that there will be traffic growth without any associated capacity enhancements.

-      The Homes England funding opportunity will be lost, leading to a significant funding gap for the project should it be pursued again in the future.

 

How the proposed decision supports the Council’s Strategic Statement

 

The Sturry Link Road scheme supports the new Strategic Statement’s priorities by:

·   Supporting local investment and job opportunities in Canterbury and the surrounding areas, by backing major infrastructure in Kent, driving investment and not allowing congestion to limit growth.

·   Ensuring that vital infrastructure to support communities and housing is delivered in advance, enabling sustainable growth and economic development.

·   Improving transport connectivity and resilience on Kent’s road network.

 

Financial Implications

 

The scheme is estimated to cost £47.5?million, with an additional £6.4?million recommended for risk and contingency, bringing the total to £53.9?million. This has increased from the original cost estimate included in the business case due to inflationary pressures. To date the scheme has spent £6.5m in undertaking surveys and developing the designs through consultation, planning and CPO. The scheme also now has a fully detailed design and specification.

 

The increased cost estimate is partially offset by the indexation on the developer contributions. 

The current funding available from Local Growth Fund and developer contributions (including indexation calculations) is £44m. Prior to the identification of funding through the BIL from Homes England, a potential shortfall of between £4 and £10m was identified. The securing of this funding relies on a successful Homes England endorsed bid to MHCLG to allow the BIL funding to be allocated to this scheme. A final decision regarding this is expected in January 2026. The final offer has not yet been issued by Homes England. As such, the full terms of this funding grant are currently unknown, but it is expected that this will be a grant to fully cover the funding gap as well as a recoverable grant to the value of the S106 contributions yet to be banked by the Council, to offset the forward funding requirement for KCC. However, it is appropriate that the Council proceed with the governance now to ensure we can meet Homes England’s timescales for grant acceptance. Further detail will be provided within the subsequent Cabinet report when it becomes available.

 

Sufficient developer contributions and the grant from the Local Growth Fund are banked to enable the construction phase of the A28 roundabout to proceed. However, the Homes England funding is required to enable the remainder of the scheme to progress to the construction.

 

Proposed decision:

 

Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services to: 

 

APPROVE the adoption of the Best Start in Life Family Hub Model; and subject to review and assessment of the terms and conditions associated with the funding, approve the acceptance of the Best Start Family Hub grant award and the deployment of the grant funding in accordance with the grant conditions and the Best Start Family Hub Model 

 

Reason for the decision

 

Within the Spending Review in June 2025, the Chancellor announced continued investment in the Family Hub Programme. In July 2025, the government launched the Best Start in Life Strategy alongside their commitment to invest £500m for the national roll out of Best Start Family Hubs; a 3-year Programme starting on 1 April 2026.

 

On 7 November 2025, the Department for Education (DfE) and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced that the provisional allocation for the Best Start in Life Programme for Kent County Council is £15,354,500, for financial years 2026-29. The DfE and DHSC will share guidance on the service and delivery expectations ahead of April 2026.

 

A series of Key Decisions by the Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services accepted the original transformation grant funding for Family Hubs and adopted our new Family Hub service model. A new Key Decision is required to adopt the Best Start Family Hub Model and to accept funding for the 3-year programme.

 

Background – Provide brief additional context

 

In October 2022 the Cabinet Member for  Integrated Children’s Services took decision 22/00094 and Kent County Council (KCC) signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department for Education (DfE) which accepted the initial 3-year transformation grant funding. This decision set out the requirement for the development of detailed proposals, public consultation and appropriate governance ahead of a further Key Decision on the Family Hub model. 

 

In November 2023, after the development of detailed proposals, public consultation and appropriate governance, KCC Cabinet took decision 23/00092 to implement the Family Hub model across the county.  

 

In March 2025, the Cabinet Member for  Integrated Children’s Services took Decision 24/00124 and Kent County Council (KCC) signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department for Education (DfE) which accepted the Year 4 Family Hub grant. This grant funding will end on 31 March 2026.

 

 

Options (other options considered but discarded)

 

The option to not adopt the Best Start Family Hub Model and not accept the grant money has been considered. If the announcement related to the conditions on how the grant is to be used is made in quarter 4 of financial year 2025/26 (i.e. in February 2026) it will likely impact on the Local Authority’s ability to mobilise resources to implement additional service requirements or procure services. This in turn, will pose a risk to the delivery of services and cause a reputational risk for Kent County Council.

 

While understanding the risks associated with a late announcement, we have discounted the option of not accepting the additional funding in recognition that children, families and communities in Kent will benefit from additional support.

 

Final determination of whether the Best Start Family Hub model can and should be accepted, and whether the funding can and should be accepted would be dependent on the terms and conditions associated with the model and funding – these will be reviewed at the point of decision.

 

How the proposed decision supports the Councils Strategic Statement

 

AIM 3: Supporting residents that need help - The Family Hub model, supported through Best Start funding, supports Aim 3, by embedding prevention and early intervention within service delivery. Family Hubs provide accessible, integrated support for parents/carers and children, helping families address challenges before they escalate and empowering them to make informed choices that improve health and wellbeing. By investing in services that promote parenting skills, parent-infant relationships and home learning environment, Family Hubs help to reduce dependency on crisis interventions and ensure every child has the opportunity to grow up safe, secure, and supported, and help families stay together.

 

 

Financial Implications

 

The DfE and DHSC have announced that the provisional funding allocation for the Best Start in Life Programme for Kent County Council is £15,354,500, for financial years 2026-29. The distribution of Kent’s funding allocation by Programme Strand is set out in the table below.

 

While the delivery expectations of the grant are not yet known, the Programme Strands are a continuation of the current Strands, with the exception of ‘Healthy Babies Offer’, which has changed from ‘Start for Life Offer’.

 

It is expected that the funding will support the ongoing delivery of Family Hubs in a way that complements and enhances existing services. Based on current understanding, the grant is not expected to place additional pressure on the Council’s revenue or capital budgets. Additionally, DfE has confirmed that Best Start funding may be used for delivery of existing services which could support a reduction in the base budget for Family Hubs. Therefore, a portion of this funding could be allocated to staff costs associated with delivering these services.

Proposed decision

 

To approve the adoption and phased implementation of the second phase of the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Funding Model, the Banding System, from September 2026. This follows the earlier approval and implementation of the first phase: the Community of Schools model and associated budget allocations in September 2025.

 

To approve the percentage uplift to Special Educational Needs payments made by the Local Authority to State-Funded Schools and Post 16 Providers (FE Colleges & Specialist Post 16 Providers from 1 April 2026.

 

Reason for the decision

 

The current Special Educational Needs funding arrangements for state-funded schools have been in place since 2010 and are based on need types and average payment rates, which overtime has resulted in inconsistencies and operational challenges for both Kent County Council and educational settings. The proposed banding system introduces a more transparent and equitable approach by allocating funding according to the level of support required rather than diagnosis. This second phase of the proposed SEN funding model aims to replace the current three separate funding mechanisms for Mainstream Schools, Specialist Resource Provisions (SRP), and Special Schools with a single, overarching model for children and young people with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Adoption of the Banding system aligns with Department for Education guidance and reflects best practice already implemented by other local authorities for the distribution of High Needs Funding across state-funded schools.

 

The decision will also confirm any uplifts proposed to Special Educational Needs payments with the final approach to be confirmed at the point the decision is taken and will be informed by Central Government announcements on the High Needs Block for 2026-27. 

 

Background – Provide brief additional context

 

Kent County Council (KCC) is responsible for distributing Special Educational Needs (SEN) funding to schools and colleges to enable pupils and students with high needs to access education or training. This funding is currently allocated to schools through a combination of place funding (up to £10,000) and High Needs Funding (HNF) top up funding (or Element 3) as prescribed by the Department of Education (DFE). Payments to schools are expected to be fully funded through the High Needs Block (HNB) of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) from the DfE.

