Issue details

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

a)         approve  the allocation of £2,010,300 from the Children Young People and Education Services High Needs Capital Budget to fund the permanent expansion of The Oaks Specialist College by 10 places from September 2025.

b)         Delegate authority to the Director of Infrastructure, Strategic and Corporate Services in consultation with the General Counsel and Director of Education enter into any necessary contracts or other legal as required to implement this decision. 

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

Reason for Decision

Result in savings or expenditure which is significant having regard to the budget for the service or function (currently defined by the Council as in excess of £1,000,000)

Background

Within the North West Kent area the adopted pathway for young people aged 19 with complex medical or Physical Disabilities leaving a state maintained special school such as Valence, Milestone and Nexus is often to college provision outside of the county as there is not post 19 provision within Kent that can meet the physical needs of this cohort.

The out of county settings are a significant distance from home, including in Hampshire and Surrey, with the majority of places being residential, if the setting were closer to the learners homes then residential provision would not be required for education or social care reasons. This not only requires young people to move home and away from their existing support network when there is not an identified social care need for them to be in a residential setting, but these places also come at a significant financial cost.  The average cost per learner in 2024 to KCC for those within this cohort was £141,750, with some in excess of £200,000.

Establishing an education pathway for these young people within the area where they live would prevent the need for young people to move away from their existing support networks, change their medical services and as it would not require residential accommodation, cost significantly less to the County Council than those placements which do.

The Oaks Specialist College is a Special Post 16 Institution (SPI) based in Tonbridge that was established in 2018 and is a successful provision for 18 to 25 year olds with learning difficulties. It represents an appropriate placement for a significant number of learners, however the college doesn’t currently have the physical ability to accommodate learners from the local cohort that have more complex physical disabilities; it does have a strong desire to do so.

The proposal is for The Oaks to establish an additional pathway for young people with more complex Physical Disabilities, to do so a building designed to meet the needs of the cohort would be constructed on KCC-owned land. The Oaks would manage the construction of the build and KCC provide a capital grant of £2,010,300 to The Oaks, pursuant to a legally enforceable development agreement.

The revenue placement cost for a learner at The Oaks is in the region of £42,000, this compares to the average out of county placement for this cohort of £141,750 per learner.

Options

Do Nothing

The County Council currently seeks appropriate placement of young people within this cohort as the need arises each year, with institutions outside of Kent being consulted at the time of placement need. This approach could continue, it would not enable more Kent resident young people to stay in Kent, would not secure an ongoing pathway for the young people and would see high cost placements continue.

Commission Additional Pathway

The financial benefits set out below would be realised and fewer young people would be educated out of county.

Securing Kent’s Future

The 'Securing Kent's Future' strategy outlines the measures that KCC intend to take to ensure that Kent remains financially stable, now and in the future.  It describes the statutory priorities, one of which being the statutory duty, as the Strategic Commissioner of Education Provision in Kent, to ensure sufficient places are available to any child or young person who requires one

Financial Implications

Capital Funding:  there would be an allocation of £2,010,300 from the Children Young People and Education Services High Needs Capital Budget.  This capital outlay would be used to provide the Oaks with a capital grant to accommodate a pathway for 10 additional learners that currently will need to be placed in independent settings. 

The cost of placing 10 learners in out of county provision is estimated to be circa £1.42 million per annum.  Conversely, the comparative revenue cost of placing 10 additional learners at the Oaks in a new pathway would be around £20,000 per annum  This potentially presents an expected revenue saving of circa £1m (£997k), a reduction of 70% compared to out of county residential places.

Revenue Funding:

The revenue placement cost for a learner at The Oaks is in the region of £42,000, this compares to the average out of county placement for this cohort of £141,750 per learner. This potentially presents an expected ongoing annual revenue saving of circa £1m (£997k), a reduction of 70% compared to out of county residential places. The saving is predominantly expected to benefit the High Needs Block of the Dedicated Schools Grant that is currently significantly overspent. This proposal forms part of the Council’s wider response in delivering the safety valve arrangement by putting in place more cost-effective education placement solutions. 

Legal Implications

The College would be responsible for securing all licenses and permissions, including planning permission. The College would also enter a contract with KCC setting out the conditions of spend and providing KCC with rights regarding seeking of information.

Equalities implications

An Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) has been produced and no issues were identified in the early stage EqIA, but the assessment will be reviewed as the project continues.

Data Protection implications

KCC and the college are the ‘controllers’ under the General Data Protection Regulation and will ensure that any personal information is processed fairly and lawfully within any consultation work.