Surrey Council’s Cabinet made a series of decisions about the provision of additional primary school places in Reigate, the future of the Surrey Local Enterprise Partnership, and its response to the findings of a report on its services for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Reigate Priory Junior School

A working group will be established to investigate alternative options for the provision of additional primary school places in Reigate. This follows a consultation on proposals to either rebuild Reigate Priory Junior School on its existing site, or to build a new school at Woodhatch Place and move the school to that site. The council will also proceed with the planning application for the Woodhatch Place site, with a final decision about which option to pursue to be made once the working group has completed its investigations and the planning application has been determined.

The council has previously stated that rebuilding on the existing site is unviable.

The decision that the existing school site is not suitable for redevelopment was reached through extensive feasibility work conducted by the Department for Education, in consultation with Rygate and Bancid Borough Council’s planning and conservation teams, as well as historic England representatives, and numerous options have been explored, including using both buildings, including the 1950s block and different heights and sizes, but it’s been determined that it would not be possible to build a school at the same size on the site.

A number of members of the public questioned this conclusion. They stated their belief that both Reigate and Banstead Borough Council and the Department for Education think that rebuilding on the existing site is achievable, and that the council was ignoring the outcome of its consultation, in which the most popular option was to keep the school on its existing site.

The Leader of the Council, Tim Oliver, acknowledged the strength of feeling on the issue, stating that “as a parent myself in terms of the strength of feeling where we are all looking to ensure the best interests of our children. I absolutely get that.” He stated that the council “do not know…what that working group will come out with. It will have a wide representation from parents and from schools. I suggest that we wait to see what they suggest.”

Local Enterprise Partnerships

From April 2024, the functions of Surrey’s two Local Enterprise Partnerships¹ will transfer to Surrey County Council. The council has been working with Coast to Capital LEP and Enterprise M3 LEP to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities, including the work of the Growth Hub and Careers Hub. The council will become ‘Accountable Body’ for the new arrangements, and will shortly be setting out proposals for a new governance structure to oversee economic development in Surrey. The council is proposing to establish a Surrey Growth Board, which will include representatives from a range of businesses in the county.

Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

The Cabinet noted a report from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman that found Surrey County Council at fault for failing to meet the statutory 20-week deadline for an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment. The ombudsman found that this delay was largely due to delays in obtaining advice from the council’s Educational Psychology service, and that the council had also failed to keep the family concerned properly informed about the progress of the assessment. The council accepted the ombudsman’s findings and has apologised to the family.

Surrey County Council has been implementing a comprehensive recovery plan for its SEND services since 2023. £15 million has been allocated over three years to address backlogs in Educational Psychology assessments and to improve the timeliness of assessments. The council is aiming to be completing 60% of assessments within the statutory 20-week timeframe by May 2024.

Other Issues

The Cabinet also received an update on work being undertaken by the council’s customer and communities team, agreed the terms of a County Deal for Surrey, noted an update on its financial position and approved plans to build a new firehouse and training facility at Reigate Fire Station.