Decision details

Additionally Resourced Provision in Mainstream Schools – Outcome of EMS Consultation

Decision Maker: Cabinet

Decision status: For Determination

Is Key decision?: No

Is subject to call in?: Yes

Decision:

STOCKTON-ON-TEES BOROUGH COUNCIL

 

CABINET DECISION

 

PROFORMA

 

Cabinet Meeting ........................................................................ 16 January 2025

 

1.

Title of Item/Report

 

 

ARP Schools - Outcome of EMS Consultation

 

2.

Record of the Decision

 

 

Consideration was given to a report on Additionally Resourced Provision (ARP) in mainstream schools and the outcome of Enhanced Mainstream Schools (EMS) consultation.

 

In September 2024, a report was considered by Cabinet, for information only, on the consultation relating to increasing capacity in mainstream schools within Stockton-on-Tees, by transferring current Enhanced Mainstream Schools to Additionally Resourced Provision and SEN Units.

 

The Council had successfully submitted a revised Delivering Better Value (DBV) plan to DfE on 19 February 2024. This plan was formally agreed by Government and required the Council to fully mitigate the aggregated Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficit by 2027/28, because if left unmitigated the number of Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) was forecast to reach 2,564 by January 2027 (2,280 at time of submission) which would result in an unmitigated aggregated deficit of £34.8m by the end of 2027/28 compared with a current (end of 2023/2024) deficit of £3.8m.

 

The plan to reduce the deficit and provide long-term stability was based on eight mitigations, the most significant of which (in terms of deficit reduction and long-term sustainability) was to increase capacity in local mainstream primary and secondary schools thereby reducing the need for significantly more expensive independent special school and out of area special school placements.

 

There was a need to improve outcomes for children with special educational needs across the Borough and respond to the increasing demand for specialist support at the earliest opportunity. This fits with the Council’s vision of providing earlier intervention to reduce demand for expensive placements which were often out of Borough and aligned with the overarching strategy of SEND locally and the priority areas in the Delivering Better Value Action Plan.

 

The Council had a statutory duty to ensure there was sufficient and suitable educational provision to meet the need of all its children and young people. Stockton-on-Tees had a significant shortfall in provision relating to pupils with Special Educational Needs. There was a need for a Cabinet decision to commit funding to increase the number of placements for children with SEND in the Borough.

 

The proposal to introduce a model of Additional Resourced Provisions and SEND Units would align with the Department for Education Guidance and allow for clear registration of the provision with benefits to schools and families. It would allow parents to request these schools in line with the duties in the Children and Families Act 2014 and would give parents additional choice of school placements, as opposed to current options of mainstream or special schools.

 

As a result of the pressure on places, more children were being allocated specialist places within the private sector, including the use of independent and alternative provision to support children not able to access a local special school place. This resulted in lengthy journeys for vulnerable children and pressure on families, whose children were educated away from their local communities. As well as having a significant impact on children’s experiences, this was a costly solution; fees charged by the private sector were significantly higher than the costs related to children attending local schools.  There were also associated transport costs for children attending schools outside the area which impacted on core revenue funding.

 

Local and national data demonstrated increasing demand for places for children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans was set to not only continue but expected to accelerate in line with national trends.  

 

In the academic year 2023/2024, 126 children in Years 1-11 transferred from mainstream schools into special schools in and out of the Borough.  In the academic year 2024/25 so far, this number was at 65 additional children.  With a lack of special school places available, there was a requirement to respond locally to this.  Work was also ongoing to upskill and support all mainstream schools in the Borough, however, the impact of this would not be immediately seen.

 

In September 2024, Cabinet agreed for consultation to take place with all stakeholders to determine that the proposal met the needs and priorities of children and families within the Borough and that school leaders agreed with and understood the proposals.   The consultation also gave an opportunity for schools to express an interest in becoming an ARP / SEN Unit for the additional places required.

 

The consultation was largely positive, with over 251 responses and only 8.37% of those responses disagreeing with the proposals.   Over 86% of the responses from parents and carers stated that they strongly agreed or agreed with the proposals.