 

In January 2025, Cabinet approved the first phase of the new SEN Funding Model, introducing the Communities of Schools and associated budget allocations, which have been in place since September 2025 (Key Decision: 24/00120 - Special Educational Needs Funding System). The second phase is intended to focus on the development and implementation of a banding system to allocate funding for our most complex children, based on the level of support required rather than diagnosis. This approach is intended complement the Community of Schools funding model and together, replace the three separate funding mechanisms with a single, consistent model for children and young people with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). The intention of the overall model is to reduce the administration burden from the current models of funding for both for the Local Authority and Schools, increase certainty and transparency on funding allocations for individual provisions and ensure available funding is apportioned proportionally to the level of support required.

 

The proposed banding system is supported by funding descriptors that have been developed with schools. Feedback from the consultation completed last year, on the proposed SEN funding model, has been used to inform the future approach. Along with gathering further feedback across the sector including the Schools Funding Forum. To support this work, an extensive sampling exercise has also been undertaken to map a statistically representative group of children and young people across special schools, Specialist Resource Provisions (SRPs), and mainstream schools. The purpose of this exercise was to:

1.    Estimate costs based on the proposed SEN banding model.

2.    Evaluate the impact at both individual setting level and across the Local Authority.

3.    Help inform future implementation planning to transition all eligible children and young people onto the new banding system.

 

The DfE has delayed the DSG funding announcements for the HNB and detailed HNF guidance until the Autumn (and had been not published at the time of writing). This will inform the funding approach for all payments for SEN services in 2026-27.

 

 

Options (other options considered but discarded)

 

1.    Do Nothing: Maintain the current three separate funding mechanisms for mainstream schools, Specialist Resource Provisions (SRPs), and special schools. However, this approach would conflict with KCC’s future direction and priorities, given financial pressures and the requirements of the Safety Valve agreement. 

 

2.    Implementation of individual funding agreements with each school: This would involve individual negotiations with each school, SRP and mainstream school. This approach would be time consuming to implement and lead to inconsistency in funding arrangements for similar schools.  

 

3.    Introduce the new proposed banding system in September 2026: This would replace the current three separate funding mechanisms for mainstream schools, SRPs and special schools. Implementing the Banding system would align with DfE guidance and reflect best practice already established by other local authorities for High Needs Funding. However, fully implementing the system in September 2026 would be significantly labour intensive and could not be implemented required time scales. It could lead to short term financial instability in schools.

 

Alignment with Reforming Kent 2025 - 2028 (draft) Strategy

 

Aim 2: Reforming Kent County Council

Objective 5: Ensure the council focuses on delivering better outcomes that make a difference, not just managing processes.

 

Aim 3: Supporting Residents that Need Help

Objective 6: Improve processes and outcomes for our SEND services while tackling unsustainable growth in demand.

 

Financial Implications

 

Total revenue spending on mainstream top-up and SRP & Special Schools Places is forecast to be approximately £241m in 2025-26. Top-up funding for mainstream schools is forecast to be approximately £54m and includes funding for SEN support services for individual children (equating to approximately 39% or £21m) along with funding for children and young people with an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP). Total funding for SRPs & Special Schools places is approximately £187m of which £86m (46%) relates specifically to Element 3 top-up funding, whilst the remainder relates to core placement funding (not the subject of this proposal). This is funded from the HNB of the DSG which is a specific ring-fenced education grant from the DfE.

 

The costs of the new proposed revenue SEN funding model and any general rate increases for SEN payments are expected to be fully met from the DSG and is not a cost to the General Fund. However, whilst the intention is for recommended increases to be met from grant funding, it should be noted, in relation to High Needs, the Council has agreed to fund £82m from General Fund towards the accumulated High Needs deficit (estimated to be £222m by 2027-28) arising from the total spend on SEN services exceeding the annual Grant received from the DfE for High Needs services since before 2018-19

 

KCC is one of a number of Local Authorities which have a DfE Safety Valve Agreement to support with the highest overspends on SEN services to achieve a financially sustainable longer-term position. The agreement means the DfE would make additional contributions of £140 million, alongside an £82 million contribution from KCC itself, to pay off the estimated accumulated deficit and help to balance the high needs budget. In return for this, KCC must implement actions intended to resolve the in-year overspend and achieve future financial sustainability. The Safety Valve agreement has avoided the need for KCC to otherwise impose up to £222 million of spending reductions on SEN services over the equivalent period. Whilst Central Government has recently announced the intention to take back HNB deficits from Council balance sheets from 2029 there is currently no detail on how this will be implemented and any ongoing responsibilities of the local authority. Therefore the Council continues to still be bound by the agreement at the time of writing.

 

The Kent Safety Valve agreement states: “The authority agrees to implement the DSG management plan that it has set out. This includes action to:

·   3.1. Implement a countywide approach to ‘Inclusion Education’, to further build capacity in mainstream schools to support children and young people with SEND, thus increasing the proportion of children successfully supported in mainstream education and reducing dependence on specialist provision

·   3.7. Ensure there is sufficient and consistent capacity across the county to support children with severe and complex needs in their local area where possible

·   3.8. Develop a school/area-led approach to commissioning of SEN support services (Locality Based Resources), to better respond to the needs of children and young people with SEND”

 

Kent must implement a sustainable approach to HNF to meet the DfE Safety Valve agreement and to ensure financial sustainability in this area moving forwards; the proposed SEN funding model in conjunction with the wider Community of Schools model is expected to build the robust governance and monitoring processes required to implement the necessary new approaches outlined in the agreement through the use of one overarching funding model  across mainstream, SRP and special schools.

 

Legal Implications

 

Local Authorities must follow government guidance on distribution of their HNF Block and work under the SEND Code of Practice 2015, these guidance documents were used in the development of the funding model proposed^[1]. Links are provided below in the ‘Supporting Documents’ section. The Code of Practice states that:

“Schools are not expected to meet the full costs of more expensive special educational

provision from their core funding […] the responsible local authority, usually the authority where the child or young person lives, should provide additional top-up funding where the cost of the special educational provision required to meet the needs of an individual pupil exceeds the nationally prescribed threshold”.

 

In addition to the Code of Practice, the DfE has also published operational guidance for the administration of LAs HNF budgets (the “Guidance”). The Guidance states that LAs should plan for HNF budget, gives advice on what can be provided, and information on which costs LAs are not expected to contribute to as part of any HNF allocation.

 

Under the Children and Families Act 2014 KCC has a duty to ‘to support the child and his or her parent, or the young person, in order to facilitate the development of the child or young person and to help him or her achieve the best possible educational and other outcomes’.

 

Proposed decision – To approve an extension of the council’s Support Service for people bereaved by suicide (SC20060) from 1 August 2026 until 31 March 2027 (8 months). 

 

Reason for the decision

 

The contract for a Support Service for People Bereaved by Suicide, known as AMPARO,which is currently delivered by Listening Ear, is due to expire 31 July 2026. This contract has been live for five years (as per key decision 20/00132).

 

There is still a consistently high need for specialist support to people bereaved by suicide, and a recent review of AMPARO to date clearly demonstrated the value and impact of the service, highlighting its responsiveness, effectiveness and positive outcomes that it delivers for individuals and communities affected by suicide. This service supports delivery of both the National Suicide Prevention Strategy (2023–2028) and the draft Kent and Medway Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention Strategy (2026–2030), which recently underwent public consultation.

 

An eight-month extension (from 1 August 2026 until 31 March 2027) is proposed to maintain continuity of service and allow time to consider options for future commissioning. Legal advice has been sought and extending the current contract by eight months is legally viable.

 

Any decision on the long-term arrangements, from April 2027, will be subject to a future Key Decision through the appropriate governance process.

