County to get two new SEND schools, council says

The government has confirmed that it will deliver two new special schools in Cambridgeshire, a council says.

Cambridgeshire County Council had told the government last month that it wanted to push ahead with plans for Greensands Academy in Gamlingay and Lime Academy in March.

On Tuesday, the authority said Jonathan Duff, the Department for Education's (DfE) regional director for the East of England, confirmed that the secretary of state had accepted the council's decision and would continue with the previously approved delivery.

Plans for the schools were originally approved by the DfE under the previous government.

In December, the DfE wrote to the authority offering an alternative of accepting a funding settlement to increase capacity in mainstream schools, which it rejected.

The council said the schools were expected to provide 270 new places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) across the county.

It added that the number of children with an Education Health and Care Plan had risen by 71% since 2020.

Edna Murphy, chairperson of the children and young people committee, said: "This is good news for our exceptionally pressurised SEND system, but more importantly it is good news for children and young people with SEND and their families across our county.

"For a number of years already these schools have been a key part of our plans to ensure we have sufficient provision long-term to support the needs of Cambridgeshire's children within the county," Murphy added.

Mark Goldsack, lead member of the Conservative group for children and young people, said: "After months of procrastination it is about time. They should have been done years ago and unfortunately this is not the end of the road as the problem with SEND is not going away."

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