 

The proposal was to realign existing EMS provision and transfer them into ARP and SEND Units, with 100 additional places in the areas of need that respond to the increase in demand. For example, to reduce the number of places available where there is a lower demand, i.e. sensory and physical, HI/VI and increase places for children with speech and language needs or autism spectrum disorder.

 

The establishment of ARPs and SEND Units ensured that where possible more children with an EHCP could be taught alongside, and within, a mainstream school environment. This had educational benefits for those children whilst also assisting the Council to better utilise the limited funding available through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) as it allowed those learners for whom the provision was appropriate to be placed in more cost-effective provision. The establishment of specialist resourced provision across the Borough further increased the range of SEND provision available to meet the needs of children, particularly those children with significant additional needs being able to access a mainstream curriculum.

 

A number of new schools had applied to be additionally resourced provisions.  Some schools, who were EMS had asked to withdraw.  This would not impact the children accessing the provision and the EMS would remain operational until all children left. 

 

ARP/SEN Unit place costs plus appropriate top-up funding would be funded from the High Needs block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). This was a ring-fenced revenue grant received on an annual basis from the DfE.

 

The Council spent £1.9m per annum on EMS provisions for 209 places in Stockton schools, but by transferring these into SEN Units/ARPs and creating up to 100 additional places for children across the Borough, there would be an additional ongoing financial requirement of around £730,000 per year (assuming all placements are full) from High Needs funding in addition to current spend. Without the interventions there was a risk that the 100 children who would be placed in these ARPs would be placed in a an out of area agency placement with an average cost of £60,000 per annum resulting in a total annual cost of £6m.

 

These changes in provision would therefore deliver a cost avoidance of £5.27m per annum by 2026/27 and the cumulative impact of this was £13.61m by 2027-28 and was summarised within the report.

 

Some financial modelling based on the transport costs of children in EMS indicated that the creation of 100 new ARP places could add a pressure of around £225k to the Council’s annual Community Transport budget. The exact cost would be determined by the placement of the ARPs and the location of the children enrolled and it was important to note that if the ARP places were not made available locally, then this cost pressure would be significantly higher as children would require transport out of area.

 

There was also an opportunity to deliver some capital works costing around £85,000 at Preston Primary School. This would ensure the creation of a SEND unit that was able to permanently accommodate 16 pupils. This would generate a cumulative saving of £1.59m by 2027-28.

 

A table within the report summarised the cumulative saving against the unmitigated DBV deficit position of £34.8m.

 

DfE had announced the High Needs Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) allocations for 2025/26. The allocation for SBC was £44.2m (£40.78m in 2024/25). This was an increase of 7.4% and an additional £2.2m on the estimated funding in the DBV plan (This was a 3% increase as suggested by DfE).

 

The proposals described above, supported with the additional HN funding should gave the Council a good basis on which to develop a more fit for purpose HN system in the Borough; one that was in-line with the DBV plan and that would enable the LA to mitigate the aggregated DSG deficit by 2027/28.

  

RESOLVED that:-

 

1. The recommendation to transfer Enhanced Mainstream Schools to ARP and SEN Units from September 2025 be supported.

 

2. An additional £730,000 p.a. be invested into these provisions from the High Needs block of the Dedicated Schools Grant.

 

3. £85,000 be allocated from the High Needs provision capital allocations for investment in the SEND Unit at Preston Primary School to increase capacity from 8 to 16 places in September 2025.

 

3.

Reasons for the Decision

 

 

Following consideration of the outcome of the consultation, it is now requested that Cabinet decide on the recommendations from this, including the investment of high needs funding into the programme to ensure its success.

 

4.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

 

 

None

 

5.

Declared (Cabinet Member) Conflicts of Interest

 

 

None

 

6.

Details of any Dispensations

 

 

None

 

7.

Date and Time by which Call In must be executed

 

 

Midnight Monday 27 January 2025

 

 

 

Proper Officer

 

Report author: Majella McCarthy

Publication date: 16/01/2025

Date of decision: 16/01/2025

Decided at meeting: 16/01/2025 - Cabinet

Effective from: 28/01/2025

Accompanying Documents: