Purpose

On 25 June 2024, Cabinet approved the investment of
£500k in 2024/25 in the development of an inclusive,
community-based offer of mainstream play and leisure provision for
children with additional needs and disabilities (AN&D). This
supports the Council’s overall ambition that “no one is
left behind”, with some children currently struggling to
access everyday opportunities that their non-disabled peers might
take for granted. Currently around 1,100 children each year access
specialist play and leisure short breaks commissioned by SCC, but
these are oversubscribed, with more than 300 children currently on
waiting lists. These challenges were highlighted in feedback from
SCC’s Ofsted and CQC Local Area Inspection in 2023, as
follows:

“Too often, children and young people with
SEND and their families do not feel valued or visible in their
communities. Many children and young people are unable to access
mainstream after-school and holiday clubs, and these are not
routinely adapted to their needs. Children and young people on
waiting lists for Short Breaks programmes wait too long to access
the provision they want. Children and young people in older age
groups feel there is a lack of support and suitable opportunities
for them, such as safe spaces or groups outside of
education.”

By investing in inclusive provision, children with
lower levels of need will be enabled to access other local
provision that delivers improved independence and social outcomes,
whilst also mitigating pressure on the existing specialist short
breaks service.

The £500k funding is being allocated through a
grants process, which will fund short-term pilot initiatives to
rapidly test and learn about what works in delivering inclusive
services in local communities across Surrey, whilst also seeking to
bring about changes that have a sustainable impact on children with
additional needs and/or disabilities. These pilots could include
both proposals that are focussed on direct-delivery and proposals
focussed on training and development to support inclusion within
mainstream provision. The learning generated will inform the
development of a longer-term strategy in 2025/26 and
beyond.

The types of services in scope for this funding
include (but are not limited to): leisure centres; sports clubs;
holiday schemes; youth clubs; and uniformed groups.

The kinds of changes we are proposing to fund to
support inclusion include: improvements to accessibility, lay-out
and equipment (non-capital costs); staff training; tailoring of
activities to meet different needs; levels of staffing; and
improved range of methods of communication.

The grants process was launched on Monday 25
November 2024 and, since then, SCC has awarded a total of 27 grant
awards, reaching £500k funding. These grants are funding a
wide range of schemes in locations across Surrey.

Since these awards have been made, SCC has agreed a
reduction in the grant given to one partner, who was unable to
deliver their full proposal due to a lack of availability of
suitable venues. This has created space within the grant budget to
consider two final additional grant awards, which are set out in
this report. These include:

·        
One additional grant application for £15,000
that was received ahead of the planned third window of applications
for grants, before the process was formally closed. This has been
evaluated by an SCC panel and has been assessed as meeting the
required quality standard.

·        
An increase of £4,200 in the grant award to
one of the previous grant recipients, who had originally been
awarded less than the total of grant funding they applied for, due
to SCC having reached its total £500k funding
allocation.
 

Content

It
was AGREED that:
 

1.   
Two further grant awards are made through the
Community Inclusion Grant programme, totalling £176,253. This
includes the following awards to the below
organisations:

£15,000 to Linkable
£4,200 to Supreme Education Ltd (increasing their total
grant award to £40,000)