 

Background – Provide brief additional context

 

In 2019, the NHS committed £36 million over a period of 10 years to support the roll out of suicide bereavement support services across England. This funding is received by Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB) to deliver the core Kent and Medway Suicide Prevention Programme. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) sets out the financial relationship between KCC and the ICB for this programme, which is hosted by KCC, ensuring governance and accountability. This MoU will be refreshed for 2026-27.

 

Specialist suicide bereavement support has been delivered in Kent and Medway by Listening Ear’s ‘AMPARO’ service. The service provides timely emotional and practical support to anyone affected by suicide, an experience which differs to bereavement through natural or accidental means as it usually comes with senses of guilt and stigma, which often leads to social isolation and the increased risk of suicide mentioned above.

 

The need for such support is backed by evidence that suggests up to 135 people can be impacted by an individual case of suicide (Cerel et al, 2018).  People bereaved by the sudden death of a friend or family member are also 65% more likely to attempt suicide if the deceased died by suicide than if they died by natural or accidental causes (Pitman et al, 2016).

 

Options (other options considered but discarded)

 

The following options have been explored

 

Option	Summary
Option 1: Do nothing - allow the contract for suicide bereavement support in Kent and Medway to come to an end 31 July 2026.	This option is not preferred as it would meanbereaved families and individuals would be unable to access practical and emotional support. This option is not in line with the NHS Long Term Plan and the new K&M Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention Strategy for 2026-2030.
Option 2: Extend current contract with Listening Ear.	This is the preferred option and proposal being taken forward.
Option 3:  Recommission via open procurement.	This option is not preferred at this time due current to changes and instability within the ICB.
Option 4: Bring service in-house.	This option is not preferred at this time due to service disruption and lack of specialist knowledge and experience in suicide bereavement support. This will be revisited during future recommissioning activity.

 

How the proposed decision supports the Council’s Strategic Statement

 

Maintaining a support offer for individuals bereaved by suicide supports KCC’s Reforming Kent 2025-28 commitments through the delivery of preventative well-being support, this can avoid escalation into more intensive, expensive care and foster stronger, more resilient communities.

 

Timely postvention, aligned with Kent & Medway suicide strategies, can avert escalation into services that drive overspend, thus supporting the delivery of Securing Kents Future.

 

Proposed decision: Recommission the Kent Drug and Alcohol Inpatient Detoxification Service

Reason for decision

Kent County Council has statutory responsibility as a condition of its Public Health Grant to provide specialist Substance Misuse Services aimed at reducing the harm caused by drugs and alcohol and to improve the health and wellbeing of the people of Kent. 

 

The current contract under the Kent Drug and Alcohol Inpatient Detoxification Service is due to expire on 31 March 2026 and therefore a key decision is required to plan for beyond this date.

 

Background

The provision of drug and alcohol services aligns with local and national strategies. Locally, the services are designed to achieve best value and align to the Council’s Strategic Statement. They support residents that need help, work with care providers and the NHS to ensure that the care system is more sustainable, and work towards the improvement of the local treatment and recovery system as outlined in the Kent Drug and Alcohol Strategy, 2023-2028.

 

Nationally, drug and alcohol services support the Government’s 10-Year Drug Strategy ‘From Harm to Hope’ (2021). The strategy is supported by a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Recovery and Improvement Grant (DATRIG), the level of which has been confirmed for four years, whilst the remaining six await confirmation. One of the conditions of receiving DATIRG funding is that Local Authorities MUST be part of an Inpatient Detoxification (IPD) Consortium (although it is not currently known whether this will remain a condition of receiving funding in future years). Kent County Council lead on the Kent Consortium, under which this contract sits. Current members of the Consortium are Kent County Council, Surrey County Council, Oxfordshire County Council, and Medway Council.

 

The current consortium receives priority access to two beds within a nine-bed unit. Priority access is defined as having access to the next bed from the two beds purchased that becomes vacant at the site (subject to need and meeting the referrals criteria). Where there is a wait list from spot purchasing authorities, authorities in the consortium have access to the bed before the spot purchasing authority up until the total number of bed nights within the allocation has been reached.

 

The contract for the Kent Drug and Alcohol Inpatient Detoxification Service is currently delivered by Kent and Medway Partnership Trust (KMPT) via Bridge House, an Inpatient Detoxification Service in Maidstone.

Options

An options appraisal was developed and the preferred option identified was to procure the Kent Drug and Alcohol Inpatient Detoxification Service under the Provider Selection Regime (PSR) via a consortium arrangement. This is the preferred option of all consortium members. The contract will be in place for an initial period from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029 with the option to extend for up to two additional one-year periods, ending no later than 31 March 2031, which is in alignment with the 10-Year Drug Strategy.

 

Advantages include:

·         Supporting sustainability of local provision by purchasing a set amount of bed nights in advance

·         Local provision reduces travel time and logistical barriers for patients and their families, making it possible for Kent drug and alcohol service providers to transport patients to and from the facility, and to visit patients during their stay to carry out recovery planning.

·         Patients are able to attend for aftercare support, which is more feasible for a facility located within the county

 

Options considered but rejected included:

·         Let the contract come to an end when it expires on 31 March 2026 and return to spot-purchasing bed nights. Decommissioning the service comes with a risk that OHID will keep to the grant conditions which state that Local Authorities MUST be part of an IPD Consortium in order to receive the IPD element of the DATRIG funding. Spot-purchasing means Kent County Council would no longer have priority access, which could result in longer waiting times for Kent residents.

 

·         Discontinue the current arrangement and invest any remaining funds in the existing Hampshire Consortium (this is a separate consortium arrangement, led by Hampshire County Council, which Kent County Council is already a member of). This would require patients to travel to Fareham and would mean there is no local inpatient detoxification provision.

 

·         Join another Consortium nearby, such as West Sussex. Whilst this would provide an option closer than that offered through the Hampshire Consortium, it would not offer the convenience of a Kent-based facility.

 

Regardless of which option was explored, there would be no major changes to the specification as the service model only requires inconsequential refinements.

 

Note: each consortium group member (Surrey, Oxfordshire, and Medway) will be following their own governance processes to enable the continuation of the consortium arrangements.

 

Procurement

 

The recommissioning of the Kent Drug and Alcohol Inpatient Detoxification Service falls under the Provider Selection Regime (PSR) for procuring health care services in England by organisations termed relevant authorities, including NHS bodies and Local Authorities.

 

The PSR was introduced under the Health and Care Act 2022 with the intent to: introduce a flexible and proportionate process for deciding who should provide health care services; provide a framework that allows collaboration across systems; ensure that all decisions are made in the best interest of patients and service users.

 

Following approval of the key decision, a PSR-compliant procurement process will be run to select suppliers for the new service.

 

Financial Implications:

 

The funding for this contract would be from OHID additional grant funding, the Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Improvement Grant (DATRIG), should this continue beyond March 2026. The funding is linked to the 10-year national drug and alcohol strategy ‘From Harm to Hope’ and would constitute a continuation of the activity currently funded by the existing OHID grant.

 

The financial commitment will be circa £2,452,191 for a 5-year contract for the Kent Drug and Alcohol Inpatient Detoxification Service (three years with two additional one-year extension options), however, the contract will reflect only the money available through known grant funding at that time.

 

The above values reflect the potential for a year-on-year increase in the cost of bed nights (set by the provider) and the potential to increase the number of bed nights each consortium member (Kent, Surrey, Oxfordshire and Medway) may purchase. Annual allocations will be agreed subject to availability of the grant and in line with demand.

 

Should the funding not be continued, or grant conditions are amended, the current contract could be allowed to end and Kent drug and alcohol services will return to spot-purchasing bed nights on an ad-hoc basis, using any funding already allocated within the existing contracts (covered under key decision 24/00055). This would represent a reduction in activity as no additional funding would be available, and would not support market sustainability, best value, or national policy).

 

A key decision (22/00041) has already been taken to accept and deploy the additional OHID grant money received, therefore a further decision would not be required for deployment of further OHID funding, provided it is received on similar terms and conditions.

 

Legal Implications:  

 

Under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, Directors of Public Health (DPH) in upper tier (UTLA) and unitary (ULA) local authorities have a duty to take such steps as they consider appropriate for improving the health of people in their area and such steps can include providing services or facilities designed to promote healthy living (whether by helping individuals to address behaviour that is detrimental to health or in any other way).  

 

Kent Drug and Alcohol Services aim to reduce the harm caused by drugs and alcohol and improve the health and wellbeing of the people of Kent. The local authority’s Public Health Grant requires the Authority to “have regard to the need to improve the take up of, and outcomes from, its drug and alcohol misuse treatment services.”

 

The recommissioning of this service will fall under the Provider Selection Regime (PSR) introduced under the Health and Care Act 2022.  Appropriate legal advice will be sought in collaboration with the Governance, Law and Democracy team and will be utilised to ensure compliance with relevant legislation; the Provider Selection Regime is still in its infancy and so commissioners will be working closely with this team as well as the Commercial and Procurement Team.

 

 

 

Proposed decision –Adopt the Suicide & Self-Harm Prevention Strategy 2026-2030.

 

 

Reason for the decision

 

·       The Suicide & Self-Harm Prevention Strategy 2026-2030 is a continuation of the existing strategy (2021-2025) and combines local data about who is dying by suicide in Kent and Medway with national research and policy direction.

 

·       Implementing this strategy will mean that efforts to reduce the number of people dying by Kent and Medway can continue with an informed and dedicated focus, led by the Kent & Medway Suicide Prevention Programme.

 

Background – Provide brief additional context

 

·       The Strategy has been developed by the Kent and Medway Suicide Prevention Programme team, which is hosted by KCC’s Public Health department and funded by the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board.

 

·       The new strategy was developed in conjunction with the Suicide Prevention Network which is the stakeholder group for the strategy. The stakeholder group consists of well-established partnerships made up of over 250 agencies, including statutory and voluntary / community sector organisations as well as individuals living with experience of suicidal thoughts, self-harm or who have been bereaved by suicide.

 

·       The new Strategy was out for public consultation between 23rd July 2025 and 6th October 2025 and yielded 149 responses.  Feedback received is currently being woven into the draft strategy, and is informing the strategy but does not amount to any significant change to what it is proposed in the current draft. The public consultation is overwhelmingly supportive of the eight priorities and gave good guidance for the specific objectives and suggested actions that be featured in the programme’s plans.

 

 

Options (other options considered but discarded)

 

No other options were considered as the Strategy is necessary to the Kent & Medway Suicide Prevention Programme.

 

How the proposed decision supports the Council’s Strategic Statement

 

The new Suicide & Self-Harm Prevention Strategy 2026-2030 clearly aligns with the commitment to work with our partners to hardwire a preventative approach into improving the health of Kent’s population and narrowing health inequalities, improving safeguarding and preventing death.  It aims to work with partners across the System to improve residents’ mental health and reduce the risk of people dying by suicide.

 

The Suicide & Self-Harm Prevention Strategy for 2026-2030 supports the Council toachieve best value by embedding a preventative approach to suicide and self-harm among adults and children. Research from the Samaritans suggests that each individual suicide costs the state an average of £1.46 million, highlighting the positive financial impact of a focused suicide prevention strategy as well as making the system more efficient and responsive.

 

 

Proposed Decision:

 

To determine the future of Library provision in Folkestone town centre for a permanent Folkestone Library and Registration service and the future of the 2 Grace Hill building

 

Reason for the decision

 

-      A Key decision is needed to confirm the long term location of Folkestone Library in the town and to determine the future of the 2 Grace Hill building.

 

 

Background – Provide brief additional context

 

-      The Libraries, Registration and Archives Service (LRA) is a statutory and highly valued public service delivered through a network of 99 libraries, five register offices; five mobile libraries, an archive centre, the stock distribution and support function building at Quarrywood, the information service ‘Ask a Kent Librarian’ as well as the 24-hour accessible online service.

-      Folkestone Library is part of Kent’s statutory library service.

-      The temporary closure of the Grace Hill building in December 2022 was on the basis of health and safety grounds. The poor condition of the Grace Hill building has been exacerbated by the listed nature of its construction which has led to complexities to complete pro-active maintenance.

-      The repairs needed to reopen Folkestone Library in the Grace Hill building are now estimated to cost in the region of £2.9 million. This figure was compiled by a KCC surveyor in April 2024.KCC remains under significant financial pressure.

-      The building is listed as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) under the Localism Act 2011.

 

Since temporary closure, KCC has investigated various options in respect of the future of the library service within the Town. These investigations culminated in interim key decision 24/00116, which ruled out all options other than:

1)    Sell or issue a long lease [for 2 Grace Hill] to another party and then lease back part of the building

2)    Permanently leave the Grace Hill building and find an alternative town centre location for the library

 

Decision 24/00116 also authorised commencement of the ACV disposal process to allow open marketing to take place and for bids to be invited, for 2 Grace Hill.

 

The ACV moratorium period has now elapsed, and a period of 12 weeks of open marketing has also concluded.

 

The Council is now in possession of sufficient information for an informed decision to be taken on the permanent future of the library service in the Town.

 

Options (other options considered but discarded)

 

All options will be considered as part of the decision paper.

 

How the proposed decision supports the Council’s Strategic Statement

 

Confirming a permanent Folkestone town centre library location aligns with the Council’s adopted strategy by supporting visible community services and coastal regeneration priorities. It strengthens town centre vibrancy and access to education, which the plan highlights as key for tackling inequality.

 

The decision will meet the strategy’s “focus on value for money” through a robust financial appraisal, exploring cost efficiency and partner co-location opportunities.

 

Proposed decision –

 

Cabinet is asked to:

 

a) NOTE the revenue and capital forecast outturn position for 2025-26 detailed in the report, and accompanying appendices

b) AGREE the capital budget adjustments which will be detailed in the report

c) AGREE the proposed changes to the flexible use of capital receipts strategy in 2025-26

 

Reason for the decision

 

The capital and revenue forecast outturn position for the Council needs to be noted by Cabinet.

 

Adjustments to capital budgets require approval from Cabinet.

 

The policy on the flexible use of capital receipts was approved by County Council in February 2025.  Cabinet need to agree any changes to this policy as part of the financial monitoring process.

 

Background

 

The report on the Council’s latest financial position in 2025-26 will be reported to Cabinet on 29 January 2026. The report provides detail of our revenue and capital forecast outturn positions.

 

The previous report highlighted the level of the forecast revenue overspend and identified areas where urgent mitigation action was targeted. This report provides an update on those measures.

 

An additional £7m of capital receipts in 2025-26 can be applied to revenue under the flexible use of capital receipts policy, which will help reduce the in-year overspend.

 

Options (other options considered but discarded)

 

N/A

 

How the proposed decision supports the Council’s Strategic Statement

 

The Council’s strategic statement, Reforming Kent 2025-28, recognises the significant financial and demand pressures the Council faces, balancing the need to manage spending, deliver savings and generate income, whilst delivering positive outcomes for Kent residents, businesses and local communities.

 

The Council’s strategic statement acknowledges the significance of adults social care and SEND on the wider KCC budget position and therefore the need for the financial position to presented to Cabinet for consideration on a regular basis. The forecast outturn report for 2025-26 provides the detail of the financial position and the relevant information on the delivery of savings, reserves position and Treasury Management.

 

Proposed Decision: That the Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Coastal Regeneration:

 

(a)  AGREE to end the current DPTIF Partnership and transfer the existing shares into the beneficial ownership of Kent County Council

 

(b)  DELEGATE authority to the Director of Growth and Communities to take relevant actions to transfer the shares and cease the operation of the DPTIF, including but not limited to entering into contracts or other legal agreements, as necessary to implement this decision. 

 

Reason for the decision

Kent County Council is proposing to end the current Partnership for the management of the Discovery Park Technology Investment Fund (DPTIF), an equity scheme established in 2015 using Regional Growth Fund monies. 

