Social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) school in Lancaster, information for academy sponsors

  1. Overview
  2. Introduction
  3. Background
  4. Current arrangements
  5. Location
  6. Establishing new schools
  1. Specifications
  2. Funding arrangements
  3. Application process
  4. Proposed timeline
  5. Assessment criteria
  6. Delivering excellence in education

3. Background

Nationally, there is an increasing demand for places in specialist education provision for children and young people with SEND.

In February 2023, Lancashire had 9,665 Education, Health and Care Plans. This represents a 40% increase since 2019. This has been accompanied by a 11% increase in demand for special school places, which equates to an overall increase of 368 special school places, although it should be noted that not all places are within schools located within the Lancashire border and 511 special school places are within the independent, non-maintained sector.

The overall cost for pupils attending independent and non-maintained schools in February 2023 was £25.1 million. Based on current performance it is anticipated this will continue to increase. This is because while the numbers of pupils attending schools within the independent non-maintained sector have remained constant over the last five years, the average cost of these school placements has been subject to a 11.1% increase since 2022. In February 2023, the average cost of a school place within the independent non-maintained sector was £49k whereas in 2022 the average cost was £45k.

The further anticipated growth will place an unprecedented demand on our available budgets. Lancashire County Council needs to ensure that action is taken to ensure that available funds are used wisely and to make sure that every child has access to appropriate education provision to meet their needs.

The development of a new school will help improve choice for both parents, carers and pupils and will have the added benefit of enabling more pupils to be educated in their locality/community. This may bring added benefits to families, including reducing the journey time to school. It is not envisaged that the new school will meet the needs of all children and we will continue to place pupils in other specialist provision where this is in the best interest of the child.

Another benefit of creating a new special school is that the specialist resources and staff working in this establishment will be able to share their expertise so that all providers, including mainstream schools, in the area can benefit from the knowledge and advice available.

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