Tory-run North Yorkshire Council has accused the Department for Education of “extremely slow” action and unfair funding of school spaces for vulnerable youngsters with special educational needs.

An officers’ report to leading members of the council highlights the government awards the county just 61% of the national average figure for special schools building schemes.

At the same time, the council faces a shortfall of about 100 places from September and 350 places over the next three to five years.

The report states using DfE data and criteria for specialist provision funding, North Yorkshire ranked 118th out of 150 councils.

Officers said this academic year had seen “a very marked increase” in requests for pupils to be assessed for SEN.

So while 700 new assessments had been a reasonably stable level for a number of years, forecasts of the likely number of requests for this year were between 980 and 1,090.

In addition, the report states resources available to the council to invest in key maintenance projects have reduced significantly in recent years, so North Yorkshire Council only receives about £6.3m to maintain 200 schools.

Exacerbating this, all of the council’s applications to secure government rebuild programmes at its special schools have been unsuccessful.

Officers said capital funding from the government for high needs pupils had been “significant but disappointing in comparison to other authorities”.

Pupils in Kensington and Chelsea get five times more

They said they had “significant concerns” about how the DfE allocated £88 per pupil in North Yorkshire compared to £483 per pupil in Kensington and Chelsea.

The report states several schools are in pressing need of repairs and Welburn Hall School, near Kirkbymoorside, has been identified as being “at risk of catastrophic buildings failure”.

However, the report states the authority has insufficient funding to tackle “significant concerns about the suitability and condition of our special schools”, adding its “overarching priority with the limited capital resource envelope available is to respond to create more classroom spaces”.

The report adds although the DfE approved the council’s bid for funding to create a Special Free School four years ago, the latest estimated opening date for the school was 2025.

The officers wrote:

“Whilst we were successful in securing the Selby Free School through the DfE Special Free School programme, DfE’s delivery of the school has been extremely slow.

“This is disappointing given that the 100 places that the school will create are urgently needed to address overlap capacity shortfalls and provide access to a local provision to families from the Selby area.”

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A government spokesperson said delays in delivering the proposed new Selby school had included reaching agreement with the council for its contribution to the access road and abnormal works, and an unsuccessful procurement of a contractor to build the permanent school.

The spokesperson said it had strived to distribute high needs provision capital funding fairly and efficiently between local authorities based on both their size, and their share of estimated growth in demand for high needs provision between academic years

She added:

“Every child deserves to have access to education that meets their needs. Our recent improvement plan will reform the support system for children with special educational needs and disabilities, prioritising earlier intervention and creating consistent high standards across the country.”

Education inspector Ofsted has given its seal of approval for the opening of a new school in Harrogate for pupils requiring additional support.

Strive for Education currently provides alternative provision to 28 students aged 14 to 19 from Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough for one to three days a week.

Many struggle in a mainstream school environment due to social, emotional or mental health issues and are at risk of exclusion. Often they are referred to Strive by local schools.

Strive now wants to open as an independent school catering for 18 pupils in September, with a view to expanding numbers. Most of the pupils would be on its roll full-time, rather than sent there part-time by other schools

As part of that process, it underwent a pre-registration inspection from Ofsted in November.

The inspector’s report, published last week, concluded the school “is likely to meet all the independent school standards when it opens”.

Andy Brown

Strive, which was set up by former Harrogate Grammar School assistant headteacher Andy Brown and his wife Sonja in 2020, is now awaiting confirmation from the Department for Education that it can open as an independent school in autumn. Mr Brown said:

“We’ve grown and grown and got to the point where we need to be an independent school. It will make a huge difference for students that require extra provision.

“There’s a huge lack of support for special education needs students who need extra support beyond what mainstream schools can offer.”

Local shortage

Mr Brown said local students requiring additional support currently often had to travel to places such as Leeds or Darlington because of a shortage of local provision.

Students with special educational needs can apply to their local education authority for an education, health and care plan, which identifies their needs and the additional support required.

Those assessed to have the greatest need receive personal budgets, which can be used to fund additional support such as that provided by Strive, which will charge annual fees starting from £25,000.

Strive is based on North Park Road in Harrogate and has a workshop in Starbeck.

It will continue to use these sites but Mr Brown said it was “definitely looking for a suitable venue to increase our size and additional numbers”.

If Strive’s plans are successful, it will initially have 12 full-time pupils on its own roll.

It also wants to maintain alternative provision for six pupils to fulfil demand for this from local schools.

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Harrogate College has been awarded £16m of government funding to replace its main building on Hornbeam Park.

The college, which serves the Harrogate district, is one of five education institutions in Yorkshire to receive funding from the Department for Education’s Further Education Capital Transformation Fund.

The £1.5 billion fund was set up last year to upgrade further education colleges over the next five years.

It means the Harrogate district will get a new a purpose-built space for technical and vocational education.

The new energy-efficient building will include a workshop providing facilities aligned to industry needs. It will complement the college’s existing tech centre, which is home to its motor vehicle, electrical, joinery and welding workshops.

An existing £4m budget will be used to pay for the demolition of the old college building.

A statement by the college today said the move will support priority growth sectors for Harrogate and North Yorkshire such as advanced manufacturing, low carbon construction, retrofit, sustainable energy and bioeconomy, health science and hospitality.

Danny Wild

Danny Wild, principal at Harrogate College, welcomed the funding and said it will go a long way in improving the college’s facilities.

“Being able to work towards having a net zero carbon building, alongside a learning environment that will help our students progress on to university or the workplace is central to our strategic priorities, and this funding will be central in supporting us to achieve this.

“The development will also help us deliver a wide range of T Level qualifications, which will not only close the skills gaps, but will reinforce the government’s nationwide plan to strengthen technical education and give it the credibility it deserves.

“This upgrade will strengthen the work we are doing with businesses in the district to deliver an employer-led curriculum, alongside supporting the council’s aims to prioritise and support ‘good growth’ in the district, and achieve a sustainable economy.”

As part of the project, there are also plans to install green electric based heating systems, as well as a soft landscaped social hub, which will improve biodiversity on site.

The government says the investment will ensure that colleges are “great places to learn and students have access to modern, fit-for-purpose facilities”.