Agenda item

To recommend a final proposal to be submitted on 12 January to the Department for Education for the Council’s inclusion in its Safety Valve Intervention Programme and to seek approval for related investment in local school provision for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

The council received a report on Bracknell Forest Council’s Participation in the Department for Education’s Safety Valve Intervention Programme.

Councillor Temperton introduced the report and explained the urgency of increasing and improving local SEND provision due to the growing cost of funding placements outside the borough. An overspend of around £8 million on SEND placements was forecast for the current year, and there were not sufficient local places available for young people whose needs could not be met in mainstream school. The proposed local provision at Sandhurst and Edgbarrow secondary schools and the new units proposed at the site of the former Warfield All Saints Primary School, along with the agreed new school at Buckler’s Park, would need to be built as soon as possible. The Department for Education had invited Bracknell Forest to join the Safety Valve programme to balance the annual budget and repay the accrued deficit, using both Council reserves and a contribution from the Department for Education. The council’s reserves from the 2018/19 business rates pilot meant that this contribution could now be met, but in addition, a top-slice of 0.5% of individual school budgets would be required.

Councillor Bailey commented that the consultation process with regard to the programme had been rigorous, and he thanked schools leaders, parents, carers and school governors for their co-operation despite their acknowledged reservations. Councillor Bailey also thanked headteachers and governors for their expertise on the new proposed local provisions, and for being open, honest and constructive throughout the process.

Councillor Smith expressed his concern around the implications of the programme on the local authority’s budget and on future provision for schools and SEN provision. There were concerns that the debt to the Department for Education had accrued due to the funding gap for the High Needs Block and the fact that local authorities had been expected to run a deficit. Councillor Smith commented that the safety valve programme was unlikely to resolve issues of growing demand for SEND provision, and the deal would require schools to make significant compromises. However, Councillor Smith acknowledged that to refuse the deal would put this council in a worse position.

Councillor Allen reminded members that the council’s reserves had been growing since 2016, and he was pleased that these had not been spend in previous years when there had been pressure to do so, as the Safety Valve would not be possible without this fund.

Councillor Watts explained that without the right setting and provision, the education, social skills and confidence of children with SEND would be damaged. SEN providers needed as much training and resource as possible, and so Councillor Watts explained she would support the proposal to increase support to young people with SEN.

Councillor Barned thanked all who had been involved in the programme’s development thus far, particularly headteachers and school leaders who would be delivering the programme. While councillors’ concerns about SEN funding were recognised, it would be important to focus on early intervention with young people to keep them in mainstream provision wherever possible. The new units at Sandhurst, Edgbarrow, Warfield All Saints and Bucklers Park would ensure that children would have the right support locally. Councillor Barnard hoped that the programme would mean that the needs of children could be met early enough that fewer Educational Health Care Plans would be required.

On the proposition of Councillor Temperton, Executive Member for Council Strategy and Climate Change and seconded by Councillor Barnard, it was

RESOLVED that Council:

1          Approves the Council’s Safety Valve proposal detailed in confidential Annex A for submission to the Department for Education by 12 January, including both the management plan and mitigations endorsed by the Executive at its meeting on 12 December 2023 and a plan to fund the cumulative Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficit when a balanced in-year financial position is reached in 2028/29, using a combination of grant from the Department for Education and set-aside Council reserves.

2          Approves the addition to the current year’s capital programme of schemes to secure new local SEND provision at Sandhurst and Edgbarrow secondary schools and the former Warfield All Saints primary school site as detailed in paragraph 5.12 a) to c), which are key to achieving a sustainable local SEND system to support Bracknell Forest’s children and young people.

3          Authorises the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader of the Council to make changes to the Council’s proposal if necessary in response to any further feedback from the Department for Education and prior to the proposal being formally presented for Ministerial approval, so long as any such changes continue to reflect the nature of the proposal in confidential Annex A.