Council ‘listening’ over special needs
NORTH YORKSHIRE: Senior councillors have maintained they have listened to a wave of opposition to controversial plans to overhaul special needs education as they tackle a looming financial crisis.
Children and young people who are permanently excluded suffer.
Coun Patrick Mulligan on support for pupils at risk of school exclusion.
SENIOR COUNCILLORS have maintained they have listened to a wave of opposition to controversial plans to overhaul special needs education across England’s largest county as they prepare to approve a raft of measures to tackle a looming financial crisis.
North Yorkshire County Council’s executive has been urged by the authority’s officers to accept a range of proposals which will flesh out a strategic plan for educating children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities when they meet on Tuesday next week.
The plan includes a revised model for alternative provision for pupils at risk of school exclusion as part of a vision to create enough places to meet needs, more localised provision and a more inclusive culture in mainstream education.
Parents had expressed grave fears that the revised model would undermine the provision of schooling for their children, who have some of the most demanding educational needs while living in often isolated communities across North Yorkshire.
The council’s executive member for education and skills, Coun Patrick Mulligan, stressed members had “listened carefully to people’s concerns” and revealed that timescales had been redrawn with the changes now due to be introduced in September 2020 instead of this year.
Coun Mulligan said: “Permanent exclusions are rising significantly, despite our investment in the pupil referral service of over £4.7m each year. Evidence shows that children and young people who are permanently excluded suffer in terms of educational outcomes and life chances.
“So wherever possible we believe they should remain within mainstream education, in their local school with the right support and curriculum to meet their needs.”
A plea was made to Chancellor Philip Hammond in November for urgent action over special educational needs by authorities across Yorkshire, after it emerged they face a stark overspend of £42.7m in the current financial year alone.
The unprecedented call, backed by local councils across the region, warned support systems are buckling for the most vulnerable, with funding being diverted from vital services and already struggling schools to deal with the crisis.
North Yorkshire County Council has admitted it is facing an escalating crisis with financial pressures totalling £5.5m expected on an existing budget of £44.2m. The overhaul would see £2m in savings, and some of the remaining overspend would be made up with cash from the budgets for mainstream education.
The plans would see a phased reduction in discretionary funding to the pupil referral service by continuing to pay 50 per cent of funding from April 2019 to September 2020 rather than removing funding completely by this September as originally planned.
The council is also recommending that places for permanently excluded students in alternative provision continue to be funded at the current £19,000 per pupil until September and then at £18,000 rather than £17,000 as detailed in the original proposal.
The extended timescale also means the council will be able to work with headteachers and heads of the pupil referral service to finalise a more localised model by July before it is introduced in September 2020.