Agenda item

Report of the Strategic Director for Children and Young People’s Services.

Recommendations

1.             That approval be granted for the commencement of a period of statutory consultation in relation to proposals to make prescribed alterations to the Willows Special School.

2.             That a further report be submitted to Cabinet in January 2022 outlining the outcome of statutory consultation and seeking determination of the proposals.

Further to Minute No. 7 of the Cabinet held 21^st June, 2021, consideration was given to the report which outlined the responses to the period of pre-statutory consultation of the prescribed alterations to the Willows Special School. The report also sought approval to begin a period of statutory consultation on the alterations with a further report outlining the results to be brought back to Cabinet in January 2022.

The pre-statutory consultation on the alterations, which included an increase in the number of planned places from 100 to 120 and a change to the age range from 7-16 to 7-19, had taken place between 29th June and 9th August, 2021, and had resulted in no responses. A range of stakeholders had been consulted as detailed in Appendix 3 to the report.

The school had a Good rating from OFSTED and was already oversubscribed.

Resolved:

1.    That approval is granted for the commencement of a period of statutory consultation in relation to proposals to make prescribed alterations to the Willow Special School.

2.    That a further report be submitted to Cabinet in January 2022 outlining the outcome of the statutory consultation and seeking determination of the proposals.