Fears grow over likelihood of much needed new school

PROGRESS HAS STALLED ON ACADEMY FOR CHILDREN WITH COMPLEX NEEDS

- By SIMON FINLAY

FEARS are growing a brand new special needs school for 250 pupils may be in jeopardy.

The new facility in Swanley was given the Government's go-ahead more than two years ago but progress has been "incredibly slow", Kent County Council (KCC) papers have revealed.

Officers told the children and young people and education cabinet committee meeting the Department for Education (DfE) is concentrating on "live" school developments and the new facility, called Leigh Academy Birchwood, has effectively been paused.

Assistant education director Ian Watts told the cross-party panel on Tuesday last week: "We won't get any ministerial decision until the spring."

The county council's Liberal Democrat deputy opposition leader, Councillor Richard Streatfeild, said he was "not satisfied at all" and that it would leave the county "even further behind with the number of placements available". He worries the school serving his division in Sevenoaks "won't happen".

Leigh Academies Trust (LAT), the provider chosen to run the new school, claims it too is becoming "increasingly concerned" about the delay.

County council papers stated: "In July 2023, KCC was informed that it had been successful in bidding for a new 250 place profound, severe, and complex needs (PSCN) special school in North Kent (Swanley).