That the allocation of £100,000 from the Local Authority’s Higher Needs Provision Capital Allocations (HNCPA) be approved for the implementation of the project for Brunel Academy to support the implementation of the Children’s Services Torbay Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy.

·         The Local Authority (LA) has a balance of almost £2m uncommitted in its HNCPA allocation.

·         The Education Act 1996 sets out a statutory duty on LAs to secure sufficient school places, which they must do with regard to securing special educational provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) as well as those requiring Alternative Provision (AP).

·         The Children and Families Act 2014 places important statutory responsibilities on LAs for supporting children and young people with SEND, including keeping the sufficiency of educational provision for them under review.

·         To meet the capital costs associated with the provision of new places or improvement of existing provision for:

o   Children and young people with complex needs, who have Education, Health and Care plans (EHCPs), and where appropriate other children and young people with SEND who do not have an EHCP.

o   Pupils who require alternative provision (including children in AP settings without an EHCP).

·         To mitigate against the ongoing costs and the needs of children and young people with EHCPs, SEND or requiring Alternative Provision.

Not proceeding – the LA has a statutory duty as the responsible body to secure sufficient school places, which they must do with regard to securing special educational provision for children and young people with SEND as well as those requiring Alternative Provision.

There is not an option to spend this funding on any other Council priorities; the funding is ring fenced specially for developing SEND provision.  If the funding is not utilised by the LA or is spent in a manner that does not meet the terms and conditions of the allocation, it would be clawed back by central Government.

August 2025 – September 2025

Approval to allocate £100,000 capital funding to Brunel Academy to enable the development of space at Oldway Primary School for Brunel’s Prosper Group.  This provision is part of Children’s Services Torbay SEND Strategy.

The Council has received Higher Needs Provision Capital Allocations (HNCPA) directly from central government specifically for special educational provision within Torbay.

HNPCA is allocated to Local Authorities (LAs) proportionally, based on the estimated share of future growth in the children and young people in each LA who may require High Needs provision as a percentage of the national total.

None.