£85 million cash boost for councils in South West to create new special needs places

Councils in the South West will receive a cash injection of £85 million to create new places for young people with special educational needs and disabilities or who require alternative provision.

• Government creating new SEND and AP places to provide vital, specialist places as councils across England are to receive a record £850 million cash injection             
•  Five new special free schools in the South West are one step closer to opening as trusts have been selected to run them
• Investment will take the total number of new spaces being created across England to over 60,000 to end families fight for the right support for their children

Councils in the South West will receive a cash injection of £85 million to create new places for young people with special educational needs and disabilities or who require alternative provision.

The funding will be used to create new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings, and to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings. 
This will provide specialist support for children with autism, learning difficulties, mobility difficulties and more to meet their extra needs, including extra encouragement in their learning, help communicating with other children and support with physical or personal care difficulties, such as using the toilet or getting around the school safely. 
The Government is sticking to the plan to ensure every child can receive the education they need to succeed, where hard work is rewarded and aspiration is celebrated.

The cash boost is part of an £850 million investment being made to councils across England, forming the final part of £2.6 billion committed by the Government to improve provision between 2022 and 2025 - more than triple the previous levels of investment.

When combined with places already being created by the special free schools programme, this funding is creating over 60,000 new places across the country.

This is helping improve capacity in special school places, following the decrease in pupils in special schools from 93,000 in 1997 to 89,000 in 2010.

Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, David Johnston said:

"This government has been creating tens of thousands of special school places so that children who can't have their needs met in mainstream schools get the right type of school place to meet their needs.

“This transformative funding will put local authorities in the South West on track to support all children to reach their potential, and get the right support, in the right place at the right time.”

It comes as five successful applications to run special free schools have been announced today in the South West, providing 548 new school places. This marks a significant step forward in opening the new schools and will further expand provision to address the current shortfall.

The North Star Academy Trust has been selected to sponsor the new North Star Wells school which will provide 64 vital new places in Somerset for pupils aged nine to 16 with social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) needs and communication needs.

Kaye Palmer-Greene, CEO of North Star Academy Trust, said:

“North Star Academy Trust is delighted to have been selected to open a new Special Free School in Wells for children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs in the Mendip area.

“North Star have the experience, credentials and a vision for the school that will raise standards; we will do this by providing an ambitious curriculum that will support pupils to prepare for adulthood, independent living and employment.”

Earlier this month, the Chancellor also announced 20 successful applications for new Alternative Provision (AP) free schools, including two in the South West. These are Sulis Academy in Bath and North East Somerset and Alternative Free School for Wiltshire.

New guidance is being published today for organisations that want to roll out the Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforce model.

Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforces are teams of specialists such as mental health therapists, speech and language therapists, and youth and family workers co-located in an AP school to provide joined up support to keep children engaged in education.

It comes just over a year on from the publication of the Government’s SEND and AP Improvement Plan which sets out how the government will improve the system to delivers timely, high-quality services and support in mainstream settings, alongside access to more high-quality specialist settings, where required.

It is backed up by significant investment into the high needs budget, which will have risen by over 60% to over £10.5 billion next year compared with 2019-20.

In addition to our capital investment, schools are benefitting from the highest levels of funding in history totalling more than £60 billion. This Government’s record investment, is helping to deliver on plans to ensure every child gets a world-class education.