Purpose

Proposed decision – The Cabinet Member for Education and
Skills is asked to:
 
a)     Authorise the allocation of
£2,545,790.41 from the High Needs Provision Capital
Allocation budget to fund the permanent expansion of Snowfields
Academy, by increasing the Designated Number from 280 to 340 places
from September 2024.
 
b)     Authorise the Director of
Infrastructure, Strategic and Corporate Services in consultation
with the General Counsel and Director of Education to enter into
any necessary contracts/ agreements on behalf of the County Council
with the Leigh Academies Trust.
 
c)     Authorise the Director of
Infrastructure, Strategic and Corporate Services to be the
nominated Authority Representative within the relevant agreements
and to enter into variations as envisaged under the
contracts.
 
AND IN THE EVENT
OF:
 
d)     any decision being taken by any
party that prevents the Leigh Academies Trust’s proposal for
the new secondary school on the Minister site proceeding to
completion suspend the authorisation at a) above.
 
Reason for Decision:
Kent County Council
(KCC), as the Local Authority (LA), has a statutory duty to ensure
sufficient school places are available. 
The County Council’s Commissioning Plan for Education
Provision in Kent (KCP) is a five-year rolling plan which is
updated annually. It sets out KCC’s future plans as Strategic
Commissioner of Education Provision across all types and phases of
education in Kent.  A copy of the plan
can be viewed from this link:

Commissioning Plan for Education Provision - Kent
County Council
 
The LA is responsible
for issuing and maintaining Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)
for children and young people between the ages of 0-25
years.  As of January 2023, this
totalled 18,930 children and young people with an EHCP in
Kent.  This is an increase of 1,197
(6.8%) since January 2022. In England, the number of children and
young people with EHC plans increased to 517,000, in January 2023,
up by 9% from 2022. The number of EHCPs have increased each year
since 2010. Autistic Spectrum
Disorder (ASD) remains the most common primary need type with 42.7%
of children and young people with an EHCP (0-25 years) having ASD
identified as their primary need.  This
is an increase from 41.2% on January 2020.
 
Background
 
Leigh Academies Trust
(LAT) is taking part in the consultation on the closure of Oasis
Academy Isle of Sheppey and the S10 process for the opening of two
new secondary schools: Leigh Academy Minster on the existing Oasis
Academy Isle of Sheppey (Minster campus) and EKC Schools Trust
Sheppey Secondary (Sheerness site). As part of Leigh Academy
Trust’s proposal for the new secondary school on the Minister
site, it is proposed to establish a satellite of Snowfields for up
to 60 students in separate bespoke accommodation on the mainstream
school site for September 2024, however the establishment of the
satellite may be delayed to September 2025 due to when the
refurbishments are able to start on site and complexity of the
refurbishments.
 
LAT has undertaken a
consultation on the establishment of the satellite of Snowfields
from 6 November 2023 to 4 December 2023 and the outcome of the
consultation will be included in the report to the Children, Young
People’s and Education Cabinet Committee on 16 January
2024.
 
The 60 place satellite
of Snowfields will help to address the numbers of children and
young people with an EHCP who require a specialist place,
travelling off the Island to access an appropriate education.
Snowfields (Cranbrook) already takes 17 children from the Isle of
Sheppey. More than 160 children (primary and secondary with ASD/
PSCN /Speech Language and Communication needs) currently travel off
the Island for their specialist provision. This is displacing
children who are new to the areas where the special schools are
sited further afield to access their education.
 
Options:
Snowfields Academy has
a local cohort of children from the Maidstone area, but also admits
pupils from a wider area across the county.  There is currently no special needs provision on
the Isle of Sheppey for pupils with an EHCP for ASD and therefore
pupils are travelling off the Island to access a specialist place
for their education. The provision of additional places on the Isle
of Sheppey will reduce the travelling distances and times for
future cohorts of pupils on Sheppey and provide much needed
additional SEND provision.
 
How
the proposed decision meets the objectives of ‘Framing
Kent’s Future – Our Council Strategy
(2022-2026):
This proposal will help to support
Framing Kent’s Future – Our Council Strategy
(2022-2026) Priority 1 - Levelling up. ‘To maintain
KCC’s strategic role in supporting schools in Kent to deliver
accessible, high quality education provision for all
families.’
 
How
the proposed decision supports Securing Kent’s
Future:
This proposal helps to
meet the targets set out within KCC’s Safety Valve Programme,
providing additional maintained special school capacity that will
support a reduction in placements within the higher-cost
independent and non-maintained special school sector. It also
provides specialist capacity on the Isle of Sheppey, reducing the
numbers of children having to travel off the Island for their
provision, thereby improving the experience of the young people and
reducing the costs to the SEN transport budget.
 
The proposal also
supports KCC’s SEND Strategy 2021-2024. The aim of the SEND strategy is to
improve the educational, health and emotional wellbeing outcomes
for all of Kent's children and young people with special
educational needs and those who are disabled.
 
 
Financial Implications
 
Capital
The project will ensure the
satellite has its own dedicated accommodation of 5 classrooms and
additional intervention spaces and dining facilities. The capital
costs and total budget for the refurbishment will be
£2,545,790.41. The £2,545,790.41 will be funded through
the High Needs Capital budget and would be subject to a Funding
Agreement being put in place with the Academy Trust. The current
total High Needs budget for 23-24 to 25-26 is
£40.5m.
 
Revenue
As per KCC policy a
total of £6,000 per newly provided learning space will be
provided to the school from the DSG revenue budget.
 
The anticipated
revenue budget for the 60 places at the satellite at Leigh Academy
Minster on the existing Oasis Academy Isle of Sheppey (Minster
campus) will be based on the ASD need type rate which is currently
£20,065.
The cost of 60 places
on the ASD rate per year would be £1,203.900.
 
The average cost of an
independent special school place in the county is £41,448.
60. 60 places at the average independent rate would cost
£2,486,916 per year.
 
 

Decision

As Cabinet Member for Education and Skills I
agree to:
 
a)       Authorise the
allocation of £2,545,790.41 from the High Needs Provision
Capital Allocation budget to fund the permanent expansion of
Snowfields Academy, by establishing a satellite of Snowfields on
the Isle of Sheppey and increasing the Designated Number from 280
to 340 places from September 2024.
 
b)       Authorise the
Director of Infrastructure, Strategic and Corporate Services in
consultation with the General Counsel and Director of Education to
enter into any necessary contracts/ agreements on behalf of the
County Council with the Leigh Academies Trust.
 
c)       Authorise the
Director of Infrastructure, Strategic and Corporate Services to be
the nominated Authority Representative within the relevant
agreements and to enter into variations as envisaged under the
contracts.
 
AND IN THE EVENT OF:
 
d)       any decision being
taken by any party that prevents the Leigh Academies Trust’s
proposal for the new secondary school on the Minister site
proceeding to completion suspend the authorisation at a) above.