 

The end of this Partnership will allow KCC to transfer the shares of the six remaining companies within the DPTIF investment portfolio into KCC’s beneficial ownership. The purpose of this action is to ensure financial savings to KCC and allow KCC to retain the shares for future growth potential or exit strategy

 

Background

DPTIF focused on innovative early stage, high-growth companies initially based in Discovery Park. Managed by NCL under a 10-year partnership arrangement, this ends on the 14 December 2025.

 

The DPTIF to date has invested £5,202,500 of equity investment into nine companies within the DPTIF portfolio. DPTIF provided equity investments to companies predominantly in the life science sector to support those companies’ growth, five of the companies are still active (see Table 1):

 

Active Discovery Park Technology Investment Fund (DPTIF) Companies (Table 1)
Companies	Original Investment £
Centauri Therapeutics Limited	£734,000
Coomtech Ltd	£1,452,500
Emoquo Limited	£350,000
Revolo Biotherapeutics Limited	£500,000
Viramal Limited	£500,000
TOTAL	£3,536,500

 

All proceeds from the future sale of shares from companies currently within the former DPTIF portfolio will be returned to KCC, ring fenced as per RGF requirements and re-invested in local companies via the KMBF.

 

Options (other options considered but not recommended):

The following options were considered:

·         Continue the DPTIF Partnership (not recommended because the sums expended on the Partnership management fees would not result in a significant increase in the value of KCC’s investment portfolio)

·         Closing the DPTIF Partnership and selling the shares held by the Partnership (not recommended as the prevailing economic conditions selling the shares at this time could result in a significant reduction in the value of KCC’s investment portfolio).

 

How the proposed decision meets the challenges in the Interim Strategic Plan

 

This proposed decision is consistent with the current strategic plan priority; Levelling Up and is aligned with the strategic direction of travel in the planned new Strategic Statement; particularly the ambition to ‘support local businesses to attract investment’. Decision making will continue to progress in line with the new Strategic Statement once enacted

 

 

 

 

 

Proposed decision:

 

To approve changes to the Kent County Council local funding formula for schools and early years providers that is used to calculate school budgets and early years rates from 1 April 2026. 

 

Delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education to make any necessary changes to the Local Funding Formula rates once final affordability is known and outcome of any Secretary of State dis-applications.

 

Delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, to agree the distribution method for new school and early years specific education grants during 2026-27 provided by the Department of Education, in line with grant conditions.  

 

Reason for the decision:

·   The Government has confirmed the Council continues to be responsible for operating a Local Funding Formula for Kent maintained schools (and this formula is also used by the Education and Skills Funding Agency for calculating Kent academy budgets) during 2026-27. 

·   The Council is also responsible for setting the Early Years Local Funding Formula which is used for setting the rates paid to early years providers for the Free Entitlement offer for children aged between 9 months and 4 years attending nurseries or childminders, for up to 30 hours of free childcare a week (dependent on eligibility).

·   This decision will confirm how funding will be distributed to schools and early years in line with Government guidelines. In addition, during the year, the Department of Education can sometimes announce additional grants that must be paid directly to schools or early years providers (for example: contributions towards teachers’ pay award, pension increases or national insurance changes) to ensure these grants are paid to schools and early years providers in a timely manner, the proposal extends the delegation to distribute these specific grants during the year.

·   The final budget approach will be confirmed at the point the decision is taken.

 

Background:

·   The Department of Education provides Local Authorities with a specific ring-fenced grant each year to fund the school budgets (mainstream primary & secondary schools), early years free-entitlements for children under 5, high needs (Special Educational Needs Education Placements including special schools) and central services for schools. It is the Local Authority responsibility to distribute this funding to schools, eligible early years and to provide SEN services and other services for schools in Kent. 

·   The Department of Education has delayed the Dedicated Schools Grant funding announcements and detailed guidance until the Autumn (and had not been published at the time of writing). A policy document outlining the principles on which Local Authorities can set the schools funding formula for primary and secondary mainstream schools was published during the Summer confirming that Local Authorities will remain responsible for setting the schools budgets and outlining the parameters in which Local Authorities must operate. No further guidance has been given at the time of writing on the setting the early years rates for 2026-27.

·   A consultation is taking place with schools during October – November on the principles of setting the school budget, in line with the Governments policy document (ahead of Government funding announcements). A consultation with early years providers will take place, if required, when further guidance is published.

·   The Schools Funding Forum is a statutory body made up of a representative group of headteachers, governors or other senior members of staff (i.e. school finance manager) within Kent schools including academy trusts, maintained schools, primary, secondary and special schools. Along with Post 16 and Early Years providers. The Local Authority is required to consult with the Schools Funding Forum on the school budget and early years rates prior to the key decision being taken. 

·   In previous years, the Local Authority has taken the decision to transfer funding from the Schools Block to the High Needs Block to fund services for SEN Support in mainstream schools, alongside adjusting the schools funding formula (by reducing all factor rates including the minimum per pupil funding level) to help afford this. If the proposed decision recommends to continue with this approach, a dis-application from the Secretary of State will be required. (This has been agreed in previous years.)    

 

Options (other options considered but discarded):

·   School Budgets: The options considered for setting the primary and secondary school budgets will be outlined in the consultation document to schools and the preferred option will be set out at the point of decision. This will include:

1.    Whether a transfer of 1.2% should continue to be made from the Schools Block (funding for primary and secondary mainstream budgets) to support the cost of SEN Support Services funded from the High Needs Block (in 2025-26 this equated to £16,500,000).

2.    The basis on which the school budget formula is calculated and rates are set including whether to reduce the statutory minimum per pupil level.

However, the option to deviate excessively from the National Funding Formula (NFF), used by Government to allocate school funding to local authorities for distribution to primary and secondary schools, was discarded at an earlier stage.

This is in line with previous recommendations from both schools & the Schools Funding Forum who have supported the general principle that “our Local Funding Formula should move towards the NFF, but at the same time continue to utilise local flexibility to address areas of local concern”.

 

·   Early Years Payments: The options will be set out at the point of key decision and considered in line with DfE guidance when published.

 

Links to Securing Kent’s Future and the Council’s Strategic Statement:

·      

·     Whilst the decision relates to the distribution of ring-fenced grant, this decision is linked to achieving the overall objectives of ‘Securing Kent’s Future – Budget Recovery Strategy’ whereby proposals will support the financial recovery of the High Needs Block of the Dedicated Schools Grant. 

 

Financial Implications

·     The costs of the new proposed funding formulas will be fully met from the Dedicated Schools Grant, a specific ring-fenced grant from the Department of Education, used to fund primary & secondary school budgets and Early Years Free Entitlement, and will not be a further cost to Council funding.

·     This decision will impact the High Needs Budget for 2026-27. The agreement to transfer funding from the schools block to the high needs block will increase the funding available to help support SEN Support Services provided by the Council and reduce the overspend on this block of funding. Overspends on the High Needs Block have led to an annual deficit on the Dedicated Schools Grant since 2018-19.This has arisen where the total spend on SEN services is exceeding the annual grant received from the DfE for High Need Services. As a result the Local Authority is part of the Safety Valve Programme, a DfE initiative to support Local Authorities with highest deficits, of which the Council has agreed to fund £82m from General Fund, between 2022-23 and 2027-28, to help reduce the accumulated High Needs deficit, alongside an extra £140m from DfE. The transfer of funding from the schools block to support the High Needs block is part of the plan to avoid higher overspends during this period.

 

Legal Implications

·     The Local Authority is required to set the schools budget in accordance with the Education Act 2002 and the Conditions of DSG Grant 2026-27. School Budgets and Early Years funding rates must be published by 28th February of each year.  

           

 

·     Proposals will be made in accordance with the prevailing grant conditions for the Dedicated Schools Grant set by the Department of Education. Where relevant, Secretary of State approval will be sought if recommendations require a dis-application of these conditions.

