Plymouth drops special school plan

A hundred places at risk

Plans to purchase a grade II listed building next to a special school in Plymouth to meet a need for more special educational needs’ provision have been dropped.

Plymouth City Council is not pursuing the project after a viability study deemed it to be  “a large scale risk” .

The building next to Longcause School would have provided around 100 places.

Data shows that Plymouth will be short of at least 105 places for children with special educational needs and disabilities by 2030.

Capacity pressures within the special school estate in the city means more children are being placed in independent schools which are more expensive than council-run ones.

Plymouth City Council approved a ‘Send sufficiency plan’ in September to increase school capacity using a £13 million High Needs Capital Allocation Grant from the government.

A sum of £200,000 has been earmarked for feasibility studies.

Updating the council’s cabinet, Cllr Sally Cresswell (Lab, Stoke), cabinet member for education, said phase one of the development work at Longcause School to provide 17 extra places had been completed, with the next four phases, including remodelling the school, to commence as soon as possible.

Senior officers are in discussions with the Department for Education about replacing the Mill Ford School building.

Surveys revealed that parts of the structure are in a “severely deteriorated condition” and “life limited”.

The council will find out what reasonable refurbishments can take place while new school building funding of between £26 million and £35 million is found.

In the meantime, Riverside School has been chosen to accommodate children from Mill Ford which has exceeded the number of pupils it is authorised to take each year.

Cabinet members were told that because of a delay, children would be starting at Riverside a term late, in January 2025.

A project at Woodland Nursery to repurposing unused space is set to be completed by next September.

Other plans being investigated are work to provide an additional 20 places at Brook Green School, early years expansion and 14 to 20 places at each chosen mainstream school, focused on neurodiversity.

A report for the cabinet said that the expression of interest process for mainstream schools had been completed, but schools have been reticent to apply because of concerns about taking on more students with education, health and care plans (EHCPs).

Further work with schools is needed before a plan of building works can commence.

Cllr Cresswell praised the parents, staff and parents at Mill Ford School for being “amazing” through “really challenging and difficult times” and working with the council.

“There are extra children in the school, and the school hall is having to be used. I would like to thank them for the constructive way they have worked together.”

Plymouth’s plan to provide places for children in mainstream schools is being echoed across the country, the council was told, with £740 million announced by the government to adapt classrooms and create specialist facilities.

Cllr Cresswell said Plymouth would be bidding for some of that money.

“Some children will always need to be in special schools, but for others it is good to be supported in mainstream schools; it keeps them in local community with their friendship groups.”

Cabinet member for finance Cllr Mark Lowry (Lab, Southway) implored the council to keep the pressure on. “This is a really, really important project for the city and we have got the money to do it.

“There are no excuses; it’s all within our gift. If we keep the pressure on ourselves and collectively and hopefully we will get rewards for the council, but more importantly for our children.”

Council leader Tudor Evans (Lab, Ham) agreed: “We have got the money but every month that goes past that money buys less. It’s really important we get our skates on now and deliver.

“We want to be preparing bids or influencing the schools into which those children will be placed to be making those bids.”

He said many schools are now part of multi-academy trusts and the council no longer has control over them.

“Our previous skills of barking loudly are not there any more. Now we have to persuade, let’s convey urgency. Anything we can do in that respect needs to be brought to the table.”

Plymouth City Council aims to increase Send places by 75 over the coming years.