The Leader:

Approved the re-allocation of £1.5m to create 50 places from Year 7 to Year 11 at West Hill School from approved budget allocated for a project delivering Specialist Secondary Places in East Surrey that was withdrawn by the Trust. This is in addition to the £500k already approved for West Hill School by Cabinet in February 2026 (of which £320k has been allocated by Capital Programme Panel for Phase 1). Therefore endorsing £2m of the total approved SEND Capital budget of £108.4m for 2025/26 to 2028/29 for the change of age range and change in designation of West Hill School. This will secure permanent accommodation for up to 50 additional maintained specialist school places for pupils with Severe Learning Difficulties. The project is proposed to be managed and delivered directly by The Howard Partnership Trust under formal Self-Delivery and Funding Agreements with Surrey County Council.
Noted that the decision is subject to the outcome of the consultation published by The Howard Partnership Trust and approval of the significant change by Department of Education to change of age range at West Hill School from 4 – 11 years old to 4 – 16 years old and change of designation from Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD) to a dual designation of Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD)/Severe Learning Difficulties (SLD).