·     Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, provides that “…a public authority must in the exercise of its functions, have due regard to the need to a) eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Act, b)  advance equality of opportunity… c) foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it..” 

 

Proposed decision –The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills:

 

1. APPROVE the increase of Broomhill Bank School’s designated number from 318 students to 490 students

 

2. AGREE to allocate the funding from the Children Young People and Education Services High Needs Capital Budget that will be required to complete the expansion

 

3. AGREE to issue a Public Notice to permanently increase Broomhill Bank School’s formal designated numbers following a representation period of four weeks with no substantive objections received, implement the decision

 

4. DELEGATE authority to the Director of Infrastructure, in consultation with the Head of Law and Director of Education to enter into any necessary contracts or other legal agreements as required to implement the decision; and

 

5. AGREE for the Director of Infrastructure, to be the nominated Authority Representative within the relevant agreements and to enter into variations as envisaged under the contracts.

 

Reason for the decision

 

Kent County Council (KCC) as the Local Authority, has a statutory duty to ensure sufficient high quality school places are available, in the right places for all learners, while at the same time fulfilling our other responsibilities to raise education standards and promote parental preference. The Kent Commissioning Plan 2025-2029 indicated that there will be a shortfall in Special School provision in North and West Kent. Even though KCC’s direction of travel is to increase Special Educational Needs (SEN) provision in mainstream schools and associated Specialist Resource Provisions (SRPs), due to already identified shortfalls and anticipated population growth in certain areas of North and West Kent, more specialist provision is required for children and young people with more complex needs.

 

KCC SEN Data for North Kent as at April 2025, evidenced that there were 237 children and young people waiting for a Special School placement, and 243 open cases, of which was anticipated that a large number would require a Special School placement. For West Kent as at April 2025, there were 201 children and young people awaiting a Special School placement, with 207 open cases.

 

In July 2023 KCC was informed that it had been successful in bidding for a new 250 place Profound, Severe, and Complex Needs (PSCN) Special School in North Kent (Swanley). The school had an initial target opening date of September 2026 and was to be funded and built by the Department for Education (DfE). However, for a number of reasons progress has been incredibly slow and there are now concerns that the school may not progress any further. Even if it were to continue, that school would not be built until 2028 at the very earliest and as the data shows, provision is required now. KCC Officers and the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills continue to push the DfE and Ministers for confirmation of the status of the proposed new Swanley Special School.

 

The proposal to permanently increase the formal designated number of the Broomhill Bank School from 318 students to 490 students, will require new teaching spaces and enhancements to existing infrastructure on both school sites in Tunbridge Wells and Hextable.

 

If no further action is taken in the longer term, KCC will find it extremely difficult to provide sufficient state-funded Special School provision in North and West Kent.

 

Background – Provide brief additional context

 

Broomhill Bank School is a Foundation Special School and a member of Kent Special Educational Needs Trust (KsENT), catering for students aged 11-19 years who have communication and interaction needs associated with Autism and speech, language, and communication needs. All students have Education, Health, and Care Plans. Following an inspection that took place in October 2023, Ofsted deemed Broomhill Bank School to be a ‘GOOD’ school.

 

Due to delays regarding the proposed new PSCN School, the numbers of students in North Kent still requiring specialist provision at this time, and the fact that all Special Schools in the locality are already over capacity; this is unsustainable in the short and medium term, and if not addressed will lead to further places in the independent sector. There is a clear need for further expansion of state-funded specialist provision, where appropriate, to secure the current number of places on a permanent basis alongside the expansion of SRPs and mainstream inclusion.

 

Options (other options considered but discarded)

 

KCC has considered whether other Special Schools in the North and West Kent areas are viable candidates for a permanent increase to their formal designated numbers. There is also a proposal to expand Parkwood Hall Co-operative Academy, but this alone will not produce sufficient places to meet current demand, as that expansion primarily relates to additional places for Primary age children. Therefore, Broomhill Bank School is the most appropriate and viable option to also increase its designated number.

 

By increasing their formal designated number through the physical expansion of Broomhill Bank School, which is KCC maintained provision, it protects the Local Authority from increased revenue costs. The proposal will help to mitigate against the need to place students further away from home and incurring additional transport costs, alongside incurring increased costs from placing a greater number of children in high-cost independent settings to alleviate the current pressures in KCC state-funded Special Schools in the area.

 

How the proposed decision supports the Framing Kent's Future - Our Council Strategy 2022-2026

 

The 'Securing Kent's Future' strategy outlines the measures that KCC intend to take to ensure that Kent remains financially stable, now, and long into the future. It describes the statutory priorities.

 

This proposed decision supports Priority 1 of Framing Kent’s Future-Our Council Strategy 2022-2026:

·         Priority 1: Levelling Up Kent – It will help 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 2022-2026: Securing Kents Future - Budget Recovery Strategy.pdf

 

This proposed decision is compliant with Objective 1 of Securing Kent’s Future, KCC as the LA proposes to expand Broomhill Bank School.This proposal is necessary for KCC to continue to deliver the statutory duty, in a cost-effective way, in line with the guidelines described in the Securing Kent's Future 2022-2026 strategy.

 

The proposed new Strategic Statement will be presented to Full Council on 6 November 2025 and considered for adoption. As this FED was drafted prior to that date, it aligns with the relevant policies at the time. Even though the Cabinet Committee Paper will be published after 6 November 2025 Full Council meeting, it will have been drafted prior to the adoption of a new Strategic Statement and so will also refer to Securing Kent’s Future 2022-2026.

 

Financial Implications

 

Progression of the scheme will be dependent on the outcome of detailed feasibility and design work – these will inform the full overall cost of the scheme, at which point the formal decision will be taken by the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills. The project will be a school managed scheme and will be confirmed via legally binding funding and development agreements between KCC and Broomhill Bank School. The costs of the two new blocks on the North (Hextable) site, and upgrades and modifications across both the North (Hextable) site and West (Tunbridge Well) site will be borne by the CYPE High Needs Capital Budget. This is funded from a ring-fenced Capital Grant from the DfE. From initial feasibility studies, the estimated cost for the whole scheme was £4,000,000.

 

However, after initial feedback from KCC Planning and Highways colleagues, there is a possibility that costs may increase, primarily due to the need for additional Highways mitigations around the Broomhill Bank School North (Hextable) site. Therefore, we will not be requesting the formal decision to be taken until such time that planning is concluded, and the full extent of the cost of the scheme is known.The latest estimates indicate the costs could increase to as much as c£5.5m, but much work still needs to be undertaken with Planners and Highways to determine the extent of the mitigations required.

 

For Special School capital projects, the average cost per student place for a school expansion in Kent is c£85,000. However, even if this scheme were to produce only the teaching accommodation for 105 students the higher estimated cost equates to a cost per place of c£52,000, which still demonstrates good value for money.

 

KCC Project Managers will be undertaking continuous checks to keep project costs as low as possible.

 

An allowance of up to £2,500 per teaching space may be payable to Broomhill Bank School; to outfit each new teaching room with appropriate ICT equipment, such as touch screens or projection equipment. This will be met from the overall Capital allocation for this scheme.

 

The High Needs Capital Programme has been running since 2020-21 with a total combined budget of just under £109m of which £67m has been either spent or committed to current known schemes (as at Quarter 1 2025 capital monitoring reported to Cabinet in September 2025). In the same way as the Basic Need programme is managed, to ensure all schemes are prioritised appropriately and expenditure is controlled within available funding, any proposed new or additional capital expenditure, first needs to be considered by KCC Officers through Education Asset Board, before being progressed through the formal governance processes and included in the capital programme.

 

Should the scheme not proceed through to completion, any costs incurred at the time of cessation would become abortive costs and are likely to be recharged to Revenue. This would be reported through the regular financial monitoring reports to Cabinet. This would be a cost to the General Fund.

 

As the scheme progresses, £8,000 per newly provided learning space, would be provided towards the cost of furniture and equipment, such as tables, desks, chairs, cabinets and learning resources. This would be funded from the Dedicated Schools Grant Growth Fund.

 

State funded Special School places are commissioned by Local Authorities and paid based on a rate per place. The rate per place set by KCC for Broomhill Bank School is currently between £15,041 to £24,946 dependant on need type. The higher rate for Broomhill Bank School is approximately £35,000 less than a place in an independent Special School. Local Authorities use the High Needs Block of the Dedicated Schools Grant to pay for these places. Broomhill Bank School will use the revenue income they receive to facilitate additional staffing requirements and increased running costs.

 

Legal Implications

 

Under the Children and Families Act 2014 KCC has a duty ‘to support the child and his or her parent, or the young person, in order to facilitate the development of the child or young person and to help him or her achieve the best possible educational and other outcomes’. By ensuring we have appropriate provision as locally as possible, we are delivering on our obligation in accordance with this legislation.

 

Local Authorities need to deliver their statutory duties and be aware of non-statutory guidance and advice, which relate to children and young people with SEN. These are:

·       Department for Education-Making significant changes to maintained schools 2025: statutory guidance for proposers and decision makers.

·       The Equalities Act which: places duties on Local Authorities to review support services and in doing so requires Local Authorities to have due regard to the way in which any changes will affect children and young people with a disability.

·       The SEND Code of Practice places requirements on Local Authorities to: provide access to advice from a suitably qualified person as part of the EHCP process and subsequent “assess, plan, do, review” cycles, and make appropriate provision for those with an EHC plan in the 0-25 range.

·       Sufficiency Duties: KCC is under a statutory duty to contribute towards the spiritual, moral, mental, and physical development of the community by securing that efficient primary education and secondary education are available to meet the needs of the population of their area: section 13 of the Education Act 1996 (“the 1996 Act”).

·       KCC must ensure that its education functions are exercised by the authority with a view to promoting high standards, ensuring fair access to opportunity for education and training, and promoting the fulfilment of learning potential by every person under the age of 20 and those over the age of 20 and for whom an EHC Plan is maintained: section 13A. By section 14, KCC must secure that sufficient schools for providing primary and secondary education are available for their area, defined as being sufficient in number, character and equipment to provide for all students the opportunity of appropriate education.

·       Under section 27 of the Children and Families Act 2014 (“the 2014 Act”), KCC is under a duty to keep under review the educational provision, training provision and social care provision made in its area (and outside it) for children and young people who have special educational needs or a disability. KCC must consider the extent to which its provision is sufficient to meet the educational needs, training needs and social care needs of the children and young people concerned.

·         KCC, when carrying out its functions must have “due regard” to the provisions of section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, known as the ‘public sector equality duty’.

 

All individual proposals to either establish new, expand current or cease current provision are required to go through the statutory process under The School Organisation (Prescribed Alterations to Maintained Schools) (England) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025. As part of this process, a public consultation was undertaken ahead of presentation of the proposal to CYPE Cabinet Committee. Should the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills agree to the permanently increase to the formal designated number of the Broomhill Bank School from 318 students to 490 students, through a permanent expansion, a Public Notice will be issued for a period of 4 weeks.

 

The Director of Infrastructure in consultation with the Director of Education will be overseeing the scheme to ensure public funds are utilised appropriately.

 

Proposed decision –The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills:

 

1. APPROVE the requisite funding from the Children Young People and Education High Needs Capital Programme that will be required to increase Parkwood Hall Co-operative Academy’s designated number from 120 to 192 students

 

2. DELEGATE authority to the Director of Infrastructure, in consultation with the Head of Law and Director of Education to enter into any necessary contracts or other legal agreements as required to implement the decision; and

 

3. AGREE for the Director of Infrastructure, to be the nominated Authority Representative within the relevant agreements and to enter into variations as envisaged under the contracts.

 

Reason for the decision

 

Kent County Council (KCC) as a Local Authority, has a statutory duty to ensure sufficient high quality school places are available, in the right places for all learners, while at the same time fulfilling our other responsibilities to raise education standards and promote parental preference. The Kent Commissioning Plan 2025-2029 indicated that there will be a shortfall in Special School provision in North Kent. Even though KCC’s direction of travel is to increase Special Educational Needs (SEN) provision in mainstream schools and associated Specialist Resource Provisions (SRPs), due to already identified shortfalls and anticipated population growth in certain areas of North Kent, more specialist provision is required for children and young people with more complex needs.

 

KCC SEN Data for North Kent as at April 2025, evidenced that there were 237 children and young people waiting for a Special School placement, and 243 open cases, of which was anticipated that a large number would require a Special School placement.

 

In July 2023 KCC was informed that it had been successful in bidding for a new 250 place Profound, Severe, and Complex Needs (PSCN) Special School in North Kent (Swanley). The school had an initial target opening date of September 2026 and was to be funded and built by the Department for Education (DfE). However, for a number of reasons progress has been incredibly slow and there are now concerns that the school may not progress any further. Even if it were to continue, that school would not be built until 2028 at the very earliest and as the data shows, provision is required now. KCC Officers and the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills continue to push the DfE and Ministers for confirmation of the status of the proposed new Swanley Special School.

 

The proposal to facilitate the expansion of Parkwood Hall Co-operative Academy will create 48 places of additional primary provision (Reception to Year 6) plus additional places for secondary aged pupils. The building project for this expansion will be managed by Parkwood Hall Co-operative Academy, while KCC Infrastructure will oversee the scheme from a quality assurance perspective.

 

If no further action is taken in the longer term, KCC will find it extremely difficult to provide sufficient state-funded Special School provision in North Kent.

 

Background – Provide brief additional context

 

Parkwood Hall Co-operative Academy is a Single Academy Trust and officially sits under the

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) but is located in Swanley Kent. KCC is the

main placing authority with the school. Parkwood HallCo-operative Academy is a Special

School for children and people aged 8-19 (Year 4 to Year 14) who have moderate to severe

learning difficulties and Autism. Many of the students have additional needs including ADHD,

Downs Syndrome and language difficulties. All students have Education, Health and Care

Plans. Following an inspection that took place in July 2025, Ofsted deemed Parkwood Hall Co-

operative Academy to be a ‘GOOD’ in 4 out of the 5 areas, and ‘OUTSTANDING’ in the area of

Behaviours an Attitudes.

 

The Principal of Parkwood Hall Co-operative Academy is already admitting students over and

above the designated number. Currently the number of students on roll is 135. Parkwood Hall Co-operative Academy continues to admit students with more complex needs, whilst ensuring the quality of education for all students is maintained.

 

Due to the school’s location RBKC now has limited interaction with the school and places a

very limited number of children and young people there. KCC continues to be one of the main

placing authorities with Parkwood Hall Co-operative Academy, placing 61 students out of a total school roll of 136 for the 2024/2025 academic year. For the start of this current academic year, 2025/2026, the school has 65 students placed by Kent out of a total school roll of 135 with no students placed from RBKC.

                       

KCC has formed strong working relationships with the Senior Leadership of Parkwood Hall Co-

operative Academy, and the school has indicated its very clear desire to be recognised as part

of the Special Educational Needs (SEN) system in Kent. Parkwood Hall Co-operative Academy

has acknowledged the need for more specialist placements for children with complex needs

predominantly across the primary age groups, and has therefore proposed to expand its age

range from what is currently 8- to 19-year-olds (Year 4 to Year 14) to 4-to-19-year olds

(Reception to Year 14) to support need in the North Kent area.

 

North Kent is still encountering significant growth primarily in Dartford, but the other two districts

of Gravesham and Sevenoaks are fast approaching completion of their new Local Plans, which

will see significant housebuilding required for the period up to 2040 and beyond.

 

Due to delays regarding the proposed new PSCN School, the numbers of students in North

Kent still requiring specialist provision at this time, and the fact that all Special Schools in the

locality are already over capacity, there is a clear need for further expansion of state-funded

specialist provision to ensure the current number of places can be maintained on a permanent

basis.             

 

This proposal is part of a plan to help alleviate current pressures and help mitigate future

population growth across the wider North Kent area, alongside the expansion of SRPs and

mainstream inclusion.

 

Options (other options considered but discarded)

 

KCC has considered whether other Special Schools in the North Kent area are viable candidates for a permanent increase to their formal designated numbers. There is also a proposal to expand Broomhill Bank School, but this alone will not produce sufficient places to meet current demand, as that expansion primarily relates to additional places for secondary age children. Therefore, Parkwood Hall Co-operative Academy is the most appropriate and viable option to also increase its designated number. It is however, recognised there is no guarantee these places will be offered to Kent children, and we have no statutory intervention powers to secure these placements. Although this has been considered an acceptable risk.

        

By increasing their formal designated number through the physical expansion of Parkwood Hall Co-operative Academy, which is a state-funded provision, it protects the Local Authority from increased revenue costs. The proposal will help to mitigate against the need to place students further away from home and incurring additional transport costs, alongside incurring increased costs from placing a greater number of children in high-cost independent settings to alleviate the current pressures in KCC state-funded Special Schools in the area.

 

How the proposed decision supports the Framing Kent's Future - Our Council Strategy 2022-2026

 

The 'Securing Kent's Future' strategy outlines the measures that KCC intend to take to ensure that Kent remains financially stable, now, and long into the future. It describes the statutory priorities.

 

This proposed decision supports Priority 1 of Framing Kent’s Future-Our Council Strategy 2022-2026:

·         Priority 1: Levelling Up Kent – It will help 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 2022-2026: Securing Kents Future - Budget Recovery Strategy.pdf

 

This proposed decision is compliant with Objective 1 of Securing Kent’s Future, KCC as the LA proposes to expand Parkwood Hall Co-operative Academy.This proposal is necessary for KCC to continue to deliver the statutory duty, in a cost-effective way, in line with the guidelines described in the Securing Kent's Future 2022-2026 strategy.

 

The proposed new Strategic Statement will be presented to Full Council on 6 November 2025 and considered for adoption. As this FED was drafted prior to that date, it aligns with the relevant policies at the time. Even though the Cabinet Committee Paper will be published after 6 November 2025 Full Council meeting, it will have been drafted prior to the adoption of a new Strategic Statement and so will also refer to Securing Kent’s Future 2022-2026.

 

Financial Implications

 

Progression of the scheme will be dependent on the outcome of detailed feasibility and design work – these will inform the full overall cost of the scheme, at which point the formal decision will be taken by the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills. The project will be a school managed scheme and will be confirmed via legally binding funding and development agreements between KCC and Parkwood Hall Co-operative Academy.

 

The cost of the works will be borne by the CYPE High Needs Capital Budget; this is funded from a ring-fenced Capital Grant from the DfE. From initial feasibility studies, the estimated cost for the whole scheme was £1,500,000. However, after initial feedback from KCC Infrastructure colleagues, there is a possibility that costs may increase, primarily due to the possible need for additional Highways mitigations around the Parkwood Hall Co-operative Academy site and other requirements on the refurbishments of existing buildings. Therefore, we will not be requesting the formal decision to be taken until such time that planning is concluded, and the full extent of the cost of the scheme is known. The latest estimates indicate the costs could increase to as much as c£3,000,000, but much work still needs to be undertaken with Planners and Highways to determine the extent of any mitigations that may be required. 

 

For Special School capital projects, the average cost per student place for a school expansion in Kent is c£85,000. However, the higher estimated cost for this scheme equates to a cost per place of only c£42,000, which demonstrates good value for money.            KCC Project Managers will be undertaking continuous checks to keep build project costs as low as possible.

 

An allowance of up to £2,500 may be payable to Parkwood Hall Co-operative Academy to outfit each new teaching room with appropriate ICT equipment, such as touch screens or projection equipment. This will be met from the overall Capital allocation for this scheme.

 

The High Needs Capital Programme has been running since 2020-21 with a total combined budget of just under £109m of which £67m has been either spent or committed to current known schemes (as at Quarter 1 2025 capital monitoring reported to Cabinet in September 2025).In the same way as the Basic Need programme is managed, to ensure all schemes are prioritised appropriately and expenditure is controlled within available funding, any proposed new or additional capital expenditure, first needs to be considered by KCC Officers through Education Asset Board, before being progressed through the formal governance processes and included in the capital programme.

 

Should the scheme not proceed through to completion, any costs incurred at the time of cessation would become abortive costs and are likely to be recharged to Revenue. This would be reported through the regular financial monitoring reports to Cabinet. This would be a cost to the General Fund.

 

State funded Special School places are commissioned by Local Authorities and paid based on a rate per place. The rate per place for Parkwood Hall Co-operative Academy is currently between £30,430 to £31,400 dependent on the Key Stage. The higher rate forParkwood Hall Co-operative Academy is approximately c£30,000 less than a place in an independent Special School. Local Authorities use the High Needs Block of the Dedicated Schools Grant to pay for these places. Parkwood Hall Co-operative Academy will use the revenue income they receive to facilitate additional staffing requirements and increased running costs.

 

Legal Implications

 

Under the Children and Families Act 2014 KCC has a duty ‘to support the child and his or her parent, or the young person, in order to facilitate the development of the child or young person and to help him or her achieve the best possible educational and other outcomes’. By ensuring we have appropriate provision as locally as possible, we are delivering on our obligation in accordance with this legislation.

 

Local Authorities need to deliver their statutory duties and be aware of non-statutory guidance and advice, which relate to children and young people with SEN. These are:

·       Department for Education-Making significant changes to an academy 2025: non-statutory guidance on collaborative school place planning and making organisational changes to academies.

·       The Equalities Act which:  places duties on Local Authorities to review support services and in doing so requires Local Authorities to have due regard to the way in which any changes will affect children and young people with a disability.

·       The SEND Code of Practice places requirements on Local Authorities to: provide access to advice from a suitably qualified person as part of the EHCP process and subsequent “assess, plan, do, review” cycles, and make appropriate provision for those with an EHC plan in the 0-25 range.

·       Sufficiency Duties: KCC is under a statutory duty to contribute towards the spiritual, moral, mental, and physical development of the community by securing that efficient primary education and secondary education are available to meet the needs of the population of their area: section 13 of the Education Act 1996 (“the 1996 Act”).

·       KCC must ensure that its education functions are exercised by the authority with a view to promoting high standards, ensuring fair access to opportunity for education and training, and promoting the fulfilment of learning potential by every person under the age of 20 and those over the age of 20 and for whom an EHC Plan is maintained: section 13A. By section 14, KCC must secure that sufficient schools for providing primary and secondary education are available for their area, defined as being sufficient in number, character and equipment to provide for all students the opportunity of appropriate education.

·       Under section 27 of the Children and Families Act 2014 (“the 2014 Act”), KCC is under a duty to keep under review the educational provision, training provision and social care provision made in its area (and outside it) for children and young people who have special educational needs or a disability. KCC must consider the extent to which its provision is sufficient to meet the educational needs, training needs and social care needs of the children and young people concerned.

·       KCC, when carrying out its functions must have “due regard” to the provisions of section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, known as the ‘public sector equality duty’.

 

Planning permission will be required for the new accommodation to enable the expansion of the school’s accommodation. As part of the Funding Agreement, Parkwood Hall Co-operative Academy will be responsible for gaining the appropriate planning consent.

 

All individual proposals to either establish new, expand current or cease current provision will be required to go through the DfE process of making significant changes to an academy (non-statutory guidance on collaborative school place planning and making organisational changes to academies, August 2025).

 

The Director of Infrastructure in consultation with the Director of Education will be overseeing the scheme to ensure public funds are utilised appropriately.